Shanmukhapriya’s Madhuradhwani Isai Vizha provided a platform for violinists, who generally play the role of accompanists, to go solo and showcase their bowing prowess; it provided the artists an opportunity to showcase their flair as independent performers.
Though hailing from specific schools, as accompanying artists, they are exposed to different styles and are therefore likely to be influenced by them. Notwithstanding, many of them surprisingly maintain a distinct playing style.
The inaugural was a pleasant affair because of its brevity. The chief guest M. Krishnamurthy, secretary, Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, lauded the efforts of Shanmukhapriya and also traced the origin of the instrument.
The inaugural concert was by Padma Shankar, a favourite with many vocalists. She gave a soft and sweet recital. Can manodharma be deployed well without overstatements while playing within the ambit of tradition? Yes, indeed as Padma showed the audience with subtle inflections and strong sahitya bhava. Her succinct treatment of Latangi and expansive treatise of Bhairavi were significant segments. The violin provides commendable scope for lengthy karvais.
Padma utilised her imagery to impress the audience in her raga sketches, kriti renditions and swarakalpanas in right proportions. ‘Marivere Gati’ in Latangi was followed by a quick niraval-swara at ‘Daraloni Nee Sati’. ‘Koluvaiyunnaade’ in Bhairavi was decked up at ‘Manasu Ranjilla’ with steady torrents of swaras.
Nellai Balaji on the mridangam and D.V. Venkatasubramaniayan on the ghatam extended able rhythmic support.
M.R. Gopinath, who had always presented himself as a subdued accompanist, as a soloist capitalised strongly by underscoring on the melodic tenor of Kedaragowla and Keeravani in the company of Shertalai R. Ananthakrishnan (mridangam) and Chittoor Venkataramanan (ganjira). A bright prologue of Amritavarshini and the lively kriti ‘Anandamritakarshini’ preceded by Kanada Ata Tala varnam, ‘Sri Mahaganapathi’ in Gowla, provided a fine impetus to his concert.
‘Venugana Lolunigana’ with niraval on ‘Vikasitha Pankaja Vadana’ sans swaras was poignant and the main ‘Kaligiyunde Gada’ with swaras on ‘Baguga Sriraghu’ made for some magical moments.
Gopinath’s bowing and fingering techniques extracted the soulful tenor of the kritis with raga illustrations, devoid of extra frills which instrumentalists often prefer to indulge in. The supporting percussionists also kept up with the mood of the main artist.
Proper distribution, and apt choice of ragas and kritis made V. Sanjeev’s recital a delectable fare. Smooth glides, soft phrases, surges of swaras and stress on sahitya were diligently brought out in his presentation. The subdued Kanada essay and Tyagaraja’s ‘Sukhi Evvaro’ with judicious swaras formed the core item.
A vivacious Ritigowla raga treatise led to the fast moving ‘Raga Ratna’ of Tyagaraja, again with neatly conceived niraval and swaras on ‘Bhagavathottamulu Koodi.’ For a change, Sanjeev presented a raga alapana of Naganandini, a melaraga and the Tyagaraja kriti ‘Sathaleni’ with a rapid fire swara trail.
The opening numbers were the Aboghi varnam and ‘Vallabha Nayakasya’ in Begada. The dynamic Poongulam Subramaniam and Dr.S. Karthick on the mridangam and the ghatam respectively, made their powerful presence felt throughout and played a vibrant thani.
