The Madras Music Academy

By Sivapriya Krishnan

Manda Sudha Rani, a veteran from Andhra, is not new to this stage. She has the experience, repertoire and the academic knowledge of music and proved her firm grip on tala and laya. Her music is laced more with the laya aspect which comes so naturally to her. She sang a ragam-tanam-pallavi in khanda Triputa, arai edam, in Poorvikalyani intertwined with Andolika, Amritavahini, Vijayasaraswati, and Kapi - all asymmetrical patterned ragas. She explained intermittently as to what she sang.  There was a visible strain in her voice, owing to what  one does not know, but there was no dullness or drag in her presentation, which was scholarly.  Usha Rajagopalan and Chidambaram Shankar were with her at every phrase of her concert.

Shertalai Renganatha Sharma is known for his expansive and soothing rendition with zero compromise on Carnatic purity . His renditions have a meditative quality, the diction is good, the adherence to grammar and aesthetics of the raga and composition is high. Mararanjanim ashraye by N.C.H.Krishnamacharyalu in Natakapriya was an excellent song. Saranam vijaya in Vijayasaraswati raga, Sundareswaruni in Sankarabharanam, were all rendered one after the other with the requisite attention to details. The ragam-tanam-pallavi  in khanda Nadai khanda Triputa – Shambho mahadevavibho, pahi prabho santatam swayambho, had all the requisite features of a presentation. His is a music of assurance, for you know it will never fail or fall short. M.A.Sundereswaran, and Trichur Narendran, veterans on the violin and mridangam, and Hariharasubramaniam on the ghatam stood out with their vidwat  without dominating the show.

Yet another star singer from Andhra, Pantula Rama, gave a mellifluous, breezy and absolutely delectable performance. She is fascile, in control of her voice though her mind catapults brighas and phrases. Karpaga manohara in Malayamarutham was peppy, Sree guruna palitosmi in Padi offered poignancy, an expansive Behag which covered the minute, and the majestic contours of the raga was spell binding. Her ragam-tanam-pallavi in Yadukula Kamboji was a mathematical exercise, testing the skills of the tala keeper, in khanda Triputa - Navagati, nine gatis were incorporated into the tala for every anga of the tala. The words were quite like a Tyagaraja composition, Vinave O manasa, vina vina ruchira Sree Rama katha. The pallavi was set by M.S.N.Murthy, her husband and violinist who accompanied her that evening. Pantula Rama is the most skilled artist in her class. Murthy and she are so well -orchestrated that it is not easy to imagine her singing with another accompaniment. J.Vaidyanathan on the mridangam and K.V.Gopalakrishnan on the ghatam were the perfect choice of percussion for this concert.

Baby Sreeram is both authoritative and creative in her presentation. She brings an effortless melody to her music with a voice and sruti that is unique for a female. The voice traverses all sthayis with flexibility and her brigha flashes are intelligent and impeccable. Baby sings niraval with total adherence to the rules and brings out the meaning of the line in myriad ways. The niraval for Emani migula in todi by Syama Sastry, in the line Saramati nannu dayato was a melodious treat, with the right accents to the words and phrases. The ragam tanam pallavi in Kharaharapriya,  was a line from Neelakanta Sivan’s composition Enna vidam pizhaipom. She took the charanam line – Veliye payirai thinraal, mazhaigal kalam tavari peidhaal, enna vidam naam pizhaipom. The line was so topical as though asking the world around, if the world order changes drastically, what would humans do to save themselves ! There were a bouquet of ragas like Hamsanandi, Natakurinji, Subhapantuvarali and Charukesi exchanged  between her and the violinist, Vaikom Padma Krishnan, who played very well and matched Baby phrase for phrase. The viruttam in Kamboji and Behag reminded one of Sethalapati Balasubramaniam and his free spirited approach to singing viruttams  with total dedication to the meaning and the words. Irakkam varamal by Gopalakrishna Bharati  and Navasiddhi petralum by Neelakanta Sivan were fitting finales. Peravali Bhaskar, is a mridangam vidwan with such finesse and nadam in his fingers. He along with Trivandrum Rajagopal, wove magic in rhythm.

