The Mysore-based young vocalist Pattabhirama Pandit who performed recently under the auspices of Ganesh Seva Samaj regaled the music lovers during his maiden Carnatic vocal recital in the Capital. His full throated singing contributed to the robustness of the concert. The concert was held at the Karunya Mahaganapati Temple complex and the organisation needs to be lauded for the choice of the artiste.
Pattabhirama hails from a family of musicians. Initiated by his mother MS Nagarathna into the field of music at a tender the age of three, Pattabhirama had his initial formal training from Vallabham Kalyana Sundaram and from renowned musician Dr. S. Ramanathan. He later came under the tutelage of yet another renowned musician Palghat KV Narayanaswamy. He now continues to be under the tutelage of Padma Narayanaswamy.
Pattabhirama started his recital in a grand manner by singing the popular Ata tala varnam ‘Viriboni’ in raga Bhairavi in two speeds. Execution of the varnam in the faster pace was a delightful experience that Pattabhirama provided to the music lovers. Tyagaraja’s ‘Sobhillu’ in the raga Jaganmohini was the next item that he took up. The detailed kalpanaswaras that he affixed flowed with rich creativity and was indicative of his depth in creative music.
That Pattabhirama has a strong grip on the laya aspects too came to fore when he sang two more Tyagaraja’s compositions ‘Dinamani vamsa’ in Harikhamboji and ‘Munduvenuga’ in Darbar to a riveting kalaparamanam. His creative skills once again came to fore during the kalpanaswaras that he sang for the former song and the raga alapana (Darbar) for the later song.
He sang yet another Tyagaraja’s composition ‘Atu karadani’ in the raga Manoranjani bringing out the emotive contents of the lyrics.
Pattabhirama’s central item was Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Meenakshi memudham’ in raga Poorvikalyani, which he took up for a detailed rendition. In a detailed, unhurried and scintillating delineation he brought out the nuances of the raga to the fore. The neraval of a phrase and the kalpanaswaras too were brilliantly executed doing and giving adequate justice to this composition. Pattabhirama’s miscellaneous session too was enjoyable where he included a viruthum and the popular song of Purandaradasar ‘Jagadoddarana’.
However, one felt that Pattabhirama should mellow down at places where he sings in fast paces to enhance the melody aspect in his singing.
Delhi’s R. Sridhar on the violin and the Bangalore-based HS Sudhindra on the mridangam provided excellent support to Pattabhirama. Sridhar rose to the occasion and followed the vocalist closely. His takes of Darbar and Poorvikalyani and befitting swaraprastharas in Harikhamboji and Poorvikalyani were a delight. The seasoned Sudhindra’s mridangam support added grace to the concert and his tani avartanam in Adi tala was enthralling.
On the whole, Pattabhirama captured the hearts of music lovers and the concert would linger long in their memories.
