Senior Carnatic vocalist K. Omanakutty delighted her listeners in Kochi with her erudition, singing, and melodious alto voice. She started her concert with a Nattakurinji song ‘Karpaga vinayaka,' composed by Bharathiyar.
Her disciple Ranjani Varma provided commendable vocal support throughout the concert, not only in singing the songs but also in presenting the manodharma segment. She gave a brief prelude to Atana raga, which was followed by the duo singing Swati Tirunal's ‘Sreekumara nagaralaye.' Dr. Omanakutty took up a rare raga Kapi Narayani for detailed exposition.
Variety and surprise
The raga alapana had many marked points of variety and surprise. The kalpanaswaras, with unpredictable patterns of ascent and descent, were thrilling to listen to. Tyagaraja's ‘Sarasa sama dana' was beautifully rendered. After a short sketch of Pantuvarali raga, the vocalist presented Dikshitar's ‘Ramanatham Bhajeham,' set to Roopaka tala. Niraval on the line ‘Kumaraguruguha' was sung to an off beat and this was repeated for the swaras too.
Trivandrum Surendran on the mridangam and Tripunithura Radhakrishnan on the ghatam supported the improvisation commendably at this stage. Omanakutty chose Arabhi as the main raga for ragam-tanam-pallavi.
The raga elaboration meandered around the routine phrases and the tanam took off with percussion support in the full rhythm cycle of Chaturasrajathi Adi tala. Thiruvizha Sivanandan gave a comprehensive follow up on the violin. A simple pallavi ‘Lakshmi Mana mohana' followed.
Vocal support went overboard when both the singers sang certain parts of the pallavi together and this was uncalled for. There were minor hitches in rhythm from Sivanandan. At the end of the pallavi, Dr. Omanakutty took up ragas Anandabhairavi, Hamir Kalyani, and Kapi for detailed swara and niraval presentation in the ragamalika section. A brief and enlivening taniavarthanam from Radhakrishnan and Surendran showcased the percussionists' mastery over their craft.
The vocalist went for her regular closing pieces such as ‘Karuna Cheyvan' in Yadukula Kamboji, ‘Radha Sametha Krishna' in Yamuna Kalyani and a Meera bhajan ‘Mohana girivara dhari.' The concert was organised jointly by Avishkar Kottaram Sankunni Nair Smaraka Kalakendram, Changampuzha Samskarika Kendram, and Sangeeta Sadas.
