Sriram Parthasarathy is more than a vocalist; he is a thinking musician. In the extensive Bhairavi alapana, at his two-hour evening concert, he demonstrated that he has evolved a style of his own, full of melody with effective voice modulation. Mysore Srikanth too offered an elaborate delineation. The main piece of the concert was Syama Sastri’s epic (Bhairavi) swarajathi.
Timeless kritis
In an unhurried Misra Chapu, Sriram brought out the beauty of this timeless composition on Goddess Kamakshi of Kanchi. In the thani, B. Sivaraman (mridangam) and Sree Sundarkumar (ganjira) struck a wonderful partnership. This duo added to the enjoyment of the concert.
Sriram’s Pantuvarali alapana had an element of freshness. Through subtle gamakas and soft brigas, he conveyed the gamut of emotions in this meditative raga. There was a touch of pathos and yearning too. Srikanth’s response was brilliant. Sriram lent his own flavour to Tyagaraja’s ‘Raghuvara Nannu’ – Chembai’s favourite. Niraval and swaras were at ‘Manasuna.’
Sriram chose Subramanya Bharati’s ‘Manathil Urudhi Vendum’, (Gambhira Nattai-Rupakam) as the opening piece. ‘Chinna Nade na’ (Kalanidhi) conveyed Tyagaraja’s agony in the absence of the Lord’s grace.
After a crisp alapana of Sahana, he took up Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Chittham Irangaathathaenayya’ (Misra Chapu).
In Swarna Venkatesa Deekshitar’s ‘Kandavarkku Kanavilum’ Sriram offered cascading swaraprasthara in Kuntalavarali. Another Tyagaraja kriti he offered was ‘Sarasa Samadana’ in Kapinarayani.
The Marubehag piece was the crowning glory of the concert. Kulasai Shanmughananda Swamy’s ‘Anbin vazhiyil Yaar Nadanthaalum’ had a welcome Hindustani touch. Though steeped in tradition, Sriram’s music has a refreshing feel.
