The 29th Navarathri Sangeetholsavam at Sree Erinjeri Karthyayani Temple, Thrissur, opened with a vocal concert by Bangalore G. Ravikiran . He began with ‘Sarasuda,’ a pleasant varnam in Saveri and moved on to ‘Vallabha Nayakasya’ of Dikshitar (Begada-Roopakam). After the kriti ‘Chalamelara’ (Margahindolam-Adi- Tygaraja) he gave a good sketch of Poorvikalyani and followed it with ‘Ninnuvinagamari,’ a Vilomachappu composition of Syama Sastri. Next was ‘Sarasasamadana’ (Kapinarayani-Adi- Tyagaraja) before he took up the grand ‘Evarimata’ in Kamboji. Violinist T.H. Subrahmanyam gave good support to the vocalist and came into his own in the raga delineations of Poorvikalyani and Kamboji. Alappuzha G. Chandrasekharan Nair (mridangam) and Mangad Pramod (ghatam) accompanied.
On the second day
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The concert was energetic with Edappally Ajithkumar matching the vocalist on the violin and an entertaining tani by K. Jayakrishnan (mridangam), Vellattanjur Sreejith (ghatam) and Kalamandalam Shaiju (morsing).
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Accompanists Killikkurissimangalam Ramesh (violin), Pungad Sanoj (mridangam) and Thripunithura Kannan (ghatam) did well.
On the fourth day Suma Pisharoti took to the stage. She began with the Sahana varnam. The main item was ‘Bhajare re’ (Kalyani-Thriputa-Dikshitar) with a good raga delineation and niraval-swaram at ‘Deveem saktheem.’
She was well supported by Syam Kalyan (violin), N. Nagaraj (mridangam) and Vellinezhi Satheesh (ghatam). Her selection of compositions had variety.
Ritwik Raja opened the fifth day with the Kamboji Ata tala varnam. He took up Thodi as the main raga of the evening. The composition was ‘Kamakshi Kanjadalayadakshi’ and he did justice to it.
He was accompanied by Paravur Ananthakrishnan (violin), N. C. Bharadwaj (mridangam) and Udupi Sreekanth (ganjira).
Vignesh Eswar gave an energetic concert on the sixth day. Beginning with a varnam, he essayed a good sketch of Athana and ‘Sreekumaranagaralaye’ (Swati) followed.
He took up the weighty Bhairavi Swarajathi, ‘Kamakshi Amba’ of Syama Sastri with perfect kalapramana, thus showcasing his knowledge. He wasin the company of Trichy N.C. Madhav (violin), Thrissur Jayaram (mridangam) and Manjur Unnikrishnan (ghatam).
Vani Ramamurthi’s rendered Mathe Malayadhaja,’ the daruvarnam of Muthaiah Bhagavathar in Kamas, Adi, as the first composition of her recital. She then presented a good Kalyani ( ‘Bhajare re’) with niraval and swaram at ‘Deveem saktheem’, following it with a well-etched RTP ‘Tharakabrahmaroopini’ in Kappi.
Vayala Rajendran (violin), Balakrishna Kammath (mridangam) and Elamkulam Dipu (ghatam) were the accompanists.
On the eight day Aiswarya Vidya Reghunath gave a brilliant concert accompanied by Thiruvizha Viju S Anand (violin), Palakkad Maheshkumar (mridangam), Thrikkakkara Y. N.Santharam (ganjira) and Payyannur Govindaprasad (morsing). After a varnam she went on to sing ‘Saraseeruhasanapriye’ (Natta-Adi- Puliyur Doraiswami Iyer) and ‘Ninnuvinamarigalada’ (Reethigoula-Adi thisranada-Syama Sastri) prefixing a good raga exposition and suffixing niraval and swaram at ‘Syamakrishnanutha.’ Exploring the nuances of Varali, she presented ‘Mamava Meenakshi’ of Dikshithar with niraval at ‘Madhuravani’ and swaram at ‘Varaliveni.’
Abhiram Unni engaged the ninth evening with an interestingconcert. He started off with the padavarnam ‘Amba Gowri’ (Arabhi-Thriputa- Irayimman Thampi). After a beautiful Neelambari (Anandavalli-Adi-Swati) he gave a good portrayal of Shanmukhapriya, following it with ‘Mamavakarunayya’(Chappu-Swati) with niraval and swaram at ‘Kamitha danalola.’
A serene ‘Sreevalii Devasenapathe’ (Natabhairavi-Adi- Sivan) was followed by an enchanting Kamboji raga delineation for ‘Evarimata’ with niraval and swaram at ‘Bhakthaparayana.’ Trivandrum Sampath (violin) gave able support and his versions of Shanmukhapriya and Kambhoji were noteworthy.
Vatakara Anilkumar (mridangam) and Vazhappily Krishnakumar (ghatam) provided excellent support throughout the concert.
On the tenth day, Sikkil Gurucharan gave a sterling performance.
Starting with a quick rendition of ‘Chalamela’ varnam in Raga Nattakurinji), Gurucharan went on to ‘Ninnuvina marigalada’ (Reethigowla- Roopakam-Shyama Sastri) and ‘Baramma,’ a beautiful GNB composition in raga Hamsanadam. The opening virutham and Dikshitar kriti on the goddess, ‘Sri Saraswathi Namosthuthe’ (Arabhi) were appropriate to the Navaratri season. In fact, Gurucharan’s recital consisted solely of Devi kritis. ‘Pahimam Brihannayaki’ (Huseni-Roopakam- Swati Tirunal) was embellished with a variety of improvisations. A grand and elaborate alapanam preceded the main kriti in Sankarabharanam. Phrase by phrase, the artiste built up a grand edifice of this melakartha raga. T.H. Subrahmanyam played an excellent alapanam on the violin. Niraval and manodharma swaras were presented at the phrase, ‘Samaganavinodini.’ Gurucharan varied the pace and rhythm of his presentation of this composition, thus enlivening it. Palladam Ravi (mridangam) and Udupi Sreedhar (ghatam) gave able rhythmic support.
Moozhikulam Harikrishnan , singing on the 11th and final day of the festival, began his recital with ‘Viriboni,’ Ada tala varnam in Bhairavi.
‘Rakthaganapathim,’ a Dikshitar kriti in raga Mohanam, set to Adi tala had innovative swaraprastharas. ‘Akhilandeswari’, the famous composition in raga Dwijavanthi, paid tribute to the Goddess. ‘Sankari Neevay’ (Begada-Roopakam- Subbaraya Shastri) was remarkable for a brilliant violin preface by Manjoor Ranjith. Harikrishnan did justice to the raga with his swara patterns. ‘Kanathandrinapai’ in raga Devamanohari (Adi- Tyagaraja) was presented with verve. The rapid flow of swaras sometimes impaired the beauty of the raga. An elaborate and scholarly alapanam of Ramapriya gave the audience a faithful portrait of this 52nd melakartha raga. The ragavistharam was followed by tanam and the pallavi. He enhanced the beauty of the main raga by making forays into ragamalika. Taniavartanam was marked by a spirited performance on the mridangam by Cherthala Krishnakumar, countered by Alappuzha G. Manoharan on the ghatam. The recital ended with the popular ‘Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma’ in Madhyamavati.