Since in his looks and demeanour, Maharajapuram Srinivasan so much resembles his illustrious father, Maharajapuram Santhanam, it is perhaps natural that his music is also an extrapolation of the maestro's.
This 'Maharajapuram Santhanam re-incarnate' produced a beautiful Purvikalyani and no listener could help memories of the past come flooding in. The alapana was every bit 'Maharajapuram', delivered in a clear voice.
Signature phrases
It was at first a bit of a teaser, making one try to figure out whether it was Purvikalyani or Pantuvarali, but the former's signature phrases came in due course. The enchanting alapana was followed by a rare composition, ‘Marachitivemo Nannu' of Mysore Vasudevachar.
With the veteran violinist Nagai Muralidharan on the stage, the rendition turned out to be a fully satisfying one. In fact, it was better than the previous number in Harikhambodi (‘Karunai Kadale'), which was also pretty good. The Purvikalyani was tailed by another Maharajapuram popular, 'Raghavendra, Raghavendra' in Misra Sivaranjani.
Thanjavur Kumar provided adequate support. As pleasing as the concert was, one wishes that a singer as talented as Srinivasan would strive to step out of his father's shadows and be recognised as an artist in his own right, to do which he is eminently capable.
