Years of playing for his aunt Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam’s dance programmes has given B. Kannan a distinct advantage in handling ragas and a grip over laya. This was evident in the concert that he presented for ‘Srinivasam Bhajeham,’ a special programme organised to commemorate Mandolin Shrinivas’s birth anniversary by his student Aravind Bhargav.
On the occasion, vidwans M. Chandrasekaran and P.S. Narayanaswamy and actor-director Y.Gee. Mahendra paid tributes to the mandolin maestro..
Kannan’s Simhendramadhyamam (Sumadyuti in Dikshitar school) though brief, created an impact, which was followed by ‘Pamarajana Palini’ (Dikshitar-Rupakam). There were interesting exchanges between Kannan and Shreya Devnath (violin) during kalpanaswaras. N.C. Bharadwaj (mridangam) and S. Krishna (ghatam) gave the necessary fillip to the concert.
Bhairavi alapana
Bhairavi’s essence was offered in a less than two-minute alapana, probably keeping in mind the length of the kriti. It was a speedy yet punctilious rendition of ‘Amba Kamakshi’ (Syama Sastri - Mishra Chapu). Kannan, who is known for his vivadhi raga rendition, did not disappoint his rasikas.
Tyagaraja’s ‘Ganamurthe’ in Ganamurthi came after the Bhairavi piece. The raga rendition had cascading phrases. Kannan’s sahitya meetu (plucking) was expressive.
Kannan chose ‘Gamanasrama’ for Ragam Tanam Pallavi. In the case of this 53rd Melakarta raga, its janya raga Purvikalyani is more popular. He played the raga with the accent on its jiva swaras — gandharam and daivatam without treading into Purvikalyani. Shreya Devnath gave a spirited reply in typical Lalgudi bani. The pallavi ‘Gandhara Roopini Veenavadhini Sruthilaya Swarupini’ set in Adi talam (rettai kalai) was structured in typical Kannan style.
Shreya kept pace with him in the swara phase too. N.C. Bharadwaj’s imaginative playing in the company of S. Krishna in the thani grabbed attention.
