The Sangita Kalavardhini series held recently at the Fine Arts Society, Chembur, featured the vocal concert of Vignesh Shankaranarayanan. It was here that he presented his debut concert in 2014. He has trained under Vidya Harikrishna.
Vignesh began his concert with a varnam in Sahana and followed it up with a composition in Bahudari on Lord Ganapati. A creditable Lathangi raga alapana for the kriti ‘Venkataramana,’ followed by niraval and kalpanaswaras, showed his manodharma in full swing.
‘Parvathi kumaram’ was the next composition that preceded the main piece in Thodi. A beautiful rendition set to an offbeat Misra chapu, comprehensive raga alapana, imaginative niraval and swaras, good control over brigas and well-handled Graha bhedam were the highlights of this segment. ‘Bhogeendra Sayinam’ was rendered with sensitivity. A thillana in Sindhubhairavi was the end piece.
S.V. Ramachandran on the violin added lustre to the concert and it was heartening to see his affectionate approving nods, especially during the delineation of Lathangi and Thodi ragams. Ramachandran is his violin guru, who accompanied Vignesh during his debut concert in 2014. Vignesh was accompanied by his father, Mumbai Shankaranarayanan on the mridangam, from whom he has imbibed a good sense of rhythm. Kartik Iyer on the ganjira gave excellent percussion supplement. Music vidwans, vidushis, and rasikas comprised the appreciative audience.