That age and experience count in a performance was on display in an impressive vocal concert of senior artiste V.V.B. Sankaram. A ripe mind can feel the intricate inner shades of expression better and it helps the artiste articulate subtle and soft emotive claim of the compositions in a touching manner. So it was with Sankaram’s rendition. Born and brought up in an ambience of Bhajan Sampradaya, his rendition exudes a sense of deep devotional fervour which forms the core of the classical krithis. This sense of involvement with devotional passion makes his performance remarkable, letting music lovers enjoy his presentation in an attentive mood.
The concise and compact raga essays and swara sorties in his presentation stood out wafting raga bhava in coalescence with sahitya bhava in full measure. The concert got off to a good start with Valachi vachhi , a Navaragamalika varnam of Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer. He sang an array of compositions of different composers displaying varied moods expression and the in away that speaks of his ability to carry the audience along with him. His presentation of Ragasudha rasa of Thyagaraja in raga Andolika evoked warm response.
The yearning of a devotee for the realization of self through music in its divine nature that liberated the seeker from worldly moorings found lilting expression in his singing. His choice for the elaboration was raga Todi, the star item of the concert for Ambanadu of Shyama Sastry. Replete with devotional vibes this brought out its lyrical and musical import in good measure. Earlier, passionate rendition of raga Panthuvarali for Apparama Bhakthi of Thyagaraja served as the launching pad for the main piece. Maha Ganapathim of Dikshitar in Nata, Tappulanniyu of Muttayya Bhagavatar in raga Bowli, Pahimam Sri Rajajeswari of Ramaswami Sivan in Janaranjani, Deva Deva of Annamayya in raga Asaveri were other notables in the concert.
KVS Prasad on violin and Varanasi S Jayadeep Sarma on mridangam lent good support. Sangeetha Janakulam hosted it in its monthly schedule on the premises of Raghavendra Swamy temple Visakhapatnam.
