63rd Heritage Music Festival at 8th Cross Ganesha Pandal: A real torch-bearer of Sheshagopalan’s music

On Sept. 12, Vidwan Kalyanapuram S. Aravind sang for SPVGMC Trust Ganeshotsava music series. He was accompanied on violin by Vid. H.N. Bhaskar from Mysuru, Vid. K.U. Jayachandra Rao on mridanga and Vid. B.S. Purushotham on khanjira.

If you listen to Aravind’s music backstage, you would definitely say it is Sheshagopalan singing. The sureness and crystal-clear quality of Aravind’s music comes from his pedigreed training from the legendary T.N. Sheshagopalan and his long hours of practice, which was evident in the present concert.

The very beginning of the concert with a Varna ‘Sami Ninne’ in Sri by Veena Kuppaiyer decked with kalpanaswaras for the charana introduced him to the connoisseurs as the legacy holder of Sheshagopalan, particularly the unshakable eloquence of his style and expressiveness. The kalpana swaras to ‘MahagaNapatim manasa smarAmi’ by Muttuswami Deekshitar at once made him dear to the audience and the way he sang the line ‘MAra koti prakAsham ShAntam’ with proper intonations for the lyrics was notable.

While many musicians hesitate to take up ragas like Janaranjani and Nayaki for detailed delineation, Aravind boldly sang both these with utmost confidence, with a rare composition of Muttiah BHagavatar in Janaranjani ‘GaNapate suguNanidhe’ and ‘RanganAyakam bhAvayEham’ (Muttuswami deekshitar) of DKP fame, with an unexpected neraval at ‘GaNapati samAna VishwaksEnam’ followed by swaras. But the swarakalpana brought the phrase ‘ggrs’  a brand phrase of Darbar repeatedly, perhaps due to over-enthusiasm, which also showed in his shruti-alignment that was continuously sharp.

‘Yare rangana yAre krishNana’ in Hindola swaras at ‘KarirAja varadana’ were racy  and scholarly. Bhaskar’s interlude on the violin was brilliant too.

Kambhoji, the toast of the evening, presented for more than 40 minutes, had everything in it. Aravind went full-throat in the top notes with all the Brigas that one would look forward to in TNS’ concert. He used ‘la’karas like his Guru, which brought smiles from the audience again and again, ‘a’karas and ‘m’kara phrases, gamakas, Nadaswara phrases and longish rests on jeeva swaras, making it a satisfying experience.  The expected kriti was, of course, ‘O Rangashayi’ by Sri Tyagaraja but with an unusual neraval at ‘MutyAla saruLa Yuramunu’ instead of ‘BhUlOka vaikunTa’ as chosen by most musicians.

Aravind explained that in Srirangam Lord Ranganatha is adorned with pearls  in ‘Mutyala Seva’ and hence he chose the line for neraval. The kalpana swaras were grand with a masterly muktaya, giving way to taniyavartanam by Jayachandra Rao and Purushottam, who made a great pair and gave a decent show of their immense talent.

 The post-tani part included a shloka on Krishna in ragamalika in Suruti, Kapi,  Natakuranji and Kamas, leading onto the Tamil song ‘KANire kaNNan vandu’ and a tillana by Oothukadu Venkatasubbiah.

For Aravind’s voice and stamina, the shruti could have been a little higher. He could be seen struggling to touch the lower notes and the shruti was constantly sharp, which was even more evident after taniyavartanam. Aravind is indeed a gifted musician and his hard work shows in his music. He is definitely a talent to watch out for among the new generation.

—Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan