The Rasika Ranjana Sabha, Tiruchi, organised the 15 annual L.V. Memorial Music, Dance and Drama festival at its FGN Hall in the city from August 12 to 17.
The inaugural concert was by young Kashyap Mahesh (vocal) who was accompanied by AIR artists, N.C. Madhav on the violin, Salem Srinivasan on the mridangam, Alathur Rajaganesh on the ganjira and Vishnupuram Raghu on the morsing.
Starting with a fast Saveri varnam, he rendered a Dikshitar kriti, ‘Vallaba Nayakasya’ in Begada and followed it up with a melodious composition of Patnam Subramanya Iyer. He ended the concert with Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Srinivasa Thiruvenkatadamudaiyan’ in Hamsanandhi. The supportive artists gave an amazing performance throughout and the thani was absorbing.
Suguna Purushothaman with her daughter Kumudha , gave a mellifluous concert the next day. Suguna, a disciple of stalwarts such as Musiri Subramania Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Prof. Sambamoorthy, commenced with a fast-paced Varnam by Dikshitar in ragam Kannada and went on to deliver more kritis of Dikshitar and Tyagaraja. The accompanying violinist, Hemalatha, delighted the audience with her assertive delivery.
Thanjavur Kumar’s thani was sukham throughout and in tune with this veteran singer, who was known for her expertise in tala prayoga.
Ashok Ramani, grandson of the great composer Papanasam Sivan, presented a vocal concert on the third day. True to his ancestry, he sang ‘Enna Thavam Seidhanai’ in Kapi and ‘Karpagame Kanpaaraai’ in Madhyamavati (both by Papanasam Sivan) for his tukkadas, and rendered them beautifully. Mention should be made about the delectable rendition by violinist Nagai Sriram who stole the show that day.
The temperate mridangam of Ramadoss, a disciple of Palghat Mani Iyer, was superb throughout and his thani stood out.
It was melody throughout in the classic concert of flautist Prapancham Mukyaprana along with Pudukkottai Ambikaprasad on the violin, Koviladi Madhwaprasad on the mridangam and Andhanallur Renganathan on the ghatam. With a Sri raga Varnam the maestro presented a commanding Nattai and an enjoyable Ritigowla.
It was an enjoyable presentation on the violin by Ambika Prasad and the tala vidwans, Madhwaprasad and Renganathan made an impact, although unobstrusive.
The rhythmic and meticulous swaraprayoga and sargam throughout the concert by SikkilGurucharan , along with T.K.V. Ramanujacharyalu (violin) and Sankaranarayanan (mridangam) kept the audience captivated on the concluding day. He presented kritis of Tyagaraja, Papanasam Sivan and Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar.
With his versatility and experience Ramanujacharyalu made the concert heart-warming. The thani by young vidwan Sankaranarayanan was memorable.
The Rasika Ranjana Sabha conducted L.V. Memorial Carnatic music competition for school students. S. Swaminathan, from Chennai, emerged winner.
Suguna Purushothaman, presented the L.V. Memorial award at the inauguration of the music festival. She also gave away a purse to P. Rama Kausalya, founder - Marabu Foundation, and former principal of the Government Music College, Tiruvaiyaru, in recognition to her yeoman service to the promotion of art and culture.
N. Gopalaswamy, director, Dalmia Cements, and vice-president of R.R. Sabha, offered felicitations.
