As I listened to Dr. R. Ganesh’s concert, I couldn’t help but recall the recitals of his Guru, Maharajapuram Santhanam. As an artiste, Ganesh proved formal learning and sustained practice are a must.
As part of the Trinity Jayanthi festival, organised by Saraswathi Vaggeyakara Trust, Ganesh presented a few gems of the Trinity. However, the highlight was a Pallavi, his own composition, having the mudras of the Trinity, ‘Tyagaraja manohari guruguha Janani Syamakrishna sahodari,’ in Khambodi (Khanda jathi Triputa). Since he had already exceeded the allotted time by a few minutes, he had to compress the RTP to three minutes! Yet, he was able to improvise, demonstrating its beautiful ingredients like trikalam and tisram. The main raga of the concert was Thodi and he was extremely articulate in its exposition. Narmada on the violin came up witha delightful delineation; in the typical MSG style. Her accompaniment is an asset to any vocalist. Dikshitar’s ‘Sri Krishnam bhaja manasa’ offered Ganesh enough room and liberty to innovate. The concluding swara korvai at ‘Pankajasanadi’ was indeed charming. Nellai Balaji and Harihara Subramanian (ghatam) presented a crisp, sprightly thani. Throughout the concert, Balaji exhibited his laya finesse.
The other Dikshitar kritis that Ganesh presented were ‘Suryamurthe’ (Saurashtram – Chatusra Dhruvam) and ‘Sri Rama Saraswathi Sevitham’ (Naasaamani). The Tyagaraja kriti, ‘Jootha murare’ (Arabhi- Rupakam) was preceded by a powerful choornika (a piece in prose) of the Saint, describing Lord Narayana and Sri Lakshmi in Vaikunta. In the Saranga piece, ‘Nivadane gana,’ (Khanda Chapu), the kalpanaswaras were at ‘Satyambu Nithyambu.’
Syama Sastri’s ‘Himadri Suthe’ (Kalyani-Adi-Tisra gathi) was preceded by an elaborate alapana. Niraval and swaras were at ‘Syamakrishna Sodari.’ Balaji on the mridangam offered a stirring arudhi. In ‘Mayamma nannu brovamma’ (Nattakkurinji – Adi), the composer offers his prayers to Kanchi Kamakshi, as his Mother, ‘Shyama Krishna Janani’.
Kudos to N.V. Subramaniam for having organised a series of concerts on the Trinity.
Hema Subramaniyam performing for the Saraswathi Vaggeyakara Trust
Hema Subramaniyam, who also performed at the Trinity Jayanthi festival, was initiated into music by her mother Bhagyam Hariharan, who learnt from H.A.S. Mani in Mumbai. Later she trained under Bangalore Vijayalakshmi, a prime disciple of Alathur Srinivasa Iyer. Hema is now under the tutelage of Prema Rangarajan.
In the exhaustive Thodi alapana, the emphasis was on important swaras and the exquisite gamakas gave it a stamp of class. Shraddha Ravindran’s response on the violin was notable.
She had her initial training from Radha Sundaresan and then from Nagaswaram vidwan Sembanarkoil S.R.D. Vaidyanathan. She is being guided by A. Kanyakumari.
Hema rendered a rarely heard kriti ‘Karunanidhi Ilalo’ of Syama Sastri in Adi (Tisra Nadai), in praise of Sri Brihannayaki. She handled the Tisra Nadai tactfully. Hema rendered niraval and swaras at ‘Komla Mridu Bhashini.’ Kumbakonam Ramakrishnan, disciple of Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer presented a short thani. His accompanying style enriched the concert.
‘Visalakshim Visvesim’ of Dikshitar (Misra chapu) was preceded by an elaborate alapana in Pantuvarali. The niraval and swaras were at ‘Kasirajni.’
She commenced her 90-minute concert with the rare Dikshitar kriti, ‘Parameswara Jagadeeswara Sankara’ (Nattai- Adi) on Sri Panchanadeeswara of Tiruvaiyaru. Kalpanaswaras were at the Pallavi itself. Hema’s repertoire included two Tyagaraja kritis — ‘Undethi Ramudu’ (Harikhambodi – Rupakam), with a few sangathis in Pallavi and ‘Anupama Gunambudhi’ (Atana - Khanda Chapu) was a neat rendition.
