B. Vijayagopal is a talented flautist, who is able to articulate musical sense with intelligence. In his concert, what stood out were the strong laya base and an orientation to keep things simple to appreciate. There were bright spots in the main song, ‘Ethavunara’ (Kalyani, Tyagaraja) and ‘Muruga Muruga’ (Saveri, Thooran).
Opening briskly with the Hamsadhwani kriti, ‘Mooladhara Murthy’ and the flute favourite, ‘Manavyalakinchara’ (Nalinakanti), the concert, however, slipped into ordinariness during the Sarasangi alapana (‘Neekela Dayaradu,’ Kanda chapu, Mahavaidyanatha Sivan). The choice of Sarasangi after Nalinakanti is a moot question, with the congruence of the most of the notes except the daivatam and the vakra-arohana structure of Nalinakanti, and Vijay struggled to portray Sarasangi’s distinctiveness.
The Kalyani alapana was attractive and was the highlight of the concert. Vijayagopal’s artistic use of the alto type flute in the harmonic lower octave conveyed his sensitivity. Niraval at ‘Sri Garudagu Thyagarajarchita’ had classic phrases in the first speed. V. V. Srinivasa Rao responded well on the violin, and his support was splendid. Skandasubramaniam (mridangam) sustained the sensitive mood of the morning concert. He and Guruprasad (ghatam) played a thani with interesting korvais. Smoother sound production and dynamic intonation on his instrument would lend better justice to Vijayagopal’s musical ideas.
