Sri Vijaya Thyagaraja Sangeeta Sabha, the oldest sabha in the city, hosted a vocal concert of young Y. Ramanababu on the premises of Sankara Matham in Visakhapatnam. A product of DVN Kalakshetra in the city, he learnt the rudiments of classical music from Chinna and later honed his skills under MSN Murthy. Endowed with a sturdy voice that can traverse in chosen octave with ease, he presented a full-throated concert.
With a good grip over the upper octave, he sang on a brisk note but was not found wanting in defining moments. The spirited rendition saw him portray a variety of ragas such as Goula, Nagaswaravali and Lathangi. His exuberance stood well-matched with good clarity and attention to details in krithi rendition and tempo variations that enriched its appeal. The timber and tenor of his tone is such that it moves without any fluctuation.
He opened the concert with Karunimpa a varnam in raga Sahana and then proceeded to pick up Mahaganapathi Ravathumam of Muttuswamy Dikshitar in raga Goula. A short raga essay that preceded the krithi rendition elevated it. He then went for Ramaneevegaani of Thyagaraja in raga Narayani.
After this came Garudagamana again of Thyagaraja in raga Nagaswaravali. He opened this piece with good alaapana that ushered in the krithi in an appealing way. The swarakalpana part was deftly handled. Before he proceeded to choose raga Lathangi the submain of the concert, he sang Srivalli Devasenapathe of Papanasam Sivan in raga Natabhairavi.
The Krithi for raga Lathangi was Mariveredikkevvaru of Pooch Srinivasa Iyengar. The raga part, neraval at the line ‘ Dharalona neevanti ’ and swarakalpana made it noteworthy in the session. His choice for the mainstay was raga Karaharapriya for Chakkani Rajamargamu of Thyagaraja. He began this piece with a striking raga treatise of no mean standard for he beautified the phrases with a sprinkle of nuances wherever required. The way he rendered the krithi was notable for its clarity of expression bringing out Sahitya bhava. Fluent neraval and nifty swara sortie testified his art of skilful presentation. He capped the concert with ‘Marubari talalenura’, a vibrant Javali in raga Khamaz.
Earlier, NVSL Prasanna, a promising artiste, sang a few numbers well. Her fare included Mahaganapathim in Nata, Vasudevayani in Kalyani and a tillana in Dhanasri
H Ramacharan on violin, M Venkat Rao and TN Chaitanya on mridangam lent good support for these concerts. Dr Perala Bala Murali Krishna anchored the event well.
