Violin exponent Kanyakumari honed her music proficiency while accompanying the legend, Dr MLV. It is therefore no fluke that her violin playing is multifaceted and has something for everyone. At the concert for Bharat Kalachar, Kanyakumari played both high-speed durita kala frenzy patterns and measured artistic raga alapanas with equal facility.
Launching with the Nattakurinji varnam, Kanyakumari played some fine first speed swaras for “Mahaganapatim” (Nattai) that were refreshing. Popular kritis, “Entharo Mahanubavulu” (Pancharatna Kriti in Sri ragam), “Broche varevarura” (Khamas) and “Sugunamule” (Chakravaham) and the manner of execution ensured that the concert acquired an absorbing tenor.
The Khamas raga alapana brought to the fore all the pleasing nuances of the ragam, especially sequenced in the varja phrases around nishadam. Further melody was added in the form of niraval at “Snanadi sukha” in “Sugunamule.” The second speed swarams in Chakravaham preserved the raga lakshana even in the finger sprints.
“Swara raga sudharasa” (Sankarabharanam) was a self-inclusion in the list – the rasa flowed in the raga alapana and it was a patient rendition of the composition, desisting a tendency to rush things up on such instruments as violin. Even the lyrics backed the concert course. The river of melody flowed into “Mooladharaka nadham” for Niraval.
Kanyakumari capped an authoritative concert with an RTP (Adi 2 kalai) in Brindavana Saranga, with whirlwind swara korvais at the finish.
D.S.R. Murthy on the mridangam and co-violinist M Rajeev enhanced the concert flavour while the role of the tabla (played by B. Ganesh Rao) was not clear.
