Notable among female vocalist-duos in Kerala is Gayaki Sisters – Sharmila and Santala – of Tripunithura. They have been performing for more than a decade now.
A two-hour concert by the sisters in Thrissur recently was noteworthy on account of their rare repertoire and balanced presentation. Clarity of diction and their captivating voices were another attraction of the concert.
They opened with ‘Re re manasa bhajare’ in Natta, Roopakam, a composition of Cheyoor Sasthree. The rendition was an eloquent demonstration of how the two musicians could sing in perfect unison. The same was discernible in ‘Palinthuvo palimpavo’, a Tyagaraja composition in Kantamani, Adi. Incidentally, compositions in Kantamani are not many and the raga, 61st in the melakartha list, itself is rare. The lower tetra chord of the scale resembles that of Kalyani with pradhimadhyama. The musicians did justice to the raga and the kriti.
A short alap of Nattakurinji by Sharmila was prefixed to ‘Vazhi maraithirikkudu’, Gopalakrishna Bharathy’s composition in misra chap. Excerpted from Nandanar Charitam, the mood of the composition, in requesting Nandi to move a bit so that Nandanar could have darshan of Siva, was well portrayed by the sisters.
The concert turned lively with ‘Appa Rama bhakti’, Tyagaraja’s composition in Panthuvarali, Roopakam. Essaying of the raga by Santala as well as niravals and a shower of swaras enhanced its charm.
After a short Devamanohari, Todi, the main raga of the concert, was taken up. Elaboration of the raga was total as Sharmila was followed by Santala to highlight the varied shades of the raga.
The Tyagaraja composition ‘Chesinedella mara chitivo O Rama Rama’ narrates how Rama had acceded to the requests of his devotees and why he refused to listen to the composer. Interestingly, this was the number that the audience enjoyed the most as the rendition was rich in sangatis and niravals at ‘Thyagaraja premavatara’ and swaras were interesting to listen to. The kalapramanam was laudable.
Sunita Harisankar followed the musicians on the violin, giving them excellent support. Tani for the ragas was in right proportion. Kallekkulangara Unnikrishnan’s performance on the mridangam was typical of the brief of a percussionist as he demonstrated how the style of accompanying the song and that for playing the tani had to be different. Faithful was the support by Elamkulam Deepu on the ghatam throughout.
The success of a concert depends to a large extent on the selection of kritis that are mostly familiar to the audience. This concert, however, failed to establish a rapport with the audience in the beginning thanks to compositions such as ‘Re Re’ and ‘Palinthuvo’, which are only occasionally heard in concert stages.
The concert came to a close with a Lalgudi tillana in Revathy after the light number in ragamalika, ‘Chinnam chirukiliye’, Subramania Bharathiyar’s composition in Roopakam.
The concert was held under the aegis of Rasikapriya.
