When superlatives take to the stage it has to be superb. So was the fusion concert of Jayanthi Kumaresh and Anil Srinivasan. Occupying centre stage and flanked by the percussionists on her left and Anil on her right, Jayanthi looked like a muse in the music universe.
The ‘Parallel Strings’ was an evening of utter harmony as the duo created magic with the piano and veena. They were accompanied by Pramath Kiran (creative percussion) and Trichy Krishna on the ghatam. It was a conversation in melody, a toe-tapping nottuswara where Jayanthi just seemed to run her nimble fingers on the fine strings and pour forth sweetened notes. When she applied the ‘jaaru’ (a slide), it reminded one of the doyen Chittibabu. There was something so lively in her playing that the piano seemed an absolute match. Striking on the finer tones, she took us on a high tide before she brought it to a sudden halt that was really impressive. Anil gave a brilliant interpretation to the veena in his inimitable style. Simhendra Madhyama for elaboration proved to be the right choice; one can see dominant shades of this raga in European folklore and hence made it suitable for both the instruments. The pallavi, Dikshitar’s ‘Kamakshi kamakoti…’ brimmed with beauty and appeal with its gushing brigha explorations by both the artistes. The ‘meetu’ spelt out the nuances in utter clarity under Jayanthi’s expertise. The top octave rishabha was given its due. Though Anil unveiled the raga initially, Jayanthi took over from him and captured the attention of the audience. The tanam was presented in a lovely contrast with the piano sounding lithe and feminine and the veena, bold and strong. It gave us the impression of a symphony of sorts. The neraval and swarakalpana was dialogic and the muktayi on the veena was a marvellous conclusion. The tani avarthana scaling down was not all that impressive.
A thematic, unique piece followed with the ‘Krishna kadamritam’ which was a musical Q&A session between a gopika and lord Krishna , replete with wit and innuendos. The banter goes on in that strain until it gets into eight beautiful compositions, all on Krishna presented by both the artistes in a sawaal-jawab mode. Among these, ‘Kurai ondrum illai’ shone like a pole star. The Lalgudi tillana in Malvi rounded off the eventful evening at the Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha.
Later, a percussion ensemble led by maestro K.V. Prasad gave a brief, but brilliant exposition of the Amrithavarshini set to the complex Sankeerna jati chaapu tala. The graha bhedam in the Hindolam yielding to the Mohana, Shudda Saveri, Shudda Dhanyasi and Madyamavathi were testimony Prasad’s percussion skills. Bhavani Prasad on the veena was eloquent as was Parur Ananthakrishnan on the violin. Krishna Kishore on the pads and Solomon on the keyboard contributed to the fusion element.
