A full-throated, open-mouthed articulation, sweet voice and good tutelage are the assets of Sriranjani Santhanagoplan. Sriranjani's youthful resourcefulness added special value to her raga expositions and swarakalpanas. Many exotic passages have been traversed by Sriranjani in her detailing of Purvikalyani and Begada. ‘Gnanamosagarada' of Tyagaraja with niraval-swara set on ‘Paramathmudu Jeevathmudu' were compelling when she framed her swaras with the landings on ‘ga ma', ‘pa da', ‘da sa', ‘sa ri' and the kuraippu was pleasingly converged. In Begada, she chose ‘Nadopasana' and here the ‘Tanthri Laya' detailing exhibited Sriranjani's preference to unfold the characteristic and fascinating notes of Begada.
Raghul on the violin is another youngster with great potential. He was offered full opportunity to present ragas and swaras on a par with the main artist. He was imaginative and responded brilliantly in raga essays and swara sections. In fact, his Begada version, which was more impressive than that of Sriranjani's received a friendly appreciative nod from Sriranjani. Delhi Sairam on the mridangam was full of drive, punctuating well in the right places. Kedargowla varnam, ‘Ninne Bhajana' in Nattai (Tyagaraja), ‘Smarane Sukhamu' in Janaranjani (Tyagaraja), ‘Rama Namame' in Desh (Tanjavur Sankara Iyer) were the other numbers in Sriranjani's satisfying team work.
Effective raga phrases
A sound (both literally and figuratively) and authentic vintage music was presented by Alleppey Venkatesan. A heavy and robust voice extending lot of stress on the motifs and sahityam were the high points of Venkatesan's vocal recital. The Ata tala Anandabhairavi varnam and ‘Tulasi Dala' in
Mayamalavagowla including strands of swaras on ‘Saraseeruha Punnaga' carried the concert forward. Yadukulakhambodi raga delineation needs special skill.
Venkatesan hailing from the illustrious school of Ariyakudi demonstrated this by a crisp summary of the raga through a few but effectively suggestive phrases. The expressions here and later in Purvikalyani were mostly concise and somewhat strenuous in the upper octaves, but conveying the tones of these ragas at a different archaic plane through Venkatesan's expert vision and solid delivery.
‘Hechcharigal Ra Ra' in Yadukulakhambodi was embellished with expansion in ‘Ninnu Jooda Vachu' and appended with strings of swaras.
‘Parama Pavana Rama' of Poochi Iyengar in Purvikalyani was dynamic and the chittaswaram and the swarakalpana were resplendent in Venkatesan's powerful presentation. M.A. Sundareswaran on the violin toed the veteran singer with earnest responses while R. Ramesh and Shree Sundarkumar on the mridangam and ganjira brightened the concert through their rhythmic framework.
These concerts were under the auspices of Nungambakkam Cultural Academy's Sri Rama Navami Festival Series held at Rama Rao Kala Mantap.
