September CCC, Sun, 2019

Carnatic Chamber Concerts – September 2019 CCC
Authored By: Sashwat Mahalingam, Anirudh Ramadurai, Shreya Virunchipuram, Pranav Satyadeep, Sripradha Manikantan, Mahathi Shankarram

The event started with a brilliant vocal performance by Meera Iyer, accompanied by Mythri Sekar on the violin and Kishore Lakshmanan on the mridangam. The team presented an Aadi Thaala varnam in the ragam Abhogi, “Evvari Bodhana,” composed by Sri. Patnam Subramanya Iyer. This was followed by a composition of Sri Ponnaiah Pillai, “mAyAtIta svArUpini,” in the ragam mAyA mAlava gowLA, set to Rupaka Thalam. Throughout the slot, Meera had a confident voice and was given enthusiastic support from Mythri on the violin, while Kishore enhanced the layam of the song with his involved mridangam playing.

Following Meera was a performance by Anirudh Natarajan, accompanied by Thejeswini Sai Swaminathan on the violin and Vaibhav Prakash on the mridangam. Anirudh started with an alapana in the ragam Kalyani, the 65th melakarta, in which he showed the key phrases of the ragam, and was beautifully emulated on the violin by Thejeswini. Anirudh proceeded to render a popular krithi of Saint Tyagaraja, “vAsudEvayani,” set to Adi thalam. Anirudh’s melodious singing and Thejeswini’s synchronized bowing was enhanced by Vaibhav’s dynamic support on the mridangam.

Following Anirudh was a vocal performance by Diya Krishna, accompanied by Aparna Basavapatna on the violin and Shreyas Garimella on the mridangam. Diya began with a musical and brief sketch of the ragam Arabhi, a janyam of the 29th melakarta Shankarabharanam, highlighting many key phrases in this ragam. Aparna followed with a short and beautiful alapana of Arabhi. Next, Diya sang “cAla kallalADu,” a composition by Saint Tyagaraja set to Adi Thalam. Diya effortlessly sang the elaborate sangathis that are beautifully woven together in this composition. The kalpanaswaram exchange between Diya and Aparna on the line “ilalO sarivAralO” was intriguing and soothing on the ears. Aparna’s musical accompaniment and Shreyas’ vibrant support thoroughly enhanced the performance.

Following Diya was a vocal performance by Veena Arun Iyer, accompanied by Alaap Rag on the violin and his brother Aaroh Rag on the mrudangam. Veena rendered a classical and famous composition of Sri. Muthuswami Dikshitar, “kanchadaLAyadAkshi kAmAkshi,” in Kamala Manohari ragam, a janyam of 27th melakarta Sarasangi, set to Adi Thalam. Veena’s rendition was soulful with full of bhavam and well-rounded gamakams. Her voice was very flexible to traverse from lower to high notes effortlessly. Alaap, the violinist, brought out the equal bhavam and melody of ragam on the violin. Aaroh accompanied with full of confidence and Involvement. Overall, it was an impeccable performance.

The next item was a performance by Anirudh Ramadurai on the veena and Ambika Ramadurai on the mridangam. Anirudh began with an alapana in Keeravani, where he underscored the dulcet classical phrases and nostalgic aspects of the ragam extensively. Anirudh then proceeded to render “vEla vA,” a composition of Koteeshwara Iyer set to Khanda Chapu. In his rendition of the krithi, Anirudh brought out the soulful dimension of the ragam while also introducing unique prayogams throughout. For his manodharmam, he chose to do kalpanaswarams on the Pallavi. Anirudh brought in various intricate sarvalaghu patterns in his rapid-fire mEl kalam swarams, while also incorporating khandam-based kanakku such as 20 and 30-matrai abhiprayams. Throughout the performance, Ambika’s accompaniment on the mridangam perfectly embellished the mood of the krithi, especially in the various teermanams she incorporated throughout. She also enhanced the various laya aspects present in Anirudh’s swarams, such as highlighting each kanakku he rendered. After a swara essay and a short korvai by Anirudh, she presented an enjoyable mohra-korvai to conclude the piece.

Next was a vocal performance by Vishnu Parthasarathy. Shashank Venkat accompanied him on the violin and Rajeev Devanath on the mridangam. Vishnu began with a short alapana in the ragam Kannada, a janyam of Shankarabharanam. Vishnu boldly brought out the difficult sancharas in this ragam, followed by Shashank’s beautiful and neat alapana. After the alapana, Vishnu took up a composition of Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar, “Palayamam Parvatheesha,” set to Rupaka Thalam. The krithi was rendered at a leisurely pace and was energetic and enjoyable. After the krithi, Vishnu, continued with kalpanaswarams on the Pallavi line, comprising of sarvalaghu as well as kanakku swarams. Shashank’s faithful support on the violin and Rajeev’s energetic accompaniment elevated the concert and made it an excellent experience for the listeners.

