From start to finish, Gayathri Venkataraghavan’s concert for Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was of a high standard, without crossing over into the remarkable. While every element was enjoyable, none embedded itself into the listener’s memory.
The evening’s beautiful setting seemed to be attuned to the music. It was a pleasant open-air ambience on the expansive grounds of the Rajaji Vidyashram school. The stage was erected on casuarina stilts, with a brightly decorated set. To the left of the stage was a large screen that showed the concert in progress. So the audience had a double view of the performer s.
It was a ‘full bench concert,’ as Gayathri noted in the course of the event — with violin (Mysore Srikant), mridangam (Ganapthi Raman), ghatam (Krishna Sreeram) and kanjira (Alathur Rajaganesh). And with Gayathri’s resplendent blue sari adding to the sparkle, there was little doubt it would be a nice evening.
Soothing Kalyani
And it was. The central piece was Kalyani (Swati Tirunal’s ‘Pankaja Lochana’) — a good one — but since Kalyani is one of those ragas which has been tried and tested for generations, there is practically very little scope for innovation. Gayathri, indeed, sang it well. After the opening lines, she plunged into the third and final verse (‘Sundaratara rupa’), choosing ‘Vrundavananta’ for niraval and swaras.
But it was the earlier big piece, Sriranjani, that brought forth Gayathri’s mettle. The way she rendered the alapana reminded one of the legendary musician M.S. Subbulakshmi, and her focus was obviously on the aesthetics rather than acrobatics—a very leisurely and relaxing rendition. Srikant followed in her footsteps, producing a slow, briga-less alapana.
Tyagaraja’s ‘Marubalka’ followed in a brisk gait, in notable contrast to the slowness of the alapana, duly bringing in several variations in ‘Ma mano ramana’ in sangatis. The contrast in speeds reflected in the swara too, as the vocalist skipped the slower pace, making a keen listener frown a bit.
The concert had opened with Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Sri Vatapi Ganapathiye’ in Sahana and had segued into a brisk Mayamalavagowla, for Tyagaraja’s ‘Tulasidalamula’, without alapana but with sumptuous swaras. Wedged between Sriranjani and Kalyani was a glacially slow ‘Akhilandeswari’ (Dikshitar, Dwijavanti).
At the end of it all, the one piece that stood out was the short Tamil virutham in ragam Saramati, which Gayathri sang after the organisers allowed her a little extra time beyond the scheduled 8 p.m. close. That, and the final piece, Gopalakrishna Bharati’s Sama composition, ‘Varuvaro varam taruvaro’ was like ice-cream at the end of a satisfying meal.
Ganapathi Raman, a mridangist who belongs to the style that emphasises gentle taps and nudges, ably accompanied Gayathri. He was supported enthusiastically by Sreeram and Rajaganesh, especially during the short thani which was again an enjoyable affair.
