Ramakrishnan Murthy has been making rapid strides in his path to progress in the Carnatic concert arena and is now a force to reckon with. This was evident by the full house that attended his concert. Even extra chairs were not enough and rasikas had to be seated on the dais. He took off with Syama Sastri’s ‘Pahisri’ after establishing Anandabhairavi clearly in less than 90 seconds.
Gifted with a voice that has a perfect balance of robust and sweet attributes, he
exhibited maturity in his approach. The Pantuvarali exposition that began from the upper shadjam had a vintage touch about it and was filling. The effect he created in about four minutes was proof enough for his career inching up the Y-axis. V. Sanjeev (violin) hit the bull’s eye with a striking reply. The niraval for the lines ‘Manasuna’ for Tyagaraja’s ‘Raghuvara’ and a liberal dosage of swaras, built on melodic lines, enhanced the proceedings.
Youngsters R. Sankaranarayanan (mridangam) and B. Shree Sundar
Kumar (ganjira) never crossed limits in their phrases. Ramakrishnan Murthy established his individuality with dainty touches. Sankaranarayanan’s tekkas for the anupallavi of Tyagaraja’s ‘Ragupathe Rama’ were interesting. ‘Bantureeti Kolu’ (Hamsanadam) preceded the evening’s main, Bhairavi that was built by Ramakrishnan Murthy on traditional lines. Astute treatment of the sancharas in the upper octave and rationed use of brigas were hallmarks of his essay. Sanjeev’s was on equal footing.
‘Yaro Ivar Yaro’ at a breezy pace had impressive niraval and swaras at ‘Chandrabimba’ followed by a thani where both the artists vied with each other with their master stroke play. It was a punchy mix of Shree Sundar Kumar’s kumkis and Sankaranarayanan’s toppi .
