Ashok Madhav is a fairly well-known composer in the current Carnatic music scene. Apart from various songs, he has also composed pieces in all the 72 Melakartha ragas.
In this CD, 10 of his compositions have been rendered by Ramakrishnan Murthy, a young vocalist, who has made his presence felt in kutcheri circuits in India and abroad.
The album begins on an auspicious note with a song on Ganesa, ‘Mahadevasutam’, in Nagaswaravali, which sets the right tempo for the fare that follows.
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A Mandari raga composition on Krishna, ‘Yadavakula Devam,’ is adorned with attractive chittaswaram. The composer liberally uses well-known namavalis in his Sanskrit creations.
Ramakrishnan’s vinyasa of Janaranjani is highly rewarding and reminds this critic of the late Ramnad Krishnan’s handling of the delicate rakthi raga. A Kannada language composition with simple lyric extols Venkatesa of Tirumala.
The first prati madyama raga in this disc is Sunadavinodini.
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Ramakrishnan vocalises a Tamil composition on Muruga. The inlay card reads ‘Vandenai Arul.’ The vocalist also sings as ‘Vandenai Arul thaa.’ This should be sung as ‘Vandenakku Arul Thaa.’ This flaw can be easily corrected, which has apparently not caught the attention of the composer and the singer. Barring this flaw, the song is well rendered.
Ramakrishnan is in his element while handling the Sahana raga creation, ‘Neeve Bhuvilo.’ This exposition stands out from the rest. The raga bhava is brought out effectively.
Compositions in a vakra raga such as Malavi are few. Ashok Madhav’s ‘Inta Kashtamemi’ has freshness aided by the confident rendering of the singer.
The raga alapanas of two prati madhyama ragas in succession could have been avoided.
‘Jagadeeshwaraara’ (Purvikalyani) and ‘Neerajaksha’ (Ranjani) are prefaced with meaningful raga essays. The solfa swara passages sung for Purvikalyani are tidy.
The violinist Charulata Ramanujam offers a enjoyable raga vinyasa of Purvikalyani.
The brief tani by K. Jayachandra Rao (mridangam) and Giridhar Udupa (ghatam) is crisp and to the point. The accompanists have contributed with their expertise throughout.
The gait of the Ranjani kriti, however, does not seem to match the raga bhava.
The tail enders are pleasing versions of ‘Enna Nee Kaya’ (Durga) and ‘Jayathi Jayathi’ (Niroshta).