R. V. Sankaranarayanan with Raghul (violin), Poongulam Subramaniam (mridangam) and Trivandrum Rajagopal (kanjira). , Photo Credit: Raghunathan SR
The chessboard pieces have unique roles, just like a two-hour concert. In the menu of songs, each has a role to play to move the concert forward – acceleration, deceleration, manodharma takhta, rhythm skills, emotional impact… Sankaranarayanan, singing for the Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, orchestrated every stage well. Adopted this concept with pieces. Despite a few patiently sung songs, the pace of the concert never slowed down.
‘Bhavayami Raghuramam’ (Swathi Tirunal, Ragamalika, Roopakam) is rarely an opening, but Sankaranarayanan gives it a sharp treatment, including a brief niraval in the Madhyamavati lines at the end (‘Vilasita Pattabhishekam’). Perhaps, its effect is similar to Navaragamalika Varnam.
A brief Bahudari Alpana was followed by ‘Sada Nand Thandavam’ (Achyuta Dasar) which ended rapidly. ‘Chetashree Balakrishnam’ (Dikshitar, Roopakam) was sung in a good kalapramanam, allowing one to enjoy the masterpiece, except for the mule’s running at speed, which one often hears.
In a concert, there is no opponent to defeat. But, the devil is often within the performer and can arise from overconfidence, trying too hard or blissfully ignoring the pulse of the audience. Sankaranarayanan deserves credit for keeping such forces at bay. For example, he kept the Manji song, ‘Brova Vamma’ long enough for good taste and presented Kalyani’s 12-minute Raga Alapana without much pampering.
Earlier, ‘Sunadha Vinodini’ made a surprise appearance. The recital was brief, avoiding suggestive suggestions. Raghul excelled in his recital on the violin.Of speech. The famous work of this raga ‘Devdi Dev’ (Tyagaraja, etc.) had the confidence of accompaniment. Sankaranarayanan shows great restraint in maintaining the delicate impact of the Manji masterpiece, ‘Brova Vamma’ (Shyama Shastri, Mishra Chapu), a classic which is becoming rarer by the day.
Kalyani Raga Alapana revolved around the top half of the middle octave with creative exploration in Tara Sthiri, where Sankaranarayanan’s voice found its natural flow.
The marquee masterpiece, ‘Ettavunara’ (Tyagaraja, etc.) has a unique move with action spots that is in the Dikshitar mould. Shankaranarayanan was mature in handling the composition and transferred the manodharma to Niraval in ‘Sri Garudagu’. Both Sankaranarayanan and Raghul had their best moments in Niraval, as the unfolding of their creativity layer by layer was a delight. Swaras ended that song. Poongulam Subramaniam and Trivandrum Rajagopal (Kanjira) team up for their smart Tani, completing the multi-nadai multi-step effort with precision.
Sankaranarayanan concluded the concert with brilliant renditions of ‘Sarvam Brahma Mayyam’ (Sadashiva Brahmendral, Madhuvanti) and ‘Kanakasabhai’ (Papansam Sivan, Kapi). This concert enhanced Sankaranarayanan’s reputation in shaping high quality concerts with clever programming and disciplined execution within attractive bandwidth. Raghul is on the verge of challenging other established violinists. In his next leap, he will also need to further expand the scope of his imagination and creativity.
published – January 06, 2025 05:41 PM IST
