Parampara’s Yuva Sangeeth series featured a vocal recital by M. Muthukrishna accompanied by Sayee Rakshith (violin) and Gomathi Shankar (mridangam) at the Ragasudha hall.
Warming up with a sprightly varnam in Nalinakanti (Lalgudi G. Jayaraman), the vocalist presented two kritis, ‘Muladhara Kshetra’ (Mayamalavagowla, Kalladaikurichi E.S. Sankaranarayana Iyer) and a rarely heard ‘Tripurasundari Napai’ (Amruthavarshini, Lalita Dasar), rounding them off with crisp kalpanaswara segments, fluently seconded by the violinist.
A stand-alone Muthuswami Dikshitar kriti ‘Marakoti Koti Lavanya’ (Arabhi) in which the pallavi sangatis factored in appealing vadi-samvadi motifs, held its own in the line-up.
Calming, aptly phrased passages strung around the panchama added sheen to the sound construct of a Varali essay. Smooth bowing and well-rounded gamakas enhanced the panchama-varja prayogas that lent unusual shades to Rakshith’s take on the raga.
The heavyweight Syama Sastri kriti ‘Kamakshi’ embellished with chittaswaram supported kizh kala kalpanaswaras at two eduppus, while the melkala swaras explored avenues for subtlety in the kuraippu.
At this point, the de riguer Tyagaraja kriti surfaced in the form of the lovely ‘Aparadhamula Norva’ (Rasali).
Alive to the composition’s subdued lyrical tone, the vocalist’s rendition was in sync with its emotive aura, in a refreshing departure from the customary ‘this is just a filler’ approach.
Leisurely sancharas
In the main raga Khambodi, the vistara befitting its stature was ushered in through leisurely sancharas and sturdy pidis around the gandhara and dhaivata.
The focus was on savouring, not rushing through, which made all the difference. The use of kampitha gamakas in apt proportion came as a value addition to tara sthayi prayogas. The violinist scored with his anuswara-rich exposition, complemented by fleet, effortlessly gliding passages. In the kriti ‘Rasavilasa’ (Swati Tirunal), the lilting kizh kala swarakalpana, with alternating stopovers at the gandhara in madhya and tara sthayis, steered clear of the predictable.
Gomathi Shankar’s mridangam accompaniment enthused, with his tani avartanam (adi 2-kalai) carrying punch in the tisra gati sollus.
Given that his voice has a pleasing timbre and a comfortable traverse across octaves, Muthukrishna would benefit from working on reach and resonance in the mandra sthayi, which tended to ebb at some points.