Sumitra Vasudev is a musician with a keen eye on lakshana -lakshya. She started with the rare and rather intricate Begada Ata tala varnam, Maracitlundeti  by Patnam Subramania Iyer. Anandabhairavi Nee madhi callaga by Kavi Matrubhutayya was a rare composition and one got to listen to a pure dainty Anandhabhairavi sans any antara Gandhara. Ksheera sagara shaayi in Poorvikalyani by Papanasam Sivan, an evocative composition that transports you to visualise the Lord, was rendered unhurriedly. Rama Rama pahi in Devagandhari and Emaninne in Mukahari, a Subbaraya Sastry masterpiece took centre stage. The ragam-tanam-pallavi in Kedaragaula in khanda Triputa was presented with all its contours and complexities. The pallavi was Samiki Sari evvare mandahasa vadana SriKrishna, taking from Papanasam Sivan’s song, Samiki sari vevvare Sri Krishna samiki sari evvare. She finished with the Tiruppavai Andru evvulagam alandai in Sindhubhairavi.  Her accompanists R.Hemalatha on the violin, B.Ganapatyraman on the mridangam and C.P.Vyasavittala on the khanjira are masters in their craft and together they presented a master class concert.

Amruta Venkatesh is a picture of poise, steadiness and confidence all rolled into one. She can present the most complex composition with resolute ease and smoothness. This does not mean her music is light. It has all the grammar, yet does not weigh you down or strike you by flashy lightning of virtuosity.  Its assuredness and supreme hold over her abilities with sheer focus on the subject at hand. She has matured into a super professional over the years. Starting with her own varnam in Ramapriya, aptly chosen for the composition on Hanuman, she went on to sing Kamala lochana in Natai, a composition of K.C.Keshava Pillai from Kerala. Smara Ramachandram in Sankarabharanam a Mysore Vasudevacharya kriti and Natamadum In Poorvi Kalyani by Gopalakrishna Bharati were rendered with all the flair. Her ragam-tanam-pallavi was a mathematical feat, coupled with a test in control over motor skills in Amrutavarshini tala defined and named by her. She announced that she chanced upon a lecture in the Music Academy journal on talas and read about the Kamavardini tala, Inspired by this  and after researching it quite a bit, she arrived at this tala in 32 beats,  with four different anga like plutam, dwisekhara viraamam, anudhrutam, laghu, presented in raga Amrutavarshini. The pallavi was as follows, Amritavarshini nin padam paninden, anyarkanni nee kaatharul vaaye thaaye. She made this pallavi and tala seem like a gentle breeze. There was no show of virtuosity or aggression in her presentation and it felt like everybody in the audience followed this rather complicated tala well. Kalakanti kathamkaaram sakhi a manipravala padam by Swati Tirunal was a unique treat. Trivandrum N.Sampath has a fine bowing and is an intelligent accompanist. He can take on the challenge and make it his own.  Nellai Arul on the mridangam and Payyanur T.Govindaprasad on the Mohrsing were adept and made their mark felt with their skillful support.

Shruti Sagar is undoubtedly one of the best flautists in his class. His flute style is marked by clarity in swara and gamaka,  brisk and captivating presentation of compositions, matured raga alapanas replete with complete exploration of raga and an uninterrupted blowing with karvais , long and short phrases. He has grown in musical stature steadily over the years and shows superb control over his instrument, making it play whatever he imagines. Never a dull moment or patchy sound, he kept the stage alive with Jagadananda karaka, Saraswati namostute, Nannu brovu Lalitha, Kumaran taal paninde, Ranganayakam, and a ragam-tanam-pallavi in Kapi set to khanda Triputa, the pallavi line being Ennalum, ekkanamum thudhithduvom , Hara hara Sankara jaya jaya Sankara. The pallavi was galloping in khandam with ennalum and ekkanamum and misram at hara hara Sankara, jaya Sankara. Aditi Krishnaprakash on the violin was bold and stood out with her melody . Parupalli Phalgun on the mridangam and Bangalore Rajasekhar on the Mohrsing  gave a fillip to the concert with their deft handling of the percussion.

Malladi Brothers never fail to amaze you. Theirs is music built on strong fundamentals of good pathantaram, inherent sense of aesthetics, fine balance of laya, a keen eye on the compositional import and meaning, and a robust presentation that is varied and interesting, making it a perfect recipe for quality listening. The opening of the concert, Paradevata, a Dikshitar kriti in Dhanyasi set the tone for the evening. Their Dhanyasi is replete with beautiful phrases and the kriti was rendered with all its intricate structure well preserved. Mahasuram in Chamaram, Bhavamulona in Hindolam the popular Annamayya song, brought them close to their audience. Their forte in raga alapana of Sankarabharanam was visible , followed by a mellifluous alapana in Bagesri for ragam-tanam-pallavi , the lyric being Rama eva dhaivatam, raghukula tilakame kasri sangeetha sampradaya. Sreeramprasad has a baritone voice that sings Carnatic gamakas and ragas well, while Ravikumar, with his smooth voice, is effortless with Hindustani scales and tala variations. Between the two they alternate and sync their respective abilities and strengths to the best of their advantage, thus giving the listener a full picture of classicism filled with aesthetic, tonal variations and intelligent renditions. Violin S. Varadarajan is any vocalist’s delight as he unobtrusively stands out while shadowing and mirroring the artist completely. Tumkur Ravishankar on the mridangam and Ghatam Karthick are so seasoned that any stage in their hands is always embellished and chiselled well. With the acoustics well balanced that evening, the concert was a listeners’ delight.

