Exuberant, not loud
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
|
There was no one-upmanship as Krishna and Vijay Siva sang with perfect understanding.
|
PHOTO: M. KARUNAKARAN
IN SYNC: T.M. Krishna and Vijay Siva.
If the title ‘jugalbandi’ had you dreading the din of musical thunderbolts hurled by competing giants, you were in for a disappointment. In the formal, full-fledged recital by Vijay Siva and T.M. Krishna at the Krishna Gana Sabha Yagnaraman July Fest 2009, what descended was saaral, a cool drizzle energised by lightning flashes and cascading torrents of vocal grandeur.
Not that bhava clouded brainwork! Intelligence guided the detailed planning of the presentation to make every musical item stand out in treatment. Accompanists were long-term comrades and collaborators. Even the dress code decreed neatness, the performers clad in hues from rust to cream, a lone blue for contrast.
Vijay Siva’s ability to sprinkle dew drops on familiar fare had him set the tone with the Bhairavi varnam, silk-edged in both speeds, adroitly banked by K. Arun Prakash (mridangam) and B.S. Purushotthaman (kanjira). Krishna took ‘Rama Nannu Brovara’ (Harikhambodi) off the beaten track, where restrained niraval and swara extended the tender mood integrally, no patched-frills anywhere.
The step-by-step build up of mood had Krishna next honing Pantuvarali in a pace leisurely but not slow. He made the simple (sa-da-pa or ga-da-ma) shimmer, matched in subtlety by the violins (R.K. Shriramkumar) exquisite tapering. The piece aptly foreshadowed Vijay Siva’s treatment of ‘Raghuvara,’ where he was joined by his vocal partner in manodharma forays, exuberant without becoming loud.
When bhanis met
What an inspired choice ‘Ranganayakam’ was! And how clever not to sing it in unison, but repeat lines one after the other with fidelity. A Dikshitar composition allowed little licence for variations, instead highlighting differences in tone, temperament and bhani. The mridangam played a key role in anchoring the kriti, shading every phrase with resonance, reverence and ringing sensitivity.
After Nayaki, Vijay Siva’s Bahudari (with ‘Sadanandatandavam’ to follow), despite arresting phrases, at times lacked continuity, Shriramkumar’s bow and string providing the melodic bridges. Krishna’s ‘Vinaradana’ (Devagandhari) heightened expectations. An expansive Todi had the two soloists taut and tuned to mature co-ordination. They painted an organic canvas, each encouraging the other, picking up the others phrases for individual forays, relishing each other’s ideas, and visibly enjoying the teamwork.
It was obvious that Vijay and Krishna were thinking of how best they could actualise the raga, not how best they could show off their own personal skills. It was the kind of jugalbandi experienced when Ravi Shankar and the late Ali Akbar Khan played sitar and sarod together, exploring and finding fresh truths, taking the music forward.
‘Ninne Namminanu’ was rendered by both with every sangati professionally synchronised, but with feeling uppermost. The song became a perfect vehicle for expressing deep bhava, while also encouraging tala intricacies in Syama Sastri’s Mishra Chapu format. The niraval in two speeds was magic. The tricky rhythm currents empowering apparent effortlessness were submerged in the flow. Nor did the singers draw undue attention to their precise timing and canny modulations. Vijay Siva proved himself, as always, a master of precision patanthara, allowing supreme command over manodharma.
The tani revealed a hitherto quiet Purushotthaman coming into his own, while Arun Prakash was sophistication sans showiness, particularly while exploring tisra beats.
Humorous interludes
The launching of a slokam from Krishnakarnamritam brought a change of mood. Humour lit up bhakti as both singers verbally translated a dialogue of hilarious puns before Vijay announced, “Krishna will now play Krishna and I will be the Gopi.”
Their sense of fun as well as musicianship had the pair portray the characters — wilful girl and mischievous God — in a ragamalika exchange (Bilahari, Syama, Vasanta, Kapi, Begada, Anandabhairavi, Punnagavarali, Kharaharapriya, Nagasvaravali, Madhyamavati and Khamas).
Ashtapadi and Tiruppugazh rounded off the concert, leaving the packed hall sated. Here was resplendent music made without compromise or concessions.
While Krishna Gana Sabha deserves appreciation for staging such an engaging event, glitches include avoidable mike imbalances which had the rasikas protesting over the overloud mridangam initially, and affected the quality of the voice levels right through the recital; the faux pas in the introduction announcing the late Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer as T.M. Krishna’s living guru. Also, isn’t it time that the established sabha led the way in allotting suitable space for latecomers to enter without disturbing performers and rasikas?
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
