The Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha organised a vocal recital of the Chennai-based Palghat R. Ramprasad recently at the India International Centre auditorium. In a brief concert of about an hour and half, Ramprasad delighted lovers with his musical talents.
That starting a concert with a varnam, in particular an Ata tala varnam, has its own charm came to the fore when Ramprasad began with the famous “Viriboni” varnam in raga Bhairavi and Ata tala. He sang it in two speeds and set the mood for an enjoyable evening. He then embarked on a composition of Anai-Ayya, “Intaparaka” in raga Mayamalavagoula, in a somewhat detailed manner. He took up a phrase from the charanam for neraval. His neraval and subsequent creative swaraprastara were indicative of his depth in manodharma music. Ramprasad then took up Muttuswami Dikshitar’s slow tempo “Akhilandeshwari” in raga Dwijavanti, also for detailed presentation. In his unhurried exposition of the raga he brought its features to the fore. This was followed by a tani avartanam. The early tani avartanam was not without reason. As expected, Ramprasad introduced a short ragam-taanam-pallavi. He presented the pallavi “Venkataramana Sankataharana rangapati Tirupati” in raga Latangi in a slightly complicated Chatusra jati Triputa tala in Khanda nadai. In the alap, he brought out the raga’s essence in stages. The subsequent taanam was melodious and the pallavi executed brilliantly. He finished up with ragamalika swaraprastaras in Malayamarutam, Reetigoula and Behag, apart from the usual Latangi.
Delhi’s VSK Chakrapani on the violin and Kumbakonam N. Padmanabhan on the mridangam provided excellent support. In particular, during the neraval in the earlier stages of the concert, the accompanists embellished the proceedings with their understanding support. While Chakrapani’s takes on Dwijavanti and Latangi were delightful, the tani avartanam of Padmanabhan in Adi tala was enjoyable. Another noteworthy feature here was that the volume of their microphones was perfectly aligned to that of the vocalist, resulting in a fine listening experience.
Palghat R. Ramprasad is the son and disciple of T.R. Rajaram and grandson of the legendary mridangam maestro Palghat Mani Iyer.
In the concert series organised by Gayathri Fine Arts and the Lok Kala Manch earlier, young Raghavendra Prasad, disciple of VSK Chakrapani, gave an impressive violin solo recital. One could see his dedication to the art as well as hard work. One looks forward to seeing this youngster in the role of an accompanying violinist too as this provides ample opportunities for mastering the art form.
