Younger musicians provided an eclectic mixture of distinctive themes and kritis

The thematic music collection, hosted not too long ago by Naada Inbam, at Ragasudha Corridor, was an attention-grabbing bundle. Younger musicians regaled the viewers with their distinctive alternative of themes and kritis by varied composers.

Preeti Sethuraman’s live performance, themed on the ‘Vahanas of gods’, set the tone for the ten-day collection. Preeti’s coaching aided her in selecting compositions by varied composers that had particular references to the vahanas. Her dulcet voice enhanced the enchantment.

Pleasing essays

Her repertoire included a dozen compositions in several languages and on varied deities. However, the live performance format was retained all through. The opening piece, on peacock, the mount of Muruga, was the varnam in Hindolam ‘Malmarugan murugan’ by Thanjavur Sankara Iyer. ‘Sri Mahaganapati’ in Gowla by Muthuswami Dikshitar, that adopted subsequent, was on Ganesha and his mount mooshika. Preeti’s pleasing raga essay of Sri led to ‘Tyagaraja mahadwaja’ by Dikshitar on Tiruvarur Tyagaraja. Right here the charanam speaks about Shiva’s a number of autos just like the celestial airplane, demon, elephant, tree, and Mount Kailash. Raga Kalyani took centre stage, and an in depth raga exposition was adopted by the rendition of ‘Swarnakala bhairavam’ on Kalabhairavar, composed by Swarna Venkatesa Dikshitar. Preeti delved deep into the phrase ‘Shunavahanam kripakaram’, which refers back to the deity’s car, canine.

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Preeti Sethuraman with P. Akshaya on the violin, and S. Gomathi Shankar on the mridangam.
| Photograph Credit score: Particular Association

The night additionally featured kritis similar to ‘Garuda (eagle) gamana’ in Nagaswaravali (Patnam Subramania Iyer), ‘Andolika (palanquin) vaahane’ in Anandabhairavi, by Swati Tirunal, ‘Vanpuliyin (tiger) meedhinile’ on Iyyappan, in Kurunji, ‘Srichakra raja simhasaneswari’ (royal throne) in ragamalika, and Lalgudi Jayaraman’s Khamas thillana, which as soon as once more was on Muruga and his mount peacock.

P. Akshaya on the violin and S. Gomathi Shankar on the mridangam provided accompaniment.

Voice, his asset

Blessed with a deep and charming voice, Bharat Narayan selected to render songs themed on ‘Surya and Chandra’. He started with ‘Anandanatana prakasam’, in raga Kedaram, the place references to Surya and Chandra determine in anupallavi and charanam respectively. This was adopted by Tyagaraja’s ‘Raga sasi vadana’ (Takka), the place there’s a point out of Surya within the pallavi. He added a quick preface of Harikamboji to ‘Entuku nirdhaya’ (Tyagaraja), with niraval and swaras at ‘Indu nibhanana inacula chandana’.

Bharat Narayan (theme: Surya and Chandra), with Visvesh (violin) and  Kaushik Sridhar (mridangam).
| Photograph Credit score: Particular Association

A reasonably exhaustive Purvikalyani was constructed up, largely deploying brief and crisp phrases solely. Puthucode Krishnamurthy’s composition, ‘Rajathi raja ravi vamsa soma’ was his alternative right here, and one might see the references to solar and moon. Narayana Tirtha’s ‘Aa lokaye Rukmini’ in raga Kiravani got here up subsequent. He preceded it with an in depth raga treatise, and added swaras on the madhyamakala charanam line ‘Chandrana bhaismi bhama’. It might be good for Narayan to take a position extra on the prolonged phrases in raga treatises to create an enduring influence on the listeners.

The opposite kritis that Bharat rendered have been ‘Smaramamyaham’ in Ramapriya by Dikshitar, ‘Sripathi mukhe vilachite’ by Syama Sastri in Saveri, ‘Vishweshwaro rakshatumam’, in Kanada, and the concluding ‘Sri Viswanatham bhajeham’, the well-known chaturdasa ragamalika, each by Dikshitar. The point out of Surya and Chandra in these kritis determine within the samashti charanam and within the fourth charanam respectively.

Violinist Visvesh performed with consummate ease. His raga essays carried the soulful phrases missed by Bharat in his raga alapanas, and his swara sallies have been equally energetic. Kaushik Sridhar’s assist on the percussion was noteworthy.

Good alternative

Amrit Narayanan (theme: Prakruti) with M. Vijay (violin) and Guru Raghavendra (mridangam).
| Photograph Credit score: Particular Association

Amrit Narayanan’s live performance centered on ‘Prakruti’ (Nature). His singing was punctuated with explanations over his alternative of kritis. Amrit’s open-throated singing made his presentation fairly dynamic. He too packed his live performance with plenty of compositions. He selected the Kalyani kriti ‘Ammaravammaa’ by Tyagaraja, that speaks about Tulasi (basil), and the Varali Thiruppavai, ‘Azhimazhai kanna’ (on rain). Each had niravals and swaras at size. Amrit adopted this up with Tyagaraja’s ‘Paramathmudu’ in Vagadeeswari and Purandaradasa’s ‘Sakalagrahapala’ in Atana that highlights the importance of prakruti. There have been different items like Panchabootha kriti on air ‘Kalahastheesa’ in Husseni, ‘Gange mampahi’ in Chenchurutti, (each by Dikshitar), ‘Gayathi vanamali’ and ‘Sarvam brahmamayam’ by Sadasiva Brahmendral and Bharatiyar’s ‘Kaakai chiraginile’.

M. Vijay and Guru Raghavendra accompanied Amrit with grace and poise on the violin and mridangam respectively.

The Chennai-based author critiques Carnatic music.