Nandita Kannan with Chinmayi on violin and Srinivasamurthy on mridangam. | Photo courtesy: Special arrangement
In a technologically driven world, it is encouraging to see many emerging young artists learning directly from the gurus. Watching Nandita Kannan’s recital for the Pushkaram Trust recently, I wondered how much care and attention her guru, violinist RK Shriramkumar must have given her. Nandita’s elaborate Kalyani essay, preceding one of Dikshitar’s masterpieces ‘Bhajare Re Chitha Balambikam’, was indicative of her training and approach. Her creative flair came out in the madhyamik phrasing. This composition in Misra Chappu on Devi in Vaitheeswaran Koil was the highlight of the concert and is in the second inflection. In this kriti, Dikshitar has used many names of Devi which are from Lalitha Sahasranama. The devotional bhaav of the kriti was in full bloom in the Nirval and Swaraprasthtra during ‘Devim Sakthi Bijodbhava’.
Begada alapana composed by Nandita, who hails from the lineage of Veena Sabesa Iyer, had an old world charm. She succeeded in connecting the melodic patterns and extracting its essence. She took up the fourth kriti from Dikshitar’s Thyagaraja Vibhakti kritis, ‘Thyagarajaaya Namaste’. She performed the swaras on the pallavi.
Nandita started the concert with Tiruvottriyur Thyagaiyar’s Sahana Varnam ‘Karunimpa’, after which Thyagaraja gave a fast paced rendition of ‘Vadera Deivamu Manasa’ (Panthuvarali). The third phase was a swara called ‘Dhaatru Vinutudaina’ which had ‘Niraval’ and ‘Swara’.
Chintamani is a beautiful raga which instantly creates a beautiful atmosphere. compassion (compassion). Shyama Shastri, one of the trinity, chose this unique raga for his composition ‘Devi Bhaarata Samayamide’. And, Nandita gave an emotional rendition of it. She then sang Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Kumaran Thaal Paninthe Thuthi’ in Yadukulakambhoji.
Nandita’s tukda lineup was impressive, and her voice was superb while singing these pieces too. No wonder she won the first prize in tukda (singing). Hindu Margazhi Classical Music Competition in 2021. In this concert, he presented four Pasurams starting from ‘Manikkam Katti Vaayiram Idai Katti’ from Periya Thirumozhi in Ragamalika, which included Neelambari, Kamas, Hamira Kalyani and Suruthi. His description of the shabad ‘Thakur tum sharanhi aayo’ in Misra Nadai was apt. MS Subbulakshmi used to sing it in her concerts.
Nandita concluded her recital with two songs by Subramania Bharati, ‘Nenjukku Neethiyum’ and ‘Bharatha Desmeneru Peyar Solluvar’.
Nandita’s co-artists in the evening managed to enrich the concert. On the violin was the young C.S. Chinmayi. She is a disciple and daughter of C.N. Srinivasamurthy, who was a disciple of the violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman. Chinmayi is a skilled accompanist. On the mridangam, another young A. Vamsidara, a disciple of Poongulam Ramakrishnan, was an asset to the singer. His thani in Misra Chapu, with the tisra nadai and a small chatur-tisra combination, was well executed. Overall, the young trio presented a complete concert.
