Many enjoyable notes

Neyveli Santhanagopalan rendered his favourites.

Neyveli Santhanagopalan Photo : S.R. Raghunathan

Neyveli Santhanagopalan has both the depth of manodharma as well as the ability to bring the meditative aspect into his music.

When he is in his elements, Santhanagopalan is the Virat Kohli of Carnatic music. His concert for the Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha was one such occasion.

Starting with the Abhogi varnam, Santhanagopalan dished out a brisk Janaranjani (‘Pahi Maam’ of Maha Vaidhyanatha Iyer), prefacing the song with a brief alapana. Then came the first of the three major components of the concert – Varamu, a Santhanagopalan favourite. Sivan’s ‘Tunai Purindarul’ in the raga is to Santhanagopalan what ‘Nagumomu’ was to Balamuralikrishna. The first line of the composition embodied the alapana. Noteworthy in the song that followed was the swirling sangatis that the words ‘kamala nabhane’ rode on.

The next offering was a brief Devagandhari, after which came a brilliant Bhairavi. Some gimmickry resulted in loss of flow, but save that, it was an amazing alapana. Dikshithar’s ‘Chintaya Ma Kanda’, once popular in concert halls, but now a waif, was chosen for rendition. Santhanagopalan said he had selected this particular composition for the lines ‘mangalakara mandahasa vadanam’, to suit the mood of ushering in the new year, and so the niraval and swaras were on the line.

Then came the RTP. The Bindumalini alapana and tanam stood out. The pallavi was a line that Santhangopalan had composed as a New Year wish. But the whole effort was marred by the fact that it was too hurried, leaving a sense of incompleteness. So rushed was the rendition that after the niraval, he went straight into ragamalika mode, without bringing in Bindumalini swaras. The Bindumalini notes came after Saama, Kapi and Hamsanandi — two rhythmic rounds each. Such truncated RTPs are regrettably becoming frequent these days, highlighting the perils of short-duration concerts.

He was accompanied by veterans Vittal Ramamurthy (violin) and K.V. Prasad (mridangam). Vittal seemed a bit off-colour — one has heard him play in the past. Prasad, with Udipi Sridhar (ghatam), provided adequate support.