A glory of the past, veena duets have become a rarity. Iyer brothers, Ramnath and Gopinath, disciples of veena legend Pichumani, vouched for the clout of this tradition in a concert in Kochi. In a stylised presentation, the musicians gave fine improvisations to the kritis performed.
The programme started on a grand note with Swati Tirunal’s Ata tala varnam in Kamboji. This was followed by Mysore Vasudevachar’s ‘Pranamamyaham gowrisutham’ in Gowla raga, which had some engaging kalpana swaras. After a short alapana of Kedaragowla, a rich rendition of the kriti ‘Jalajanabha’ followed. It was disappointing that the tones of the two instruments varied.
Gopinath gave an account of Poorvikalyani raga with varying pauses on the gandhara that were alluring. Tyagaraja’s kriti ‘Jnanamusagarada’ had a strong niraval on ‘Paramatmudu jeevatmudu’ even though there were slight rhythmic discrepancies while the swaras were played.
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K. Jayakrishnan accompanied deftly on the mridangam, never once going overboard. ‘Gangeya Vasanadhara’ in Hamir Kalyani and ‘Enthavedu kondu’ in Saraswati Manohari raga displayed the brothers’ love for melody yet again. Ramnath went for a vivid raga alapana of Kharaharapriya, the sancharas replete with gamakas. Some swift fingering patterns heightened the mood of music in the taanam phase before the brothers went for a highly synchronised presentation of Tyagaraja’s ‘Chakkani raja’. The numerous patterned sangatis came alive in the music of the veena.
The tani avarthanam by Jayakrishnan and Vellatanjur Srijith on the ghatam, had a few dull moments, mainly owing to the torpidity of the latter. ‘Vihara manasa rame’ in Kapi raga and a tillana in Darbari Kanada by Veena Sheshanna were tastefully rendered. The concert was organised by Bank Employees’ Arts Movement and Ernakulam Karayogam.