Saumya displays her musical skills through her intelligent choices

Soumya’s choice of ragas added charm to her presentation. , Photo Courtesy: Srinath M

The nuances of Nishadam in Surutti make it a difficult note to navigate. This can frustrate a veena player who tries to produce sound by plucking the strings on the dhaivatam or panchamam fret. During descending phrases, it changes its shape to produce slightly lower notes than during ascending phrases. Therefore it is important to understand the intent according to the phrase being sung and use it carefully. Senior singer S.Soumya’s Suruti Alapana weaved favorite phrases from almost every krithi in the raga, as she explored the Nishadam part from Rishabh in the middle Sthayata before focusing her creativity around the upper Nishadam. As she neared the end of the alapana, she tried to leave the Nishadam but the note pulled her back as there were still a few combinations left for her to find before starting ‘Geetharthamu’.

Experienced musicians always hold the audience’s attention for a long time and there are many reasons for this. Soumya’s strength lies in the way she selects ragas for elaboration by structuring her alpanas using appropriate syllables, akarams and specific pauses. Natbhairavi is a raga that is poignant and charming. Amber Kannan, who was the violinist that evening, presented a full range of ideas from Panchamam to Upper Rishabhma. Undoubtedly, the Nishadam and Rishabham give a lot of character to this raga and have been used well by both Soumya and Kannan. Amidst the meandering long phrases, Kannan would often delve deep into short bursts of super-fast notes that were grouped appropriately to add variety to the alapana.

S Soumya. , Photo Courtesy: Srinath M

Singers often give subtle hints through their alpana as to what composition they are going to perform. If one looks closely at Soumya’s Natabhairavi Alpana, some phrases from ‘Sri Valli Devasanapate’ can be heard, where she has dissected certain lines and carefully added embellishments to direct its flow. However, Vidushi is known to surprise as he has S. There is a vast repertoire derived from stalwarts like Ramanathan and he decided to present one of his unique pieces – ‘Nee Padamulanu Namitini’, a composition by Harikesanallur Muttiah Bhagavathar on the deity Kanthimathi. of Tirunelveli. Neyveli Narayanan and KV Gopalakrishnan accompanied Soumya on the mridangam and kanjira respectively. Percussionists regularly accompany the singer and add much rhythmic value to her singing with their intuition and participation.

Even Natabhairavi’s Aarohanam song is effective in portraying her mood and this piece employs this effect when the word ‘Sri Kantimati’ joins ‘Nee Padmulanu’ in the pallavi. Its charanam includes poetic words including raga mudra, which fit the tune aesthetically and bring joy to the listener. Soumya sang a brief Niraval in ‘Gopala Sodari’ before presenting a set of Kalpanaswarams ending on the Dhaivatam, as ‘Gopala’ starts on the upper Nishadam. Kannan handled Niraval with a flowing quality that reflected the singer’s approach. Soumya and Kannan took turns in clearly presenting simple Kalpanaswara ideas ending on Dhaivatam, employing various ideas that proved useful to music students.

In her Neetimati presentation, instead of Koteswara Iyer’s ‘Mohankara Muthukumar’, which is her most heard work, Sowmya chose to present Ambujam Krishna’s ‘Aravinda Lochnane’, which was refreshing. ,

Saumya and Kannan have formed a good partnership over the years and their understanding of each other on stage is evident in how often they give each other space to contribute. Take, for example, the long filling phrase that singers usually sing in their anupallavi that ends on the upper shadjam. Kannan took the opportunity to introduce such phrases, thereby adding variety to the presentation.

It was a Kachhari where many complete ragas were chosen by Soumya. The next raga in the list was Bhavapriya. After a brilliant rendition of Tyagaraja’s ‘Srikant Niyada’, the notes ended on Madhyam. For a brief period in the Kalpanaswara section, Soumya focused on just three notes – MP and D – while playing with some exciting patterns. Kannan’s last notes also had the same intensity. Narayanan and Gopalakrishnan played their roles enthusiastically here, making this section an effective arrangement.

The main raga of the evening was Vachaspati and Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi was sung by the senior Vidushi in Gopucha Yati. Composed just before the concert on the way to the venue (Narada Gana Sabha), the lyrics of the song were ‘Narada Ara-Tazhuvidum Ratha-Sarathy Damodar’ in a simple Retai Kalai Adi tala with Anagata Eduppu. When it comes to complete ragas, it is sometimes easy for music students to get lost because a raga consists of all seven notes. Understanding the proportion and position of phrases in alapana requires careful internalization. Soumya’s demonstration of how to center phrases around D and Ni, or how to approach G (how much to touch it and how much to avoid it) or even how to use Pratimadhyam effectively, is It was a valuable lesson for students and aficionados.

Kannan showed new possibilities in the raga by going a step further during his turn. This was a creative exercise in showing how the violin sometimes perfectly conveys the characteristics of the raga with clear articulation in the alapana, thereby complementing the singer’s efforts. Soumya and Kannan were in sync with each other during Tanam. After the initial part Soumya took the pace up a notch and some of her phrases related to sliding down were impressive. This was followed by an engaging Tani Avtaranam session by Narayanan and Gopalakrishnan. Some of the other compositions presented in the recital were ‘Guruleka’ in Gourimanohari, a Thiruppugazh and the famous Thilana in Dhanashree.