Five seasoned musicians presented immaculate music in a three-day event at Mattanchery, Kochi.
A violin-veena duet by Kumaresh and Jayanthi Kumaresh stood out for its musical ingenuity and perfect craftship. After an Ada tala varnam ‘Neranammithi’ in Kanada, the duo played raga Shanmukhapriya. ‘Parvati Nayakane’ had dazzling swaras played with verve and finish. Jayanthi accompanied the fast sancharas played by Kumaresh with precision. The swaras ended in a structured muktayi with a high decibel percussion romp by Jayachandra on the mridangam and Pramath Kiran on the tabla. She played the basal notes with such precision that it was truly a marvel. This was tagged on to Tyagaraja’s ‘Neevera Kuladhana’.
In an instrumental composition in Dharmavati raga, the musicians were seen complementing each other tremendously. In the alaapana, as Kumaresh kept raising the bar every time by posing challenging musical phrases, Jayanthi could be seen accepting each admirably, even filling those small intervals that rose in between.
Apoorva Gokhale and Pallavi Joshi
Apoorva Gokhale and Pallavi Joshi presented Khayal gayaki on the second day. Puriya Dhanashri was the main raga for the evening for vilambit Tilwada taal. For the bandish ‘Sautan Saanjh’, Apoorva’s singing was marked by her clear sharp voice and swift and clear sapat taans. Pallavi offered more variations in her singing with occasional sargams, koot taans and quick forays into the upper octave. The badhat was sung well by the sisters.
For the drut khayal in teentaal, Apoorva explored the gamak taans beautifully. Their Jog exposition in the short bandish ‘Kaise kaise kate din raat yun’ had more variations and bhaav . They wrapped up the concert with a Malkauns piece and ‘Bhavaani Dayaani’ in Bhairavi. Swapnil Bhise had his own space to demonstrate his percussions skills before the main performance as well as in between the pieces, when he thrilled with his brisk bols and rhythmic combinations on the tabla. Siddhesh Bicholkar played the harmonium.
Vijay Siva
Vijay Siva’s concert on the last day was truly representative of his own unique style and also evocative of the music of his guru, the legendary DK Jayaraman, especially in singing sangatis of the kritis in impeccable patanthara as rendered in the Salagabhairavi kriti ‘Padavini’. ‘Sobillu saptaswara’ had vivid swaras that explored Vijay Siva’s amazing range at improvisation.
The vocalist elaborated raga Lalitha with accent on jhanda passages and highlighted the raga swaroopa delectably.
A stirring rendition of Syama Shastri’s ‘Nannu brova Lalitha’ was followed with a niraval on ‘Ninnuvina evarunnaru’.
Vijay’s voice soared in full-throated ease in the high notes for the niraval on ‘Kamalapurasadanam’ in the navavarana kriti ‘Kamalambam Bhajare’ in Kalyani raga. Vijay Siva’s emotive alaapana of the raga explored the lower octave.
NC Bharadwaj on the mridangam shone with his controlled playing. His thani for the Pallavi showcased his professionalism and artistry. Vijay Siva kept the alaapana for Charukesi short and quickly took to the upper octave with brisk sancharas. He sang taanam in full gusto. Melody and rhythm fused to provide a rich musical experience.
The pallavi in tisra triputa was another instance of his grip over the form and it was compact in aesthetics, form and content.
Trivandrum Sampath accompanied on the violin.
The event was organised by Gosri Gana Sabha as part of their Golden Jubilee celebrations.
