The Swati Tirunal Music Festival held in the capital city opened with an interesting violin trio concert by M. Subramania Sarma and his children Mahadeva Sarma and Rajasree, both reputed violinists.
The trio began their concert with ‘Sarojanabha’ in Chakravakam. The abstract of the raga played as a preface to the kriti that evoked a meditative mood. The expressive niravel and swarams that progressed steadily culminated in a well-rendered finale.
Mahadeva introduced crowd-pulling ‘trills’ in the swara section. ‘Bhavaye Gopabalam’ in Pushpalatika raga (Roopaka), a rare raga, contained beautifully placed mathematical finishes in the swara-section. The foot-tapping number ‘Narasimhamamava’ in Arabhi, set to Khanda Chapu, sounded melodious when played in unison.
The main kriti was ‘Padasanathi’ in Kamboji (Mishra chapu) that begins with swaraksharam notes. The violin trio delved into the finer aspects of the scale and then sped through its complex routes, thus enhancing the stately feel of the composition.
K.M.S. Mani and Pramod Kumar gave good support on the mridangam and the ghatam, respectively. Light kritis in Behag and Yadukulakamboji were the concluding songs.
The second concert by Vamanan Namboothiri was absorbing on account of his eloquent presentation. The veteran vocalist rendered the opening kriti ‘Mamavasada’ in Kanada with a marked tranquil feel. ‘Palayamam sree pankanjanabh’ in Nayaki (Roopaka) was gracefully sung, with due emphasis on all the subtle inflections of the scale.
A detailed Panthuvarali raga essay tagged to ‘Paripalaya sarasiruha’ was delivered with detailed phrases and swaras. The singer touched the softest nodes of Neelambari, bringing out the unruffled nature of the raga through its mellifluous phrases. The composition was ‘Anandavalli’. ‘Seve shri padmanabham’ in Mohanam, the main kriti, sung with traditional niravel and swaras was another major highlight of the concert. Babu Narayanan on the violin, V. Surendran on the mridangam and Balakrishnan Potty on the ghatam provided awesome accompaniment to the singer.
A soothing and poignant version of Brindavana Saranga raga was tagged to a soulful bhajan towards the end of the concert. The concerts were organised by Akashavani, Thiruvananthapuram.
