Sreevalsan J. Menon's concert in Kochi, organised on the occasion of Swati Tirunal Day, was noteworthy because of the artiste's consummate artistry and style of rendition.
He eschewed the mundane compositions and gave a concert that was marked by shrutishudham. The Vasantha raga kriti ‘Paramapurusha jagadeeshwara' had a niraval that was free flowing in parts and at times in keeping with the metre. The swaras could not possibly have got more exact or thrilling.
After a brief virutham ‘Thandar Sayaka,' Sreevalsan presented the Utsavaprabandham of the second day of the Padmanabhaswamy temple festival in Thiruvananthapuram – ‘Pankajakshanam Rameshan' in Todi raga.
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Apart from the Utsava and Navabhakti kritis, he also gave musical expression to a kshetra kriti of the Maharaja – ‘Anandavalli' in Neelambari raga, on the goddess of Padmanabhapuram.
The inherent melody and feel in Sreevalsan's voice explored the many facets of Mukhari. The suppleness that his alaapana achieved in the high octaves was superb. The vakra phrases were manipulated skilfully during the alaapana as well as the swara exercise.
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The sakhyam (friendship) form of ‘navavidha bhakti' (nine forms of worship) is manifested in the royal composer's song ‘Bhavathi vishwaso.' Set to Misra chappu tala, this kriti was mellifluously presented by Sreevalsan. The rendition of Bageshri raga was nothing less than ethereal. The raga, which is an unlikely choice for detailed elaboration in a Carnatic music concert, achieved exalting vistas of expression.
String rhapsody
The wonderful chemistry between the artistes, especially the vocalist and the violinist, was obvious, which culminated in Edapally Ajith presenting a rich emotive interpretation of the raga on the violin. The first line of M.D. Ramanathan's popular composition ‘Sagarashayana vibho' was taken up for a Pallavi rendition. This was crisp and Njanjil Arul got an opportunity to prove his mettle by anticipating and following the vocalist completely.
Sreevalsan sang ragamalika swaras in Revagupti and Hamirkalyani, culminating in the famous Swati compositions in these ragas, namely ‘Gopalakapahimam' and ‘Gangeya vasanadhara.'
Vazhappilly Krishnakumar proved to be a ghatam player of merit in the tani, even though he was docile through the rest of the concert. He could effectively partake in the repartee exercises with Arul. Padam ‘Ilathalirshayane' in Kundalavarali raga and a Telugu javali ‘Saramainamatalantho' in Behag were the closing pieces. The programme was organised by Kerala Fine Arts Society.