Annamacharya Jayanthi was celebrated by Sarvani Sangeeetha Sabha with the vocal recital of Shreyah Ramnath. The programme at the Music Academy Mini Hall cannot be classified as a regular kutcheri as there were no extensive raga treatise or swara kalpana offering room for creativity and spontaneity, except for a succinct alapana of Hindolam and a few stretches of swaras for ‘Deva Devam Bhaje’.
Therefore, it was more of a tribute to Tallapakkam Annamacharya and Shreyah presented as many numbers of the saint-poet as possible in the nearly 90 minute duration. She has a clear, dulcet, soprano voice and commendable diction. A commentary almost preceded each number by Srimathi Ramnath underscoring some important features of the composition.
The choice of keerthanas requires special mention as many of the numbers were familiar to the audience as they have already been popularised by M.S. Subbulakshmi. ‘Chaalada Hari Nama’ in Hamsadhwani which articulated the greatness and divinity of the name of Hari was the first number and this was appended suitably with ‘Jaya Govinda Hari – Bhaja Govinda Hari’ in the bhajan mode.
The theological concept of Vaishanvism was illuminated with the famous ‘Bhavamulona Bhagyamu’ in Suddha Dhanyasi. ‘Gummaniyadi Sruti’ in Poorvikalyani portrayed the composer’s vision of Gokulam in his favourite Tirupathi. A sketchy raga essay and ‘Deva Devam Bhaje’ with kalpanaswaras at the end proved that Shreyah has a long way to travel in the ingenuity part of classical music.
Nevertheless, all the kritis showed the youngster’s discernment in grasping the lyrical and devotional facets of Annamacharya keerthanas and her rendition was melodic and sincere. The other numbers just came in succession; ‘Sakalam Ye Sakhi’ in Sanskrit set in Sindhubhairavi soaked in Madhura bakthi, ‘Narayana De Namo’ in Behag, a slokam by Thirumalacharya on Annamcharya followed by the famous ‘Naanatibraduku’ in soulful Revati, ‘Ennadu’ in moving Sivaranjani, ‘Emako’ in Tilang, ‘Satyabama’ in Mohanam and ‘Nadavalu’ in melodic Yamuna Kalyani were the gems included from the Annamacharya treasure chest.
Shreyah’s singing carried a few lighter yet emotive touches to the raga images, which was evident in her interpretation of Revati, Sivaranjani, Hamsadhwani and Suddha Dhanyasi. She definitely shows a lot of promise with proper grooming.
R. Kailasam, S. Kannan and N. Sundar supported the young artist on the violin, mridangam and tabla respectively, with special concern.
