Words fail to explain the Sri Raga that Bhushany Kalyanaraman brought to life. From beginning to end there was sterling and genuine Sri. That is an index of her vidwath - a rare combination of musical erudition and performing ability. The piece she chose was ‘Naamakusumamula,’ in which Tyagaraja says, “Human birth becomes purposeful only when Lord Rama is placed on the golden pedestal of one’s mind and is worshipped with the flowers of Sivanaama and Ramanaama.” The artist’s emotive and soul-stirring rendering reminded one of her guru GNB. The alapana on the violin by the gifted vidushi Kalyani Shankar was immaculate.
The piece-de-resistance of the morning concert was ‘Nannu Paalimpa’ of the Saint in a celestial Mohanam, which lends itself for extensive elaboration and exploration. She made optimum use of this wide scope. The lively alapana was simply exquisite. Kalyani exposition was also equally charming. The niraval at ‘Karamuna Sara Kothanda’ was the very definition of Mohanam. The graceful swaras were spontaneous. The thani offered by A.S. Ranganathan (mridangam) and Nerkunam Shankar (ganjira) was short and rhythmically sweet. The misra nadai and korvais therein were splendid.
Uniquely structured
Bhushany Kalyanaraman opened her concert with the popular Nattakurinji varnam, followed by a GNB kriti, ‘Varavallabha Ramana’ in a lilting Hamsadhwani. In Lalitha, she presented an enjoyable alapana and Syama Sastri’s masterpiece, ‘Nannubrovu Lalitha.’ The kriti is uniquely structured in Misra Chapu with Pallavi at atheetham. The kalpanaswaras were at the pallavi itself. Achutha Dasar’s immortal piece, ‘Sadaananda Thaandavam’ in
Bahudari came off extremely well.
She also presented ‘Thirumuruga’ in Yaman Kalyani, a composition of her guru, Thanjavur Kalyanaraman, a highly acclaimed senior vocalist and an eminent student of GNB. Bhushany Kalyanaraman concluded her sparkling concert with Pundaradasar’s ‘Jagadodharana’ and the pleasing Brindavani thillana of Kalyanaraman.
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