The final day of the ‘Remembering Rukmini Devi’ programme being held at Kalakshetra, featured the vocal recital of D. Pasupathi, who is a long associate of Kalakshetra and also Rukmini Devi. Pasupathi’s vocal prowess belied his age. He is blessed with a robust voice which could encompass just not the three octaves but could touch the anu manthra sthayi with flair.
Nevertheless, the singers and composers supporting dancers show certain controls. They dwell on the raga but not too extensively. They go on swara sprees but with limits. Their renditions are basically anchored on clear enunciation and perfect rhythm. Pasupathi at every stage of his recital recalled the late Rukmini Devi as he had sung for her performances from 1947. Rukmini Devi seemed to have presented compositions such as ‘Ananda Natana Prakasam’ in Kedaram and ‘O Jagadamba’ in Anandhabhairavi which were found in Pasupathi’s list too. His long tutelage under experts such as Mysore Vasudevachar and Papanasam Sivan had given him perfect musical wisdom in presenting the kritis and ragas. Since the raga expositions and swara adjuncts were crisp, Pasupathi could include many items in his concert.
After the Thodi varnam, Pasupathi recited a couplet on Rukmini Devi by Mysore Vasudevachar in Suddha Dhanyasi followed by Dikshitar kriti ‘Sri Parthasarathy’ with swaras. Pasupathi gave a touch of Pantuvarali (a number of Kutrala Kuravanji), a slice of Kanada (a pulsating ‘Mamavasatha Janani’)
and a fair account of Bhairavi (a beautiful kriti of Mysore Vasudevachar ‘Balam Gopalam’). The raga essays for such singers in many instances flourish from the kritis mode, so Pasupathi while elaborating Bhairavi landed on the famous ‘Yaro Ivar Yaro’ and sang a complete stanza enticed by its
grandeur.
Rare numbers
A couple of rare numbers such as ‘Arivudaiyor Paninthu’ in Chakravaham by Gopalakrishna Bharati and ‘Ra Ra Seetha Ramani’ in Hindolavasantham of Tyagaraja were added apart from the Kshetragnar Padam in Punnagavarali, a Javali in Surutti and a tillana in Hindolam.
M.A. Krishnaswami’s violin support added lustre to Pasupathi’s vocal. The rhythmic side taken care of by Shertalai C.R. Ananthakrishnan and H. Prasanna on the mridangam and ghatam, respectively.
The venue Rukmini Arangam nestled amid the greenery of Kalakshetra and far from the maddening crowd provided extra elegance to the concert.
