The flexibility and range of violin make the artist render more pleasing notes. V. Sanjeev believes that his strength lies in creating more melodic music than indulging in any idiosyncrasies of such instrument players. His concert for Sarvani Sangeetha Sabha, at the Ragasudha Hall, stood out because of two well-executed numbers - the précis of Devagandhari raga followed by the kriti ‘Ksheera Sagara Sayana’ (Tyagaraja) sans any frills and a vivacious Chala Nattai exposition appended by Koteeswara Iyer’s ‘Edayya Gati’ with piety. Indeed, the main course was Kharaharapriya, and the kriti was Tyagaraja’s ‘Pakkala Nilabadi.’
The way Sanjeev developed the raga images of Devagandhari and Chala Nattai brought forth his musical wisdom.
It would be unfair if one says his Kharaharapriya fell short of any expectations. He did full justice to the raga essay negotiating the alluring passages to suit a magnificent kriti. ‘Pakkala Nilabadi.’ His niraval was set on ‘Manasuna’ instead of the customary ‘Tanuvuche’ The niraval was supplemented with kalpanaswaras landing on Dhaivatam. A small deflection on the changing nadais creating staccato notes amounted to an avoidable overplay.
The sub-main raga, Pantuvarali carried its gaiety with ‘Aparama Bhakti’ and the swaras in the charanam ‘Kapi Varithi’ lent extra vivacity to the presentation. The concert was set on a faster tempo right from the Abhogi varnam to ‘Vinayaka Ninnuvina’ in Hamsadhwani with a deluge of swaras.
S.J. Arjun Ganesh on the mridangam and Tiruchi K. Murali on the ghatam lifted the quality of the concert with appropriate niravals and swaras.
Generally known for its ear-friendly acoustics, Ragasudha Hall’s audio quality, at this particular event, was a bit sharp and loud.
