It was heartening to listen to the Tirumala Brothers, P.B. Shrirangachari and Embar Kasturi, when they commenced with the Khambodi raga, ada tala varnam, at a time when varnams are disappearing in concerts. Their recital was held in memory of violin vidwan Chitoor Apanna Bhagavatar, whose birthday was being celebrated by Carva Trust at Raga Sudha hall, Luz.
The pair, not brothers by birth, have an imposing stage presence. Patnam Subramania Iyer’s ‘Manasu Karuga’ (Hamsadhwani) saw the brothers going into a 10-minute long swaraprasthara that broke the mood set by the varnam.
Embar Kasturi in his alapana of Chakravaham (‘Etula brotuvo teliya’, Tyagaraja) exhibited his fluency by going into the raga’s depth, despite a sore throat.
Young R. Raghul, a disciple of M. Chandrasekaran, displayed his virtuosity on the violin.
The combination of their voices had the power to keep the atmosphere radiant. Tyagaraja’s ‘Kalugunaa pada neeraja seva’ that preceded Kalyani, was in the rare Poornalalita, which was the evening’s main piece.
P.B. Shrirangachari‘s instinct came to the fore with a judicious mix of plain and brikha-oriented phrases. He traversed the upper octaves without displaying the effort physically, which reminded one of Voleti Venkateswarulu.
Raghul’s seasoned approach in his reply must have given a sense of satisfaction to his guru who was a special invitee. Tyagaraja’s ‘Yetavunara’ was once again marked by a 12-minute swara segment that could have been cut short to squeeze in more kritis. The duo’s flawless Telugu diction made the concert a pleasure for the audience.
Guru Raghavendra (mridangam), another youngster blessed with raw power, did well to pep up the kritis. His tani displayed his inventiveness.
