K.N. Ranganatha Sarma’s Ranganatha Sarma’s concert in Thrissur was short, but the 90-minute concert was striking for the ‘soukyam’ it provided. Sarma, known for his virtuosity and a resonant voice, opened with the popular Nattakurinji varnam, ‘Chalamela jesevayya’. The rendition brought out elegantly the features of the musical form composed by Mulaivittu Rangasami Nattuvanar in Adi.
The Begada composition of Dikshitar, ‘Vallabha Nayaka’ in Roopakam revealed how swaras could be coined to form illuminating phrases to highlight the nuances of the raga. Varali was painted colourfully through a short alapana and the composition was ‘Kamakshi Amaba bangaru’ of Syama Sastri in Misra chap. In the invocation to Kamakshi, Sarma added an extra grace to the rendition with a prolonged syllable ‘ni’ with which each charanam ended, that too in tara sthayi.
‘Nikeppundu daya’ is Mysore Sadasiva Rao’s plea to Rama to protect him. The composition in Abhogi was short but the vocalist highlighted the emotive content of the same.
Sankarabharanam, the main raga, had embellishments when Sarma decorated the sampoorna raga with a variety of idioms. ‘Dakshinamoorthe’ of Dikshitar was the composition selected. Idappally Ajith Kumar reproduced the raga faithfully, projecting the nuances rendered by the vocalist in the right measure. The selection seemed a challenge to young mridangam player Sreedev Sreenivas, as the tala was Misra jhamapa. But Sreedev’s pakkam rose to meet expectations. With excellent support from Vellattanjur Sreejith on the ghatam and morsing by Shaiju Kalamandalam, Sreedev performed a good tani. Sarma wound up with the Meera bhajan ‘Hari gun gavat’ in Dipali, leaving the audience is a serene mood.
