Though the main element of Madurai G. S. Mani's concert was Thodi (‘Mundu Ravana' of Tyagaraja), the ‘hero' of the show was the Vijaranagari (‘Vijayambike', Muthiah Bhagavathar). The alapana began with a karvai on pa and quickly slid into lower octaves. From there, the alapana rose majestically, glacially slow in gait, exquisite in substance and emollient in effect. Not for a moment did the voice show any weakness, either in the depths of the lower octave or at the long dwell on the upper panchamam, demonstrating that the 77-year-old veteran is still in top form.
‘Vijayambike', as is well known, is a moving composition, but Mani must have relished singing it because he is one of the few performing musicians to have personally known the celebrated composer; as a little boy, Mani has sat on Muthiah Bhagavathar's lap as the composer rocked himself on the oonjal. The exceptional brilliance of the rendition that day was perhaps a manifestation of the personal rapport the singer had with the composer.
Unfortunately, G.S. Mani does not believe in swara singing. It is his conviction that swaras are discreet and therefore leave less scope for the singer to traverse the abstract region between the notes. Point taken, but swara singing has its own charm. In the present case, the singer had to be egged on by a rasika to sing swaras but when he did, the notes came cascading like a thunderous waterfall.
Earlier, the vocalist presented a now-rare composition of Patnam Subramanya Iyer, ‘Naravara Raghunandana' in Manirangu. Niraval and swaras occurred at the charanam line ‘Purushothama.' The Thodi alapana came out well followed by the 10-beat Tyagaraja kriti, but if one got a feeling that he had heard Mani sing better Thodi in the past, it was because the vocalist had to rush through the proceedings due to paucity of time.
Umayalpuram Sivaraman showed his class by launching the tani on the same beat system that underpinned the niraval line, ‘Raja Raja Viraja Vaaha’. Karthick on the ghatam was on a par with the veteran mridangist.
