Delhi: Maestros' homage to Thyagaraja

VENKATESAN SRIKANTH

A feast of Carnatic music was on offer in the Capital as Trichur V. Ramachandran and T. M. Krishna performed at a festival in memory of Tyagaraja.

TYAGARAJA'S RICHES Trichur V. Ramachandran

The four-day Thyagaraja Music Festival organised by Sree Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha at the Andhra Pradesh Bhawan in the Capital recently began on a luminous note with the concert of the senior most vidwan of the illustrious GNB school, Trichur V. Ramachandran.

Ramachandran's opening piece was an Adi tala varnam in the raga Nattakuranji, with even some lively swaraprastaras towards the end. This was followed by a choice and thoughtful విదులకు మ్రొక్కేద (Vidulaku Mrokkeda) in the raga Mayamalavagowla, in which Tyagaraja makes obeisance, among others, to all the great beings who are well versed in music. Yet another Tyagaraja composition, జ్ఞానముసకరాద (Gnanamusakaradha) in the raga Poorvikalyani, was marked with a scintillating alap of the raga, niraval of the phrase పరమాత్ముముడు జీవాత్ముడు (Paramatmudu Jeevatmudu) and swaraprastaras rich in creativity.

In a concert dominated by Tyagaraja kritis, his Pancharatna kriti too found a place in Ramachandran's scheme of presentation. It was the third Pancharatna kriti, సాధించనె (Sadinchane) in the raga Arabi that was presented. లావణ్య రామ (Lavanya Rama) in the raga Rudrapriya, ఒరజూపు (Orajupu) in Kannada Gowla and ధరని తెలుసుకొంటి (Dharani telusukonti) in the raga Suddha Saveri had a scholarly touch. While presenting దుర్మార్గచారా (Durmargachara) in the raga Ranjani and సుఖి ఎవ్వరొ (Sukhi Yevvaro) in the raga Kanada, emotions associated with these ragas flowed.

Ramachandran's main song was "Etavunara" in the raga Kalyani, which was marked by an excellent alap, niraval of the phrase శ్రీ గరుడకు త్యాగరాజ కరర్చిత (Sreegarudaku Tyagaraja kararchitha) from the charanam portion of the kriti, and swaraprastaras lively and rich in creativity. In all, Ramachandran packed as many as nine kirits of Tyagaraja, including one Pancharatna kriti, in the main session of his concert (before the tani avartanam), giving a complete flavour of the `GNB baani' in kriti presentation as well as manodharma aspects.

T.M. Krishna

Traditional values

In another concert in this series, it was again the traditional values of Carnatic music that came to the fore. T. M. Krishna, a disciple of the legendary late Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, captivated the hearts of the rasikas in his recital of close to three hours. Krishna began his concert with an Adi tala varnam in the raga Saveri in two speeds. Tyagaraja's "Janakiramana" in the raga Suddha Simandhini was emotive and marked with crisp swaraprastaras. Yet another Tyagaraja's kriti, "Seetapate" in the raga Khamas, was well presented, bringing the raga and the sahitya bhava to the fore.

An ashtapadi of Jayadeva, "Vadasi yadi kinchit", in the raga Mukhari was presented with the emotions of this raga overflowing. Earlier, Krishna presented an outstanding alap of this raga. Gopala Krishna Bharati's "Pavi Yezhai" in the raga Todi was marked by an excellent alap, niraval of the phrase "Uttru Parkka Satre Vilaghado Maadu" and swaraprastaras rich in creativity.

Krishna's recital included a ragam-taanam-pallavi too, giving a `music festival' touch. He presented the pallavi "Lambodara lakumikara ambasuta amara vinuta" in the raga Nattakurinji, set to Tisra jaati Triputa tala. Incidentally, these words of the pallavi are from the geetam "Sri Gananatha" taught to beginners of Carnatic music. After presenting swaraprastaras in the raga Nattakurinji, Krishna followed up with rich ragamalika swaraprastaras in the ragas Kalyani, Kanada and Malahari — the raga in which this geetam has originally been composed. Ragam-taanam-pallavi is considered a sign of an advanced level of achievement in a concert presentation. Krishna's selection of a simple phrase carved from a geetam for the pallavi presentation seems akin to the concept of `simple living, high thinking'. Earlier, he presented a fine alap of Nattakurinji, following it with a melodious taanam.

H.N. Bhaskar on the violin, Umayalpuram Mali on the mridangam and Tiruchi Murali, all youngsters, provided excellent accompaniment in the both these concerts, enhancing their overall outcome. While accompanying the senior vidwan Ramachandran, these youngsters rose to expectations, and while accompanying Krishna, a youngster himself, they displayed their enthusiastic team spirits.

Courtesy: The Hindu