By M.L. Krishnaswami
On the second day of the 128th Sri Ramanavami Music Festival (26th March) at Alamma Choultry, Devaraja Mohalla, the artistes were: Vocal – Vid. Ramakrishnamurthy; violin – Vidu. Apoorva Krishna; mridanga – Vid. Vijay Nateshan.
The concert commenced with a Purandaradasa number in Kannada set to raga Behag with a very brief alapana and the brisk rendering unveiled the saga of more beautiful numbers coming forth from the under-30 young artiste who has carved a niche for himself in the Karnatak classical music world as well as beyond the shores. Humble and handsome, Ramakrishnamurthy is sure to reach the top most ladder in his chosen field.
The young accompanying artistes assured him of maximum support in their efforts. The second song was in Sriranjani, Aditala ‘Brochevarevare Ninuvina’ briskly rendered. The third number was in Raga ‘Chakravaka’ mishra chapu tala of Saint Thyagaraja who was an ardent disciple of Lord Srirama who is credited with giving darshan to the saint composer. Chakravaka is a rather difficult raga but the artiste ran through the course in diligence and speed with the able support of the instrumental duo.
A surprise number next was in Hindustani raga ‘Ramakali’ a composition of the legendary Muthuswami Dikshithar, a contemporary of Saint Thyagarja along with Sri Shyamasastry. The number was ‘Rama Rama Kali Kalush.’ After this a detailed delineation of raga ‘Purvikalyani’ followed with the number ‘Paramapavane Rama Papa Vimochana,’ a composition of Sri Ramanad Srinivasa Iyengar who was the Guru of late lamented Ariyakudi. This was in Aditala, Vilamba Kala. This led to a detailed delineation in ‘Kanakambara Dala.’ Swaraprasthara followed in brisk succession with maximum support of the co-artistes and mridangist Vijay Nateshan stole the show in his drum beats.
The piece – de – resistance of the programme came in the surprise selection of ‘Kannada Raga’ for RTP, a rather rare choice. Ramakrishna Murthy stole the show in the delineation of this raga by tearing into all the shreds of this number in a beautiful manner with maximum support from his throat. He chose a garland of ragas like ‘Kaanada,’ ‘Navarasa Kannada,’ ‘Sindhu Kannada’ and ending with ‘Darbari Kannada.’ For pallavi, he chose ‘Darsharathe Karuna Nidhe…’
‘Govardana Giridari’ in ‘Darbari Kannada’ followed by ‘Vame Bhumi sutha purascha Hanuman’ in ‘Dwijavanthi’ flowed like a Gangetic stream in all its elegance.
The next piece was ‘Rama Rama Rama Rama Enniru’ in Telang popularised by the late legendary Maharajapuram Santanam, beautifully rendered.
The last piece was a tillana by Thiru Narayana Vaidyanatha Iyer in Purvi raga.
Violin duet by brothers Vid. Ganesh and Vid. Kumaresh
Mar. 27: The third programme in the series was a violin duet concert by the well-known brothers Vid. Ganesh and Vid. Kumaresh. Vid. Jayachandra Rao was on the violin and Vid. Pramath Kiran on morching / tabla. It was a well- orchestrated programme all right, but, for the elderly connoisseurs like the writer, the time flew back to early fifties and sixties of the last century when in the field of violin there were the late Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu, late Rajamanickam Pillari, late Papa Venkataramaiah and our own late Mysore T. Chowdiah — how pleasingly and effortlessly they danced the bow on the strings to bring out the musical notes of the highest order without any gymnastics or noise. Mind you, till about fifties of the last century, there was no sound system provided for the concerts and the jam-packed hall of Bidaram or Banumaiah college or even the open ground of Halladakeri would reverberate to the beautiful sound output of the instrument. Bygones are bygones. What a change now! Sound rules the roost and several gadgets and attachments have invaded the field to satisfy the present day listeners. Senior connoisseurs are at a discount. Let it be!
The concert commenced with the beautiful raga ‘Sri’ and the krithi was Swamy Ninne, a brisk number beautifully rendered. ‘Arabhi’ followed in quick succession followed by ‘Panthuvarali’ alapana in which both the brothers excelled effortlessly. In the ‘neraval’ to the swara prasthara, a band like formation was put in place and widely applauded by the houseful listeners.
The ragas Sama, Dhanyasi Bhairavi and Hamasanandi formed the string of ragas for the RTP, all well-rendered.
After a short stint in raga ‘Pahadi’ the brothers strode into the popular ‘Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma’ in Kannada and did full justice to the same. Vid. Jayachandra Rao and Vid. Pramath Kiran lent full support to the brothers in their voyage.
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