Aditya Narayanan is young, intelligent and gifted. In his recent concert for ‘Adi Isai Vizha’, organised by Brahma Gana Sabha and P. S. Institute of Music, Arts and Culture, he rendered songs such as ‘Neerajaakshi’ in Hindolam and ‘Marivere’ in Anandabhairavi at a leisurely pace, which met the demands of the kritis.
In his essay of Hindolam, the first phrase indicated the song that was to follow and he explored the nuances of the raga well. Sandeep Ramachandran proved to be adept with the violin. There were no neravals and swaras for either of the neatly-presented songs.
Aditya began his concert with a varnam, ‘Naamita’ in Janaranjani. It was followed by a brief, breezy alapana of Khamas preceding ‘Seethapathi’; neraval and swaras were taken at ‘Premajoochi naapai’ (which he pronounced as ‘…joopi’).
The main piece was Sankarabharanam. The alapana rendered in a relaxed manner touched upon the majestic points of this regal raga, and Sandeep proved to be a worthy accompanist. The chosen kriti was Dikshitar’s ‘Dakshinaamoorthe’. The swara in misra jampa tala was well handled. Aditya has good breath control, but needs to modulate his voice a little in the upper registers.
After an enjoyable thani avaratanam by N.C. Bharadwaj (mridangam), who gave good support throughout, the concert concluded with the javali, ‘Nirupamana’ in Behag.
Lakshmi Priya’s strong voice belied her lean stature. She proved that she was a reliable heir to the musical family. Beginning her recital with the adi tala varnam in Kalyani, ‘Vanajaakshi’, she moved to ‘Ninnu joochi’ in Sowrahstram with swaras for the pallavi. Her Dhanyasi alapana was creditable. Haritha Narayanan (violin) was passable. ‘Sangeetha Jnaanamu’ was next, with a decent swaraprasthara for the pallavi. ‘Yarendru Raghavanai’ in Yadukulakamboji and ‘Nambikettavar Yevaraiya’ in Hindolam were neatly presented.
Despite her sore throat, she came out with a highly commendable elaboration of Sankarabharanam, preceding ‘Akshayalinga vibho’. She was another artist not lured by the craze for speed.
In Haritha’s violin essays, her swarsthanams could have been sharper. The neraval of ‘Padarivana’ was good, followed by kalpanaswaras. Lakshmi Priya could do better in this department. Sriram Srinivasan’s (mridangam) support and thani were laudable.
Purandara Dasa’s ‘Nandatanaya’ in Yaman was followed by ‘Natakivela’ in Revathi’. The final piece was Dhanasri thillana. One intriguing aspect about this composition is that most artists sing ‘Taapa sankata charana’ instead of ‘Tapa sankata harana’.
