A highlight of Shruti S Bhat’s vocal recital at Palakkad was the beautiful exposition of Reethigowla and the short RTP towards the end. The singer started off with the Swathi Thirunal varnam ‘Chalamela’ in Sankarabharanam set to Ada tala, succeeded by Dikshitar’s ‘Ramachandram Bhavayami’ in Vasantha. The elegant alapana of Reethigowla, developed stage by stage, was shaped in the classical mould.
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The raga swaroopa emanated clearly in the delightful sangathis, and the manodharma swaras in ‘Cheraravathe’, a kriti of Tyagaraja, were full of verve. The swarajathi, ‘Kamakshi’, a chowka kala kriti of Shyama Sastri in Yadukulakamboji , not a popular one though, did not carry much impact. However, the next item, ‘Nenarunchara’, again a Tyagaraja composition in the rare raga Simhavahini, revived the tempo.
The elucidation of the main raga, Madhyamavathi, interspersed with elaborate sancharas, was a good effort, though a few off-beat phrases crept in between and the raga bhava was not given due prominence. Syama Sastri’s magnum opus ‘Palinchu Kamakshi’ was the chosen composition, wherein the niraval was too brief, but the swaraprastharas were comprehensive.
The thaniavartanam at this stage by N Anirudh Raj (mridangam) and Bijay Sankar (ghatam) was prolonged, though both exhibited their talent abundantly. Their support during the kriti renditions was also appreciable. Due to time constraints, Shruti presented a short but sweet version of Varali for RTP.
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The thanam was brief but the vocalist did justice to the pallavi ‘Vara Thyagaraja Deekshita Shyama Varade Varaleeyave, Varaali Veni’ in praise of the trinity, which was abundant with pleasing lyrics and was rendered authentically, with ingenious sangathis. The swaras in Kuntalavarali, Nagaswaravali and then again Varali were praiseworthy.
The unique feature of the pallavi was that it was executed in Panchamukhi talam with variations in ‘dritam’ and ‘laghu’ in kandagathi and chathusragathi’, a creation of music maestro M Balamuralikrishna. The presentation revealed the vocalist’s erudition. The concluding piece was a soulful ‘Kshemam Guru Gopala’ of Narayana Teertha in Mohanam, Kapi, Behag and Sindubhairavi.
Shruti’s sister Sreelakshmi Bhat’s brilliant violin accompaniment was a major plus point of the recital. She excelled both in raga alapanas and swaraprastharas. A budding artiste with potential, Shruti could have paid a little more attention to sruthi, diction and overall presentation.
The programme was organised by Palghat Fine Arts Society.