Melodious mandolin

Melodious mandolin

Rabindranath Tagore Nagar Cultural Association is conducting music programmes every month punctually, from the last 25 years. It also conducts music competitions, Harikatha, Namasankeerthana, etc apart from a music festival, every year.

The 26th annual music festival of the RT Nagar Cultural Association was held last week with vocal, mandolin performances and Namasankeerthana concerts at the Sri Vinayaka Cultural Centre of Vinayaka Devasthana. Another name for the instrument mandolin is ‘U Srinivas’. He was a child prodigy and a versatile mandolin player, who inspired several youngsters to learn mandolin. One such youngster is U Rajesh, younger brother of U Srinivas.

In his concert for the RT Nagar Cultural Association on Thursday, Rajesh presented a number of well-known compositions in popular ragas. Drawing his inspiration from a popular varna in Mohana, he saluted to invocatory God through ‘Siddi Vinayakam’ in Shanmukhapriya. ‘Manavyalara’ was in good speed while ‘Sharavanabhava’ was rendered in super fast speed. The evocative keerthana ‘Entha Muddo’ reminded past masters of Karnatic music.

Tyagaraja's familiar kruthi ‘Nagumomu’ was given a detailed treatment. Rajesh's mandolin is melodious and he plays with ease and assurance.  But his attention was more on speed and rhythm-oriented swaraprasthara than ragaalapana and ‘nerval’. They say ‘speed mars the melody’. Seasoned connoisseurs felt that a slightly slower tempo would have invested it with greater grandeur.

Mathur Srinidhi on the violin and Vyasa Vittala on khanjari while replying to the sallies of mandolin, maintained their musical composure and played with alacrity. But, senior percussionist Tiruvaruru Bhakthavatsala supported on mridanga in his characteristic and enjoyable manner.

Visually appealing

Four members of the Abhijatha Dance Ensemble presented Hari Hara, blending Bharathanatya and Kathak. Lakshmi and Bhavani tease spouse of the other to herald supremacy of their husbands (Hari or Hara). Finally they agree that both Hari and Hara are great and supreme.

For the second item, the popular devaranama of Purandara Dasa - ‘Yene Bhamini, Yene Bhavani’ was chosen. In the next piece, Vishnu and Shiva praise each other quoting Kalinga Mardana, Nataraja's dance at Kanaka Sabha, Ravana Vadhe etc. Dr Ganesh Avadhani’s composition was also interesting.

Rohini Prabhath, Neha Seshadrinath, Ashwin Prabhath and Naveen Heggade - gave better account of themselves. Their nritta was invested with elan and crisp lines. They performed with ease and involvement adding to the visual appeal and the choreography was also neat.

Excellence in Abhinaya

The Bengaluru International Arts Festival was organised by AIM, at different venues in the city. Folk music and dance from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Odisha, Rajasthan, Kerala, Gujarat, Telangana and of course Karnataka - were not only colourful but also attractive.

Rama Vaidyanathan, a leading Bharathanatya exponent of India, performed on Friday at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall.

Innovative Rama Vaidyanathan opened her dance recital with ‘Sannidhana’, in which she compared the development of Alaripu (set to Atta thala) to the architecture of a Hindu temple. The sacred ‘Beejamantra’ was also used intelligently. Even the common place ‘Alaripu’ highlighted the grace and dignified beauty of Rama's style.

The main item of the evening was ‘Navarasa Mohana’. Different reactions of the royal audience in the court, to Baala Krishna, who had come to kill Kamsa - were performed by Rama. Her portrayal was neat and pointed, the easy flow of one episode (Rasa) to another, to depict different ‘Rasa’ making for visual delight; Krishna coming alive each time in the delineation. There was an unmistakable grace that lent a touch of class to her performance and the easy way she covered the stage added a distinct character to her elegant style.

Even in the Thumri, Sancharis were so variegated and eloquent that they were full of life and involvement. Restrained but impactful and matured Abhinaya with telling expressiveness, received admiration. Musicians from the wings also shared the honours with the dancer. Natuvanga - Dr S Vasudevan, vocal - K Venkateswaran, mridanga - Sumod Sreedharan and violin - Viju S Anand.