Sriranjani Santhanagopalan has shaped her own style with powerful musical aspects. Her concert was a clear evidence of her ascension to a higher order club. A moderate audience size did not deter her from delivering high quality music , with liberal doses of creativity and poise.
Viribhoni varnam is normally par for the course, but Sriranjani reformatted the charanam with different nadais in laghu and drutham parallel to the normal chatusra melody track. She chose to sing a concise but beautiful Pantuvarali ragam almost exclusively loaded with artistic phrases. The dasaru krirti, ‘Sada ninna hridayadalli’ had good niraval appendix at ‘Ninnananu viduvadalla’. A brightly rendered ‘Veena pustaka dharini’ (Dikshitar, Veghavahini) kept up the classical course.
Sriranjani’s Karaharapriya ragam was not too long and, yet fulfilling, covering the mid and the higher octaves with a non-cliché rendering. The tonal melody in the voice lent substantial beauty in this segment. Following ‘Pakkala Nilabadi’ (Tyagaraja), Sriranjani unleashed her strongest suite, a niraval at ‘Tanuvunche vandanamu’. With an assortment of rhythmic dissections and non-repetitive phrases, she stamped her leaning towards matured aesthetics. TP (yes, there was only a brief raga alapana) in Rishabhapriya came a bit late for detailed exposition but was enough to showcase Sriranjani’s range of skills. The pallavi ‘Sarigamapadani saptaswara Rishabhapriyam’ (Tisra tripuda, Balamuralikrishna) reinforced her collaborative skills. Her swara segments throughout the concert had the right quotient of mass strokes and duration. She clearly knew when to stop.
Violinist Anantha Krishnan had his prime moments in the Kharaharapriya alapana and niraval with his sweet bowing and succinct melody. Seasoned Arunprakash offered quiet support, choosing to let the spotlight fall on the vocalist most of the times. Anirudh and Arunprakash played an interesting tani mixing nadais into a Misra chapu structure.
Sriranjani went an extra mile in every rhythmic and melodic segment, offering a blend of musical depth and aesthetic presentation. The future of Carnatic music is secure in the hands of artistes like Sriranjani but it will be a pity if musical depth and crowds become mutually exclusive.
