The last five days of the 15-day Sree Neelakanta Sivan Sangeetha Aradhana music fete in Thiruvananthapuram saw leading vocalists, including T.M. Krishna and Ranjani and Gayatri, present exemplary concerts .
T.M. Krishna
T.M. Krishna has thoroughly changed the concept of the ‘traditional kutcheri format’, which has disgruntled a section of the audience. But his concert was a melodic journey.
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His opening number was Dikshitar's ‘Dakshinamoorthe’ in Sankarabharanam, which is usually rendered as a main item in a concert. TMK sang Neelakanta Sivan’s ‘Shanmugane’ in Kapi with the right bhava. Then he proceeded to Kharaharapriya raga delineation, which was followed by a ragamalika tanam in Hameerkalyani, Kalyani, Sahana, Bhairavi and Yamuna Kalyani. There was no pallavi. ‘O Jagadamba’ in Ananda Bhairavi followed by taniavarthanam was soothing and charming. The concert was wound up with a sloka ‘Sringaram’ in ragamalika consisting of Kamboji, Behag and Sindhubhairavi. Accompanists R. K. Sreekumar (violin), Arun Prakash (mridangam) and Kadanadu Ananthakrishnan (ganjira) enhanced the musicality of the concert.
Sambagadu Vignaraja
He began his concert with Swati Tirunal’s Kamboji varnam ‘Sarasijanabha’. Gifted with a powerful voice and an impressive repertoire, Sambagadu Vignaraja rendered ‘Anandanadamaduvar’ (Poorvikalyani), ‘Dandamu Bettedanura’ (Balahamsa) and ‘Telisirama’ (Poorvichandrika) in addition to several other numbers. Finally he embarked on ragam thanam pallavi in Sankarabharanam wherein the artiste vividly portrayed the multifaceted characteristics of the raga with finesse. S.R. Rajasree (violin), Cherthala Dinesh (mridangam) and Kottayam Unnikrishnan (ghatam) provided marvellous support.
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Mohan Santhanam
Mohan Santhanam also sang the Kamboji varnam ‘Sarasijanabha’. An elaborate raga alapana in Kedaragowla followed by ‘Thulasivilva’ of Tyagaraja was well received. The neat diction of the sahithya followed by well-arranged kalpanaswaras made the rendering enchanting. After taniavarthanam, he took up ‘Annai thanthaiyum neeyeh’, a composition of Neelakanta Sivan in ragamalika (Malayamarutham, Ranjini, Subha panthuvarali, Sivasakthi Hindolam and Sindhubhairavi) and embellished it with chittaswaras. R.Swaminathan (violin), Mavelikara Rajish (mridangam) and Anchal Krishna Iyer (ghatam) ably accompanied the vocalist.
Perumbavoor G. Ravindranath
Beginning his concert with a Ganapathy stuti in Chalanatta, veteran vocalist Perumbavoor G. Ravindranath moved on to Syama Sastri’s ‘Karuna Judu Ninnu’ in Sriraga. Ravindranath essayed the raga Gamakakriya elaborately and followed it up with a vigorous performance of Dikshitar’s immortal kriti ‘Meenakshi Memudam’.
Easwara Varma (violin), Kadakkavoor Rajeshnath (ghatam) and Trivandrum P.K. Gopalakrishnan (morsing) could make the concert a grand success.
Chepad Vamanan Namboodiri
‘Sami Ninne’, a varnam in Sriraga, ‘Siddi vinayakam’ in Shanmugapriya and ‘Mamavasadha Varade’ in Nattakurunji led to an elegant exposition of Neelakanta Sivan’s ‘Paarum parunkadaikankripai’ in Thodi. Tyagaraja's ‘Mohanarama’ in Mohanam became noteworthy on account of the vocalist’s unhurried rendition of the kriti. He was provided excellent support by C.S. Anuroop (violin), Chepad Krishnan Nambooodiri (mridangam), Trivandrum Rajesh (ghatam) and Neyyattinkara Krishnan (morsing).
Ranjani and Gayatri
Ranjani and Gayatri began their musical session with a Thodi raga varnam ‘Era Napai Intamodi’. Neelakanta Sivan’s ‘Ennintha Thamathamo Meenakshi’ in Nattakurunji took the concert to a melodic high. GNB’s ‘Marivere’ in raga Malavi was a prelude to ragam thanam pallavi. A superb elaboration of Hameerkalyani, an ornamental tanam followed by a pallavi, ‘Vrindavanajanalola Muralidhara’ in Khandajathi Triputa tala, illuminated by scintillating ragamalika kalpanaswara in Saurashtram, Abhogi, Mandu and Vrindavanasaranga kept the audience spellbound. They concluded the concert with a virutham on Muruga and an Abhang in raga Durga ‘Dhanya Dhanya’. Rajeev (violin), Manoj Siva (mridangam) and Udupi S. Srikanth (ganjira) were very good. The fete was organised by the Sree Neelakanta Sivan Sangeetha Sabha.