B. Kannan’s concert for Bharat Kalachar featured both lesser-heard and classic ragas. During the Ragam Tanam Pallavi suite in raga Sucharitra, he played a striking tanam, an integral part of veena playing. Apparently, yesteryear vainikas used to present tanam not only during the RTP but also after raga alapanas. Kannan harnessed the tanam to great advantage. It caught one’s attention not only because the RTP suite was couched in Sucharita, the lesser-heard 67th Melakarta raga, but also for the way the raga aesthetics were conveyed through different strings and playing techniques.
Apart from tanam, Kannan’s raga elaboration too was notable. Violinist Bombay V. Anand’s talent in bringing forth the raga’s beauty during his essay was equally impressive.
Kannan’s playing of the Sucharitra pallavi ‘Chandrasekharam bhajeham satgurum Shivam Kamakoti peeta vasam anisam’ (Adi tala) was neat and nuanced though his energy seemed to flag at times.
Percussionists Melakaveri K. Balaji (mridangam), S. Karthick (ghatam) and N. Sundar (tabla and moharsing) came up with a spirited tani. Another main rendition by Kannan was Simhendramadhyamam and the composition chosen was Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Pamarajana palini ’ in praise of the goddess at the Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur.
Kannan began his concert with ‘Pranamamyaham sri gowri sutham’ (Gowla, Mysore Vasudevachar). He embellished it with a few rounds of kalpanaswaras that made for a good warm-up. The other pieces that followed — ‘Sobillu saptaswara’ (Jaganmohini, Tyagaraja) and ‘Janani ninnuvina’ (Ritigowla, Subbaraya Sastri) — raised audience interest. He concluded with ‘Harivarasanam,’ a popular song among Sabarimala devotees.
