The hallmark of Lalgudi’s school of music is disciplined approach to music and Shreya Devnath proved a worthy disciple in her violin solo concert at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha’s Kamakoti Hall on Sunday last. The erect posture indicated poise and Shreya showed vishranti that belied her age.
Beginning the concert with a varnam in raga Huseni, Shreya announced that Lalgudi composed it in praise of Lord Krishna at the request of the late Yagnaraman. It had the Lalgudi stamp throughout.
The start was a little diffident, but soon Shreya got into the crux of Gambiranattai. ‘Sri Jaalandhara’ (Adi-Mysore Jayachamaraja Wodeyar) saw her weaving kalapana swaras at ease.
It was heartening when this youngster took up Dhanyasi next for detailing. The attempt was praiseworthy with ‘Balakrishnan Padamalar’ (Rupakam -Papanasam Sivan). The niraval and swaras were on expected lines and quite predictable. ‘Aparadha moolan’ (Lathangi-Adi-Patnam Subramania Iyer) came at a breezy pace with cascading sangatis.
B. Ganapathyraman (mridangam) and N. Guruprasad (ghatam) kept pace with imaginative playing. Earlier an emotional Brindavana Saranga alapana led to ‘Sri Ranga Pura Vihara’ (Adi-Dikshitar). Sankarabharanam, the evening’s main, was built slowly and steadily. The kalpanaswaras at ‘Veda saastra’ in ‘Enduku Peddalavalay Buddhi’ (Adi-Tyagaraja) had all the ingredients of Lalgudi’s style. The tani saw some lively exchanges between Ganapathyraman and Guruprasad. Perfection was the bedrock of this well-rehearsed concert.