Mellifluous voice culture

Meghana Moorthy’s pleasing vocal recital in Palakkad was affected by her lack of planning

Meghana Moorthy in concert

Meghana Moorthy’s training in the classical mould and scholarship were visible in her recital in Palakkad. However, despite its sweetness, her voice lacked depth. Absence of a sense of proportion and too much stress on laya weakened the overall impact of an otherwise enjoyable concert.

She began the recital with the Saveri raga varnam Sarasuda of Kottavasal Venkatarama Iyer, followed by Swathi Thirunal’s Deva palaya in Asaveri.

Confident in laya

Her alapana of Reethigowla, adorned with delightful phrases, was succeeded by a superb portrayal of

Janani Ninnuvina , the noted composition of Subbaraya Sastri. Variety of sangatis and vivid swara combinations at the passage ‘Taamasamu seyakane’ in the charanam showcased her admirable knowledge of laya. After a swift

Manavyalakim , a Tyagaraja composition in Nalinakanthi, she took up Sankarabharanam as the main raga of the evening. She painted an elaborate portrait of the raga with well-carved korvais and akaaras. Choosing the Tyagaraja kriti

Endukku peddala , she dwelt at length at the charanam passage ‘Veda sastra’, with an authentic niraval and conceptual swaraprastharas, thus sketching the raga bhava in full.

But she took so much time for this item by indulging in excessive laya techniques, which resulted in less time for RTP. However, within the brief period available, she did well in the alapana and thanam in Sumanesaranjani, a less popular raga, which is equivalent of Sudha Dhanyasi, with pratimadhyama. The pallavi ‘Saamagaana lole rasike Shyamale pahimam’ in Adi tala kanda nada was presented skillfuly. She concluded her concert with Lalgudi Jayaraman’s thillana in Khamas. The number of pieces she rendered was quite less for a three-hour concert, due to her non-judicious planning and execution.

The accompanists imparted tempo to the concert. Young violinist Gokul Alankode, a disciple of Kanyakumari, showed amazing artistry in his raga sketches and swaras. Vijay Natesan, trained by maestro TV Gopalakrishnan, was brilliant on the mridangam. Senior ghatam exponent Kottayam Unnikrishnan proved his mettle as a veteran artiste.

The concert was at Palghat Fine Arts Society, Tharekkad.