Tradition called the shots

Shankar Srinivas stuck to the conventional style of presentation

Dr. Shankar Srinivas

A supple voice is Dr. Shankar Srinivas’s advantage. Sticking to tradition, he presented a relaxed and intellectually stimulating concert at Arkay Convention Center, Mylapore, for Madhuradhwani.

All the kritis were well known, except the one in Begada by Sri Bharat Tirth Swamigal, that opened as ‘Subrahmanyam Sada Vande’, with an impressive chittaswaram. The raga alapana of Begada had engaging phrases. He added a colourfully constructed niraval and swaras on the line ‘Bhava beedhi nivaranam’. It turned out to be a well-thought-out inclusion.

Full of bhava

Bhairavi took center stage with Tyagaraja’s ‘Tanayuni Brova’. The raga exposition here was a testimony to vocalist’s preference for bhava-laden passages.

Although he treaded carefully, at times his restless moves came through in his raga essays. In totality, the music was impressive, but the soul was missing. Nevertheless, the vibrant swarakalpana on the pallavi in ‘Tanayuni’ to a great extent bolstered the impact.

The concert began with ‘Ninnukkori’, Mohana varnam, energised by ‘Ennaganu Rama Bhajana’ (Bhadrachala Ramdas) in Pantuvarali with sprightly niraval and swara package on ‘Prema Mira’.

Ritigowla and ‘Guruvayurappane’ (Ambujam Krishna), ‘Maravairi Ramani’ (Tyagaraja) in Nasikabhooshani, ‘Ok Par Choodaka Rada’ (Tyagaraja) in Kalavathi,‘Viharamanasa’ in Kapi were the other significant inclusions. A ragamalika (Dhanyasi, Varali and Khamas) of sloka ‘Kasturi tilakam lalata’ was appended with ‘Karpooram Narumo’ Pasuram in Khamas and ‘Karpagame Kan Paraai’ (Papanasam Sivan) in Madhyamavati were the concluding pieces.

Usha Rajagopalan’s violin showed her expertise, while Melakkaveri Balaji on mridangam also scored a point.

‘Teaching tougher than performing’

He is a doctor by profession and a musician because of his passion. Dr. Shankar Srinivas shares his thoughts about music. Excerpts from an interview.

Does your profession interfere with your passion?

No. On the contrary, music helps me to relax and enables me to handle the various pressures.

Do you think a change in the style of presentation can help to reach out to more people?

I definitely want to reach out to more people and create awareness about Carnatic music. But I do feel that there is scope for a performer to learn, understand and present new ragas, new compositions with a fresh approach within the framework. I feel, explaining certain pieces will help the listeners to have a better idea about the song or raga and enjoy it more. I tried this when I performed a concert in memory of MS Amma.

Memorable moments of your musical career?

I was fortunate to accompany my guru PSN at many concerts. I saw the greatness of my guru and skills of the accompanying artistes, and each performance enhanced my knowledge.

Your thoughts on being a performer and a teacher?

I teach a limited number of students on one-to-one basis. But I feel, teaching is tougher than performing (laughs).