The three-day Sree Rama Navami Music Festival at Kalpathy, Palakkad, got off to a melodious start with a concert by Rajalakshmi Parameswaran.
She gave listeners a musical treat with her bhava-laden voice and crystal-clear padanthara.
She began the concert with a Tyagaraja kriti, ‘Abhishta Varada Sree Mahaganapathe’ (Hamsadhwani).
Rendered at the right tempo, Dikshitar’s chowka kala kriti ‘Sri Rama Ravikula Bodhi Soma’ (Narayanagowla) was pleasing to the ear. Contours of Mohanam stood out with systematically developed aesthetic sancharas. ‘Dayarani’ (Tyagaraja) and ‘Neekelanayeda’ (Sreenivasa Iyengar) in Devamanohari were well rendered. Panthuvarali was treated with emphasis on the nuances to set off the bhava. The artiste was ably supported by Saraswathi Moorthy (violin) and Ganesan (mridangam).
A vibrant tani of Ganesan, along with his disciple Anirudh, was marked by sobriety in beats and korvais.
Pattabhirama Pandit captured the rasikas attention with his honed voice and immaculate style of delivery.
An elaborate treatment of Yadukula kamboji, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar’s ‘Hecharika garara’ saw lyrical improvisation by the vocalist. ‘Orajupu’ (Kannada gowla) and ‘Anupama gunambudhi’ (Athana) were fitting preludes to Sankarabharanam.
The vocalist was ably supported by Ramanujacharlu (violin) and Sudheendra (mridangam). Ramanujacharlu’s melodious response brought out the delicate nuances of the raga Sankarabharanam. The tani was excellent with some scintillating quick round of laya patterns.
