The legendary Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar was remembered at a programme titled ‘Homage to Guru,’ put together by Alepey Venkatesan and his disciples at the Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall.
R. Krishnaswamy, secretary, Narada Gana Sabha mentioned that it was the first time Ariyakkudi was recalled on the 45th year of his demise. Krishnaswami explained how NGS took the responsibility of grooming youngsters in the Ariyakkudi bani for one year with a scholarship under Alepey Venkatesan, a direct sishya of Ariyakkudi. He briefly touched on the brilliance of Ariyakkudi’s music, his restructuring of the concert format by including more Tamil kritis, thus inspiring many composers. Guest of Honour V.V. Sundaram pointed out that Ariyakkudi expanded the breadth and depth of Carnatic music and perfection in rendition (‘patantara suddham’).
Alepey Venkatesan appreciated the youngsters who have taken up their training quite diligently and mentioned how Ariyakkudi’s Thodi is ‘The Thodi’ nonpareil.
Venkatesan then presented a vocal concert in the company of his students -- Mysore Sangeetha, Anahita Ravindran, Apporva Ravindran and G. Abilash -- with violin support from Akkarai Subbulakshmi, mridangam by R. Ramesh and ghatam by H. Prasanna.
The kritis popularised by Ariyakkudi naturally figured in the recital. The Kanada Ata tala varnam ‘Nera Nammithi’ was followed by a short prelude of Yadukulakhambodi and ‘Hecharikka Ra Ra’, Varali raga essay and ‘Seshachala Nayakam’, ‘O Jagadamba’ in Anandabhairavi. Also included were a couple of Thiruppavai tuned by Iyengar.
The most important was the Thodi raga treatise and ‘Raju Vedala’ of Tyagaraja with swarakalpana in the typical Ariyakkudi style. Venkatesan’s booming voice dominated all through and the concert sounded more like an extended classroom exercise. The significant point, however, was the focus on the raga structuring and bringing out the characteristic phrases and applications of the same. The alapana sections and swara segments were shared by the students also with their guru.
Abhilash who essayed Thodi showed that he is a musically mature. Though not strong, one could feel the dissonance of blending male and female voices of different pitch. All of them, in their teens, exhibited their concerted efforts to learn the nuances of the great legend and their commitment to classicism.
Akkarai Subbulakshmi explored the raga in her strong phrases and choicest combination of swaras. The percussionists bolstered the morale of the youngsters and their guru with their sound (literally and figuratively) execution.
In between, violin maestro, T.N. Krishnan, who had the privilege of accompanying Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyenger on several occasions, congratulated Venkatesan and his disciples for their efforts in bringing back the greatness of Ariyakkudi’s musical elegance.
