Flickering confidence

Concerts organised for Vinayaka Chaturthi provided a fine occasion but poor infrastructure for Carnatic vocalists, who gamely made the most of it.

Vocalist R. Suryaprakash in concert. At right is Kalyani Shankar on the violin. Photo: V. Sudershan

The two days of Carnatic music concerts organised by Vasundhara Enclave Sarveswara Samaj and Sree Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha on the occasion of Vinayaka Chaturthi may not have started off with the formal lighting of the traditional kuthuvilakku (the ceremonial five-wick oil lamp lit in temples and houses), but the volunteers certainly ended up rushing to light many such lamps during the concert of Chennai-based R. Suryaprakash.

Just as the concert got into gear and Suryaprakash began singing Muthuswami Dikshitar's “Soundaryarajam” in Brindavana Saranga, with a scintillating virutham, there was a power breakdown. Without backup, the hall in the premises of Sri Sankatahara Ganapathy temple run by the Samaj was plunged in darkness. For at least a quarter of an hour, Suryaprakash continued singing without the mike, but illumination from the oil lamps added an aesthetic dimension to the event.

Another composition of Dikshitar also underwent fine treatment. Suryaprakash took up “Maragadavalleem” in raga Kamboji for detailed presentation. He presented an outstanding alap, bringing the raga's features to the fore. As the song contains only a pallavi and a

samasti charanam , Suryaprakash finished singing this quickly. But he took quite some time over the swaraprastaras. Apart from proving his prowess in creative music, some of these phrases contained the imprint of the ‘Madurai Mani school'.

Unlike many other artistes, Suryaprakash, after the tani avartanam session, took up another composition for a fairly detailed rendition. This time it was Papanasam Sivan's composition “Devi neyethunai” in raga Keeravani. Though he sang only a few phrases to delineate the raga to depict its essence, the neraval and swaraprastaras were a detailed affair and delightful.

The concert was aided by Chennai-based Kalyani Shankar on the violin and Delhi's K.N. Padmanabhan on the mridangam, who provided understanding support.

Herculean task

Performing at temple festivals seems to be a herculean task, particularly for upcoming artistes. The infrastructure may not be at its best, besides the constant distractions from various quarters, including the loud sound from the frequently ringing temple bell. As a direct consequence, it appears, Subhashree Ramachandran's performance on the first day of the festival was lacklustre. She was losing her concentration and getting disturbed time and again during the concert. Power failures added to her woes. So much so, she abruptly finished her main item, a Tamil composition, “Dinam oru ganam” in raga Kharaharapriya, even without going into swaraprastaras. However, she had earlier sung a fine alapana.

Subhashree's concert started impressively with a varnam and three pieces on Vinayaka in ragas Hamsadhwani, Shanmukhapriya and Sahana, interweaving the creative aspects of concert singing. However, as she proceeded she seemed to have lost enthusiasm. A power back-up at least for the mike system could perhaps, have improved the situation. Kalyani Shankar on the violin and K.N. Padmanabhan on the mridangam provided good support.