The flute concert by V.K. Raman was a neat presentation with the accompaniment of Vittal Ramamurthy on the violin, Trichur Narendran on the mridangam and Alathur Rajaganesh on the ganjira. Beginning with ‘Gajavadana’ in Sri Ranjani with swaras for the Pallavi, he followed it up with a racy ‘Sobillu Sapthaswara.’ The raga alapana of Bindumalini preceding ‘Endamuddo’ of Tyagaraja was very pleasant and evocative. The violinist often tried to lead the main artist instead of being supportive. After all he could showcase his talent when he got to play in his own turn. The swarams for the song also were interesting. In the Lathangi kriti ‘Marivere’ Raman handled the tala cleverly while playing the swarams. The main item was Bhairavi, which he essayed in a steady manner developing it, without hurry, in a classical format. The chosen composition was ‘Enati Nomu Palamo’ in the kalpanaswara segment except for a few suits there was nothing particularly noteworthy. Vittal Ramamurthy’s effort too was a standard fare. The percussionists played an extremely supportive rule and exhibited their skill in the thani. The brief raga alapana of Yaman was quite touching and was followed by ‘Krishna nee Begane Baro,’ ‘Govardhana Giridhara’ in Darbarikanada, ‘Madava Mamava’ in Neelambari and the Sindhubhairavi tillana were a fitting finale for the programme.
Having grown up with a senior mridangam vidwan, ABHISHEK RAGHURAM exhibited good control and manipulation of tala. In raga alapanas and swaraprastharas also he was quite imaginative but rather aggressive. Begada raga varnam ‘Intachala’ preceded the Shanmukhapriya kriti ‘Siddhivinayakam.’ There were quite a few unnecessary sangatis which upset the beauty of the composition. In the swarakalpana some combinations were attractive. Abhishek displayed good breath control while elaborating Lathangi with some unusual prayogams. If he could modulate his voice a little while singing at the top octave his essays would be more effective.
Ganeshprasad who replaced Mysore Srikanth on the violin was quite good. The niraval of ‘Daralona’ in the kriti ‘Marivere’ was as good as the alapana but was a little too long. There were quite a few beautiful phrases in the swara segment with changes in the tempo. Neyveli Narayanan’s mridangam almost sang with his deft handling. He along with K.V. Gopalakrishnan on the ganjira played a lively thani. A fast-paced ‘Tatvameruga Tarama’ in Garudadwani followed. RTP was taken up in Kharaharapriya. Some of the prayogams were indeed very innovative but in the process the raga often lost its identity while landing. Ganeshprasad played it with depth. The Pallavi ‘Ni Padamula Gatiyani’ was set to Adi tala two kalai. The swarams had such a fast ragamalika that it was over before one realised what was happening. A short essay of Kapi prefixed ‘Enna Thavam Seydanai’ with unwanted sangatis leading to pitfalls.
