June CCC, Sun, 2019

Carnatic Chamber Concerts – June 2018 CCC Event
Authored By: Sashwat Mahalingam, Anirudh Ramadurai, Shreya Virunchipuram, Mahathi Shankarram, Pranav Satyadeep, Sripradha Manikantan, Srishiva Manikantan

Chinmay Raghavendran started off the program
with a beautiful Navaragmalika varnam, “Valachi” set to Adi Thalam composed by Sri Patnam Subramania Iyer. Varnam was composed in 9 beautiful ragams viz. Kedaram, Sankarabharanam, Kalyani, Begada, Kamboji, Yadhukula Kamboji, Bilahari, Mohanam, and Sree. Chinmay
rendered the varnam with a good understanding of all ragamalika part and with a nice transition from one ragam to the other. Then he moved on to the rendition of a famous composition of Sri Purandara Dasa, “tambUri mITIdhava” in Sindhubhairavi ragam, janyam
of 8th melakarta Hanumathodi set to Adi Thalam. Chinmay rendered the krithi well with ethical layam aspects. Deeksha, the violinist, emulated the performance with her mellifluous accompaniment. Percussionist, Shreyas showcased his matured performance with
his rhythmic accompaniment.
Following Chinmay was a vocal performance by
Maya Mahadevan, who was accompanied by Shravya Srinath on the violin and Lalit Kovvuri on the mridangam. Maya rendered a popular varnam, “evvarI bOdhana” composed by Sri. Patnam Subramania Iyer in the melodious audava ragam Abhogi, janyam of 22nd melakarta
Karaharapriya. Maya brought out nice sancharams of the ragam with her very bold commanding voice. Shravya, the violinist, equally demonstrated her skills by matching the ragam bravam in every aspect of the varnam. Percussionist, Lalit did an excellent job
with his accompaniment.
Following Maya was a debut veena solo by Sripradha
Manikantan, accompanied by Akshay Suresh on the mridangam. Sripradha began with a relaxed and mellifluous alapana in the well known ragam Shakarabharanam, the 29th melakarta. Following the alapana, Sripradha presented Saint Tyagaraja’s popular krithi ‘Swara
Raga Sudha’, set to Adi Thalam. The abundant gamakams of Shankarabharanam were heard with clarity and purity on Sripradha’s Veena, doing justice to this masterpiece krithi. The kalpana swarams on the Pallavi line incorporated critical phrases of this ghana
ragam. Sripradha included a brief korraipu on the note ga, before concluding with an edam-to-edam korvai along with a mohra-korvai by Akshay. Akshay’s energetic support greatly enhanced the performance.
Following Sripradha’s debut veena solo was a
vocal performance by Manya Sriram, who was accompanied on-the-spot (OTS) by Apurvaa Anand on the violin and Akshay Aravindan on the mridangam. Manya chose a classical composition of Sri Mutthuswami Dikshitar, “Marakathavallim” in ragam Kamboji, 28th melakarta
Hari Kamboji janyam set to Adi thalam. Manya started with a harmonious alapana in Kamboji, demonstrating an excellent voice range including many different phrases of the ragam. Violinist, Apurvaa’s response on the violin was precise and demonstrated her skills,
familiarity with the ragam. Manya did neraval on pallavi line, “marakatha vallIm”. She did few rounds in kizh kalam followed by a round in mEl kalam. Her neraval was measured and well done. Apurvaa’s response to neraval was excellent as usual with a quick
grasp on the structure of the pallavi line. Following neraval, Manya continued her manodharmam with kalpana swarams. She started with several rounds of kizh kalam swarams with good sarvalaghu patterns followed by mEl kalam swarams, korappu, and an interesting
eddam-to-eddam korvai. Apurvaa’s response to all the swarams was, and she followed the korvai very closely. Mridangist, Akshay did an excellent job in following the krithi closely with his seemingly effortless sound effects. He complimented the vocalist with
the soothing quality of his accompanying techniques combined with intense and energetic rhythms.
Following Manya was a 15-minute slot by Meera
Bharat. She was aptly accompanied by Urmika Balaji on violin and Sachin Venkat on mridangam. Meera initiated her concert with a brief, melodious Saveri alapana. She skillfully sang several canonical and traditional phrases, previously rendered by many established
artists such as G.N.B, M.S. Subbulakshmi, and D.K. Jayaraman, to name a few. Her ragam was followed closely by another beautiful sketch of the ragam, carried out by Urmika. The imaginative portrayals of the soulful ragam truly captured the essence of Saveri.
Meera then proceeded to present Thyagaraja’s popular krithi, Daridapuleka Vedite, Desh Adhi Thaalam. Her elaborate sangathis were complimented by the propelling and rhythmic mridangam as well as the sweet-sounding violin. She sang her kalpanaswarams on the
line “Valachi padamula nammitE.” Her manodharmam consisted of kizh-kAlam and mEl-kAlam swaram combinations of kanakku makutams, as well as sarvalaghu swaram patterns. To tie off her performance, Meera sang a sarvalaghu koraippu which flowed into an eddam-to-eddam
korvai. To round off the slot, Sachin cleanly executed a short but engaging thani.
