Sri Ramaseva Mandali Charitable Trust, Mysuru, began its 31st Sri Ramanavami Sangeetotsava on Mar. 31 at Sri Prasanna Parvati Kalyana Mantapa in V.V. Mohalla, Mysuru. On the first day, noted musician Vidu. R.A. Ramamani was honoured and conferred with the title ‘Sangeetha Kalaradhaki’ followed by her concert.

On the second day of the series on  Apr. 1, Vidu. Vasudha Ravi gave a vocal concert with Vidu. Aditi Krishna Prakash on violin, Vid. C. Cheluvaraju on mridanga and Vid. N. Gurumurthy on ghata.

A student of Dr. Manjula Sriram for more than 20 years, Vasudha has implicitly absorbed everything that her Guru has taught her, also adding to her own innovation.

The very first number, the AditALA varna in Thodi ‘Eranapai inta’ was impressive and promising. Muthiah Bhagavatar’s ‘Gam GaNapate namo namo’ in Hamsadhwani was presented in trishra nade with a suffix of good crisp swaras. The ragalapana of Kamavardhini was unusual with impressive sancharas skipping  Shadja and Panchama and listening to the Alapana it was difficult to guess the composition. Sri Tyagaraja’s ‘Narada Muni Vedalina’ was the composition chosen.

The neraval at ‘NArAyaNa nAmamulanu pArAyaNa monarinchuchu’ was apt and satisfying. But the selection of Trishra Adi tAlA for two successive compositions could have been avoided. Two fillers followed — ‘Bhajare mAnasa’ (Mysore Vasudevachar) which found the artiste struggling with her voice and ‘Atu kArADani’ by Sri Tyagaraja which was a good rendition.

Madhyamavati, the highlight of the evening, was very impressive and innovative. Vasudha’s creative mind explored the possibilities of grahabheda not only in the alapana but also in the swarakalpana.

Shuddha Saveri, Hindola and Mohana were presented fluently bringing back Madhyamavati each time with utter confidence. Vasudha has a pleasing disposition on stage. It was good to watch her smile throughout the concert. Her response to her co-artistes too was notable.

Senior mridangist Cheluvaraju kept the concert lively offering a vibrant Taniyavartanam with Gurumurthy. The post-tani part included a Meera bhajan, a Purandaradasa devaranama on Hanuman ‘Majha bhapure’ preceded by a shloka in ragamalika which was tuned in Yamankalyani by her Guru Manjula Sriram who was also present at the concert and the popular Tillana in Kamas by Patnam Subramania Iyer. Aditi was at her usual best but her essay of both the main ragas were rather short and speedy and could have been more elaborate.

Appealing repertoire

On the fifth day of the Sangeetotsava on Apr. 4, Vid. Sai Vighnesh of Kantara-fame gave a classical concert. He was accompanied by Dr. Jyothsna Srikanth on violin, Vid. H.L. Shivashankar Swamy on mridanga and Vid. Sharath Kaushik on ghata.

Though this versatile youngster’s main training in music is in Karnatak music, he has also sung in other genres playback singing and individual albums. His continued training under Cuddalore Sri Vasudevan, a disciple of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, who has moulded him into a good vocalist.

Vighnesh is blessed with a rich and vibrant voice, which can reach far and wide even without a microphone. The two main elements of the evening — Sri Ranjani and Simhendra Madhyama — were most enjoyable. The vocalist’s version of the Raga Sri Ranjani was elaborate and his long stop at tAra shadja with perfect shruti alignment won appreciation from the audience and his kalpana swaras with swaras at three different edupus — ‘Sogasuga’, ‘Mridanga’ and tAlamu’ in Sri Tyagaraja’s popular composition ‘Sogasuga Mridaga tALamu’ proved his creativity.

The delineation of Simhendra Madhyama went upto the crest of the curve with his sweet voice. The rendition of the composition ‘RAma RAma guNa seema’ by Sri SWati Tirunal was good and the vocalist took up the expected line ‘Muni mAnasa dhAma’ for neraval — the only neraval in the concert — going through it leisurely and also suffixing it with detailed swaras in a variety of nadais like trishra, chaturashara, etc., finally concluding it with a grand muktaya, which, though faltered, finally materialised.

Jyothsna’s playing was traditional, touching all the segments in ragalapana and swara kalpana.  Shivashankar Swamy and Sharath Kaushik contributed to the overall success of the concert.

Vighnesh chose to close the concert with his popular ‘VarAha roopam’ from the film Kantara, for which he obviously had a request and a Balamurali Tillana in Brindavani.

—Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan