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Notes of virtuosity
G. JAYAKUMAR
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V. Dakshinamoorthy’s vocal concert and T.H. Subramaniam’s violin recital combined piety and virtuosity.
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Photos: S. Mahinsha
Masterly presentations: T.H. Subramaniam,
V.Dakshinamoorthy, veteran musician and film music director, gave a scintillating Carnatic vocal performance soaked in devotion. The two-hour concert, which included his own compositions, was held as part of the 82nd Jayanti celebrations of the late
N.E.Muthuswamy at Abhedasramam, Thiruvananthapuram. The concert was organised jointly by Adi Sankara Veda Vedanga Samskrita Cooperative Educational Society and Dakshina Bharatha Sangeetha Prachara Sabha.
Dakshinamoorthy started off with ‘Mahaganapathim,’ a varnam in Natta set to Adi tala. He followed it with ‘Saraswathy mam pahi,’ in Saraswathy set to Roopaka tala. This was preceded by a sloka ‘Kallile kalaivani.’
Then, in a voice mellowed with experience, the master composer rendered ‘Himachala sudha’ in Vasantha. Superb breath control at ‘Thumburu narada savithe’ followed by swaras highlighted the master composer’s experience and scholarship. In a deep-throated voice, he chanted ‘Virada saroopaya vilochanaya’ prior to rendering ‘Sree Padmanabham Bhajeham’ in Samudrapriya, set to Roopaka tala.
Breath control
‘Shanmughapriya Sankara’ in Shanmughapriya, set to Misrachappu tala, was yet another instance of breath control. The thaniavarthanam saw Cherthala S. Dinesh on the mridangam and Perumkavu P.L.Sudhir on the ghatom performing dexterously. M.N.Moorthy ably supported on the violin.
Dakshinamoorthy concluded his vocal concert with ‘Anbam en alayathil’ in Varali (Khandachappu), ‘Yogeendranam,’ a Narayaneeyam sloka, and mangalam.
V. Dakshinamoorthy.
But for the poor acoustics, T.H. Subramaniam’s concert would have given the rasikas a wonderful evening of violin recital.
Subramaniam began his solo recital with Kuppuswamy Iyer’s varnam ‘Chalamela’ in Nattakurinji set to Adi tala. He continued it with Vasudeva Acharya’s composition ‘Pranamamyaham’ in Goula.
The major attraction of the day was a Ragam Thanam Pallavi in Todi. After an elaborate raga vistaram, Subramaniam played the ‘tanam num tha num tha’ accompanied by gentle strokes on the mridangam by Trivandrum M.Balasubramaniam. The violinist sang the pallavi ‘Hare Rama Govinda Murare’ before playing it on the violin.
The ragamalika that followed included Ranjini, Abogi, Janaranjini, Nadaranjini, Mararanjini and Sivaranjini.
The playing of Kadanakuthoohalam was noted for its brisk fingering together with bowing technique. The kriti was Pattanam Subramania Iyer’s ‘Raghuvamsa sudha.’ Devoid of gamaka prayogas, it gave the feel of a Western composition.
A chaste Poorvikalyani preceded Tyagaraja’s ‘Njanamo sagarada’ in Roopaka tala, wherein the vilonist portrayed the saint-composer’s kriti absorbingly.
Rhythmic exchanges
The smooth rhythmic exchanges between Thiruvananthapuram M.Balasubramoniam on the mridangam and Anchal Krishna Iyer on the ghatam in the thaniavarthanam were thoroughly appreciated by the audience. Payannur Govinda Prasad’s morsing added lustre to the concert.
The other compositions of the evening included a swarajati of Syama Sastry in Bhairavi, ‘Amba Kamakshi,’ ‘Seetha pathe,’ Khamaj, ‘Chumakke Chumakke Ramachandra’ in raga Misrakappi, ‘Alarsara parithapam’ in Surutti and mangalam.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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