On the fifth day of the Ganeshotsava series at 8th Cross, VV Mohalla, young Vid. Vignesh Ishwar from Chennai gave a vocal concert. He was accompanied on violin by Vid. Sayee Rakshith, on mridanga by Vid. K.U. Jayachandra Rao and on kanjira by Vid. B.S. Purushotham.

Endowed with a sonorous voice, Vignesh’s music is fresh, energetic and impactful. Nurtured by Krishna, Vignesh has left no stone unturned in learning the intricacies of music, be it concert, manodharma or stage presentation.

Vignesh began the concert with a rare ‘Padavini’ by Sri Tyagaraja in Salagabhairavi, which was suffixed with bhava-loaded kalpana swaras. Rising to the occasion he then sang ‘Lambodaramavalambe’ by Mysore Vasudevachar, decorating it beautifully with a neraval at ‘SurabhUsura SamsEvita.’ The kalpana swaras had shruti aligned sancharas in all the octaves.

Vignesh’s approach of singing the previous raga gliding onto the next one is remarkable and suits his style. Purvikalyani was replete with  bhava and the composition ‘EmEmo bOdhinchina EmAra jEsEvurA’ was a welcome piece as it was unheard before.

An array of ragas followed with Kedara, Gowla and Kedaragowla followed by the devaranama ‘RAma embO eradaksharda mahimeyanu’ by Purandara Dasaru, the charanas of which were set to tune in the above ragas by R.K. Sriramkumar.

After a quick ‘Vara NArada NArAyaNa SmaraNa’ in Vijayashree by Sri Tyagaraja, with breathless swaras at the Anupallavi section ‘Sharadinduni bhApa’ drew him big applause.

The vocalist chose to sing another ragamalika again with Varali, Bhairavi, Athana, Kanada and then Kamas leading onto the Daruvarna ‘MAte Malayadhwaja Pandya sanjate,’ an unexpected daruvarna in the middle of the concert, which was unforeseen and unusual, reminding the listeners about his Guru Krishna. Neraval at ‘Shantodari Shankari Chamundeshwari’ was majestic and satisfying. Young violinist Sayee Rakshith’s playing throughout was outstanding. Kanyakumari Amma must be congratulated for preparing so many of her disciples for concert performance.

Taniyavartanam by Vid. K.U. Jayachandra Rao, who replaced Umayalpuram Sivaraman, was exemplary and Purushotham did not lag behind in satisfying the listeners with his playing.

A beautiful shloka on Vishnu from the Vishnu Sahasranama ‘Shantakaram Bhujaga Shayanam’ in Shahana, Kharaharapriya, Bilahari and Bhagesri leading onto M.D. Ramanathan’s ‘SAgara Shayana VibhO prabhO’ was blissful and peaceful.

Vignesh concluded the concert with a Marathi Abhang on Ganapati and Tyagaraja’s popular mangalam ‘RAmachandrAya janaka ‘.

While learning from a senior Guru perhaps imitation becomes inevitable. Vignesh follows his Guru not only in singing but also in mannerisms and in the choice of the selection and order of songs planned for his concerts.

—Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan