True to his reputation as a musician who adheres steadfastly to tradition, Vijay Siva delivered a fine concert, with a repertoire of regular ragas delivered in his distinguished stentorian voice. A marked advantage he had for the concert was the company of veterans R.K. Shriramkumar on the violin, J. Vaidyanathan on the mridangam, and Karthick on the ghatam.
The concert got off like a sixer on the first ball — no warm-up business — with a blast of Shanmukhapriya. A sloka made for the alapana, at the end of which rose Dikshitar’s ‘Siddhi Vinayakam anisham’. It was a gold-wire rendition, strictly traditional, no gimmickry, presented in a manner that would have made Dikshitar nod in approval. Choosing different lines for niraval and swaras was as far as Vijay Siva departed from tradition. The niraval was at the charanam ‘Bhadrapada masa’ and swaras were at the traditional point, ‘prasidha gana nayakam’.
As is well-known, the word ‘prasidha’ is on ateeta eduppu , and fixing swaras there is seen as a display of the musician’s command over his art. Vijay Siva did it perfectly, with Shriramkumar having no difficulty matching the vocalist. On the heels of Shanmukhapriya came a neat Suddha Dhanyasi alapana, the kriti was Tyagaraja’s ‘Entha nerchina’.
One doesn’t hear Kedaram often these days, so one sat up but Vijay Siva’s sketch could have been better. It was more like hearing Sankarabharanam embedded with signatures of Kedaram. The song was Dikshitar’s ‘Ananda natana prakasam’ (what else!) and the niraval and swaras were at ‘Sangeetha vadya vinoda’. Not that the singing was not good — only, it could have been better. Kalyani played a cameo, Gopalakrishna Bharati’s ‘Kanden kalitheerthaen’ came and went in a flash. The Saveri alapana was marked by micro-tonal beauty, with subtle nuances brought out superbly. The aural delight could have been enhanced with a more karvai-based approach, for the raga is best enjoyed slow. Regardless, it was a fine effort, answered very well by the violinist. Syama Sastri’s ‘Durusuga’ was the composition, with niraval and swaras at ‘Parama paavani’. Vijay Siva showed why he has a band of dedicated followers.
Vaidyanathan and Karthick are among the best percussionists today and their thani lived up to their reputation.
