Kutcheri formatting, profound alapanas, inspired rendering of kritis, raga lakshanas, clear diction and grip over talam and layam — all these and more enhanced the concert of Malladi Brothers, Sreeram Prasad and Ravi Kumar.
They were accompanied by S. Varadarajan (violin), Tiruchi Sankaran (mridangam) and Chandra Sekara Sarma (ghatam). There was never a dull moment, from ‘Gopalam Kaustubha Bhooshitam,’ a composition of Muthuswamy Dikshitar in Mohanam set to Rupaka tala, to the the final piece.
One of the indices of a good concert is the fact that one is unable to point out to any one as being the outstanding piece. So it was with the brothers. Whether it was the Thodi alapana of Sreeram Prasad followed by ‘Ninnu Vina’ (Tyagaraja, Adi), with kalpanaswaras at the pallavi; ‘Enta Bhagyamu’ (Saranga, Desadi) or raga Kharaharapriya rendered by Ravi Kumar, followed by ‘Navasiddhi Petraalum’; the expert elaboration of Saveri by Sreeram Prasad with uncommon sancharas — the effect was magical. ‘Durusuka Kripa Joochi’ (Syama Sastri) which followed was well-rendered. The kuraippus in the kalpanaswaras were briskly rendered. Tani avartanam, which lasted for 20 minutes, between Tiruchi Sankaran and Sarma was poetry in rhythm.
Rendering of raga Dwijavanti by Sreeram Prasad was brilliant. He displayed sancharas endowed with deep raga lakshanam. It was followed by Ravi Kumar’s interpretation, which was equally captivating, and rounded off by the totally original treatment characteristic of S. Varadarajan.
This led to a short tanam, to introduce the melodious pallavi in misra jati triputa tala, with a double-beat, to the sahityam, ‘Ananda Natana Pravesa Sabhesam, Sivakami Valleesam.’
It concluded with a charming array of ragamalika swaras, appearing in quick succession.
