Bhavan’s Pongal festival featured senior musicians

Senior artistes delighted the rasikas at the Pongal Music Festival hosted by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

The 25th year Pongal Music Festival of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Coimbatore, was celebrated recently with a series of music concerts by eminent artistes. The festival package began with Dr. R. Ganesh ’s recital. Endowed with a quicksilver voice that traverses across the octaves with ease, and steeped in patanthara, Ganesh presented his concert with fascinating variations while rendering the kritis.

CHENNAI: 31/12/2013: Dr. R. Ganesh Vocal concret at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Mini Hall on Tuesday. Photo: V. Ganesan

‘Innum en manam ariyada,’ (Charukesi) with swaras was the first in his package, which was followed by ‘Ganapathiye Karunanidhiye’ (Kharaharapriya). His raga vinyasam of Kalyanavasantham for the kriti, ‘Sri Venkatesam Bhajami’ with prayogas of all possible phrases cleverly varying their pace gave a fantastic colour to the raga exercise. ‘Dinamanivamsa’ (Harikhambodi) with swaras breathed eternal fragrance. The Mohanam exercise for the kriti, ‘Raaraa Rajeeva lochana’ with strands of enchanting sancharas had all the qualities of a well-composed symphony.

Sreenivasa Rao’s seasoned violin play during the solo versions of the ragas and swaras were enjoyable. Ganesh(mridangam) and Sethuraman (ganjira) were in charge of the laya wing playing their roles with complete competence.

Palghat Ramprasad ’s kutcheri on the following day brought forth his vidwat and his sense of proportion in displaying his musical wares. His brisk opening of the ‘Sarasooda’ varnam in Saveri and ‘Paripalayamaam’ (Ritigowla) followed with an enchanting niraval and swaras gave it an added glamour. Begada raga portrait for the kriti, ‘Kadaikkann vaithennai kaanavendaamo’ was expansive. ‘Naadupai’ (Madhyamavati) was elegant in execution and sung with appropriate phrasings and rounds of manodharma. Purvikalyani alapana for the kriti, ‘Meenakshi memudham’ was marked by an uninterrupted flow of mellifluity and perceptive brilliance. Sampath (violin) faithfully followed the vocalist in the raga versions and swara sallies. Ananthakrishnan (mridangam) and Sreejith (ghatam) handled the laya wing with élan and played a lilting tani.

Vasudha Ravi ’s tranquil rendition equalled by her manodharma added finesse to her presentation on the following day. She began with the Saveri varnam in two speeds. ‘Gam Ganapathe’ (Hamsadhwan) with swaras were animated versions. Her raga portraits of Ganamurthi for the kriti, ‘Ganamurthe’ and lathangi for the kriti, ‘Marivere’ with ample lengthy karvais were an exquisite portrait of the ragas.

CHENNAI, 10-12-2013: Vasudha Ravi vocal conert at Sastri Hall in Chennai. Photo: K_V_Srinviasan

Her Brindavanasaranga raga alapana, punctuated by rich raga phrases were refined presentations. It was an amalgam of delicate cadences and her crafted sangathis encapsulated the raga essence for the kriti, ‘Soundararajam bhajeham’ with swaras carrying the requisite azhutham. Sampath (violin) adapted quickly to the variety offered by the vocalist in sangathis and swaras. Ramani (mridangam) and Sreejit (ghatam) provided wholesome support.

The beauty and grandeur of Carnatic music rest on sahithya, sangita and voice. Archana and Samanvi fulfilled expectations on all the three fronts. The duo flagged off their concert with ‘Vanajakshi’ Varnam in Behaag. Vocal balance with good gana naya formed the core of the following kriti, ‘Nandakumara Krishna’ (Darbar) with a lively exchange of swaras. Archana’s raga vinyasam of Vagadeeswari for the kriti, ‘Paramathmudu’ shared later by Samanvi was replete with sancharas. Their combined essay of Brindavana Saranga for the kriti, ‘Soundararajam aashraye’ with swaras was a melodic exploration containing all the nuances, which was proof enough of their potential. Their joint exploration of Sankarabharanam didi justice to the raga.

Vittal Rangan (violin) was at his best in the delineation of the ragas and swara repartees. Nikshit Puttur (mridangam) and Unnikrishnan (ghatam) with their spontaneous rhythmic beats presented a brilliant thani.

Aiswarya Vidhya Raghunath delightred the audience with her evocative voice, tonal quality and raga bhava on the final day of the Pongal Festival.

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 02/01/2013: Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath, performing vocal concert at Sri Thyga Brahma Gana Sabha in Chennai on January 02, 2013. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Her opening ‘Sivaloganathanaikkandu’ (Chenjurutti) bore testimony to her vidwat acquired over the years. ‘Veeranavarabrova’ (Kalyani) with niraval at ‘Syamakrishnasodari’ and swaras showed her consummate command over laya. Begada alapana for the kriti, ‘Kadaikkann vaiththennai’ from the base to the tara sthayi highlighted the scintillating allure of the raga in a variety of sancharas that traversed the scale up to the tara sthayi with ease. Her Kharaharapriya raga delineation for the kriti, ‘Chakkaniraja’ underscored by raga phrases brought out Aiswary’as musical artistry. In sum, her session was a demonstration of the lively facet of carnatic music.

Sreeramkumar’s (violin) supportive role gave impetus to the vocalist’s musical instinct and his solo versions glowed with sancharas. Arun Prakash (mridangam) embellished the kutcheri with his rhytmic beats.

Well-aligned to sruthi, young musicians Rethika Saravankumar, Sreejith Ravi, Sriranjani Ramkumar and students of the Department Of Carnatic Music, PSG Arts College, regaled the audience in the junior slot. They were supported by Sivaramakrishnan, Guruvayurappan and Ganeshan (violin) and K.Mani, M. Ramachandarn (mridangam) and Arumugham (morsing).

On the opening day students of the Bhavan’s School rendered the Pancharatna kritis of Tyagaraja.