The Carnatic music scene is vibrant and promising. The Ramanavami music season which is huge in Karnataka, brings the best of music to connoisseurs. One is beset by the huge number of youngsters who have made it to the concert stage. So if you hear someone saying there are no takers for Carnatic music, then be sure it’s a joke. Talent and skill does take you some distance, but to get where the great masters did, it takes persistence and rigour of a different order. It’s a long and arduous journey.
At the month long concert season at Sree Ramaseva Mandali, Fort Highschool, Trichur Brothers – Srikrishna and Ramkumar – proved yet again that they were immensely gifted. Bestowed with a euphonious voice that passes through the octaves with ease, it is equally felicitous. The Brothers enlivened the stage with their enthusiastic rendition, totally participating in each other’s music. In the three hour concert, a brisk “Seetamma Mayamma” in raga Vasanta was memorable. Madurai Mani Iyer’s rendition remains unsurpassed, but the Trichur Brothers infused it with bhaava and bhakti that made their singing beautiful.
When they opened the extraordinary Varali, the mind was already listening to the great renditions of the raga by K.V. Narayana Swamy, P.S. Narayana Swamy and the legendary Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. They patiently unravelled the raga, and even worked in lovely chord positions. While Srikrishna held on to the more meditative idioms, Ramkumar’s recital was dominated by birkhas and fast paced tanas. The complementary nature of their delineation is interesting, but became monotonous. Even with all the sublime moments, the recital moved towards the ‘popular’ and in the Charukeshi RTP that it was amply clear. Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli’s violin overtook the vocalists at several places and seemed too loud. There is little doubt that the Brothers are special to the Carnatic world, but one also wishes that they hold on to the chaste idiom that the great teachers have passed on to them.
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Tradition is constantly being renewed and in the most amazing manner – the young Ramakrishnan Murthy is a great addition to the flow of parampara. Earnest and sincere, the seriousness this musician brings to his music belies his age. The inherent quality of his music is adherence to the idiom and a samadhana that is shorn of the desire to please his audience. The desire to constantly evolve and renew is so high in Murthy’s music that each time he meets with a new idea, he doggedly pursues it.
Murthy sang the popular madhyamakala kriti in Janaranjani, “Vidajaladura”. It had a short neraval, before he moved to lay out a brief, but nuanced alapane in Kalyani. He sang the rarely heard “Birana Brova Ide”, a composition by Tarangampadi Panchanada Iyer. He rendered it in good pace with neraval at “Nee pada pankajamu”. Murthy pays equal attention to all the aspects of his music and hence the listener finds his detailed attention to the kriti fulfilling. His sangatis are proficient and marked with clarity.
Shuddha Dhanyasi had shades of Todi to begin with but Murthy built the raga beautifully with great perseverance. No raga can be established by its notes alone, but by the manner in which these notes are deployed to establish the bhava. Murthy rendered a highly evocative Shuddha Dhanyasi but Todi kept creeping in now and then. The swara in two kalas was infused with energy, but the mridangam (J. Vaidyanathan) dominated during the rendition of the kritis. However, the tani avartanam with Guruprasanna on the khanjira was sheer poetry. T.K.V. Ramanujacharlu played a lovely Shuddha Dhanyasi. The Kanada RTP was intense. Murthy is certainly a musician of great promise. Pity, the turnout was poor.
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After a heavy downpour, the overcast remnants in the sky threatened to disrupt Vani Satish’s concert at Vani Vidya Kendra, Basaveshwarnagar. However, once she systematically began to build the sangatis in ‘Inthachala,’ the varnam in Begade, it seemed as if even the rumbling skies were beckoned to be mute spectators in awe.
Vani Satish is an artist who relishes her music, and it is infectious. Her diction is cleaver-sharp and the quality of her voice stands out. As she sang ‘Rangapuravihara’ in the charming Bridavana Saranga, her voice basked in the glory of the poignant notes of the raga.
By now, the night had begun to set in and Vani hailed its arrival with ‘Rama Rama’ a composition in the melakartha raga- Yagapriya, composed by her uncle, Bellary Sheshagiri Achar. Yagapriya has an unpredictable character. It ascends into the higher notes predictably but on its way back, it transitions into the unfamiliar, making it a difficult raga to sing in.
The Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi in Kharaharapriya was evocative from the tanam and alapana to the neraval. She reined in the essence of the raga in every line. B.S.Prashanth on the mridangam was proficient. Especially during the tani avartanam, he and Amruth Kumar N. on the morsing, indulged in a back and forth that was delightful.
C.N.Thyagaraju’s skills as a violinist was in playing the most intricate lines, discovering nuances in the ragas- both in the ascending and descending phrases, with absolute ease.
Towards the end of the recital, Vani sang a thillana in Revathy, a composition of her uncle again. Her uncle, she said, had weaved in five ragas in the charanam of the thillana — all of which Vani showcased skilfully.
She ended the recital with a pleasant bhajan- ‘Govind Bolo, Gopala Bolo.’ Slowly and meditatively, she, along with her ensemble of creative accompanists, attempted to wean the audience from the brief spell they cast on them that evening.
