He has lineage, tutelage and age on his side. Namagiripettai S. Gokulakrishnan is the great grandson of the renowned Nagaswaram maestro Namagiripettai Krishnan. His music foundation was laid by Kadayanallur Venkataraman and Mathur Kannan, both outstanding teachers.
For Vipanchee at R.K. Swamy Auditorium, Gokulakrishnan’s rendition of Mohanam stood as a benchmark for his rich repertoire. His expansive alapana covered almost its entire gamut. Some of the pidis were scholarly. The way he developed the raga revealed his skill. K. Ganesh (violin), disciple of Durai Balasubramanian, presented a fine elucidation. The niraval and swaras presented by Gokulakrishnan for Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Narayana Divya Namam’ were creative and the concluding korvai, simple and elegant.
A.V. Manikantan (mridangam), disciple of guru Karaikudi Mani, offered a brief yet graceful thani. Mention should be made about the admirable support given by both the accompanists throughout the concert.
Gokulakrishnan commenced his concert with Jayachamarajendra Wodaiyar’s Atana piece, ‘Sri Mahaganapatim,’ followed by ‘Appane Unaippada’ (Ahir Bhairav) on Lord Muruga. Tyagaraja’s ‘Sambho Mahadeva’ (Pantuvarali) in Rupakam was an instant hit. He rendered the charanam, ‘Parama Dayakara’ with a few original sangatis. Dikshitar’s ‘Pavanathmajam’ (Khanda Chapu) was another composition, which was well rendered by the youngster.
He wound up the recital with ‘En Nenjil Palli Kondavan’ (Kalyani – tisra nadai) composed by Salem Easwar and Swati Tirunal’s Dhanasri tillana.
If Gokulakrishnan hones his skill, he is sure to go places. A highlight of the evening concert was that the legendary M. Balamuralikrishna sat through the entire concert and gave the youngster a pat on his back.
(ramakrishnan.h@gmail.com)
