After a vilamba kala rendition of ‘Yenna Punniyam,’ Suryaprakash ventured into the fast lane with a pacy ‘Manavinalkincharadate,’ from the anupallavi before retracing to pallavi. Mudhra Bhaskar (mridangam) and Chandrasekara Sharma (ghatam) rose to the occasion and added pep to the song.
Suyaprakash laced the kriti with kalapanaswaras before moving to the main Mohanam. He offered musical phrases that were rich in content. After a point, it became a mere exercise of up and down the scale. He ventured into a lengthy ‘ukaaram’ interpretation of the raga.
Violinist M.R. Gopinath, a seasoned artist, was his usual self that evening. The way he played Mohanam was impressive.
Tyagaraja’s ‘Mohana Rama’ has an inherent speed that was well captured by the singer. The lilt in the song was further enhanced by the rhythm keepers. Surya’s swaras for the first speed were raga based. Bhavapriya highlighted kaisiki nishadam now and then followed by a lengthy tanam.
The concert was well into 150 minutes. Gopinath showed his class in both these segments. The pallavi led to a ragamalika swara segment with sarva laghu phrases followed by a well coordinated tani between Mudhra Bhaskar (mridangam) and Chandrashekar Sharma (ghatam). Suryaprakash’s viruttam segment was the best part with ragas such Maand, Desh, Hamir Kalyani, Sivaranjani and Sri.
