It was 100 years ago on March 19, that a voice of eternity was born. The credit for discovering this voice goes to a teacher of a school in Kanchipuram where D.K. Pattammal was a student. Such insights into her inspiring journey made ‘DKP 100’, the valedictory event of the legendary vocalist’s centenary celebration, a delightful experience.
Held at The Music Academy, the concert organised on the occasion featured Rudrapatnam Brothers, Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Sreevalsan Menon and Malladi Brothers. It was curated by violinist and DKP’s disciple Shriram Kumar. As for the accompanists, there were Embar Kannan (violin), Mannargudi Easwaran (mridangam) and Anirudh Athreya (ganjira).
Prema Pandurang, the founder of Samskriti, veteran dancer-choreographer Vyjayantimala Bali and vocalist and DKP’s grand-daughter Nithyasree Mahadevan spoke on the occasion. “Hers was the voice we heard at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947,” said Prema. Vyjayantimala called DKP her guiding light and guru. “I learnt to sing from DKP amma. Having a master of RTP for a guru, I was struck with the idea of presenting RTPs in dance, which I did with her guidance,” she recalled.
Veteran Bharathanatyam dancer Vyjayanthimala Bali releasing a coffee table book A Maestro and Her Eternal Music. The first copy is being received by author Shantha Thiagarajan (right) at DKP-100. Also seen are Nithyasree Mahadean and Prema Pandurang
An audio-visual provided a peek into the meticulously organised year-long celebration. A beautifully illustrated coffee table book, A Maestro and Her Eternal Music, authored by Shantha Thiagarajan was released.
At the concert, the artistes paid a heartfelt tribute to DKP through their music. When the Rudrapatnam Brothers (R.N. Thyagarajan and R.N. Tharanathan) took the lead with a viruttam in Hamsadhwani, the Malladi duo (Sreeramprasad and Ravikumar) picked up the cue and sang ‘Vandeham Jagat Vallabham’ (Hamsadhwani, Annamacharya). Harikhambodi raga and ‘Entharanithanakentha’ kriti were among her favourites, said Shriram Kumar. The kriti was rendered by Neyveli Santhanagopalan while Mannargudi Easwaran’s intricate rhythms enhanced the music. Sreevalsan Menon rendered the anupallavi. . Both sang the charanam together adding swara korvais to ‘Enthara’ and ‘Sheshudu Shivuniki.’
Rudrapatnam Brothers and the Malladi duo took turns to present an engaging Dhanyasi alapana followed by the kriti ‘Meena lochana brova’ rendered by Rudrapatnam Brothers. TheThe Malladi Brothers in the niraval and kalpanaswara embellished the line beginning ‘Gana Vinodhini.’ Embar Kannan played a good Dhanyasi essay.
This was followed by Neyveli Santhangopalan and Sreevalson Menon singing together the pallavi of ‘Ranganayakam’ (Nayaki, Muthuswamy Dikshitar). The Malladi Brothers took up the anupallavi, and the Rudrapatnam Brothers brought off the charanam. All joined in the madhyama kala section. It was time for Neyveli Santhanagopalan and Sreevalson Menon to sing ‘Parama purusha’ (Vasantha, Swati Tirunal). Then came the RTP (Purvikalyani, Khanda Triputa tala). Taking turns in ragam and tanam, the artistes began the pallavi ‘Purna kala swarupini jaya shyamalangi gana Saraswati pari.’ After niraval and trikalam, kalpanaswara was a fine escalation that the artistes gave with each doing a different take on ‘Purnakala,’ or ‘Shyamalangi’ or ‘Saraswati.’ The RTP ended in ragamalika swaras. The tukkadas chosen were ‘Entha cheluvake,’ (Abheri, or Karnataka Devagandhari according to some), ‘Naan oru vilaiyattu bommaiya’ (Navarasa Kanada), a Tiruppugazh, and ‘Shanti Nilava Vendum’ (Tilang).
