Carnatic vocalist Swarna Rethas entertained music lovers of the capital city during a concert held to commemorate veteran ghatam artiste T.V. Vasan.
The singer commenced the concert fluently with a varnam, ‘Manamohana’ in Mohanam. He followed it up with the melodious Purandaradasa kriti ‘Jaya Jaya’ in Natta set to Khanda chapu. The soothing charanam and swaras that followed painted the raga beautifully.
An extensive portrayal of Poorvikalyani raga was tagged to the kriti ‘Deva Deva Jagadeeshwara’. It was a good effort to portray aesthetic variations of the raga in the visthara.
Reethigowla raga delineation was refreshing as it travelled through its core constructions and mellifluous usages. Swarna Rethas, by and large, sings in a style similar to that of his guru Sanjay Subrahmanyan. The impressive visthara was followed by the kriti ‘Janani Ninuvina’ set to Mischra chapu. The swaras in the kriti were creatively woven with different shades of Reethigowla.
A vivid description of Kalyani, the main raga, by the vocalist and by Attukal Balasubramaniam on the violin was charming. The raga’s chaste usage and improvised passages were well-defined and it stood out in the essay. The vocalist intentionally shortened the length of the main kriti, ‘Nija dasa Varada’, due to lack of time. The kriti, comprising a relatively short swara-section having traditional touches, was well-received.
The singer was ably supported by Mellattur Balasubramaniam on the mridangam and Trivandrum Rajesh on the ghatam. The light numbers during the concluding phase were also well-sung. The singer wound up the concert with a thillana.
The concert was organised by the T.V. Vasan Foundation.