Following Vishnu was a 15-minute Vocal performance by Manasi Ganti, accompanied by Deeksha Venkateswaran on Violin and Vivek Arvind on Mridangam. Manasi commenced with the krithi “KAmAkshi KAmakoti Peeta NivAsini” composed by Mutthuswami Dikshithar in tisra-nadai Adhi Thalam. The krithi was rendered at a very fitting and driving kAla-pramAnam and kept the audience engaged. The several madhyamakaalam sahithyam sections of the song were beautifully executed by the team, with Vivek’s peppy mridangam accompaniment, Manasi’s clear pronunciations, and Deeksha’s tuneful gamakams. Manasi chose the line “KaumAri Kusumaryuthi” for swarams. She started with kizh-kAlam swarams, incorporating several sarvalaghu and kanakku patterns, followed by mEl kAlam swaram patterns. Deeksha and Manasi’s swaram exchanges were almost seamless; each of Manasi’s patterns creatively reproduced by Deeksha. She then sang a koraippu on upper Sa, followed by a mathematical samam-to-samam korvai. To conclude the performance, Vivek played a classic mohra followed by a korvai. Overall, the team’s performance was neat, captivating, and memorable.

Following Manasi was a vocal performance by Prahlad Saravanapriyan, accompanied by Urmika Balaji on the violin and Pranav Tirumalai on the mrudangam. Prahlad started with a short raga Alapana in very melodious raga, Suddha Dhanyasi, janyam of 22nd melakarta, Karaharapriya followed by a beautiful viruttham, “Aayiram thOl parappi” from PeriAzhwar thirumozhi in Thiruppallandu PAsuram. Urmika’s response to the viruttham was excellent. At the end of viruttham AkAram, Prahlad nicely transitioned to a classical krithi, “azhaga azhaga” in Kanda ChApu composed by Sri. Ambujam Krishna. Prahlad rendered very beautifully with full of confidence and raga bhavam. Following the krithi, he concluded with swarams on the Pallavi line, “azhaga azhaga.” He chose various sets of Sarvalaghu patterns in melkala swarams leading to an interesting samam-to-samam korvai. Urmika’s response to all the swarams was quick and creative. The mridangist, Pranav laced the performance with his seemingly effortless rhythmic sound effects and a classical mora korvai. Kudos to the team for a great show.

Next was an on-the-spot performance by Shreya Anand and her chosen accompanists Aishwarya Anand on the violin and Santhosh Ravindrabharathy on the mridangam. Shreya commenced her slot with a crisp alapana consisting of the essential and traditional phrases of Shanmukhapriya. Aishwarya shadowed her phrases and followed with a skilled alapana of her own, incorporating some bhavam-filled phrases to bring out the beauty of the ragam. Shreya proceeded with a composition of Sri. Patnam Subramaniya Aiyyer in Deshadi Thalam, Marivere Dikkevaraiyya. Kalpana swarams were rendered in two speeds at the anucharanam line “sannutAnga srI vEnkaTEsa nIvu” which included many sarvalaghus, abhiprayams, and other kanakkus. Aishwarya followed intently, responding aptly to the details in Shreya’s swarams. Santhosh provided dynamic support on the mridangam and highlighted the layam aspects of the song and manodharamam well. He concluded the slot with a brief yet captivating mohra korvai.

Concluding the September 2019 CCC was a 25-minute main slot by Vasudha Iyer, accompanied on Veena by Geeta Shankar and Mridangam by Avinash Anand. Vasudha started with an alapana in the 22nd melakarta, Kharaharapriya. She used several characteristic phrases of the ragam in her alapana which would have brought popular krithis like Pakkala Nilabadi, Okapi Kokapari and Ganapathiye Karunanidhiye to mind. Geetha followed with an equally musical sketch, consisting of many traditional akaaram phrases, but also some non-traditional phrases, like the vaadi-samvadhi phrase (R P upper R). Vasudha proceeded to sing Thyagaraja’s iconic and immensely popular krithi, “Chakkani Raja,” set to Retta-Kala Adi Thalam. Her elaborate development of sangatis allowed the audience to appreciate the scope of the whole ragam. Vasudha chose the line “Kantiki Sundara Tharamagu Rupame” to render kizh kaalam Neraval, followed by kizh kaalam swarams. Her swarams were laced with complex kannakus that were effortlessly executed by the team. She ended with an elegant samam to 6-after-edam korvai. Avinash completed the piece with a complex mohra and rhythmic samam-to-edam korvai. Vasudha finished strong with a unique Mangalam, “Sri Ramachandra Nekku” in ragam Madhyamaavathi.