On the fourth and concluding day of the 10th anniversary celebrations of Veena Vaadhini Sampradaya Sangit Trust, Veena Venkatramani, one of the students, presented a 90-minute concert. She impressed by choosing and playing with sangfroid the best sequence of kritis and ragas.
‘Chalamela’ in Darbar, an adi tala varnam, opened the concert and it was followed by a new kriti in Gowla, ‘Gananathaya Namaste’ by Ambi Dikshitar almost in the style of Muthuswami Dikshitar. Contours of smooth Nilambari were drawn to indulge in the elaborate playing of Dikshitar’s ‘Amba Neelayadakshi’. An extended Kanada with swarakalpanas and Tyagaraja’s ‘Sri Narada’, came next.
Two aspects became evident through these presentations. The speciality of the veena emerged when the renditions were slow and subtle, and the brilliance of the ragas surfaced when the performer was focused.
After the sedate pace, Veena demonstrated the instrument’s versatility with compositions in a fast tempo such as Muthiah Bhagavathar’s radiant ‘Sudhamayee’ in Amrutavarshini.
Sparkling tanam
Saveri was placed in the main slot with an exhaustive alapana segued to a sparkling tanam. Veena’s technique, the gleaming gamakam and fleeting spuritams were testimonials to her musical wisdom and rigorous training. She could touch the gamakas even in the tara sthayi, a daunting exercise as the frets are smaller there and the intricate playing decides the tonal quality and raga image. Could there be a better choice than Syama Sastri’s ‘Sankari Sankuru Chandramukhi’ here? Veena centred her niraval on the customary ‘Syamakrishna sodari’ and a smooth flow of swaras followed.
Veena concluded her recital with two attractive songs; Ambujam Krishna’s soulful ‘Ododi Vandhen Kanna’ in Dharmavati and Dikshitar’s popular and lively Noteswaras.
R. Ramkumar (a student of Umayalpuram Sivaraman) and Sunil Kumar (disciple of Selvaganesh) played on the mridangam and ganjira demonstrating their enthusiasm and training.
It would have been useful for listeners, if Veena had announced the kritis and ragas before playing the compositions.
