Clarinet vidwan Kota Achibabu was featured in a recital by Sangeetha Ksheerasagara at Thyagaraya Gana Sabha last week and he gave an outstanding performance in the company of talented accompanists R. Dinakar on violin, P. Jayabhasker on mridangam and T.P. Balasubramanyam on ghatam. Achibabu began with Natakuranji varnam - Chalamela in Aditalam and followed it with well known devotional Vatapi in Hamsadhwani. Hamsadhwani was his first raga effort itself and he evolved it impressively. The swarakalpana he presented later in the kriti part was by itself an experience to listen to. Siva Siva Yanarada in Pantuvarali, the next number he played was prefaced with a brief raga essay that was well delineated. The composition of Thyagaraja was neatly presented on the instrument with good expression. The swarakalpana part was also impressive. Diksheetar's Annapoorne Visalakshi in Sama that he took up later was presented and Achibabu could well bring out its inherent appeal of this great devotional with bhakti bhava. This was one of the good pieces he presented.
The showpiece of the concert was the melody Kharaharapriya, which he evolved with care and built well steadily maintaining its melodic quality in all the sthayis. He tried in this number to display some virtuoso skills here and there. The choice number in this was Thyagaraja's Prakkala Nilabadi in Misrachapu talam. This is another example of how he tried to make us feel every word of the lyric within us by resorting to vocalist approach. The neravu was quite detailed. The swarakalpana part was exemplary mirroring his manodharma, as he proceeded to bring in other ragas of Kapi, Sahana and Revati into a raga chain gliding from one raga into another smoothly. Tani Avarthanam by percussionists Jayabhaskar and Balasubramaniyam was enjoyable. Dinakar on violin also impressed with his own responses to all the ragas the main artiste played.
Annamacharya's composition Purushothamudaveevu in Revagupti and a Mantrapushpam brought the show to an end. K. Chandramouli, musician and scholar was the guest and compared Achibabu's play to that of A.K.C. Natarajan of South.
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