Ramanathan, an accomplished saxophonist

He proved his ability to deliver classy, Carnatic music pieces

G. Ramanathan

An elderly connoisseur of Carnatic music believes that playing Carnatic on western instruments is like a circus, where one performs extremely difficult tasks with no purpose other than to show that he can perform them. The gentleman should listen to Gopalakrishnan Ramanathan, a saxophonist.

The reality is that music lies not in the instrument, but in the musician, as a famous Sivaji Ganesan line in the classical Tamil movie, ‘Tillana Mohanambal,’ goes. Son of noted musician and percussionist, T.V. Gopalakrishnan, Ramanathan counts himself as a ‘fifth generation musician.’ Besides his legacy, he has the benefit of tutelage under the the accomplished saxophonist, Kadri Gopalnath. Ramanathan can play also the violin, the mridangam and the ganjira, has been a part of Ilaiyaraja’s troupe and has even scored music for a recent Tamil film, ‘Laali Laali Aararo.’

Musical prowess

At the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Cultural Festival, Ramanathan once again proved his ability to deliver classy Carnatic music on saxophone. His Charukesi stood testimony to his musical prowess. Ramanathan always builds his alapanas with short, clipped phrases; the Charukesi raga sketch was such.

Equal or more praise belongs to the accompanist, V.G. Vighneshwar, on another western instrument — keyboard. Thanks to the instrument being tweaked to be gamaka-capable, the notes flowed continuously.

Tyagaraja’s ‘Adamodigalade’ rang out and it was nice to see the mridangist S. Sathyanarayanan, student of Srimushnam Raja Rao, follow the sangatis. It was nicer to watch Vighneshwar and Sathyanarayanan encourage each other with smiles and nods.

Before the Charukesi, the major element of the concert was Varamu (’Manasuloni,’ Tyagaraja). The raga, unlike its lively sibling, Hindolam, has a touch of pathos.

Indeed, after the melancholy Varamu, a brisk Amrithavarshini (’Ennai nee maravaade’ of Dandapani Desigar) was a nice contrast. The concert ended with Periyasamy Thooran’s ‘Kaliyuga Varadan’ (Brindavana Saranga) and Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Srinivasa’ (Hamsanandhi). Regrettably, it was a niraval-less concert.