A recent concert by the renowned Hyderabad Brothers, D. Seshachari and D. Raghavachari, attracted a crowd in Thrissur as they were visiting the town after many decades. The duo proved their musical prowess at the recital notwithstanding certain constraints.
The recital was in connection with the Swathi Thirunal Sangeetotsavam 2015, organised by the Thrissur station of All India Radio. So the concert was devoted to Swati compositions only. Singing from the text in their hands was proof of the unfamiliarity of the musicians with the compositions. At the same time, they were at ease while essaying the ragas, swaraprasthara and niraval.
The pre-main part of the concert entailed only Sanskrit compositions.
Seshachari opened with the most popular Manirangu composition, ‘Jaya Jaya Padmanabha’ in Adi. Raghavachari joined in the charanam. Perfect unison of the two spoke for their long experience in presenting duets. This was followed by ‘Rama Rama Paahi’ in Devagandhari, Roopakam, and ‘Gopinandana’ in Bhushavali, Adi. The three were short but still enjoyable.
A short alapana prefaced ‘Paripahimam’ in Mohanam, Misra chap. Although brief, the intrinsic shades of the raga could be depicted effectively. Niraval swaras were sung by each in turn.
Since Thodi was selected as the pre-main, the musicians attempted only a short elaboration of this sampoorna raga. But the niraval at ‘Sankara vala sasana’ was alluring and extensive. The composition was ‘Pankajaksha tava sevam’ in Roopakam.
Seshachari demonstrated his ability to scale the sthayis with ease while picturising Simhendamadhyamam. While scaling down the mandra sthayi, he could touch the shadja, which is not so common an exercise in Carnatic music. ‘Rama Rama gunaseela’ in Adi was the kriti.
Treatment of Saveri, the main raga, followed. ‘Anjaneya Raghu Ramadutha’ in two-kala Adi was the composition. Dwaram Sathyanayana Rao’s reproduction on the violin was faithful. P. Jayabhaskar on the mridangam, the only percussion accompaniment in the concert, presented a mellowed tani. On the other hand he appeared much disposed towards supporting the vocalists.
The post-main part seemed too dragging thanks to the non-variety of tala. Mainly Malayalam compositions were presented in this part. ‘Tharunee njaan enthu cheyvu’ (Dwijavanthi), the Manipravala composition ‘Alarsara parithapam’ (Suruti) and ‘Panimathi mukhi bale’ (Ahiri) were in Misra chap. ‘Sara maina’ in Behag that followed was the only Telugu composition in the concert. The duo wound up with a thillana in Bhoopalam.
The concert would have been more lively with proper selection of the compositions. Sree Thyagabrahma Sangeetha Sabha collaborated with AIR in organising the festival.
