Vocal concert by Malladi Brothers and nagaswaram recital by Nachiyar Koil N.R.P. Ravichandran marked the 13th aradhana celebrations of the late nagaswaram legend, Sheikh Chinnamoulana, held for two days in Tiruchi recently. The aradhana was organised by the Dr. Chinnamoulana Memorial Trust.
Malladi Brothers - Sriramprasad and Ravikumar commenced their concert with a Bhairavi Raga Ata tala varnam with sparkling phrases in the charanam.
This was followed by ‘Ranganatude' in Sourashtra, composed by Thanjavur Ponniah Pillai in praise of Lord Ranganatha, and ‘Etla' by Tyagaraja, a rare piece in raga Vasantha.
The next item was Muthuswami Dikshitar's ‘Sri Ranganatham' followed by Tyagaraja's Ika Kaavalesina' in a not oft-heard raga Palahamsa. The main piece ‘Karunanidhi Ilalo' of Syama Sastri in Thodi was a befitting composition. The duo was accompanied by B. Harikumar and Coimbatore Mohanram. This was followed by a vibrant tani avartanam by the accompanists.
‘Sivanaama Endru' in Kuntalavarali, and ‘Ramachandrudu' of Annamacharya, tuned by their guru Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, were the tail-enders. The tonal quality of Varadarajan on the violin was absorbing and he handled ragas, keerthana and kalpanaswaras with much ease.
Perfect sruti alignment
On the second day, Nachiar koil N.R.P. Ravichandran, was supported by Kudavaasal Sivasubramanian on the nagaswaram and accompanied by Vellore Venkatesan and Udumalpet Manikandan on the thavil.
The sruti alignment among the artists made their concert enjoyable, which began with ‘Saraswathi Namostuthe' in Saraswathi.
Ravichandran continued the concert with ‘Garuda Gamana' in ragam Nagaswaravali. Next he rendered ‘O Rama' in ragam Purvikalyani followed by a bouquet of kritis including ‘Padavini' in Salaka Bhairavi, ‘Marugelara' in Jayantasri, ‘Annapoorne Visalakshi' in Saama, ‘Vande Vaasudevam' in Raga Sri and ‘Saadinchane' in Arabhi.
The main composition was a masterpiece of Muthuswamy Dikshitar's Navavarna kriti ‘Kamalambam Bhajare' in ragam Kalyani, which was aptly chosen for the evening. The raga elaboration was marked by excellent phrases and the kalpanaswaras poured out with ease.
Vellore Venkatesan, the thavil maestro, enthralled the audience. Udumalpet Manikandan, an up and coming artist, matched the genius with his superb outflow of fast sollus. The thani was enjoyable.
Ravichandran concluded the concert with Bharatiar's ‘Chinnanchiru Kiliye,' Sethu Madhava Rao's composition ‘Shanthi Nilava Vendum' and a thiruppugazh.
