A concert on double violin by Neyveli S. Radhakrishna at Kalai Kaviri College of Fine Arts here kept the fine arts students of the college spell-bound throughout the two-hour performance.
Students were exposed to the nuances of the double violin and it is Mr. Radhakrishna who has set a trend in Carnatic music by introducing the instrument. The instrument, called as stereoscopic double violin, contained two components and he was at ease handling the left or right violin according to the need and speed of notes.
“It requires a constant arduous and attentive practice. The instrument is an amalgamation of violin, viola, cello and contrabass,” he said. The special feature of the instrument is that the beats remain constant and steady, the range of ‘keerthan’ varies,” he said.
He commenced the concert with ‘varnam’ in Mohana ragam which was followed by Saint Thyagaraja keerthanas (Thulasi Dhalamulache in Mayamaulagaula ragam and sobilla sapthaswara in Jaganmohini ragam) and Kabali in Mohana ragam. The concert came to an end with ‘thillana’ composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman. He ensured that the Carnatic character of the instrument was not diluted on any account. When one of the students wanted him to play on ‘thillang’, he said it was more of Hindustani mode. “I want to strictly adhere to Carnatic music,” he said politely.
He was accompanied by S.T. Moorthy on the mridangam and Thenkasi H. Paramasaivam on the kanjira.
P. Natarajan, Principal of the College, said that the concert was organised to motivate the fine arts students towards the nuances of the innovative instrument introduced by Mr. Radhakrishna who is the ‘asthana vidwan’ of Kamakotti Peetam in Kancheepuram.
