Music Acadmey
The morning veena concert of Mudikondan S. N. Ramesh was dignified and delightful. Dignified because he did not indulge in gimmicks to show off his mastery over the instrument, and delightful, because of his choice of kritis.
He began with Muthiah Bhagavatar’s Khamas daru ‘Mathe Malayadhwaja’. Dikshitar’s ‘Siddhi Vinayagam’ in Chamaram and the long chain of swaras were well organised. Ramesh opened with the phrases of Saveri and quickly shifted to Nattakurinji; and then moved on to Dhanyasi.
The sequence continued with Mohanam, Mukhari, Poorvikalyani and Madhyamavati and quickly traced the path back to Saveri. ‘Bhavayami Raghuramam’, the popular Swati Tirunal kriti and a staple at concerts earlier, was revived beautifully.
The ever-melodic Ritigowla essay was segued suitably to Subbaraya Sastri’s ‘Janani Ninnu Vina’. Here, Ramesh’s swaraprasthara ending on ‘sa ni da ma ga ri sa, sa ni pa’ was imaginatively conceived and presented. After a fast ‘Sobillu Sapthaswara’ in ‘Jaganmohini’ (Tyagaraja), Ramesh was all set for a detailed Khambodi. The raga unfolded through alapana and traditional phrases to land on ‘O Rangasayee’ of Tyagaraja. The customary point of interest ‘Bhooloka Vaikuntham’ was elaborated with niraval and swaras. The ragam tanam pallavi in Brindavana Saranga was compact in the wake of limited time. The pallavi was in Adi tala, two kalai, that went as ‘Murguanai Anudinamum Ninai Maname’.
Subdued percussionists were an asset. C. Chaluvaraju on the mridangam and Sukanya Ramgopal on the ghatam played their role with diligence. However, they enjoyed two slots for thani; one after Khambodi and another after the RTP. The concluding piece was a melodious Annamacharya composition set to tune in raga Seshadri (derivative of Dharmavati), a creation of A. Kanyakumari.
G. S.
