Changampuzha Park in Edapally, Kochi, came alive with a four-day music festival.
Cherthala Ranganatha Sharma opened the fete with his powerful rendering of the ‘Viriboni' varnam in raga Bhairavi. Moving on to the slow-paced ‘Vallabha Nayakasya,' a popular kriti on Lord Ganesha in raga Begada, Sharma went on to the brisk ‘Teliya leru Rama' in raga Dhenuka. The classic Dikshitar kriti ‘Mathangi Sri Raja Rajeshwari' in raga Ramamanohari was noteworthy for it excellent raga vistaram. Edappally Ajith Kumar was brilliant on the violin and supported the vocalist in every aspect.
Masterly rendering
The main piece of the evening was the kriti ‘Mohana Rama' in Mohanam. The masterly rendering of this popular kriti and the tani avarthanam that followed was a display of excellent team work by Y.N. Shantaram and Palakkad Jayakrishnan. One could not help feeling that the Tani was a little too lengthy like the concerts of the seventies, as it took up almost an hour. The Tukkadas that followed failed to create an impact, except for the all-time favorite Purandaradasa kriti ‘Jagadodharana' in Kaapi.
The second day of the festival featured a violin concert by A. Kanyakumari, in the company of Patri Satheesh Kumar (mridangam), Thripunithura Radhakrishnan (ghatam), and Bangalore Rajasekharan (morsing). Violin support was provided by Vittal Ranga, a disciple of Kanyakumari.
She began with a Adi tala varnam ‘Chalamela' in Nattakurinji. Although the timbre of the electrified violin was different, it never hampered the musicality of the concert. But the sound system did. The musicians were forced to take a break during a melodious recital of the Tyagaraja composition ‘Nada tanumanisham' in Chittaranjini.
Percussion support, especially by Patri Satheesh Kumar, enhanced the aesthetics of the concert.
Rendition of ‘Bhavayaami Raghuraamam,' the popular kritii in ragamaalika, was excellent as she stressed on the bhava of the sahithya while playing the kriti. Kanyakumari then announced her next piece – a ragam tanam pallavi set to ‘Nata bhairavi' and she asked the audience: “Do you like Nata Bharavi?” The listeners suggested Kharakarapriya for RTP. The scholarly violinist instantly started the long and prolific ragalaapana in Kharakarapriya.
Her virtuosity in Carnatic music and mastery over the violin made the raga alapana and tanam a memorable experience. It is a rarity to hear such pallavis, where the first part is set to one nadai and the other part to another nadai. It was set to Thisra Jumpa with the first part in Khanda Nadai and the latter in Chathrusra Nadai. This was followed by a detailed swaraprastara. The tani avarthanam was outstanding.
A ragamalika consisting of ragas Revathi, Abhohi, Valachi, Vasantha Bairavi, Mohanam and Hindolam, in praise of Govinda (Govinda Naamavali), was played in three kaalas. She concluded with ‘Harivarasanam' and ‘Mamangam palakuri kondati,' two popular songs of K.J. Yesudas.
New sensation
The third day of the festival presented a new sensation in Carnatic music – Sandeep Narayan. Sandeep closely follows the style of Sanjay Subramaniam. Both of them learned music from Kalkotta Krishnamoorthy. When Krishnamoorthy passed away, Sandeep became a disciple of Sanjay's.
Sandeep began his concert with ‘Mano moahana,' a varnam in Mohanam. ‘Sri Rama,' a Tyagaraja kriti in Narayanagowla, which he sang next, was soaked in devotion. He was given excellent support by Avaneeswaram S.R. Vinu (violin), Nanjil S. Arul (mridangam) and Adhichanellor Anilkumar (ghatam).
‘Kamala charane…,' composed by the maestro G.N.Balasubramaniam (GNB) in Amritha Behag, the raga GNB invented, was skilfully rendered by Sandeep.
The main krithi ‘Enduko daya Ramaa..', a composition of Tyagaraja in Thodi, was also brilliantly sung. The swaraprasthara rendition was remarkable. Sandeep's rendering of the ragam-tanam-pallavi elevated the listeners to new heights of enjoyment. A short tani avarthanam was outstanding. Sandeep extended the pallavi in Ragamalika with ragas Kalyana Vasantham, Behag and Bageshri. He concluded with a Thillana composed by Ponnaiah Pillai in Kaapi.
The fourth and concluding day of the festival featured Baby Sreeram, accompanied by Manjula Rajesh (violin) and her husband, Mavelikara Rajesh (mridangam), and Thripunithura Kannan (ghatam). It was a well balanced concert in all respects. Dr. Baby has many compositions to her credit, including varnams and thillanas.
Baby began with a Swati Tirunal kriti –‘Devadeva Kalayami' in Mayamalavagowla.
‘Eva Sudha,' composed by Kovoor Pancharatna in Sahana, was soulfully sung. It was followed by another Swati Tirunal composition, ‘Mamava Jagadeeswara' in Saraswathi Manohari.
‘Brochevaa,' a composition of Mysore Vasudevachaar in Kamas, was excellently sung by Dr. Baby. It was followed by the main kriti of the day, which was a Tyagaraja composition– ‘Sariyebhuva' set to Khandajathi Jamba Thala. A pleasing tani avarthanam was performed by Rajesh and Kannan.
Dr. Baby wound up the concert with her own thillana in Charukesi, set to Khanda Chappu tala.
The music fete was organised by Edapally Sangeetha Sadas on the occasion of their seventh anniversary celebrations. Eminent ganjira artiste Y.N. Shantharam was honoured during the inaugural function.
