Anirudh Venkatesh is a new talent who came to the city and charmed audience at Thyagaraja Gana Sabha on Satuday morning.
A regular at the December music season in Chennai, this US-based employee of a software company has performed at concerts of prestigious sabhas across the country. Blessed with a rich vocal culture, the artiste received applause for almost all the numbers. He had with him equally talented young team — Shivaramamurthy on violin and Sumesh on mridangam.
Anirudh opened with a rare number Inthamodi Seya in Saranga of Tiruvottiyur Thyagaraja with brief swara structures. He then went for Merusamaana Dheera in Mayamalavagowla of Thyagaraja, a rarely heard number. It has impressive sahitya content that asks Srirama to appear before his devotees with all the grandeur he possesses. It was a song that reflects the general attitude of the bhaktas. Anirudh rightly chose to present a neraval to explore and enhance the nuances of a particular sahitya line. The swarakalpana that followed too was appealing.
He then rendered Dikshitar’s popular compostion Sri Mathrubootham in Kannada preceded by ragalapana. Seethamma Mayamma in Lalitha is a prominent composition that Thyagaraja penned, addressing Sita and Rama as his parents. The significance of the rendition lies in presenting a detailed neraval in accelerating speeds and the swarakalpana that followed.
The main composition of the concert, Kaddanu Variki in Thodi, was a brilliant piece that Anirudh decorated with manodharma in the ragalapana, neraval and swarakalpana. He also rendered its sahitya with care and clarity. Thodi is a raga that gives scope for creative improvisation of a composition. Here, the raga expansion was simply brilliant, touching all the delicate details. He sang this composition with sahitya clarity. The detailed neraval slowly moved to kalpana swaras, presenting them methodically, building its tempo. The Tani avartanam by the mridangam artiste was an additional treat, enhancing the appeal of this number.
Anirudh also chose some light classical numbers that matched the richness of the kucheri like Annamacharya kirtana Muddugare Yasoda tuned by Nedunuri Krishnamurthy in Kuranji, Samayamide in Behag and Sri Kamalambike in Sriragam.
