The sixth Remembrance Day and Vaggeyakara Music Festival recently organised by the R K Srikantan Trust saw many musicians regale audiences their vocal and instrumental music concerts over a period of four days.
K. Srilatha, a disciple of R K Srikantan presented a vocal concert with Gayatri Shivani Vishnubhotla on the violin and Sachin Prakash on the mridangam. She opened her concert with the Tyagaraja composition, Intanuchu varnimpa tarama in Gundakriya raga. This was followed by her rendition of Narasimha mamava bhagavan in Arabhi , a composition by Maharaja Swati Tirunal.
During the course of her concert, she covered a composition by Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar — Shankari sadaananda lahari paahi — in raga Malavi, apart from Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Ramanatham bhajeham , in raga Pantuvarali and Purandara Dasa’s Naranaada mele Hari naama jihveyolirabeku in raga Nadanamakriya .
Srilatha concluded her session with Patiki Haratiyare , a Tyagaraja composition in raga Surati .
The vocal stylings of Mahesh Narayan were accompanied by Anand Vishwanthan on the violin and Ranjani Venkatesh on the mridangam.
Narayan began with a Tyagaraja composition, Kanna thandri naapai in raga Devamanohari, before moving on to Dikshitar’s Sri Mathru bhutam trishira girinadham in raga Kannada . With each performance, whether it was Maharaja Swati Tirunal’s Paripalayamam Sri Padmanabha murari in raga Reetigowla, Tyagaraja’s Vachamagocharame in raga Kaikayasi or Enduko Peddala vale buddhineeyavu, Narayan showcased his mastery in this genre. He closed his schedule with Purandara Dasa’s Rama Rama Rama Sita in raga Tilang.
A special mention should be made of the Thaniyavartanam by Anand as well as Ranjani’s exceptional artistry, which only added to the brilliance of this session.
The Music Festival also saw a flute recital by L V Mukund. He was accompanied by C N Chandrasekhar on the violin, Renuka Prasad on the mridangam, A S N Swamy on the kanjari and Bhagayalakshmi Krishna on the morsing, as part of his repertoire.
Mukund began his recital with a rendering of varnam in sree raga and went on to play Namami Vighna Vinayaka, a composition by Krishna Swamy Ayya in raga Hamsadhwani .
His Niravadhi sukhada Nirmala roopa by Tyagaraja in raga Ravichandrika using a regular as well as a larger flute, ushered in a joyous celebratory mood. He continued with two of Tyagaraja’s compositions — Ennallu urake in Shubhapantuvarali raga and Nadopasana in Begada raga . After presenting Lalgudi Jayaraman’s Thillana in raga Revathi, he ended his presentation with a Mangalam .
All in all, the event proved to be a genuine treat to ears of both amateurs and connoisseurs alike.
