A fitting tribute

Vocal concert by T.M. Krishna and nagaswaram recital by Reddiyur M. Sivavadivel, marked the two-day annual Shraddhanjali to Sheik Chinna Moulana, organised by the Dr. Sheik Chinna Moulana Trust in Tiruchi.

Krishna’s concert on April 13 was a musical homage to the Nagaswaram maestro Chinna Moulana. Through his concert, Krishna took the audience to another level along. He explained how Chinna Moulana’s Nagaswaram music reached even the common man of all the technicalities in Carnatic music.

Lord Dhakshinamurthy is the form of liberation, which is imperceptible knowledge and bliss. He is the obliterator of ignorance and is always steeped in silent (‘Mouna’) meditation. He appropriately began his concert with the Muthuswamy Dikshitar kriti, ‘Dhakshinamurthe’ in Sankarabharanam and took all the audience in steep meditation through his Mukhari raga alapana that followed next. The highlight of the concert was the RTP in Purvikalyani, which was the main.

With the perfect support and co-operation from Hemalatha on the violin, Arun Prakash on the mridangam and Anirudh Athreya on the ganjira, Krishna delivered the pallavi in Purvikalyani, which was followed by the beautiful tani avartanam of Arun Prakash and Anirudh Athreya. Krishna concluded his concert with a virutham on Thayumanavaswamy and ‘Jambupathe’ in Yamunakalyani.

Reddiyur M. Sivavadivel, lecturer in Nagaswaram, in the District Government Music School, Tiruchi, paid rich homage to Dr.Sheik Chinna Moulana through his Nadhaswaram concert that took place on the second day. He was accompanied by Pandanallur D. Manivannan (nagaswaram) and Thirunageswaram T.R. Subramaniyan and Thirurameswaram T.B. Radhakrishnan on special thavil.

Sivavadivel started his concert with a brisk rendering of the varnam in ragam Vasantha. The spirited rendering of Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Thatvamariya Tharama’ in Ritigowla was in keeping with its exclusive lilt. The main item was the raga alapana of Kharaharapriya for the kriti ‘Nadachi Nadachi,’ of Tyagaraja. The colourful phrases in the development of Kharaharapriya were firmly ensconced in the ethos of tradition. The sensitive modulation in the blowing, alternating between the soft and the strong, were worthy of positive assessment. Sivavadivel concluded the concert after rendering Bharatiyar’s ‘Chinnanjirukiliye Kannamma’ and a thillana by Lalgudi Jayaraman in the ragam Madhuvanthi.