A special concert to commemorate the centenary of Ramnad Krishnan was organised recently at Ragasudha Hall, Mylapore, Chennai, under the aegis of Kartik Fine Arts.
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Ramakrishnan Murthy, who performed on the occasion, felt it was an opportunity to showcase all that he imbibed by listening to the stalwart during his growing up years. My gurus Delhi Sunderrajan and R.K. Shriramkumar also introduced me to the stylistic nuances of Ramnad Krishnan’s singing. “The way he visualised ragas and rendered kritis such as ‘Narada Guru Swami’ are valuable learning lessons,” said the artiste.
Wide repertoire
Each song that Ramakrishnan Murthy rendered struck a chord with the rasikas. He began with ‘Bale Balendu’ (Ritigowla) with swaraprastara. A sedate ‘Shankari Neevani’ (Begada) followed rife with sparkling RK touches. A Darbar raga with upper sthayi and mandra sthayi prasthara preluded ‘Narada guru swami.’ Next came an emotion-filled ‘Manasa etulortune’ (Malayamarudam). The vocalist brought out the raga’s beauty with a well-etched alapana. The niraval ‘Dinakara kula bhusani... bhajana chesi’ signified Tyagaraja’s words, “Oh mind, unfailingly sing the praise of Rama, who is the jewel of the human race.”
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The highlight was the Todi RTP ‘Chetasri Ramam chintaye’ (Triputa tala, tisra nadai).
Shriram Kumar’s tanam revelled in a display of specific bowing and fingering techniques. It has always been an elevating experience to listen to this violinist’s raga etchings. Mridangist Arun Prakash essayed an intricate, brief thani in tisra nadai Triputa tala.
The concert ended with the following Ramnad Krishnan masterpieces: a javali ‘Vanipondu’ (Kanada), a ragamalika viruttam ‘Kandugamada kariyai’ (Kannada, Kiravani, Hamir Kalyani and Khamas), ‘Idadupadam’ (Khamas), ‘Kalaya Yeshode’ (Shuddha Sarang) and a thillana (Purnachandrika).