The second anniversary of Kedaram featured a three-day series of concerts by up-and-coming artistes at Raga Sudha Hall. Veteran vocalist O.S. Thyagarajan was honoured with ‘Kedaram Sathguru Thiagaraja Swami Award.’
The first day featured Sruti Bhatt’s vocal recital. Endowed with a mellifluous voice, Sruti dealt with well-known ragas and significant kritis. Her raga essays of Madhyamavati, Devagandhari and Saveri exuded confidence. Most of the time, free-wheeling phrases adorned her treatises, leaving hardly any space for extended karvais.
The choice of compositions included those by the Trinity — ‘Dharmasamvardani’ (Muthuswami Dikshitar) in Madhyamavati, ‘Ksherasagara’ (Tyagaraja) in Devagandhari and ‘Durusuka’ (Syama Sastri) in Saveri. Sruti presented extensive niravals and swaras on ‘Nirmala hrudaya’ in Madhyamavati and ‘Paramapavani’ in Saveri. Here speed took precedence. If Sruti wants her music to have a lingering effect, she should focus more on the bhava aspects. ‘Vanajakshi’ Kalyani Ata tala varnam, ‘Gajananayudam’ in Sowrashtram (Dikshitar), ‘Bakthuni charitamu’ in Begada and ‘Nee vadenegana’ in Saranga (Tyagaraja) were the other pieces.
Meera Sundar on the violin proved to be competent as she presented the ragas and swaras almost on the same lines of the vocalist. B. Ganapathyraman and H. Prasanna offered unobtrusive percussion support on the mridangam and ghatam, respectively.
Vaishnavi Ramadas’s strength is her perfect enunciation. The Bhairavi Ata tala varnam ‘Viriboni’ made for a good start. ‘Siddhivinayakam’ in Mohanakalyani (Muthiah Bhagavatar) was followed by Anandabhairavi. Soft passages and exclusive phrases of the raga were highlighted well.
Dikshitar’s ‘Tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam’ added more weight to the offering. A melodic treatise of Dharmavati, followed by ‘Durgadevi samrakshamam,’ a kriti of Mysore Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, was an intelligent inclusion. The swarakalpana was appended to this for the first time. Sivan’s ‘Maa dayai’ in Vasantha with chittaiswaram, preceded the central raga Khambodi. With her creativity and vocal range, Vaishnavi opted for the stately phrases of the raga, developed in a linear way. A little more elaboration would have had a greater impact. Tyagaraja’s ‘Evvarimata’ with niraval and swaras on ‘Bhakta paradeenudai’ completed the exercise. Vaishnavi could gain by training herself more in the swaraprastara segments that sounded shaky at some points. Lakshmi Bhatt on the violin mirrored the vision of the vocalist. Her raga expansions and swara segments were impressive. Thirucherai Koushik on the mridangam offered a balanced support and a crisp thani. ‘Eppo varuvaro’ in Jhonpuri came towards the end.
Arundhati Krishnan opened her concert with the daunting Dasaragamalika varnam of Govindaswami Pillai set in Nattai, Gowla, Arabhi, Varali, Sri, Narayanagowla, Ritigowla, Bowli, Saranga Nattai and Kedaram. The raga, chitta and mukthayi swaras changed in quick succession.
The next one was Tyagaraja’s ‘Brochevarevere’ in Sriranjani. Mukhari exposition was followed by ‘Sangeetha sastra’ of Tyagaraja. ‘Ammaravamma’ (Tyagaraja) in Kalyani had niraval and swaras at ‘Tamarasa dalanetri’, while the main Thodi composition ‘Ninne nammi’ (Syama Sastri) was offered with just swara sallies. It took some time for Arundhati’s voice to settle. Her raga expositions were mostly built with clipped phrases. However her kriti renditions were confident, and swara sections, competent. Arundhati should work towards lending richness to her presentation. Sudha R.S. Iyer’s violin repartees, especially her raga treatises were melodic. Arundhati was accompanied by Guru Raghavendra on the mridangam and Nerkunam Sankar on the ganjira.
A word of advice to the young musicians. With opportunities aplenty, they should bear in mind that a good voice alone is not enough to make a mark. They should develop the ability to frame and present a concert well. It is imperative to showcase something unique and special to draw audience.
