T he jury is still out on what aspect of Shashank Subramanyam’s flute recital left a lasting impression on the audience. His performance was marked by two temperamentally distinct aspects. There were the moving and meditative vilambit renditions, notably in raga kalyani, and coincidentally, also in Kalyanavasantham. There were also spells set in supersonic speed spread across the performance. Such contrasting dimensions may be a common place in music concerts, vocal or instrumental. But buttressing the case here is the presence of of the celebrated A.K. Palanivel on the thavil. This is in addition to the regular mridangam accompaniment provided by Patri Satishkumar.
There will indeed be those who would dispute the novelty in this performance, insisting and quite rightly that the thavil has featured for decades in other than a nagaswaram concert. To them, the plain answer must be that perceptions among listeners do vary; depending on how different people connect the dots, both during a single performance and across the career span of artists.
The opening varnam was the well-known piece in Thodi. But the compositions that were characteristic of the evening’s overall tenor were ‘Vathapi Ganapatim Bhaje’ and ‘Evarani Nirnayinchedira,’ in Devamrutavarshini. When Shashank was through with a light melody, , the performance was well into the half-time after four compositions.
The much-awaited Ragam Tanam Pallavi was in the 65th melodic scale in the ‘melakarta’ series. It was in this ever-slow exposition of Kalyani that the contrast with the rest of the RTP was quite pronounced. At this stage, Shashank relied on different flutes to bring out the beauty of the base notes. Srikant Venkatraman’s violin was an equally sensitive response.
Shashank wove a nice pallavi around the lines ‘Ni Mahima Koniyada Na Tarama,’ and inevitably, pace overtook proceedings. The ragamalika included Saveri, Varali and Nattakurinji among others.
The percussion treat in adi talam, ‘tisragati,’ was an extended affair, making room for the immaculate improvisations of the thavil and the mridangam. As Shashank wrapped up his recital with a bhajan, it was left to the audience to evaluate the three hours that had gone by.
