In the Bahula Panchami concert under the auspices of Sri Thyagaraja Seva Samiti T.K. Ramachandran presented himself as one concerned about the sahityas of the compositions of the saint. There was patanthara suddham and a knowledge of the Telugu language. Also he revealed good raga gnana by the way he portrayed the images of the ragas in the first few phrases.
His vibrant voice ensured the maintenance of concert tempo. His exposition was directed to both sangita and sahitya. The interpretation of kirtanas was vigorous, not just a bundle of technique but a deeper understanding of the sentiments.
The imagery of the ragas in his alapana of Kedaragowla (‘Venu Gaana’), Mukhari (‘Entanine’) and Thodi (‘Emi Jesitenemi’) was predominated by chaste sancharas, nothing in excess. These and the other songs ‘Ilalo Pranatharthi’ (Atana), ‘Ninne Nera Nammi Naanura’ (Pantuvarali) and ‘Hechcariga’ (Yadukula Khambodi) ensured solidity to his performance. With great vividness and consistency he placed the ragas and kirtanas. There was every indication of Ramachandran’s commitment to do his best in singing the Tyagaraja kirtanas which seemed to be his inseparable part of music. The noteworthy aspect was the restraint he observed in alapanas and song interpretation.
The accompanists, V.V. Srinivasa Rao (violin) and Shertalai Ananthakrishnan (mridangam) helped to keep the concert standard high. In his thani, Anantakrishnan revealed laya scholarship presenting the korvais with sharp precision.
