Perfect melodies

Accomplished singing by the Hyderabad Sisters and Rudrapatnam Brothers had the audience in raptures.

Rudrapatnam Brothers R.N.Thiyagarajan and R.N.Tharanathan. Photo: V. Ganesan.

Thanks to the Chennai-based Naadhabrahmam and the Delhi-based Sri Subha Siddhi Vinayaka Mandir Society, the rasikas of East Delhi were treated to a series of music concerts last week. Titled Sri Ramanavami Musical Festival, it was a four-day event in which local artists as well as those from the South came together and delighted the audience.

Naada Sevaka

Lalitha and Haripriya, popularly known as the ‘Hyderabad Sisters' performed at the festival. Their synchronised music reached out to the audience and the compositions they presented one after another were enthralling. Not only did they generate a lively interest right from the first item, but they sustained it till the end.

Dikshidar's popular ‘Vathapi Ganapathim', their opening item was very impressive and contained a surprise

neraval of the phrase ‘Pranava swarupa vakradhundam'. This, as well as the subsequent swaraprastharas, was indicative of their depth in creative talents. Subsequent three items, namely ‘Ramabakthi Samrajayame' in raga Suddhabangala, ‘Ni vada negana' in raga Saranga (both Tyagaraja's composition) and ‘Bhajare re manasa' in raga Abheri (Mysore Vasudevacharya's composition) were without any improvisations. The emphasis seemed to be on their lyrical content and these came to the fore.

For their detailed presentations, the sisters took up two more Tyagaraja's composition, ‘Appa ramabakthi' in raga Pantuvarali and ‘Upacharamulanu' in raga Bhairavi. While Lalitha, the elder sibling, presented an outstanding delineation of the raga Pantuvarali, the younger sibling, Haripriya's sketch of Bhairavi was brilliant. Apart from handling these compositions well, their creativity flowed when they employed further improvisation techniques like neraval and swaraprastharas for both these items.

Brothers to the fore

In another concert in this series, R.N. Thyagarajan and R.N. Tharanathan, popularly known as the ‘Rudrapatnam Brothers' , presented compositions that were predominantly those of Tyagaraja's. The duo brought out the emotional elements of these lyrics to the fore. ‘Nee dhayache' in raga Yadukula khambhoji was well presented. Earlier, the younger sibling Tharanathan delineated this raga in stages and brought out its features. The subsequent swara formats were rich in creativity.

‘Eti janmamidi', another composition of Tyagaraja, in raga Varali too underwent good treatment and was neatly presented. As the central item of their recital, the duo took up yet another Tyagaraja composition ‘Rama katha' in the raga Madhyamavathi, for a detailed presentation. Thyagarajan, the elder sibling presented a fine alapana of the raga this time, bringing out its complete features. Further improvisations, namely the neraval of the phrase ‘Bhamamani janaki saumitri' and subsequent swaraprastharas were rich in creativity and brought out the duo's talents.

Hyderabad Sisters and the Rudrapatnam Brothers were ably assisted by N.C. Madhav on the violin and Peravali Jayabhaskar on the mridangam. While Madhav's sketch of ragas Pantuvarali, Bhairavi, Yadukula khambhoji and Madhyamavathi were delightful, Jayabhaskar's tani avartanams (percussion solo) in both the sessions were impressive. Both these concerts will be cherished for long by the rasikas.