Palakkad KL Sriram, M. Vijay (violin), R. Ramesh (mridangam) and Sunil Kumar (kanjira) performing at the Madhuradhwani Bansuri Mali Remembrance Day function held at the Arkay Convention Centre in Mylapore. | Photo Credit: Jothi Ramalingam B
Versatile musician and playback singer Palakkad Sriram recently performed a flute recital concert for MadhuraDhwani. The concert was held in memory of maestro TR Mahalingam aka Bansuri Mali. Sriram, who is himself a flute player, considers N. Ramani as his idol. mansika Teacher.
Over the past century, innovations have been made to make the flute more suitable for Carnatic music. From Sarabha Sastri, Tirupamburam Swaminatha Pillai and Sanjiva Rao to Flute Mali and N. Ramani, each exponent of the instrument made his own unique contribution. Sriram developed the ‘singing flute’, which enables better musical nuances to be played on the flute, with an additional tone-hole for the thumb while another hole is made smaller for the same purpose.
Sriram began his concert with Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Sri Mahaganapathi’ in Gowlai. Concluding the kriti with some fiery kalpanaswaras, the flutist presented Thyagaraja’s magnum opus ‘Endharo Mahanubhavulu’ in Sri raga. Listening to both the pieces, one realised the efforts put in by Sriram in coming up with detailed renditions of the ragas.
attention to detail
pleasant Naadam Sriram’s attention to detail using the nuances of the instrument and proper experiments in ragas made the concert even better. He chose the 71st melakarta raga Kosalam for the alapana. Beginning the alapana with a set of phrases that deceptively resembled Kalyani, Sriram introduced the jiva swara of the raga, which is the Shatashruti Rishbham, to highlight its prominence. He skillfully performed Grahabedam, changing the notes to present other melakarta ragas like Keeravani and Hemavati. Violinist M. Vijay in turn presented an alapana that was equally complex. Koteswara Iyer’s ‘Ka Guha Shanmukha’ was the kriti.
Concert in memory of Flute Mali by Palakkad KL Sriram at Arkay Convention Centre, Mylapore. | Photo Credit: Jothi Ramalingam B
Moving on to Keeravani, the main raga of the evening, Sriram presented a fascinating, long alapana incorporating many aspects of the raga. A set of winding phrases centred around the rishabh in the octaves stood out. Every phrase challenged the violinist and Vijay matched Sriram creatively in every possible way.
New perspectives
Sriram uses the instrument to bring new perspectives to Manodharma and ensures that his music reaches the audience well, which is essential for any instrumental performance.
The main composition was Surajananda Swamigal’s ‘Samagamapriyakaram’, composed by the famous singer and musicologist TM Thyagarajan. Set in Misra Chappu, the Chittaswaram in the Anupallavi is one of the special features of this piece. The Kosalam piece as well as this composition is relatively rarely heard. So these were good choices to provide variety to the rasikas. The mridangam was played by R. Ramesh and the kanjira by Sunil Kumar. The accompanists gave fine support and presented a commendable Thani Avartanam, which appealed to the audience as the taal was Misra Chappu. Sriram concluded the concert with a thillana in raga Bindumalini and ‘Bhaja Bhaja Manasa’ in Sindhubhairavi.