Trivandrum N.J.Nandini deserves a senior stage. Endowed with a voice that is charming and pliable, her music is filled with  felicity of rendition of difficult phrases, with a wide imagination that is supported by a pliable voice that can sing and traverse any speed, octave and gamaka. She can mesmerise with her voice and the quality of her music. Her grip on laya and tala is strong and she can build swara kalpana creatively. Jaya jaya Padmanabha in Sarasagi, Devi brova in Chintamani, the quick fire swaras in Raja raja radhite in the raga Niroshta were all telling tales of the strong grip over her musical abilities. An intelligent ragam-tanam-pallavi left the audience wonderstruck. She took the line Bhavayami Raghuramam bhavya suguna ramam as her pallavi line in tisra Jhampai. She followed the ragamalika of the original song, traversing effortlessly in mel kaala, arai avartanam kaal avartanam swaras, korvais and niravals in Saveri, Mohanam, Mukhari, Poorvikalyani and Madhyamavati. She dexterously glided from one to the other in ascending and descending order. Her training, and sound practice shows through her presentation. Shruti Sarathy rose to the challenge and matched her fully, both aiding and building the concert. L.Subramanian on the mridangam and P.Giridara Prasad on the khanjira ran the race with her, dexterously adding to the rhythmic and melodic content of the concert.

Girijashankar Sundaresan, has a sonorous voice and lays emphasis on the fine tonal quality of voice production. Having been tutored by Chitravina Narasimhan and Ravikiran, he has been honed well on the need for perfect pitch, sruti and swara sthana alignment. His grip over laya is impeccable with a sound madhyamakala gait, without any unwanted rush of speed or dragging of phrases. Saraseeruhasana priye as the opening song set the right tone for what came after that. Nindra tirukolam, an Ambujam Krishna composition, was perfect in rendition and what was noteworthy was his raga alapana in Kalyani. Not one anya swara, no trace of Yaman or Yamuna Kalyani in his alapana. He beautifully built the edifice for the raga with interesting and intelligent Kalyani phrases from the pure Carnatic lexicon. It was so heart-warming to listen to that after the many Kalyanis this season which fell short in that department. Tulasidala  adukaradani in Manoranjani pepped up the concert followed by Satileni in Purvikalyani, by Ponnayya, providing the requisite balance of poignancy and melody. His niraval and swara kalpanas are sound and adhere perfectly to the Carnatic rules. He is exploratory but mindful of the contours that he can play within. Chinanchiru kiliye and the Ragesri tillana by Lalgudi Jayaraman were soaked in beautiful melody and was a fitting finale to the early afternoon concert. V.Nandhika on the violin followed the vocalist true to the spirit of his rendition. J.P.Suriya Nambisan on the mridangam needs special mention. He has powerful nadam in his fingers, and is intuitive and forceful, mindful of the overall tone of the concert. He deserves more opportunities to flourish, given his excellent skills.

Shruti Shankar Kumar started with the Kanada Varnam, followed by Sarasakha paripalaya mam, Angarakam ashramyaham in Surati, Neevadanegana in Saranga. Her raga essay in Bhairavi was good followed by Upacharamulanu. Her swara kalpanas are crisp, with a lot of kanakku and variations. Her ability to sing speeds is good and she has a sound grip on raga. However, she needs to focus more on effective modulation, producing the tonal variations to suit the emotion of the raga and composition. There is a unilateral approach in her presentation defined by sancharas in the higher octaves and speed renditions, such that a balanced variation in the concert does not come through. Also, the lower octaves are not her comfort zone, and she intelligently manages it by sticking to the middle and tara sthayi prastharas. Overall, the listener is awed by this but working on these will help her build and craft her music to the next level of presentation with her intelligence and knowledge. Subhashree on the violin and Deepika Sreenivasan on the mridangam provided good percussion and melodic support. A noteworthy feature of the  concert was that it was an all-woman team and one of its kind in the list of concerts at the Academy.

(The author is a Carnatic vocalist, writer and management professional)

PHOTOS COURTESY: THE MUSIC ACADEMY