It takes a lot of effort for an artist to play Carnatic music on an instrument like the saxophone. The sound has to be controlled, the keys that normally produce flat notes have to be handled in a such way as to bring the gamakas audibly, and there must be variety, yet the songs have to sound familiar.
G. Ramanathan took care of all these aspects in his concert. The day’s main raga Kharaharapriya and Kalyani, the sub-major raga, were proof of his versatility. The lower scale sancharas were sober and intelligently moved to the middle scales when they become a little too loud.
Ramanathan started brightly with the Hamsadhwani kriti ‘Abhishta Varada’ by Tyagaraja. Madurai Balasubramanian rightly chose to use the electric violin to match the strong sounds of the sax. The fast paced swaras in the first item were added zing.
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The long karvais in Swati Tirunal’s ‘Jaya Jaya Padmanabha’ in Sarasangi, displayed the artiste’s proficiency in handling a Western instrument with elan.
The Kalyani raga alapana by violinist Balasubramanian is worth mentioning. The kriti ‘Vasudevayani’ was again a brisk piece before the leisurely Brindavana Saranga.
Ramanathan dedicated his concert to his uncle T.V. Vasan, the ghatam exponent who passed away recently. Perhaps the accompanying percussionists of the day were inspired by this and that reflected in their thani. An uncomplicated thani saw some rasikas keep the beat spontaneously.
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For the tukkada session, Ramanthan took up Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Karpagame’ in Madhyamavati, Tiruppavai of the day ‘Ongi Ulagalanda’ in Arabhi and Purandaradasa’s ‘Jagadoddhrana.’
It was a concert of melody and liveliness in right proportions.