Prapancham Balachandran's flute recital was noted both for its sobriety and solidity. Support came from N. Suresh Babu on the violin, Konerirajapuram V. Varadarajan on the mridangam and T.A. Ramanujan on the morsing.
The Saveri varnam ‘Sarasooda' was the opening piece in his recital. The next, ‘Varavallabha Ramana', a kriti of GNB was preceded by an alapana of Hamsadhwani. The fast-paced swarakalpana added pep to the rendition.
The right pitch
Particular mention must be made of the raga alapana of Anandabhairavi. The unfolding of the raga was through continuous flow of beautiful phrases. For the mandra sthayi, Balachandran quickly changed to the long flute and then returned to the smaller flute for its right pitch.
It was ‘Marivere Gati' of Syama Sastri that the flautist presented. Although he did not offer any niraval or swaraprastara for this kriti, the rendition of the sahityam in an leisurely pace had a lingering effect.
Prapancham tried his hand at Amrithavarshini with the kriti ‘Anandamrithaharshini' of Dikshitar. He could have brought forth swaras, but chose to leave it at that.
Simhendramadhyamam had the majesty and force so much so it prompted the violinist to rise to the occasion when the flautist rendered a raga alapana in all its glory. Balachandran's choice was Mysore Vasudevachar's ‘Ninne Nammithinayya.'
The line ‘Pannagendrasayana' was taken up for niraval and swarakalpana, and the flautist showcased his stamp of playing in the sahitya portions.
The Bindumalini piece of Tyagaraja, ‘Enthamuddho,' flowed next, in all its sublimity, before he presented Thodi, the major raga.
It was a vivacious raga alapana for the kriti ‘Dasukovalena' of Tyagaraja. Although the swaraprastharam was short, the cascading effect of swaras was scintillating.
The thani by Konerirajapuram Varadarajan and Ramanujan was designed for a short duration, but yet they were admirable.
The closing tukkadas were just two, one being the immortal, ‘Jagadodarana' and the other, a Sivaranjani thillana.
Soothing strains
The recital of the young vainika ASHWIN ANAND began with a Pallavi Gopala Iyer varnam in Suratti with a sketchy alapana. The raga essay of Sriranjani was brief; but despite being a shorter vinyasam, he gave a wholesome picture of the raga.
Ashwin played Tyagaraja's ‘Bhuvanidasudani' with swaras interspersed. Keen listeners could observe a kind of extraneous sound emanating from the veena during the meetu and it was disturbing to an extent. Notably, the ‘noise' was audible when the fast notes were played.
Fortunately it lasted only a few times and one could enjoy the veena nadham thoroughly as the concert progressed.
The Hamirkalyani alapana was reposeful and the kriti of Subbaraya Sastri, ‘Venkatashaila,' was presented at an unhurried pace, providing for heightened listening pleasure. If the alapana revealed his vidwat, the song rendition was a faithful adherence to the sahityam.
The Mukhari raga alapana was expansive and created a serene atmosphere. Mukhari could lend a variety of rasas, but in the kriti ‘Entha Nine Varninthunu Sabhari' the saint wonders about Sabari's bhagyam.
It was more poignant when Ashwin moved to the niraval lines of ‘Kanulara Sevinchi' and then dwelt on the swarakalpana.,
As if to compensate for the sedate atmosphere created earlier, Ashwin sang Patnam Subramanya Iyer's fast paced ‘Paridanamichide' in Bilahari. This was a signal that a major raga is to follow next. It was Thodi that Ashwin chose, with all its grandeur and ‘pidis' in place.
However, this rasika felt that straight notes were sometimes heard where he could have played some gamakas. All the same, the charm of the alapana was not lost though.
The tanam that followed had brilliant phrases. Instead of the customary pallavi, Ashwin chose ‘Sri Subrahmanyo,' a Dikshitar kriti.
Arjun Ganesh played the role of a faithful accompanist on the mridangam, giving the power and punch while playing. Harihara Sarma's ganjira could not be heard during these moments.
The thani, however, gave both the artists the opportunity to display their talent effectively. There were no concluding pieces. Ashwin was so immersed in singing Thodi that he was unaware of the time ticking away, and had to conclude with that.
charukesiviswanathan
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