Dynamic is the word that would sum up Gayatri Venkataraghavan’s music. Her concert was held as part of a music fete in Kochi recently. The song selection and pacing was such that the audience were glued to their seats throughout the concert.
An engaging voice stood her in good stead. Gayatri had everything going in her favour, be it her Rasikapriya alapana that brought forth the magnetic phrases in the Shatshruti rishabha and Dhaivatha and culminating in the popular ‘Arul sheyya vendum ayya’, or her slow swara essays in Kanada for ‘Mamavasada janani’, which charmed the audience with not just their permutations but with their immense musicality too. A vibrant tanam in Bhairavi gave way to a weighty rendition of ‘Janani Mamava’ and to creative moves in the niraval ‘Anupameeta kamala’. Nanjil Arul on the mridangam, complemented the vocalist.
The Malladi brothers, Sreeramaprasad and Ravikumar, had a great start with Nattakurinji varnam and ‘Jaya jaya swamin’ in Natta on the second day of the festival. A short alapana of Vasantha raga was followed by swara korvais for ‘Etladorikithivo’. Ravikumar’s Saranga alapana was repetitive and hackneyed for the most part and the song selected was Dikshithar’s ‘Arunachalanatham bhajami’. They tagged it on to Tyagaraja’s ‘Koti Nadulu Dhanushkoti’ in Todi and Syama Sastri’s ‘Marivere’ in Anandabhairavi. The Kharaharapriya kriti for the evening was ‘Satatam tavaka’. Trivandrum Sampath’s version of the raga, on the violin, though short, evoked the flavour and nuances of the raga. The niraval on the line ‘Mamahridivasanisham’ shot off to the higher octaves and ended abruptly.
Mysore Chandankumar’s flute recital the following day was a demonstration of the artiste's skill and adroitness in presenting a musical style that was truly unique. Grandson of the violin legend Chowdiah, he presented the maestro's Kundalavarali composition ‘Saravanabhava’. The flautist's Gamanasrama alapana was intensive with gamaka patterns unique to the flute. Idappally Ajith meticulously followed him on the violin. Elaborate swara patterns unfurled in long passages culminating in a rather long mukthayi. Technique and skill shone forth in Chandankumar's Kharaharapriya alapana.
The fast, long phrases evinced breath control and deft fingering techniques. For swara kalpana he delved into the beauty of the raga in non-metrical swara phrases. Balakrishna Kamath, a seasoned mridangam player, excelled in presenting variant jathis. However, he and Thrikkakkara Shantaram, the ganjira player, were not playing in tandem and this was a low point in the concert.
Chandankumar wound up a lively concert with ‘Tamburi meetidava’ in Sindhubhairavi and Lalgudi tillana in Mohanakalyani.
The concerts were organised by Rasikapriya Sabha, as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, in association with Andhra Cultural Association, Kochi.
