Bharat Sundar gave a rousing start to his concert with a sprightly varnam in Sriragam. Without a pause, he brought in raga Harikhambodi, with elaboration in the madhya and tara sthayis (to go with the kriti that he was to sing – Tyagaraja’s ‘Entarani’ in a brisk two-beat Adi). He sang both charanams of the song and dwelt on ‘Seshudu Sivuniki’ for niraval and manodharma swara-vistaranam.
The occasional long pauses at a note were effective in both enhancing the richness of the raga and giving Sumesh S. Narayanan a chance to play the sarvalaghu and other phrases on his mridangam, to keep the continuity in laya. The interposing of Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s ‘Jambupate’ in Yamunakalyani, Misra Chapu, was a judicious decision, giving a touch of solemnity to the proceedings (at half-time). Tiruvanantapuram Sampath’s accompaniment was rich in melody. After a short piece ‘Kannan Maaligaiku,’ Bharat presented the RTP.
An inspiring alapana in Thodi, which flagged off this phase, provided a grand entry to it. There were several memorable sancharas displayed by the singer and the violinist. The violin was in sync with the voice, at mandhara and madhya sthayis. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The tanam was mostly restricted to the mandhara region. The well-planned and elaborate pallavi left little leeway for development of tanam. Pallavi was in Adi talam set to misra gati. Its execution by all the three artists demonstrated commendable artistry. The perfect rapport among them was a picture of dedicated work of art. A pallavi, or concert, for that matter, cannot really soar unless there is this perfect anticipation on everyone’s part. The sahityam was on the lines of ‘Pazhamudir Cholai Tirupadam, Tiruchelvam Pazhanimalai Vela’. The tani avartanam was well-devised and the execution, neat. However, the pallavi appeared to be overstretched and repetitive, fuelled by a penchant for glamour. On the whole an enjoyable fare.
