Slovenia-based Gopuram, Institute for Vedic Culture, non-profit private organisation, established to promote cultural and educational activities in the field of art and culture, recently organised a vocal concert by Sikkil Gurucharan. Earlier, the organization had invited ‘Chitravina’ Ravikiran to perform there.
Gurucharan, who presented a Carnatic recital for the first time in Slovenia, at the City Museum of Ljubljana, was accompanied by mridangam player Chidambaram Narayanan, currently based in Switzerland.
The evening began with an introduction by Vojko Kercan, co-founder of Gopuram.
Gurucharan gave lucid explanations on Carnatic music before each piece so the audience could appreciate the beauty and intricacies of this ancient system.
He started with a varnam in Thodi and went on to Tyagaraja’s Bangala kriti, ‘Girirajasuta.’ The vocalist chose as his next piece Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Kana Vendamo’ in Sriranjani, which talks about the gopuram, the architectural entrance to a temple. It seemes as if Gurucharan was expressing his gratitude to the organiser.
He then moved to the main piece in Kiravani. He beautifully elaborated the raga and continued with Tyagaraja's ‘Kaligiyunte.’ Leaving the audience in awe with his creativity and voice abilities, it was Chidambaram's turn to present a thani.
The vocalist, after explaining the connection between Dikshitar and Western music, continued with composer’s Western arrangement in Sankarabharanam (Nottu-svara), ‘Kamalasana.’ Gurucharan ended with a moving bhajan in Yaman, and a thillana in Basant.
It was heart-warming to see that local public appreciate this concert, despite the cultural, linguistic and musical differences. Truly, music knows no boundaries!
