Palghat R. Ramprasad, a singer with a resonating voice has resurfaced after a hiatus. And his concert for Nadopasana at P.S. High School Auditorium, showed a lot of promise.
Ramprasad's voice has matured well and his grasp of the musical nuances shows signs of profundity and mellowness. The way he essayed Hamirkalyani and Kiravani through beautiful phrases added credit to his manodharma. Yet one could also feel that Hamirkalyani carried light and shadow while in Kiravani, the articulations were limited mostly to the madhyama sthayi, with fleeting visits to the upper stratums and lower ranges. In fact his voice is powerful and Ramprasad could have lingered a little more on the tara sthayi and also could have used his voice to cover the mantra regions to his advantage.
Involved singing
In Hamirkalyani, Ramprasad chose Subbraya Sastri's ‘Venkatasaila Vihara' with an involved niraval on the charanam. A bright prelude of Nattakurinji illuminated ‘Velavan Thunai Vendum' by Nadopasana Srinivasan. ‘Abhayambika' in Kedaragowla from the treasure chest of Dikshitar was followed by Tyagaraja's ‘Rajuvedala' went on a faster track with niraval at ‘Kaveri Deera' sans swaras.
Kiravani being the central piece, Ramprasad gave special attention to the raga treatise and the choice here was Periasamy Thooran's ‘Punniyam Oru Koti Purinthaeno.' He expanded the line ‘Annai Kamakshi Polae' with swara trails, changing nadais and kuraippu swaras with many permutations and combinations. Usha Rajagopalan's expert violin support added pep to the proceedings. Her raga essays and swara sallies carried depth and agility.
Trichur Narendran followed up the concert with subtle percussion without disturbing the soft and slow genre of the concert.
The opening and build up of the initial parts were done with ‘Jaya Jaya' in Nattai of Purandaradasa and ‘Teilyaleru Rama' in Dhenuka.
A piece of advice to Ramprasad: he recognised the importance of controlling the speed and dwelling on the raga and sahitya bhava of the classical idiom. Nevertheless, only slender lines differentiate techniques. Too much of ‘sowkyam' can dampen the impact. Structuring a concert format and choosing the right pace is imperative.
