A four-day festival celebrating dance and music was dedicated to popularising lesser-heard kritis of Swathi Thirunal.
Moozhikulam Harikrishnan’s recital was well-structured and vibrant. His rendering of ‘Kamajanaka’ (Goula) and subsequent swara passages stressing on the note ri was noteworthy. A detailed alapana of Poorvikalyani was tagged to a rarely heard ‘Panchabhanathanu hara’. Saveri was the main raga for which he rendered the kriti ‘Aanjaneya’. ‘Kalakandi’ (Neelambari) and ‘Saadaramava’ (Surutti) were the concluding pieces. The singer was accompanied by Manjoor Ranjith (violin), M Chandrasekaran Nair (mridangam) and Manjoor Unnikrishnan (ghatam).
With his inimitable and impeccable delivery, Sanjay Subramanian dazzled the audience. His uncanny ability in presenting each raga and kriti with new flavours and textures was evident throughout the concert. He started with Poornachandrika varnam, followed by ‘Devadeva’ (Poorvikalyani).
Sanjay Subramanian
A sketch of Reethigowla was in tandem with the mood of the kriti ‘Paripalayamam’ that followed. The intricate swara patterns with ma and ga, which he weaved for the kriti ‘Kalayami Raghuramam’, was well-accompanied on the violin by S Varadarajan. With absolute control, Sanjay enriched Thodi with some long phrases reminiscent of the Nadaswara bani, and the kriti ‘Sreeramachandra’ was replete with rhythmic and swarakshara poetry.
A fast-paced ‘Maamavajagadeeswara’ (Saraswathy Manohari) decorated with breezy chittaswaram was followed by a detailed alaapana and thanam in Kalyani. A detailed Navaratri kriti ‘Pahimam Sree Vageeswari’ came next. It was followed by Thani. ‘Jaladhi’ (Chalanata), ‘Visweswara’ in ragamalika comprising Sindhubhairavi, Pahadi, Kosalam and ‘Reenamadanutha’ (Behag) were also rendered during the recital. Neyveli Venkatesh on the mridangam and Tripoonithura Radhakrishnan on the ghatam did a good job.
Ramakrishnamoorthy
Ramakrishna Murthy started his concert with Sankarabharanam and followed it up with a brisk ‘Paripalaya Saraseeruha’ (Panthuvarali). The slow-paced ‘Ramaramapahi’ (Devagandhari) was in contrast with the initial kritis. Vittal Rangan did a fine job of accompanying the artiste in ‘Paalaya Madhava’. After an exploration of the raga Huseini, he chose a rarely-heard kriti ‘Sree Ramachandra Parilasa’.
The main raga of the evening was Saveri for which he presented ragam and thanam before the Navarathri kriti ‘Devi Pavane’. He presented niraval for the line ‘Somabimbamadha hara’ and later rendered the line ‘Saamajapungavachaarugathe’ in a variety of rhythmic combinations. The concert ended with ‘Elamarimaan nayane’ in Behag. Paruppally Phalgun was on the mridangam and Anirudh Athreya on the ganjira.
Sreelakshmy Govardhanan danced with élan in a short but sweet Kuchipudi recital. She started by expressing her ecstasy on seeing Lord Padmanabbha for the Anandabhairavi kriti ‘Aandolika Vahane’.
Sreelakshmy presented a Mallari in Gambheeranatta with eloquent jathis for depicting the return of the Lord to the sanctum and followed it with a Sabdam (‘Saraseejakshalu’) depicting Krishna’s pranks. The Hamanandi piece ‘Sankarasreegiri’ was brisk. A Bhojpuri padam ‘Aaye Giridhar’ in Puriyadhanasree was the concluding piece after which she portrayed nursing the Lord to sleep in the Yadukulakamboji piece ‘Bhujagasayino’.
Kottakkal Ranjith Warrier and Nedumpilly Rammohan presented a blend of Carnatic and Kathakali music in their recital. Sopana sangeetham, a mridangam solo and a percussion ensemble conceived by Anoor Anantha Krishna Sarma added variety to the festival.
The event was organised by Nadopasana, Irinjalakuda.
