Brinda Manikavasakan’s concert for the melodious sound was a mixed bag

Brinda Manikavasakan attempted a high-end package, but by the time she reached the sub-main item, she brought it down a notch. Melodically, his Brindavan Saranga, leading up to the Mohanam Suite, was quite relaxing, but the overall preoccupation with too many ideas deprived the listener of quiet moments.

Young Brinda hails from one of the most meditative schools in Karnataka. His main guru Suguna Varadachari belongs to Musiri Bani, famous for his respectful approach towards music. This characteristic was best echoed in Brinda’s rendition of ‘Saundararajam’ with the rhythms of Hindustani Dhrupad which inspired its composer Muthuswami Dixit. Brindavan Sarang had the necessary calmness, although the singer’s alapan sometimes strayed towards Raga Sri. Violinist Bombay R. There was a pleasing spontaneity in Madhavan’s solo response.

Earlier, the singer got off to a quick start by beginning her concert with a bright tune. Abhogi shined well through Tyagaraja’s brilliant ‘Nanubrova’, and straight away made a mark among the percussionists – Poongulam Subramaniam (mridangam) and Nerkunam Shankar (kanjira). Brinda’s throat was not yet fully prepared for the upper attack; Meanwhile he resorted to swarprastra. The barrage of notes effectively left the singer panting.

Brinda Manikavasakan. , Photo Courtesy: Srinath M

It was wise to choose Begada as the next step. A structured wobble in the expression of raga found adequate representation in Alapana. Nevertheless, the flurry of phrases in the build-up forced Brinda to partially fake her voice at the top register. Madhavan’s turn highlighted the classical joy of the begada, as well as the sweet timbre produced by his instrument. ‘Kadaikan’ (Ramaswamy Sivan) came out well, that too because of Mishra Chapu’s patterned zigzags.

As the third item Varali served Niraval before singing. Around ‘Paramatmudu’ from the Tyagaraja composition ‘Karuna Ilagante’, Brinda’s lyrical conversation with the violinist was warmly supported by the mridangam-kanjira duo. That practice prepared the percussionists to bond even better in the second half of the concert, when they performed the Taani Avtaranam, which defined the final phase of Brinda’s resistance in Mohanam.

The singer chose the pentatonic raga after ‘Soundararajam’ without any filler. Strangely, an ascending passage of Brinda’s alapana had a whiff of begada, while Madhavan tossed in a momentary vasanti (which is open to interpretation). Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Kapaali’ was full of ten minutes of taani in Do-Kalai Aadi taal and was equipped with niraval and swar.

The closing piece was Gopalkrishna Bharati’s ‘Varuvaro’ in Tutlati Sama. Before this there was a Viruttam which started from Hamir Kalyani and developed around Hindolam.