To pay tributes to legendary composer Saint Tyagaraja, the Delhi Muthamizh Peravai had organized a Carnatic music concert of the Chennai-based vocalist S. Mahathi recently at the Capital’s Sri Vaikuntanathji Mandir complex. It was a brief concert of about an hour only.
Mahathi started off her concert impressively with a Tyagaraja’s composition “Ninne bhajana” in raga Natta. The creatively crafted kalpanaswaras towards the end added lustre to this item and enlivened her recital. The other two compositions of the saint composer which Mahathi took up in her recital were “Sobillu saptaswara” in raga Jaganmohini and “Nagumomu kanaleni” in raga Abheri. The latter composition came in for a detailed rendition. The scintillating alapana of the raga Abheri and the kalpanaswaras for both the compositions brought her creative talents to the fore.
Mahathi also sang Muthuswami Dikshitar’s “Ranganayakam bhavaye” in raga Nayaki to a riveting rhythm and in a delightful manner. Mahathi concluded her recital with a thillana of late Dr. Balamuralikrishna. Nereval, yet another improvisation technique, was conspicuous in its absence in Mahathi’s recital.
Chennai-based V.V.S. Murari on the violin and Sai Giridhar on the mridangam along with the Delhi-based Mannai Kannan on the ghatam provided good support.
Mahathi could have taken up a few more compositions of Tyagaraja, including those on Lord Ranganatha. A rich repertoire, perhaps, would have been handy under the circumstances.
Elsewhere, the Carnatic music related workshop of the popular Chennai-based artiste Neyveli R. Santhanagopalan, jointly conducted by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and the Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, was enlightening both to students of Carnatic music as well as music lovers.
In the first segment of the workshop, Santhanagopalan taught two rare varnams (Tiger Varadachari’s “Karunai Kadale” in raga Kalyani and Thanjai Ponnaiya Pillai’s “Pantamela nasami” in raga Anandhabhairavi, both set to Adi taal). Given the limited time at his disposal, Santhanagopalan did justice while teaching these varnams, despite doing them in a hurried manner. Later, Santhanagopalan took up the subject of allied ragas and demonstrated sets of such ragas both theoretically and practically.
By making the segment an interactive session, he made it a rewarding experience to the audience.
