Seasoned vocalist Maharajapuram Sreenivasan, along with his son and disciple, Ganesh Viswanadhan, enthralled music buffs of Palakkad with their favourite kritis. Sreenivasan’s open throated voice and majestic stage presence were reminiscent of that of his father, Guru Maharajapuram Santhanam.
Ganesh charmed the audience with his briga-laden voice and panache. He seems to have an inclination for kalpanaswara and alapana.
They opened the concert with Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar’s Ada tala varnam ‘Nera Nammithinayya’ in Kanada. This was followed by a brisk Tyagaraja kriti, ‘Abhishta Varada Sree Mahaganapathe’, which was laced with vivacious swaraprasthara.
Swati’s ‘Paripalaya Sarasiruha Lochana’ in Panthuvarali had an intense niraval and interesting swarasancharas at ‘Sree Padmanabha...’. A detailed exposition of Suddhadhanyasi was followed by Purandaradasa’s ‘Narayana’.
The artiste rendered Thanjavur Sankara Iyer's ‘Ranjani mala’, a composition that comprises the ragas Ranjani, Sriranjani, Megha Ranjani and Janaranjani.
Tyagaraja’s ‘Nannu vidachi’ in Ritigowla and ‘Dayarani’ led to Patnam Subramania Iyer’s fast-paced ‘Raghuvamsa Sudhambudhi’. Earnest support by V. Raghuram (violin), N.C. Bharadwaj (mridangam) and Hariharasubrahmaniam (ghatam) made the event noteworthy.
The highlight of the concert was an elaborate treatment of Thodi.
Raghuram's essay on the violin was complementary. A vibrant thani of Bharadwaj and Hariharsubramanian stood out.
On the whole, the concert, organised by The Palghat Fine Arts Society, bore the clear stamp of Santhanam’s wholesome style.
