The Chembai memorial concerts in Thiruvananthapuram featured an assortment of interesting banis and singers. The fete began with a vocal concert by Bharat Sundar at Chembai Hall, Sreevaraham, Thiruvananthapuram.
The Chinmaya sisters, Uma and Radhika delivered an engaging concert. The Navaraga varnam ‘Valachi,' with an easy flow in chittaswarams, gave a disciplined start to the recital. The familiar ‘Vathapi' (Hamsadhwani) and ‘Vandanamu' (Sahana) were melodious, when they sang the compositions in unison. A neat delineation of Shanmughapriya by Radhika was tagged to ‘Sadashraye,' a kriti set to Roopaka, which begins with swaraksharam. The clear sahitya and swaras in traditional style were praiseworthy.
‘Ksheerasagara' in Devagandhari was immersed in bhava. Uma elaborated, Keeravani, (main raga) artistically, and the visthara covered the entire spectrum of the scale. Padma Krishnan, on the violin, played an impressive extempore in Keeravani. The Tyagaraja composition ‘Kalikiyunde' with an in-depth niraval and swara was rendered with ease and expertise.
The sisters were accompanied by Mavelikara R. Rajesh on the mridangam and Uduppi Sreekanth on the ganjira. ‘Jagadhodarana' in Kapi, a thillana in Behag, and a soft number in Sindhubhairavi were the concluding songs.
Accuracy in sruti
A vocal concert by Varkala C.S. Jayaraman was quite remarkable for the singer's accuracy in maintaining sruti. The concert opened with ‘Jalajakshi,' a varnam in Hamsadhwani adorned with chittaswarams. The presence of the vocalist's characteristic bass range was deeply felt during his rendition.
‘Sri Mahaganapathi' in Abhogi set to Khanda Chapu was articulated with a precise diction coupled with pleasant rendition. There was great definition to the singer's flourishes and Nattakurunji raga tagged to ‘Mamavasada Varade' provided ample proof of that. The brief and compact kritis such as ‘Ramanipai' in Kedaram, and ‘Bhajare Chita Bala' in Kalyani were prudent choices.
Vivid portrayal of Kalyani
Both the singer and the violinist Eshwara Varma depicted Kalyani vividly. The vocalist travelled through the details of Bhairavi without a blemish, within a tightly framed vishthara. The structured swara patterns in the main kriti ‘Balagopala,' set to second-kala Adi, was also carved out with conventional elegance. Throughout, the vocalist was provided with fantastic accompaniment by Kadanad V.K. Gopi on the mridangam and Ananthakrishnan on the ganjira. V.V. Vinod gave vocal support to the singer.
‘Madhavaloka' in Jhonpuri and ‘Bhajanam Cheyyum Krishnapadam' in Bhageshri were a few of the closing kritis.
The concluding day's concert by K. Venkitaramanan was interactive right from the beginning, as the singer threw light on various theoretical applications of raga-based music. The vocalist opened with a varnam in Kamboji. There was little overall clarity and the instruments were sounding too loud in the beginning.
‘Kaliyuga Varada,' a GNB composition in Natta, which sounded powerful and loud, was devoid of sufficient dynamics. The kriti with good chittaswarams and kalpanaswarams was fluently rendered. The vocalist skimmed through Abhogi raga, and tagged it to ‘Sabhapathy.' The interactions with the audience, which dealt with the story and the meaning of the kritis, were interesting.
Although the singer adhered to a traditional flair, it lacked crispness in sahityam and the words sounded hazy. A fast insight into Reethigowla proving an excellent glimpse of the raga.
Mahadeva Sharma on the violin was at his best while he extracted the soothing tones of both Reethigowla and Saraswathy ragas.
The singer demonstrated how Harikamboji surfaces when Kharaharapriya is sung with a madhyama sruti reference. The cheerful musician also prefixed a good tanam before the main kriti, which was ‘Moovashai Konda.'
The fast-paced ‘Gopala Nanadana Gokula' in Kathanakuthoohalam was the catchy number among the concluding kritis. Vypin Satheesh on the mridangam and Anchal Krishnaiyer on the ghatam accompanied the singer.
