Four young musicians -- barely out of their teens -- trained by four accomplished gurus came together for a concert organised by the Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira, recently. Vocalist Bhargavi Venkataram a disciple of T.M. Krishna, violinist Apoorva Krishna trained by Anuradha Sridhar and Srimathi Brahmanandam, mridangam player Akshay Anand, student of S. Kalidas, and ghatam player Ganesh Murthy, a disciple of Sukanya Ramgopal. While concerts are about collective imagination, it was evident that each of them brought their own schools of thought, quite distinctively. The concert, therefore, was a conglomeration of earnestness, strict classicism, and rigour.
True to their grooming, the four confident young musicians performed to a well-attended concert, shouldering their responsibility with courage and conviction. From the varna in raga Todi, “Eranapai” to the piece de resistance, “Enduku Peddalavale” in raga Shankarabharanam, the presentation was impressive. In adherence to the kutcheri format -- between the customary varna, the major kriti, and others -- Bhargavi had meticulously chosen compositions that were both memorable and a test to one’s merit. The compositions that Bhargavi chose came not only in the comfortable aditala and roopaka tala but also in unusual talas like jhampe.
Soon after the much-loved Dikshitar kriti “Shri Mahaganapathi Avatumaam” in raga Gaula, Bhargavi rendered the beautiful Shyama Shastri composition “Sari Evaramma” which one hardly hears in concerts. The composition, embellished with samashti charana, also the dvitiyakshara prasa which is a feature of several of the Trinity compositions is unusual in its approach. The alapane for Poorvikalyani was short and to the point, followed by the profound composition “Gnanamosagarada”. Raga vistara was the plus point of the concert. Whether it was brief exposition of Poorvikalyani, Ranjani or the elaborate Shankarabharana, Bhargavi achieved it with insight and feeling. The neraval and svara prastara, however, in this particular concert seemed shaky and ingenuous, particularly for the Vagadheeshwari kriti “Paramatmudu”.
For a musician of her age, Bhargavi was in total control of the concert. Coming from a family of illustrious musicians and trained by a leading Carnatic vocalist, her perception of this genre of music cannot be faulted. However, Carnatic music (in fact, no Indian art form) can hardly be grasped by sharp perception alone. The nature of the music is so philosophical that a musician in the making has to convert all its graspable external features into tools of exploration and enquiry. Then, the most elusive aspect of music (even to masters), emotion, will get infused naturally. There is no doubt that the talented Bhargavi, who also has a pleasing voice, can attain this in the coming years if she begins to look at her music differently.
Apoorva is an extremely gifted violinist, and an able accompanist. As an accompanist she demonstrates restraint, and her solo portions were unhurried and introspective. Akshay Anand performs beyond his age. The masterly training he has received, his hardwork, his maturity and passion was clear from the way he played his role. He was extraordinary in the tani avartanam, but he could have been a bit softer while accompanying a dulcet voice like Bhargavi’s. Ganesh Murthy was measured, and intuitive. What appeared as the highlight of his performance was its tentative nature, a great quality for a practitioner of Indian classical music.
The concert in total was a treat. It was such a pleasure to listen to these young musicians playing roles that defied their age.
