Trividya Peetham organised a Carnatic vocal recital by M.J. Daniel at mini-auditorium in the premises of Sunshine Hospitals, Secunderabad recently. Daniel, a student of Raghavachari of Hyderabad Brothers has a decade-long experience. He was accompanied by Kolanka Saikumar on violin, B.Vidyasagar on mridangam and Srikanth on kanjira.
Blessed with a resonant and bold voice, Daniel opened his concert with Navaragamalika varnam Valachi Vachi' of Patnam in Adi talam with the import of Madhurabhakti. The raga raga chain had Kedaram, Sankarabharanam, Kalyani, Begada as Poorvangam and Kambhoji, Yadukula Kambhoji, Bilahari, Mohana and Sriragam as Uttarangam — all melody filled ragas ragas . He presented the varnam in two speeds.
For invocation Daniel's choice was Sri Ganananatham Bhajare' in Eesamanohari of Deekshitar in Roopaka talam that described the traits of Lord Vinayaka, the manasa putra of Goddess Parvati. The lyrical element, with philosophic and divine content was well reflected in his kriti rendition. Ora Joopu' in Kannadagowla that followed was a simple kirtana presentation and his rendition at the line Neerajakshamunu Needasulaku' was well gone through.
Later Daniel treated an Annamacharya kKirtana , Madhava Budhava' in Kalyani set to Khandachapu talam, treated as a sub-main number. In fact his presentation bore all the qualities of a main number with an expansive raga , nereval and swarakalpana . It would have been better if he had chosen a Kalyani composition , as Annamacharya compositions are more a Pada rachana' sans the traditional pallavi, anupallavi and charanam. Daniel delineated raga with ease spread over a couple of octaves with the violinist almost shadowing his alapana of Kalyani adding lustre. He touched the lower octave too well. NerevalSri Venkatachala Sringaramurthy'
Dikshitar's kriti in ragaSourashtra Varalakshmi Bhajareham' that Daniel rendered later was a welcome presentation. It was followed by a special number, swarajati of Shyama Sastry - Kamakshi Amba' in Bhairavi in Misrachapu talam. Violinist Saikumar added his own virtuosity to the raga. The nereval presented at the line Shyamakrishna Sahodari Sivasankari' enriched this sahitya prasthara. The Tani avartanam by percussionists was laudable. Daniel then followed it up with Thyagaraja's Paripalaya' in Reetigowla.
The end numbers included a Ramadasu kirtana Charanamule Nammiti' in Kapi, Smara varam varam' in Misra Bahudari, Pasyati Disi Disi , a Jayadeva Ashtapadi in Sindhu Bharavi and Bhagyadalakshmi' in Madhyamavati. Daniel concluded with a Tillana in Jenjhuriti.