Following Meera was a performance by Shreyas
Bharadwaj on the flute, Tejas Bharadwaj on the violin, and Varchas Bharadwaj on the mridangam. Shreyas began with a ragam alapana in Andholika. In a brief span of 2 minutes, Shreyas showcased an effortlessly executed, unique take on Andholika, encompassing
its key phrases as well as its more subtle rakthi prayogams. Tejas’ response alapana to this was equally dulcet, as he exemplified a more brisk, quick-paced side of the ragam. Following this was Tyagaraja’s popular gem, “rAga sudhA rasa”, set to Rettakalai
Adi Thalam. For his manodharmam, Shreyas chose the anucharanam line, ‘vidulu jIvan muktulani tyAgarAju teliyu’ for kalpanaswarams. Beginning with kizh kalam rounds, each of Shreyas’ rounds provided a heavy emphasis on the classical aspect of the ragam, especially
the prayogams surrounding the rishabham, followed by rapid-fire mEl kAlam swarams including various kanakkus such as 3×6 and 3×7. Each of Tejas’ responses to these swarams was equally expert at demonstrating the raga rasa, while also mirroring all the laya
details within (kanakku, sarvalaghu, etc.). Throughout the performance, Varchas’ accompaniment on the mridangam was set perfectly towards the mood of the ragam (and the rendition as a whole), and his playing enhanced each melodic detail in the krithi. After
a short samam-to-eddam korvai, he played a samam-to-samam mohra, followed by a complex samam-to-eddam korvai combining chatusram nadai and mEl kAla tisram nadai.
Next was a vocal duet by sisters Janani and Mythri
Sekar accompanied by Sahas Ramesh on the violin and Vaibhav Prakash on the mridangam. The sisters started their slot by taking turns to sing a detailed alapana incorporating both mellow and faster phrases in the ragam Purvikalyani and showed the essence of
the ragam. Sahas played his own bhavam-filled alapana with many intricate phrases. They then rendered a composition of Saint Thyagaraja, “jnAna mosaga rAda,” in Rupakam thalam. Janani and Mythri sang the sangathis in unison, their voices harmonious and delivering
the sangathis clearly. They chose the line, “paripUrNa niSkaLanka” to render neraval and swaram. The neraval was rendered in two speeds and consisted of many sarvalaghu patterns bringing out the beauty of the Purvikalyani. They chose to sing swarams incorporating
beautiful sarvalaghus and some porutthams in two speeds. They then played a koraippu anchoring on “Sa,” followed by a brief korvai. Sahas responded with apt neravals and swarams and reflected many details sung by the sisters. Vaibhav enhanced the layam aspects
of the song and followed the swaram and neraval closely. He concluded the
performance
with a brief thani avarthanam.
The
final slot of the day was a grand finale presented by Sashwat Mahalingam on the vocals, who was aptly supported by Aditya Satyadeep on the violin and Sriram Subramanian on the mridangam. Sashwat presented a Pallavi dedicated to his guru and one of the CCC
Teachers, Sri. Vivek Sundararaman and his family. He commenced with a bright alapana in the 22nd melakarta ragam, Kharaharapriya. The ragam essay explored a changing mood as every phrase was rendered with fluidity and ease, and his ragam approach overall was
incredibly fresh to the ear. Violinist Aditya Satyadeep gave an equally elaborated response as he brought out the most deluxe aspects of the ragam. The thanam that ensued was rhythm-laden. Sashwat and Aditya exchanged several rounds of thanam in both Chatusram
Nadai and Khanda Nadai. With Mridangist Sriram keeping the tempo during the thanam, it made it even more enjoyable for the audience. The Pallavi that was executed was set to Trigathi Tisra Jathi Ata Thalam, where the first laghu was done in Chatusram, the
second laghu in Misram, and the drithams in Tisram and was composed by one of Sashwat’s gurus, Sri. Hari Devanath. The lyrics were inspired by one of Sri. Harikesha Nallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar’s krithis, “mUvAsai koNDa tirumAl.” The sahityam of the Pallavi
Sashwat presented was, “mUvasai (move-aasai) koNDa perumAn bhuvanapathi thirumagaL vasudhApriyan shAshvatha mAnavan.” The neraval that ensued was handled with great attention to ragam and bhavam by both the vocalist and violinist in 1st and 2nd speed. The
trikAlam involved kizh kalam, chatusra tisram, sama kAlam, and mEl kAlam, all of which were handled with precisism. In addition to this, Sashwat presented pratilomam, as well as a 4-3-2-1 pattern in oru kalai, which was well appreciated by the audience. After
doing both kizh kAlam and mEl kAlam kalpanaswarams on multiple eddams, Sashwat displayed his ability to switch ragams with ease. He switched to Mohanakalyani for “bhuvanapathi,” then Megharanjani for “shAshvatha,” and finally Sahana for “vasudhApriyan.” Finally,
Sashwat sang a viloma swaram (reverse ragamalika), which was followed by a samam-to-eddam korvai. Sriram accompaniment on the mridangam kept the temp on point concluded the performance with a dynamic eddam-to-eddam mohra-korvai. It was a very moving tribute
to Guru Vivek Sundararaman!