Kudos for her enthusiasm

Given her age, Alamelu Mani has to be lauded for her zest with which she rendered the kritis.

January 10, 2013 04:36 pm | Updated June 10, 2016 05:47 pm IST

Chennai:28/12/12-- Alamelu Mani Vocal concert at SRI KRISHNA GANA SABHA in T.nagar,Chennai.
PHOTO: KARTHIK

Chennai:28/12/12-- Alamelu Mani Vocal concert at SRI KRISHNA GANA SABHA in T.nagar,Chennai. PHOTO: KARTHIK

With a neat Purvikalyani and a Thodi, Alamelu Mani showed where Hariharan, the celebrated ghazal and playback singer— her son — got his music from. Alamelu demonstrated how age cannot wither nor custom stale a music born out of passion. Yes, the voice was low and lacked weight, but the music was rich in manodharma — imagination — which is the quintessential aspect of Carnatic music.

At Sri Krishna Gana Sabha , Beginning her concert with Sivan’s Sowrashtram piece, ‘Sri Ganapatim,’ which she sang well, Alamelu quickly moved on to the first major piece of the concert, the Purvikalyani. The alapana began with a bold ‘ga’ and snaked up and down the ladder of notes in a disciplined gait. It was a neat and leisurely alapana at the end of which came the Nilakantan Sivan’s immortal piece, ‘Ananda Natamaaduvar Thillai.’

This was followed by Dikshitar’s ‘Chetah Sri Balakrishnam’ in Dwijavanti. Here some strain showed in the voice, but on overall rendition was enjoyable.

Then came the Thodi alapana, which was a briga-rich and a wholesome offer. Here mention must be made of Mullaivasal Chandramouli’s essay of the raga on the violin — it was just brilliant. Chandramouli, a disciple of V.V. Subramanian, is fast turning out to be one of the finest violinists of the current times. Syama Sastri’s ‘Ninne Namminanura’ followed the alapana and the rendition was complete with niraval and swaras. One must salute the old lady’s dedication to the art and the enthusiasm with which she performed. B. Sivaraman on the mridangam and Papanasanam Sethuraman on the ganjira supported the vocalist.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.