The late Lalgudi Jayaraman’s contribution to classical music was honoured with a vocal concert by his disciple Saketharaman in the capital city. The main attraction of the event was mridangam ‘vidwan’ Umayalpuram Sivaraman whose swift and stylish rhythmic accompaniment stood out throughout the concert. The maestro’s innovative style coupled with accurate laya enhanced the beauty of each kriti.
Saketharaman commenced the concert with a varnam ‘Chalamu Seya’ composed by’ Jayaraman in Valachi raga. The singer’s focus on the details of the composition and the fluency of his rendition deeply embellished the feel of the raga. The chittaswarams in the kriti were also sung with great discipline.
A brief preface describing a melodious Natta raga was tagged to the kriti ‘Rakshamam Sharanagatham’ that comprised of long manodharma swara structures. The singer explored Kalyani in a traditional style bringing out its chaste form in all the phrases. The popular kriti ‘Pankajalochana’ set to misra chapu that followed contained extensive niraval and swara sections. The pacy kriti ‘Sharavanabhava’ in Pashupathipriya composed by Muttiah Bhagavathar was well-received.
The audience marvelled at Umayalpuram’s fast paced beats while he played the muthaipus and the links in the lively kriti set to Adi tala. A vivid and skilled delineation of Kharaharapriya raga had soothing elements embedded at many significant regions of the visthara. Idappally Ajithkumar on the violin played an impressive extempore touching the major nodes of the scale. The main kriti, ‘Rama Ni Yeda’, a Tyagaraja compostion, was soulfully presented with enriching niraval and swaras.
The much-awaited taniavarthanam by Umayalpuram and Guruprasanna on the ganjira was delightful and was a special treat for the rasikas. The clarity and dynamics in the playing style of the ace mridangam artiste enraptured the audience. The ragam thanam pallavi in Hamsanandi gave a unique texture to the post-taniavarthanam session. The groovy ‘Theeratha vilayattu’ in Sindhubhairavi and a lovely Lalgudi Jayaraman thillana in Behag were the numbers that gave a light touch to the concluding phase of the concert.
The concert was organised under the aegis of Swaralaya.
