Youngster Srividhya Sairam who gave a vocal recital under the auspices of Ramakrishnapuram South Indian Society, the other day, during the Purandaradasa-Tyagaraja Music Festival delighted music lovers in her hour-and-a-half concert. The festival was organised in association with the India International Centre. By intelligent selection of songs and structuring of her concert, Srividhya did justice to the title of the festival. It was Purandaradasa’s compositions in the initial phase of her concert, Tyagaraja’s compositions in the middle and then Purandaradasa’s compositions punctuated with ragamallika viruthams that came in for delightful renditions at the end.
Srividhya began her concert with Todi raga Adi taal varnam (Patnam Subraman Iyer’s composition) and sang the varnam in two speeds and introduced a brief swarakalpanas towards the end. She then sang “Jaya Jeya Jeya Janaki Kantha” in raga Nattai. The swarakalpanas that she sang flowed with rich creativity. These two items gave a rather brisk start to her recital. She embarked to take up “Yeke Ninagistu” in raga Pantuvarali for detailed presentation. The improvisation techniques like raga alpana, neraval of the phrase “Saku Ninna Sarasa Sallapvu Beraya” and swarakalpanas that she introduced bore testimony to her creative talent. The vocalist took up Tyagaraja’s “Darini Telusukonti” in raga Suddha Saveri too for a detailed rendition. Apart from singing the song in a delectable manner, she also sang an unhurried raga alpana bringing out its features to the fore. The other Tyagaraja compositions she rendered were “Mokshamu Kalada” in the raga Saramati and “Sobhillu Saptaswara” in the raga Jaganmohini.
The choice of the artiste for the festival was appropriate and the organisations deserve credit for it. Renowned vocalist, late M.L. Vasanthakumari had contributed immensely to propagating the compositions of Purandaradasa. Belonging to the MLV School (Srividhya Sairam is a disciple T.M. Prabavathi who is a disciple of MLV), the artiste did a fine job, particularly while handling Purandaradasa’s songs. Srividhya sang “Innu Dayabarade” in the raga Kalyanavasantham, “Yemanelli Kaanneendhu” in the raga Sivaranjani and the popular “Jagadodharana” (all Purandaradasa’s compositions) in an emotive manner bringing out the lyrical values. Besides, these compositions fitted well in her concluding session. The scintillating ragamallika viruthams in the ragas Hindolam, Hamsanandi and Sivaranjani that she sang before taking up “Yemanelli Kaanneendhu” song did go well and had a telling effect.
