Age and experience have lent maturity to the music of Priya Sisters. Their approach to the rendering of ragas and kritis had depth and understanding. After the Thodi varnam and the Ritigowla kriti, ‘Ragaratnamalika,’ ‘Theril Erinaan’ in Kalyani was very lively.
Haripriya’s Bhairavi essay, with depth and vigour, had the ability to touch the emotional core. The Syama Sastri Swarajati ‘Kamakshi’ was sung in an unhurried manner. Had they avoided the kalpanaswaras it would have been even better. M.A. Krishnaswamy on the violin gave effective support. The following ‘Nenarunchinaanu’ in Malavi let them down in the Chittaswaram despite support from the violinist.
The essence of Kamavardhini raga was brought out well by Shanmukhapriya, later joined by Haripriya. Krishnaswamy’s effort was better in this raga. The chosen song was ‘Sivanandakamavardhini.’ After the niraval, the swara korvais were simple but attractive with a bit of fun element added to it. They often changed the ‘kaalam’ within a cycle. The rendition of ‘Ranganayakam’ in Nayaki was charming, rather reminiscent of late vidwan D.K. Jayaraman.
The main item was Mohanam and the interpretation by Haripriya touched the essential aspects of the raga making it indeed quite memorable. Krishnaswamy’s effort was in typical Parur style. Papanasam Sivan’s composition ‘Narayana Divyanamam’ came with the niraval at ‘Marajanakan’ followed by racy swaras. Patri Satish Kumar on the mridangam and Sundar Kumar on the ganjira, presented an electrifying thani.
A clear voice, youthful exuberance and supreme confidence on stage marked the recital of Sriranjani Santhanagopalan . But these same qualities can sometimes become problematic as for instance in dealing with a raga alapana as it did with Chandrajyothi, which she had chosen for RTP. Her voice was so smooth and pliable that sangatis and akaras poured out without a hitch. The essay and tanam were very good indeed, but stretching them beyond a certain limit led to endless repetitions. A little restraint would have made it more enjoyable. M. Rajeev’s technique on the violin had depth and his controlled playing proved an effective foil for Sriranjani’s effort. The pallavi was set to Misra Jati Triputa Tala in Tisra Nadai, with eduppu at four places from Samam. The short ragamalika had Ravichandrika and Suryakantham.The following thani by Ganapathiraman on the mridangam and Tiruchi Murali on the ghatam was quite short.
After the Thodi varnam, the swara component for ‘Karpaga Manohara’ in Malayamarutham was imaginative and vibrant, but still a little too long. The ideas flowed easily in the evocative elaboration of Sahana, prefixing the Navavarana kriti of Muthuswami Dikshitar, ‘Sri Kamalambikayam.’ Why did the tempo become faster in the Charanam? A quick ‘Chalamelara’ in Margahindolam came before the elaborate RTP.
The main item in the concert of Maharajapuram Srinivasan was the RTP in Kharaharapriya, set to Khanda Jati Triputa tala. The alapana was quite decent, though there were hardly any new ideas. Mullaivasal Chandramouli’s violin essays were appealing, but when he moved to faster pace it seemed to go awry. In fact he was good earlier in his effort of Kalyani too. There was azhutham also but absolutely no pause from beginning to end. Before one could take in one prayoga, three others have gone by and it was rather wearisome. In terms of the raga aspect Srinivasan’s handling of the pallavi was more interesting than the alapana. In the swara portion an attractive string of Valaji, Dhanyasi, Kapi and Mohanam was offered. It was a spirited thani by Shertalai Ananthakrishnan on the mridangam and Tiruchi Murali on the ghatam. Total support was provided by them through the recital.
Srinivasan’s sub-main was Kalyani and his exploration of the raga in the middle octave was quite engaging. The kriti ‘Nidhichala Sukhama’ had niraval at ‘Mamatabandana’ and the kalpanaswaras had the stress mainly on the Aarohana of the raga. ‘Guruvayurappan’ in Ritigowla and ‘Chintayami Jagadamba’ in Hindolam with kalpanaswaras for the pallavi were decent. It would be better if Srinivasan could pay attention to the lyrics as well as where to split the words.
