On the first day of the 34th year Art Festival of Kartik Fine Arts, it was heartening to the hall packed with enthusiastic music lovers and avid fans of the musicians all set to perform. The program started at 4.32 pm with crème de la crème of classical Carnatic music. On the stage was the collage of the young and veterans. It was T.M. Krishna – Vocal (TMK), T.K.V Ramanujacharlu (TKVR) – Violin, Guru Karaikudi R. Mani – Mridangam (KRM), B.S. Purushothaman – Kanjira (BSP).
A splendid start with ‘Yenduku Nee Daya’ – Harikambhoji – Adi was well appreciated by the audience (almost full crowd). It was a ‘Sarva Laghu’ in a very decent pace, the perfect match for the Krithi. Neraval was carried out in the same pace and picked up momentum as it goes. TMK recited swarams at 2nd speed, which was outstanding. The raga was well handled by TKVR. KRM accompanied in his unique style.
The recent ‘Nisha’ (Cyclone) has created a major havoc in the city and thus the effect was unfavorable to all the artists including TMK. Of course they have to live it up taking care of their “tender” voices and I hope TMK certainly adopts techniques to overcome this since at times he seem to struggle on stage.
‘Vinetha Suthava’, Jayantha Sena, Adi is an all-time favorite. The eloquent style of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer was well solemnized by TMK’s Sangathis and Neraval Swaramas, keeping the perfection to the core. One may not forget the days of the stalwart (Semmangudi) who sang exclusive “Swara Alankaras” magnifying the concerts of yore. KRM is not new to this piece, as he played ‘N’ no of times for various stalwarts and each time uniquely. His “Mel kaalam” was pleasing in it’s display of the various nuances of the instrument.
Third was ‘Paripoorna Kama’, Poorvi Kalyani, Rupakam was again a nice flavor to the concert. TKVR brought out the essence of the raga, which was applauded. Subtle rendering of Krithi was aided by too many “One Avarthanam Swaras” which was interesting and appreciable. TMK has evolved through his devotion to the music and certainly authenticates the firmness of the classical “Kartnataka Sangeetham” in the modern age. It was clearly visible as the full crowd enjoyed the entire session.
“Vellaiya Dhayavillaya”, Saveri, Adi was the next to come and it was speedier than the previous. The order certainly works out for the day’s concert.
Karaharapriya, ‘Nadachi Nadachi’, Adi was the theme of the concert as it gains more responses from the audience. It’s also one of my favorite Ragas-. The flexibility of the Raga is well seen when TMK handled the ‘Alapana’. The specialty of the Raga is that it changes its dimensions every time as the singer tries to improvise with numerous ‘Sangathis’. TMK enjoyed singing it as TKVR supported him with more ‘Swara Lakshanas’. TKVR took over the ‘Alapana’ and improvised with his imagination. It was really enjoyable. Krithi Rendering was in a normal pace and was well complimented by Neraval. TMK’s Neraval was fairly good to hear. He reminded me of his guru.
KRM started his ‘Thani Avarthanam’ with an astounding start. It’s quite amazing to see him playing in full swing in his 60’s with more carefulness and gentleness. He completed his round playing unique patterns that are newly composed. It was really spell-bounding as he plays the new composition. What a performance!
It’s a passion for any Laya artist to compose and explore new sounds every time. But most of the time it’s not possible for everyone to do this as the time allocated for Thani will be only 1-5 minutes. I could say that KRM is even more expressive in short durations. BS Purushothaman supported KRM in Krithis and Swarams. He played the role perfectly as a proper “Upa Pakka Vadhyam”(Additional Laya support) and I would say that he added flavor to concert with his ‘Gumkis’ supporting KRM in Krithis. He played his turn in Thani with some repeated phrases and some of his own. It was appreciable. KRM’s unique “Misra Koraippu” with numerous phrases was the crown of the Thani. BSP well supported all the rounds. And finally the ‘Mohara – Korvai’ was also a unique piece from KRM. KRM’s ability to perceive, experiment and propagate Laya is something extraordinary. For any Laya artist it will be quite interesting and challenging to take his route.
The last two were the ‘Idhudhano Thillai Sthalam’, Behag, Adi and Thillana, Kamas, Adi. Overall the performance filled the minds of the audience with the spirit of music and I, for one, really enjoyed the first day’s premiere.
In ‘Periya Puranam’ verse ‘Payyaru Midayaru Veengal’ it was clearly mentioned how the artist should behave on stage. The right and wrong postures and actions while singing were described in the subsequent verses. I do agree that it might be a mannerism for the vocalists to do acrobatics in order to overcome the strain of singing. The expressions sometimes look like a battle between the hands of the artist. Well this is a general comment from normal person who does not know music. I request all the artists to take this as a constructive criticism and make the concert more pleasing even visually.
Kindly excuse me for having used all the music’s colloquial language without which the review will not be a good taste.
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