Renowned Carnatic musicians performed for four days at Pandi Samooha Madhom, Thrissur.
Nithyasree Mahadevan
Choice ragas and compositions rendered in her impressive voice provided an interesting start to the festival. ‘Vathapi Ganapathim’, with which she opened, was soaked in sangatis. Excellent swaraprasthara was the hallmark of ‘Theliyaleru Rama’, the Tyagaraja composition in Dhenuka. She painted a vibrant picture of Abhogi for the Periya Swami Thuran’s composition ‘Harihara sudhane Ayyappa’ in Adi. ‘He Kamakshi’ in Yadukulakamboji, which she has immortalised in her album ‘Pattamma’, was sung well. Delectable was the rendition of ‘Madhura madhura venu Geetha mohana’, an Atana composition of Venkita Kavi, Adi. The line ‘Kuhukuhu ithividha kokila kalavara’ was embellished with swaras that resembled the cooing of the cuckoo. Simhedramadhyamam, the main raga of the concert, was explored in depth. Nithyasree appeared immersed in the elaboration. The strenuous rendition especially in the thara sthayi indicated the need for lowering her sruti to a comfortable level. The composition was Swati’s ‘’Rama Rama gunaseela’, Adi. C.S. Anuroop’s tani was in the right proportion. On the percussion were I. Sivakumar (mridangam) and Kovai Suresh (ghatam).
The musician regaled the audience with light numbers during the post-main part; pieces such as ‘Thathaiyentraduvan’ (Sindhubhairavi), ‘Oh sambho’ (Revathy), ‘Saremaina’ (Behag) and ‘Harivarasanam’ (Madhyamavathy), to mention a few.
Abhishek Raghuram
The young musician’s recital was scholarly and marked by his individualistic style. Kadaloor Subramanianm’s Valachi varnam in Adi was vigorous. Natta was adorned with a garland of sangatis and swaras. The composition was ‘Sarasiruhasana’ of Puliyur Sree Doraiswamy in Adi. He chose ‘Saraswathy Amba’ for niraval in an elaborate manner.
Same was the treatment with which he rendered all the subsequent compositions during his concert, which included ‘Deva deva kalayamithe’, Swati’s kriti in Mayamalavagoula; ‘Ramabhi Rama ramaneeya’, Tyagaraja’s in Darbar; ‘Nenaruchuchara napaini’, Tyaharaja’s in Simhavani; ‘Kapali karunai nilavu pozhi’; Papanasam Sivan’s in Mohanam; and the main raga Bhairavi, Syamasastri’s popular composition ‘Kamakshi’ in Misra chap.
True, creativity was the dominant feature of the concert. But one wondered whether the uniform approach to all compositions using raga alapana, sangatis, niravals and swaras was successful in creating the right ambience of a concert as a whole.
Perhaps Simhavani was the only exception. Also, excessive dependence on improvisations appeared counterproductive. Alapana was mainly in the upper sthayi, but there were moments when he climbed down when the voice appeared more appealing.
Paravur M.S. Ananthakrishnan (violin), Sumesh Narayanan (mridangam) and Vazhappilly R Krishnakumar (ghatam) were Abhishek’s accompanists. The three-hour concert concluded with a composition from Arunagirinathar’s Thiruppukazhu.
Kadri Gopalnath
Supported by A. Kanyakumari (violin), K.M.S. Mani (mridangam), Rajendra Nakod (tabla), Kovai Suresh (ghatam) and Bangalore Rajasekhar (morsing), Kadri began with ‘Pranamamyaham’, a Goula composition of Mysore Vasudevachar in Adi. Saturated with swaras in fast tempo, the number ended in a crescendo with an enthralling percussion flourish. Kadri’s affinity to Tyagaraja was evident in the selection of the next six numbers including the main one. ‘Kamalaptakula kalasavardhini’ in Brindavanasaranga, Adi, was prefaced by a short alapana. A penchant for speed was revealed even in the short Panthuvarali composition ‘Siva Siva’. But ‘Raghuveera ranadheera’ in Huseni, Roopakam, was in a relatively low tempo. Elaboration of Nasikabhushani evoked its inherent karuna rasa. But the mood changed as he played ‘Marevairi ramani’ in a fast manner. The musical ingenuity of the artiste was revealed through Abheri, the main raga for which he played ‘Nagumo ganaleni’. Commendable were the phrases he wove to essay the raga. Descending the scale in packets of double notes was really enjoyable.
Kanyakumari’s tani was soothing throughout and a contrast to the sonorous notes of the sax. Repetition of ‘Nagaraja’ in anupallavi in different modes embellished the piece. Percussion tani led by K.M.S. Mani stood out for rhythmic varieties, especially for Rajasekharan’s deft playing on the morsing.
“Krishna nee begane baro’ (Yamunakalyani), ‘Oru neramenkilum’ (Dwijavanthi) and ‘Jagadodhaarana’ (Kapi) were some of the compositions that were played in the concluding part of the recital.
P. Unnikrishnan
The last concert by P. Unnikrishnan was balanced in all respects. After the Saveri varnam ‘Sarasuda’, Adi, composed by Kothavasal Venatarama Iyer, Chakravakam was introduced through a neat alapana. ‘Gajanana yutham Ganeswaram’, an invocation to Ganapathy, embraced attractive swara combinations. The effulgent raga Latangi was built up in a schematic manner. The composition was Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Piravavaram tharum’.
Unnikrishnan resorted to an extended description of Malayamarutham thereafter. Such an elaboration during the pre-main part was redundant. The composition was Tyagaraja’s ‘Etulo thunai’, Roopakam. However, he took care to identify the raga, a janya of Chakravakam, to the audience. A straight jump to ‘Pavana guru pavana pura’ in Hamsanandi, Roopakam, was greeted with applause.
Emotive was the rendition of Kapi, the main raga, for which Tyagaraja’s ‘Intha soukyamani ne’ in Adi was chosen. Swara singing was remarkable as he could heighten the tempo by moving in the upper octave, that too almost breathlessly.
Edappally Ajith’s support and reproduction on the violin was notable. Nanjil Arul (mridangam) and Tripunithura Radhakrishnan (ghatam) presented the tani with exceptional dynamism.
Numbers in the post-main part included ‘Govardhanagireesam’ (Darbarikannada), ’Visweswar’ (Sindhubhairavi) and ‘Eppovaruvaaro’ (jonpuri). Chakravakam reappeared in the garb of Ahirbhairav through ‘Pibaremanasa’. The concerts were in connection with the Maha Kumbhabhishekam at Sree Dharmasastha Temple, Thrissur.
