A musical tribute to V. Deshikachar…
The five-concert series from Aug. 1 to 5, organised by Sushira at Mysore Vasudevacharya Bhavana in memory of the distinguished musician V. Deshikachar, marking its 25th Anniversary, was much more than a sequence of musical events. It was a sensitive and meaningful tribute to a personality, whose contribution to music continues to live through musicians, rasikas and institutions that remain committed to preserving and celebrating our musical heritage.
By bringing together artistes representing different facets of music, Sushira created an opportunity to remember Deshikachar through the very medium to which he had dedicated his life — music. Each concert had its own personality and taken together, the five concerts presented an interesting spectrum of musical expression.
The series featured Mysore Chandan Kumar, Kalavathy Avadhoot, D. Balakrishna and Vamshidhar, Vinay Sharva and Vivek Moozhikulam. There was no attempt to make every concert conform to one particular mould. Instead, each artiste was allowed to bring his or her own musical personality to the stage.
Kalavathy Avadhoot, along with Aditi Krishnaprakash on violin, Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma on mridanga and Sunaad Anoor on kanjira performing for Sushira on Aug. 2.
Kalavathy Avadhoot – A voice with an identity of its own
Some voices are technically accomplished; a few possess an unmistakable personality. Kalavathy Avadhoot’s belong to the latter category. Her voice has a particular timbre-rich, resonant and slightly textured — which gives even a familiar phrase an individual stamp and the listener can recognise the artiste almost immediately from the colour of the sound itself.
Her creativity in the Kalpana swaras for ‘Swaminatha Paripalayashu mAm’ in NAta (Deekshitar) at three different edupus and at ‘padmanabham’ for Bhogindra Shayinam (Swati Titnal, Kuntala Varali) was happily and appreciatively acknowledged in the faces of the musicians present in the concert. MaruLu mADideyalle’ in Neelambari by Purandara Dasaru tuned by V. Doreswamy Iyengar, the elder brother of V. Deshikachar, was a relevant choice and a tribute to the legendary musician. The Alapanas of Latangi – ‘AparAdhamulanniyu’ (Patnam Subramanya Iyer) and Keeravani (Kaligiyunte gadA’ – Tyagaraja – Adi vilamba) were outstanding and the gamakas and phraseology gained fullness through natural resonance, creating moments of heightened intensity.
Aditi Krishnaprakash on the violin mirrored the vocalist’s raga phrases with grace, adding colour to the presentation. Senior mridangist Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma with Sunaad Anoor brought both vitality and restraint, while remaining perfectly attuned to the overall mood of the concert on Day-2. The vocal concert left a lasting impression.
D. Balakrishna and Vamshidhar presenting a veena-venu duet, along with K.U. Jayachandra Rao on mridanga and Omkar Rao on ghata for Sushira on Aug. 3.
D. Balakrishna and Vamshidhar – A veena-venu dialogue
The veena-venu duet of D. Balakrishna and Vamshidhar in memory of Dr. S. Vijayaraghavan on the third day of the series offered a fascinating exploration of instrumental dialogue. The combination of veena and flute naturally brings contrasting tonal textures — while the veena has the resonance, depth and sustained sonority, the flute has the fluidity, breath and sharpness. The concert highlighted the conversational possibilities between the two instruments. It was a pleasure to watch young Vamshidhar not only echoing and answering but developing and enriching and rising to all that the senior veena artiste played on the veena.
The concert was built around two RTPs as the main framework, without the inclusion of conventional kritis. While this approach reflected clear artistic ambition and allowed for extensive raga exploration, it also resulted in a listening experience that was relatively intense, demanding and continuous in weight.
Both artistes demonstrated strong command over the respective instruments and the two contrast ragas selected for the evening — Begade and Hemavathi — were great choices for RTP and the ragamalika swaras, especially the ragas of the pancharatna kritis of Tyagaraja, spread over the tanam and kalpana swaras of Hemavati, undoubtedly displayed the unquestionable mastery of both the artistes and succeeded in making the pallavis colourful but a slightly more varied structure — perhaps the inclusion of at least a couple of kritis could have provided moments of relief and contrast, enhancing overall accessibility without diminishing the central artistic talent.
This observation relates more to concert design than to performance quality and despite this, the concert stood out for its originality and added to the diversity of the series. The percussion accompaniment by K.U. Jayachandra Rao (mridanga) and Omkar Rao (ghata) was marked by precision, alertness and rhythmic imagination, and their double taniyavartanam proved their mastery over layam on their respective instruments.
