On the second day of the music series of Sri Ramabhyudaya Sabha at Alammana Choultry in Srirampet, Vid. Sampagodu Vighnaraja gave a vocal concert with Vid. C.S. Anuroop on violin, Vid. Anilakkad R. Jayakrishnan on mridanga and Vid. Sharath Kaushik on ghata.

Vighnaraja hails from Sampagodu, a village located in the sorab sub-division of Shivamogga district and hence the name Sampagodu Vighnaraja. He is a popular proponent of the GNB School of Music, which is evident in his singing.

Vighnaraja is blessed with an astonishing voice that is capable of negotiating all three sthayis with great ease. The very opening of the concert was refreshing.

Following the tradition, he first sang a shloka in Hamsadhwani and then the Sri Raga varna ‘SAmi ninne kori’ by Karur Devudu Iyer set to Adi TAla in two speeds. “Gajavadana BEDuve Gauri tanaya’ in KEdAra was a pleasant surprise and the swaras to this composition and the next in Hindola ‘MAmavatu Sri Saraswati’ by Mysore Vasudevacharya were crisp and fluent with clear diction, bringing memories of GNB. ‘Shobhillu Saptaswara in Jaganmohini by Sri Tyagaraja was rendered in a racy style but the following composition ‘Shree RAmam RavikulAbdhi sOmam’ by Dikshitar in Narayana Gowla brought some solace.

The detailing of the Raga Hamsanada was exquisite. Vighnaraja’s dedicated practice shows in his impressive brigas. Anuroop’s version of the raga was magnificent too.

The expected composition was, of course, ‘KalyANa RAma’ By Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi, an enchanting composition describing RAma’s qualities. The artiste’s choice of the line ‘Agata suravara munigaNa sajjana agaNita janakana ghOshita mangaLa RAghava’ was apt but the neraval was sung only in the ‘melkalam’ (second speed), which was disappointing.

The traffic slogan  ‘speed thrills but it kills’ applies to classical music too. While we know it is not easy but challenging to present any composition or manodharma in such speed with such clarity, it is also true that it kills the appeal and the bhava perhaps intended by the composer.

In Kamavardhini again, the vocalist’s youthful exuberance was in full play. The brigas in the raga presentation were executed with precise clarity with also a neraval at ‘Lakshmi Devi valachuna,’ one of the charanas of the composition ‘Appa RAma bhakti ento’ by Sri Tyagaraja but had it been presented in an unhurried manner, the effect would be divine. The swarakalpana was enriched with lively swaras and a koruppu with various nadais, with suitable replies from the violinist, concluding with a grand muktaya followed by Taniyavartanam.

Jayakrishnan not only offered good support on the mridanga following the text of the compositions but also displayed a well-crafted taniyavartanam with Sharath Kaushik on the ghata.

The post tani part of the concert brought the ever-appealing composition ‘Pibare RAmarasam’ by Sadashiva Brahmendra in Ahir Bhairavi for which Vighnaraja gave a very pleasing preamble and a rare mangala in Kannada with which the vocalist closed the concert.

—Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan