The Navaratri dance and music festival at Changampuzha Park, Edappally, had a commendable line-up, primarily young artistes.
Bhavyalakshmy charmed the audience on the first day with her full throated emotive singing. Her Madhyamalakala rendition of Tamil kritis of Papanasam Sivan ‘Guruvayoorappa’ (Chakaravakam), ‘Enadhu manam kavalai’ (Harikamboji), and ‘Sivakamasundari’ (Mukhari) was exemplary. She sang a virutham ‘Vande mataram’, which was expressive and well modulated and ended in a cascade of sancharas. She sang the virutham and swaras for the most part, eschewing the panchamam and sang the kriti ‘Unnai alla vere gathi illai amma’ in Kalyani. This was tagged with a niraval on the famed line ‘Neeye Meenakshi, Kamakshi, Neelayathakshi’. The raga elaboration of Vagadheeswari, with accent on a weighty Gandharam, was delectable. She once again opted for what sounded like a virutham, ‘Vani isai vani, dedicated to goddess Saraswathi, and, surprisingly, settled for Tyagarja composition ‘Paramatmudu velige’.
Vignesh Ishwar, who performed on the second day, had a strong musical ensemble to support him. His effortless singing was manifested in ‘Sri Kumara Nagaralaye’ in Atana raga and he sang the swaras too with accent on melody rather than giving himself to briskness. M.S. Ananthakrishnan played fast the intricate passages of the raga on the violin. Vignesh’s Kalyani alaapana had sparkling brigas that almost touched the notes in the ati tara sthayi. Tanam, however, found the same phrases repeating in tandem. Muthuswami Dikshitar’s navavarana kriti ‘Kamalambam bhajare’ was sung with a freewheeling niraval on ‘Kathyayani Nithyakalyani’.
Sitar recital by Prathibha Kamath and a ballet ‘Dakshinadyam’ by Kalamandalam Sugandhi was on the third day. Though Girija Sankar, who sang the following day, failed to live up to expectations, she struck a chord with the audience with the rendition of ‘Sarojadala netri’ of Shyamasastri and other kritis such as ‘Deva Deva Kalayamithe’ (Mayamalavagowla), ‘Ranjani Niranjani’ (Ranjani) and ‘Ninne Namminanu’ (Thodi). Parvatipuram Padmanabha Iyer and his group rendered Swati Tirunal’s kritis on the next day. Seasoned Kuchipudi dancer Geeta Padmakumar, who performed on the sixth day, presented ‘Saroruhasana Jaye’, devoted to the goddess. Tharangam, executed with skill and panache, was the highlight of the day. She gave life to the many pranks of Krishna and his giving salvation to Trivakra. Geeta’s controlled abhinaya found expression in ‘Kandanaal muthal kaadhal’ where the vipralabdha nayika persuades the sakhi to convey her love to Lord Muruga.
Ashwath Narayan, who belongs to the lineage of K. V. Narayanaswamy, presented the latter’s masterpieces on the seventh day. Apart from those dulcet Swati compositions such as ‘Saramaina’ in Behag and ‘Taruni njaan enthu cheyvu’ in Dwijavanthi, he also sang ‘Marubalga’ in Sreeranjani, which had excellent swara sancharas. The full magnitude of Shudhasaveri manifested in Ashwath’s alaapana and he sang multiple raga sancharas in a single breath. The effortless singing of Swati’s seventh day Navaratri kriti ‘Janani Pahi’ led to an exquisite niraval on the line ‘Phalarajitilake,’ with musical patterns interwoven with surprising twists and intuitive kalpanaswaras. The taniavartanam led by veteran K.V. Prasad and supported by Aluva R. Rajesh was vibrant and tight. ‘Jagadodharana’ (Kapi) and ‘Arabhimanam’ (Ragamalika) were the other songs that embellished the concert. Meanwhile, Poornima Krishnan's concert, the following day, did not impress the audience.
Vaikom Jayachandran’s concert on the final day stood out for the laudable percussion support and a choice of rare kritis and ragas. He gave vocal expression to the immortal Tyagaraja composition ‘Muddumomu’ in Sooryakantham and embellished it with chaste swarakalpana. Yet another rarely sung kriti was Muthiah Bhagavathar’s ‘Kadambavanavasini’ in Bhoopalam, sung with pentatonic swaras. He had some surprising opening phrases for Kalyani and sang Neelakanta Sivan’s ‘Ambike arul sei’ with a flowing niraval. Balakrishna Kamath admirably filled the blank spaces.
The nine–day event was organised by Edappally Sangeeta Sadas.
