The annual Vasanthothsavam held at Sree Seetharamaswamy Temple, Thrissur, was noteworthy for some interesting performances, especially by young artistes.
Shashank Subramanyam’s flute recital on the inaugural day highlighted his virtuosity. Apart from a long bansuri, he employed two shorter ones for effective delineation of ragas. His first number, Tyagaraja’s ‘Manavyalakinchara’ in Nalinakanti, embraced swaras with movements in octaves.
Early on, Shashank established a rapport with the audience by seeking their choice between Ramapriya and Abheri, subsequently playing ‘Korinavaramu’ in Ramapriya. For those who had opted for Abheri, the musician rendered an exhaustive ‘Nagumomu’. He was supported well by violinist Akkarai S Sornalatha, while Kulur Jayachandra Rao on the mridangam and Tripunithura Radhakrishnan contributed in making the percussion enjoyable.
Shashank Subramanyam
The ensuing light numbers were soothing, especially on the bansuri. ‘Pibare Rama rasam’ in Ahir Bhairav, ‘Pavanaja stuti patra’ in Kurinji, ‘Krishna nee begane baro’ and the bhajan ‘Narayana Hari Narayana’ in Yamunakalyani were rendered in quick succession. After a short ‘Venkatachala nilayam’ of Purandaradasa in Sindhubhairavi, the musician concluded with ‘Raghuvamsa sudhambudhi’ in Kathanakuthoohalam.
Sandeep Narayan’s concert proved that melody is indeed his métier. He endeared himself to the audience with innovative sangatis, niravals, swaras and alap. He also proved a stickler for the traditional format. After Patnam Subramania Iyer’s ‘Navaragamalika varnam’, he took up the popular ‘Vathapi Ganapatim’. The alap of Ritigoula was crisp, the composition being ‘Ninnu vitachi’ of Tyagaraja.
Sandeep Narayan
He explained the niceties of raga Niroshta, which eschewed ma and pa . Sandeep took the only kirtana in this pentatonic scale, ‘Raja raja rathite’ of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar’s. After a fast ‘Bantureethi koluveeyavayya Rama’ of Tyagaraja’s in Hamsanadam, Bhairavi was taken for the main number. The musician rendered the Arunachala Kaviyar composition ‘Yaro ivar yaro’ emotively. Vittal Rangan played the tani with élan. Percussion tani by Sai Giridhar on the mridangam and Sunilkumar on the ganjira produced the effect of a percussion ensemble. But it could have been shorter.
Dikshitar’s ‘Mamava Pattabhirama’ in Manirangu was prefixed with a virutham in Ragamalika in which all the dramatis personae of The Ramayana figured. Swathi Thirunal’s popular tillana in Dhanasree and his mangalam ‘Bhujage sayino’ in Yadukulakamboji marked the end of the concert.
Abhishek Raghuram’s penchant for uniform treatment of all compositions was discernible throughout. He began with the ‘Vanajakshi Ninne’, the popular ata tala varnam of Veena Kuppayyar, in Reetigoula. His mature voice captivated the rasikas as he switched to Hamsadwani, the composition being Swathi Thirunal’s ‘Pahi sreepathe’.
Abhishek Raghuram
Abhishek, thereafter, entered into essaying raga Mayamalavagowla to such an extent that the audience mistook it for the main one. Tyagaraja’s ‘Meru samana dheera’ had niraval at ‘galamuna’ followed by copious swaras. The next three compositions belonged to Tyagaraja. ‘Toli ne jesina’ in Suddhabangala was followed by ‘Balamu kulamu’ in Saveri. Though the alap was short, niraval at ‘Rama bhakthi karanamu’ was elaborate and embellished by swaras.
The main raga was Kanada and its delineation was protracted. The composition was ‘Sukhi evaro Rama’. Scaling tharasthayi and staying there for long seemed a test of his lung capacity.
However, attempting tani in the tanam pattern by H N Bhaskar on the violin wasn’t up to the mark. Mridangam by Patri Satish Kumar was noteworthy as were the tonal variations he produced while accompanying the vocalist. Vazhappally Krishnakumar was on the ghatam. Abhishek wound up with the Tulasi bhajan, ‘Sree Ramachandra kripalu’.
Senior-most among the musicians at the festival, Aruna Sairam’s full-throated and high-pitched delivery of around 14 compositions was mostly in praise of varied deities and belonged to different composers. The first number, an invocation of Lord Vigneswara, was ‘Sree vigna rajam bhaje’ of Oothukkadu Venkata Subbaiah in Gambheera Natta. For Lord Siva, ‘Sabapathikku veru daivam’ of Gopalakrishna Bharati in Abhogi was befitting.
Prior to the short alap of Panthuvarali for the composition ‘Ennaganu Rama Bhajana’ of Bhadrachala Ramadas, she explained how Tyagaraja had learned the compositions of the 17th century composer. Roopakam appeared to be her favourite rhythm as the next three kirtanas were based on it. ‘Raghuveera Ranadheera’, Tyagaraja’s composition in Huseni, and ‘Rangapura vihara’ of Dikshitar in Brindavanasaranga were also in praise of Lord Rama. Two short but enchanting numbers – ‘Kana Vendamo’ in Sreeranjini of Papanasam Sivan and ‘Venkataramanane baro’ in Saveri of Purandaradasa preceded the main raga.
Aruna elaborated Todi with all its bewitching shades in her rendition of ‘Thaye Yashoda’. Violin by Vittal Rangan, percussion tani by J Vaidyanathan on the mridangam and P S V Ramani on the ghatam too were splendid. A few numbers in the post-main sequence were a tribute to Lord Krishna. The tillana, ‘Kalinga narthana’ of Oothukkadu in Gambhira natta that described the dance of Lord Krishna on the hood of Kaliya, was fitting. The gathi-bedam and repetitive musical words created a dramatic effect.
Bharat Sundar enthralled the audience with his musical ingenuity by following the conventional format of a concert. He exhibited amazing control of his voice and kept its texture constant throughout. Kothavasal Venkitaramayya’s Adi tala varnam in Saveri was followed by ‘Thelisi Rama’ of Tyagaraja in Poornachnadrika. A short rendition of the rare raga Vasanthabhairavi was enchanting and the composition was Tyagaraja’s ‘Nee daya Rada’.
Bharat Sundar
Sankarabharanam manifested through the composition of Arunachala Kaviyar’s ‘Yaro en annamalai nathan’. A hallmark of Bharat’s is his ability to evoke the mood of the kirtana and he proved this by highlighting ‘Sooradhi sooran’.
The elaboration of Kamas was all-encompassing. ‘Brochevarevarura’ was marked by vivid niraval at ‘Aturamugha’. N Sampath’s dexterity in reproducing the vocalist’s sancharas was praiseworthy.
K M S Mani proved how the percussion tani is an extension of the kirtana. Joined by Kovai Suresh on the ghatam and Bangalore Rajasekhar on the morsing, the tani was entertaining.
It was heartening to listen to the Navarasa sloka rendered in a slow tempo and Ragamalika to which was tagged ‘Ramane bhajithan’ of Papanasam Sivan in Mandu. Bharat concluded his performance with the Hamirkalyani tillana of Muthayya Bhagavathar, after a soothing ‘Krishna nee begane baro’.
Vocal concerts by S Mahathi and Sarath, an instrumental ensemble led by Sukanya Ramgopal and a dance recital by Navya Nair and others were the other programmes.
