Sri Kartikeya Gana Sabha has celebrated ‘Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar Birth Centenary’ by holding a special concert, last week at Kowtha Swarajya Vihar, Padmarao Nagar, Secunderabad. This was sponsored by ‘Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar Memorial Trust’. The concert featured a vocal duet by ‘Bangalore Brothers’ Ashok and Hariharan in the company of Ramaraju Dinakar on violin, Peravali Jayabhaskar on mridangam and Bachu Janardhan on ghatam.
Notable feature of the concert was rendition of compositions penned by Vinjamuri who penned many compositions and rendered them at various concerts.
The brothers opened with Ghana Raga Malika Varnam that moved through Nata, Gowla, Aarabhi, Varali and Sri, all done in two speeds. This was followed by Dosamu Leni Nanne Sadhinchuta in Saranga with nice alapana laced with sancharas. Dinakar’s violin support provided synergetic effect. Rendition of this Telugu kriti was perfect a expression of sahitya.
The brothers then presented Narasimha Nannu Brovara in Bilahari set to Misrachapu talam. This number was opened with brief sketch of the raga. The kriti rendition by the duo was well balanced and the swarakalpana part was breezy, especially in higher tempo. Their sub-main piece was Jagelara Nanu Brochutaku in Himavathi. The delineation of the raga shared by both the brothers was fairly detailed, woven with graceful sancharas and subtle gamakas soaked in right sruthi. The swarakalpana in higher tempo was spicy. The main melody of the concert was Sankarabharanam for ‘Padmavathi Bhajamyaham’. They presented neraval taking the pallavi line Padamavathi Bhajamyaham Palitha Varadaraja Sevitham that carries Varadaraja Iyengar’s name too as his signature. Nowhere the brothers have resorted to over doing, exceeding their limits of alapana. Dinakar on violin kept pace with them and added his own interpretation accentuating the melody’s beauty in turns. The swarakalpana part was impressive with short kalpanaswaras and sarvalaghu swaras. Tani avarthanam by Jayabhaskar on mridangam and Janardan on ghatam gave a fine show of tani.