Vinay Sharva, along with Sindhu on violin and Sharat Kaushik on ghata, performing for Sushira on Aug. 4.
Vinay Sharva – A steady and graceful musical offering
On fourth day, Vinay Sharva’s concert was marked by clarity of intent and a mature sense of musical proportion. What stood out immediately was the artiste’s approach to raga and composition, allowing the music to evolve naturally without unnecessary embellishment. The main item in Kharaharapriya formed the central highlight of the presentation. The ragalapana was developed gradually with a clear sense of structure, bringing out the expansive and deeply emotive character of Kharaharapriya.
The presentation of Tyagaraja’s ‘Pakkala Nilabadi’ was well conceived, with an engaging neraval at ‘Tanuvuche vandana,’ handled with sensitivity and the subsequent kalpana swaras were neatly structured, maintaining rhythmic precision while also reflecting the raga’s emotive core.
Earlier in the concert, the rendition of ‘ChintayAmi JagadambAm chamunDAmbAm’ in Hindola by ‘Sri Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar provided a contrasting mood. As the day marked Sri Chamundeshwari Vardhanti, it also added a serene dimension to the concert. The post tani part, including ‘Tamburi MeeTidava’ (Sri Purandara Dasaru) in Sindhu Bhairavi and Annamacharya’s ‘MuddugAre yashOda’ tuned by Vinay’s Guru Dr Nedanuri Krishnamurty, were well received by the listeners.
It is also important to acknowledge that Vinay Sharva stepped in at short notice in place of S. Shankar, who was unable to perform due to ill-health. The readiness of Vinay, Sindhu (violin) and Sharat Kaushik (ghata) to accept, reliably assist and present this full-fledged concert deserves appreciation.
Vivek Moozhikulam presenting a vocal concert, along with Keshav Mohankumar on violin, Tumkur B. Ravishankar on mridanga and Raghunandan Rao on ghata, on Aug. 5.
Vivek Moozhikulam- A concert with some rare compositions
Vivek Moozhikulam performed on the last day of the series with Keshav Mohankumar on violin, Tumkur B. Ravishankar on mridanga and Raghunandan Rao on ghata. Vivek’s approach was rooted in the traditional framework, while allowing the music to unfold with a natural sense of progression. His presentation reflected a sound grounding in the classical idiom and an evident seriousness of musical purpose. He delighted the audience with some rare compositions.
‘Karpaga manohara’ by Papanashanam Shivan was a never-heard-before kriti. The alapana of Malayamaruta, however, occasionally seemed to veer towards the tonal contours of Valachi, making the raga’s individual identity somewhat less distinct at certain points. A sharper delineation of Malayamaruta’s characteristic phrases would have brought greater clarity to the raga exposition.
The highlight of the concert was Dhanyasi with Dikshitar’s ‘Paradevata Brihat kuchAmba’ set to Adi tALA vilamba, which was a welcome surprise. While Dhanyasi, especially as the main item is hardly heard in concerts these days, Vivek courageously performed this raga for more than 45 minutes with utmost confidence.
Vivek has a masculine and resonant voice which he knows how to use. The way he reached the tara shadja in Tara sthayi in this Alapana proved this. The Alapana, neraval and swaras were handled with considerable sensitivity and imagination, with the artiste exploring the possibilities of Dhanyasi while preserving the integrity of the sahitya. It is not uncommon to see many artistes miss the talam during the neraval or kalpanaswaras especially in Adi talam. So many a time we see Dhruta in place of Laghu or laghu immediately after the first dhruta. But this is a negligible mistake absolutely excusable as the vocalist is carried away by the flow of the absorbing music.
Keshav’s accompaniment on violin was sensitive and unobtrusive and the percussion support by Ravishankar on mridanga and Raghunandan on ghata was equally commendable, providing a firm rhythmic foundation. The other impressive composition of the concert was Tyagaraja’s ‘Nannu vidachi’ in Reetigowla, wherein Vivek brought out the gentle, introspective character of the raga.
Thus, the series offered a rich cross-section of styles, each concert contributing a distinct flavour, all unified by a shared sense of respect for tradition and artistic sincerity. The sincere and commendable efforts of Raghu, son of V. Deshikachar, in putting together this meaningful series deserves special appreciation.
—Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan
This post was published on August 18, 2026 7:30 pm