Vasanthothsavam’, a nine-day music festival in Thrissur, was a sumptuous treat for music rasikas. Admirably, the concerts began on time and even many listeners turned up well before the scheduled time.
Admirable voice control
Sanjay Subrahmanyan during a recital in Thrissur
The fete began with a sterling concert by Sanjay Subrahmanyan. A stickler to tradition, he exhibited amazing voice control while traversing the three octaves throughout his recital. The concert opened with a Navaragamalika varnam. Parama pavana Rama , a Poorvikalyani composition of Ramanathapuram Sreenivasa Iyengar, had chitta swaras in tisra and charanam in two tempos. Reethigowla received a neat portrayal with catchy phrases followed by Tygaraja’s kriti Nannu vidachi.
It was a sort of meditation when Sanjay began exploring Todi, the main raga. Stretching of notes to unravel their beauty seemed ingenious. Commendably, R Rahul could reproduce the singular alap befittingly on the violin. Tyagaraja’s Chesinaella embraced vivacious niraval at Rama Sree Tyagaraja prema . Cascades of swaras for Bhama madalu was packed with rhythmic intricacies. Percussion tani, though individually performed in the beginning, was more of a combined exercise by Neyveli Venkatesh on the mridangam and Tripunithura Radhakrishnan on the ghatam. He concluded with Swati bhajan Bansi vale ne in Bhairavi and slokas in praise of Rama.
Distinctive bowing
The only instrumental concert in the festival, L Subramaniam’s violin recital was marked by the dexterity of the musician. Kalyani varnam Vanajakshi , which lasted for 30 minutes, was noteworthy on account of the five tempos he played the kriti, a rare feat. Occasional bowing of the notes in octaves and a swift shift to the lower sthayi gave it a flamboyant touch.
L Subramaniam’s violin solo in Thrissur
Subramaniam left a stamp of his own in each composition and even the popular Mahaganapathim , Dikshitar’s composition in Natta, was no exception. Tyagaraja’s Niravadhi sukhada in Ravichandrika was relatively faster, thereby giving enough room for percussionists to highlight their skills. DSR Murthy (mridangam), Tripunithura Radhakrishnan (ghatam) and Sathyasai Gantasala (morsing) presented a graceful tani.
Shanmughapriya was portrayed in a spectacular manner in the RTP that followed. Care was taken not to overdo thanam. He played on two strings simultaneously but keeping one as the tonic. Accompanied by the percussion trio, the musician played Kapi, Valachi and Jog in the pallavi that flowed like a calm river.
Accent on Tygaraja kritis
Abhishek Raghuram has an unconventional approach to concerts. Two percussion tani, two Todi kirtanas in succession and a flair for improvisations in all the numbers made his concert quite different.
He opened with Sukhi evvaro Rama nama , a Tyagaraja composition in Kanada. Niraval was a common denominator in all his selections. As an eloquent Sita pathe followed, it was clear that his mainstay was Tyagaraja numbers. He entered straight into Samanamevaru , without any elaboration of Kharaharapriya. Comfortable in three sthayis, his swaras ascended to touch a few in the athi-thara sthayi. It was only when Patri Satheeshkumar on the mridangam and Vazhappilly Krishnakumar on the ghatam opened the tani, that the audience realised that this was the main raga. The percussionists created fireworks.
Abhishek Raghuram in concert
Before the audience could relax after a heavy tani, the musician began a fast-paced Paraloka sadhaname , Tyagaraja’s Poorvikalyani kriti.
However, the audience breathed a sigh of relief when he started essaying Todi. And the rendition of Ninuvina was in a relatively slow pace. As though the charm of Todi was irresistible, he added Koluvamaragada to this and another taniavartanam, more vigorous than the previous one, followed. Violin accompaniment was by KJ Dileep.
Practice makes perfect
Trichur Brothers Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan
Perfect synchronisation while singing in unison, but individualistic manodharma while singing separately spoke eloquently for the painstaking practice of the Trichur Brothers, Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan. Some of the compositions are popular on Bharatanatyam stages, including the Nattakurinji pada varnam Chalamela , with which they began the concert. Others included Ananda nadanam aaduvar of Neelakantan Sivan in Poorvikalyani and Marathakamani chela , of Oothukkadu Venkatasubbayyar in Arabi.
Paripalayamam (Reethigowla), Brovabharama (Bahudhari), Akhilandeswari (Dwijavanti) and Nenerunchinanu (Malavi) were other numbers that preceded the main raga Abheri. The composition was Nagumomu ganaleni of Tyagaraja. The alap came across as a healthy competition between the two. But niraval sung separately at Nagumo was complimentary. Idappally Ajith Kumar was brilliant on the violin. The vocalists’ father, Trichur R Mohan, provided excellent support on the mridangam and Kovai Suresh was at his best on the ghatam.
Quest for melody
M Jayachandran during a concert in Thrissur
Right from the first number, Tyagaraja’s Thulasi dala in Roopakam, M Jayachandran’s métier proved to be his quest for melody. Jaya jaya raghurama chandra, a Sahana composition of Swathi, was rendered evocatively. Incidentally, this was the only composition on Rama other than Tyagaraja’s in the festival. Tygaraja’s Manavyaalakim in Nalinakanthi exuded sweetness. After a short Devakriya number Sree guruguha of Dikshitar, the main raga Charukesi was elaborated. Aadamodi galade had many niraval swaras. He was accompanied by Attukal Balasubramanian (violin), KMS Mani (mridangam), Adichanellur Anilkumar (ghatam) and Payyannur Govindaprasad (morsing). Jayachandran also rendered Malayalam compositions — Swathi’s Poonnthen nermozhi and Irayimman Thampi’s Karunacheyvanenthu thamasam.
Gayatri Venkataraghavan’s total involvement in her recital was remarkable. After an impressive Vathapi in Hamsadwani, Annamacharya’s Namo namo in Natta followed. Arabhi and Bhupalam kirtanas were prefixed with short but exquisite elaborations. The compositions were Swathi’s Pahi Parvati in Adi and Gopalaka pahimam in Misra chap, respectively.
Gayatri Venkataraghavan during a recital in Thrissur
Essaying of Madhyamavathi, the main raga, brought to limelight her brilliance in building up the raga. The flourish of niraval at Bhava mani Janaki and rich swaras enriched the rendition. She was accompanied by MR Gopinath (violin), B Ganapathy Raman (mridangam) and Mangat Pramod (ghatam).
The post-main part included Swati’s Saramaina (Behag), Aliveni enthu cheyvu (Kurinji) and thillana, Geethadhunikku in Dhanasree.
Concerts by S Mahati, Madhu Balakrishnan and Visakha Hari were part of the festival organised at Sree Seetharamaswamy temple, Thrissur.
