Kudos to the legendary Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha for organising a series of concerts as ‘Yuva Sangeeth Sammelan,’ where the stage was open for aspiring youngsters to showcase their talents. The venue was Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Mylapore.
The series took off with a remarkable veena recital by Charulatha , who can be described as a child prodigy. The veena is too big for her but that does not deter her from playing the instrument with precision and understanding. Starting her concert with the Gowla kriti ‘Pranamamyaham’ with a limited rounds of swaras, Charulatha moved on to expand Begada. Her gamaka-oriented rendition, the speciality of veena, was explicit in the raga delineation and the composition ‘Anudinamunu’ (Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar) suffixed with an impressive package of swarakalpana.
A stately Kalyani was Charulatha’s choice for a detailed essay and she underscored the subtle and strong nuances of the raga. It was further augmented by Tyagaraja’s ‘Ethavunara.’ Niraval and swaras on ‘Sita gauri’ were imaginatively spread out bringing enticing shades of Kalyani and its range. ‘Raghuvamsa sudha’ in Kathanakuthuhalam (Patnam Subramania Iyer) is a favourite of veena artistes as it provides the artiste immense scope to project not only the lilting features of the kriti but the speciality of veena music. Her smart handling of this colourful kriti was well-appreciated. Switching to a sober note, Charulatha played ‘Bhajare yadunatham’ in Pilu (Sadasiva Brahmendral) and concluded her concert with the lively Revathi raga thillana of Lalgudi Jayaraman.
To accompany an instrument like veena, the mridangam player should have a profound understanding of the sobriety of the instrument. Young Sumedh Ramakrishnan extended subdued percussion support and a crisp thani avartanam.
Deepika and Nandika
Deepika-Nandika Sisters have almost identical vocal range and they blend seamlessly. They performed to competent support from Vishwesh Swaminathan on the violin and Aravind Srikanth on mridangam. The siblings’ major courses were two contrasting ragas — a sedate Varali and an imposing Khambodi. The duo shared the raga expositions with precision. Both ragas were expanded imparting considerable significance to their depth and tenor. In Varali, it was ‘Ne pokada kunte’ (Tyagaraja) with niraval-swara part connected to the signature line ‘Neeraja nayana Sri Tyagarajanutha.’
In Gopalakrishna Bharati’s ‘Tiruvadi charanam’ the sisters opted for swara sallies on ‘Aduthu vantha ennai’ and rounded off with some brisk exchanges. ‘Saravana bhava guhane’ in Kannada (Sivan), ‘Anandamruta’ in Amritavarshini (Muthuswami Dikshitar), ‘Bhavayami Gopala’ in Yamunakalyani (Annamacharya) and a lilting thillana in Bindumalini by their guru Neyveli Santhanagopalan were included. Their concert would gain value if the sisters honed their alapana skill and focus on slow and sruti-aligned phrases instead of moving rapidly with fast-moving akaras or brigas.
Vishwesh Swaminathan etched his raga treatises strongly bringing the imprints of Varali and Khambodi; so were his swift swara sections. Aravind Srikanth was in good control of the rhythm and he presented a brief thani keeping the time factor in mind.
Yoga Advaith Veturi
Yoga Advaith Veturi ’s start with ‘Kanakangi’ Thodi Ata tala varnam was quite promising. It was actually refreshing and immaculate.
‘Sri Mahaganapathim Bhajeham’ (Mysore Jayachamaraja Wodeyar) in the stately Atana added zest to the concert.
Blessed with supple voice, Yoga Advaith gave prominence to two exemplary kritis in his recital. The first one was Purvikalyani alapana followed by ‘Ninnuvinaga mari’ of Syama Sastri and later Bhairavi highlighted with Dikshitar’s gem ‘Balagopala.’
Raga treatises of Purvikalyani and Bhairavi were testimony to the singer’s perspective. His niraval with swaras on ‘Vainika gayaka guruguha’ added spark to the rendition. In general, however, rough edges, were noticed in swarakalpana and niraval, which could be addressed with practice.
‘Vinanasa koni’ of Tyagaraja and a tillana in Niroshta by T.N. Seshagopalan brought the curtain down.
R. Swadisri on the violin was just adequate. She could not perfectly translate her vision into music while Kiran Pai on the mridangam made an impact with his percussion support.
