It was really gratifying to see three violin duets have been given slots during this season at this sabha. Nagai Muralidharan and Nagai Sriram are accompanying artistes with good credentials and known for their remarkable rapport with many vocalists. They have established a name for themselves in the music circuit. The opportunity to perform a duet was definitely a fillip to their morale.
The compositions and ragas chosen by them were pointers to their knowledge on concert dynamics. Tyagaraja’s less exploited beautiful Nattai kriti, ‘Ninne Bhajana,’ was their first offering. The song has a unique stamp and appeal of the raga, which the pallavi line unveils. The Nagai Brothers’ rendering was lively and they also embellished it with interesting swara sallies.
In addition, the other three Tyagaraja numbers were ‘Emanadichevo’ in Sahana, ‘Ne Pogada’ in Varali and the main, ‘Evari Mata,’ in Khambodi.
Varali, which was usually rendered in a slightly sombre style, took on a brisk form here, especially in the swara section. One saw the vivacity of Varali, as it shone at a fast pace too. Khambodi alapana was done by Muralidharan with studious, strong phrases. Sriram participated actively in the niraval and swaras on ‘Bakta Paradeenuda’.
The RTP section nowadays invariably goes in favour of an exotic raga, in this case it was Neethimathi. The raga detailing was shared by the siblings. Sriram’s raga arcs here were so exquisite though he had just a little space. The pallavi in kanda triputa utilised the Melaraga kriti of Koteswara Iyer’s ‘Mohanakara Muthukumara’.
‘Muruga Muruga’ in Saveri (Thooran) and ‘Tyagaraja Yoga’ in Anandhabhairavi (Dikshitar) were also on their main agenda.
The Nagai Brothers had the advantage of the best percussion support from Srimushnam V. Raja Rao (mridangam) and Alathur T. Rajaganesh (ganjira). The ‘tani’ was musical rather than just a continuum of varying percussion beats.
