T.M. Krishna gave a heart-warming recital on the occasion. Krishna commenced the concert with ‘Bhakthi Bhiksha Miyyave’ of Tyagaraja, in the raga Sankarabharanam followed by yet another Tyagaraja kriti, ‘Bhuvini Dhasudana’ in Sriranjani. Both the pieces were rendered with distinctive vintage flavour.
A short and sweet alapana of Saveri was followed by the song ‘Muruga Muruga’ of Periyasami Thooran.
The Dikshitar kriti, ‘Anandhaamritakarshini’ was adorned with breath-taking swaraprastharas, eliciting spontaneous applause from the discerning audience.
Skilful presentation
The concert then moved into still higher aesthetics, with the delineation of Kharaharapriya, marked by robust imagination and extraordinary scholarship. Krishna patterned the raga- alapana with such organic skill that it seemed to evolve into the song ‘Janakipathe’ of Papanasam Sivan.
The rendition of the sangatis and swaraprastharas enthralled the audience.
V. L. Kumar on the violin proved quite adequate both in the swaraprasthras of Amritavarshani as well as in the alapana of Kharaharapriya. Thani avarthanam on the mridangam by J.Vaidhyanathan and K.V. Gopalakrishnan on the ganjira was melodious and thoroughly enjoyable, being free from ‘thundering’ effects!
After a viruttam followed by ragamalika in Aahiri, Begada and Hamirkalyani, Krishna sang Narayana Tirtha’s ‘Govarthana Giridhari’ in Durbari Kanada. Thanjavur Chinnaiyah’s Javali ‘Maru Bari’ in Khamas was breezy and the concert ended with a lilting Sindhu Bhairavi song of Swathi Tirunal, ‘Visweswara Dhasanakaro’.
