Among the younger artists today, K. Gayatri’s is one of the most dependable names. Her performance for Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha was a reiteration of that. Tonal appeal emerged in an instant, while her conventionally traditional voice created an environment of sukham.
Striking sancharas, flowing lines, punctuated karvais and curves constituted the contours of her raga alapana. Good tonal control ensured that Gayatri could smoothly switch between madhyama and durita kalas to frame alapana passages.
Gayatri’s instinctive touches guided and regulated her movements in the tara sthayi and were replete with arresting nuances. Her musical upbringing ensured that her music went beyond just entertainment. For her age, the subtle quality of visranti in exposition was commendable.
Rich raga alapana
Two ragas she handled with Carnatic purity were Dharmavathi and Thodi. The flair with which she brought out the images of these two ragas spoke volumes of her prowess and progress.
The visranti aspect was noteworthy in the rendering of songs where she dwelt upon the softness of the sahityas. This could be observed in the way she developed the niraval line, ‘Sarana Jana Aadhaaruni Sarasiruha Netruni’ in the Dharmavathi kriti, ‘Bhajana Seya’ of Mysore Vasudevachar.
Gayatri has to gain experience in the arrangement of kirtanas with difference kalapravas – in a way that a slow-moving song such as the Thodi piece of Subbaraya Sastri, ‘Nannu Brochutaku’ did not cause a drop in the tempo of the recital.
The Dhamavathi kriti and Tyagaraja’s Begada song ‘Nee Pada Pankaja’ were pleasant. The simple beauty of the former and the racy pace of the latter revealed the singer’s sense of confidence and natural ease.
Violin accompanist M. Narmadha was clinical in her solo and measured her professional competence with that of the vocalist. B. Ganapatiram on the mridangam laid bare his skill with gentle decibels.
