Utsaha, a music festival conducted by Sumanasa Foundation, kicked off to a bright start this past Friday at Raga Sudha Hall, keeping the discerning audience immersed in happiness (utsaham). Hats off to T.M. Krishna and Hariharan of the foundation for choosing Kottapalli Vandana, a star from Andhra, for the inaugural concert! Vandana, professor, Tirupathi Music College, was excited about the foundation. “The call from Krishna was a surprise. Even more interesting is the fact that, today, we are going to perform as a team for the first time. We have neither met nor heard each other’s music before,” she said.
Hailing from Mumbai and a disciple of S.V. Ramachandran, Sivakumar Anantharaman, the young violinist has also learnt from his aunt Kaveri and father Sivakumar. “It is a wonderful opportunity to be at the seat of Carnatic music,” he said. He has also been trained by Prof. T.N. Krishnan and is looking forward to more chances in Chennai.
College goer K.H. Vineet, disciple of Palghat K.S. Mahesh Kumar, currently being trained by Patri Satish Kumar in mridangam, echoed the views of Sivakumar. Ghatam player Phanindra Bhaskara, disciple of H.S. Sudhindra, termed it as a sort of national integration, for all the artists of that evening hailed from different States.
Telugu being her mother tongue, Vandana's interpretations and placements of words were only too perfect. Gifted with a supple voice whose timbre remained the same in all the three octaves, she presented a concert that will remain etched in memory for a long time. Mukhari was detailed with its entire shades intact. Sivakumar did not lag behind. He was equally passionate in handling the raga. ‘Parvathi Ninunay' (Kalgada) was breezy. Incredible was the way the foursome gelled! Building Varali, brick by brick, Vandana built a temple for meditating on Goddess Raja Mathangi. ‘Mamava' with perfect diction only raised the concert's level still further. Young Vineet (mridangam) and the ever smiling Phanindra (ghatam) are bound to go places what with their imaginative arudis and unobtrusive playing. The way Vandana negotiated the line ‘Narajanmamay Janmamu Manasa' (‘Nama Kusuma’-Sri) sans unwanted gamakas was a beauty. Rigorous training under Mandha Sudha Rani has disciplined this young woman in maintaining the purity of Carnatic music.
Superb blowing power
J.A. Jayanth, in his teens, presented a pleasing flute recital on the second day. Trained by his grandfather, vidwan T.S. Sankaran, Jayanth has the gift of fantastic blowing power notwithstanding his physique. His designing of Mohanam with priestly gait vindicated Krishna's selection. The beautiful edifice crumbled the moment he forayed into mathematical interpretation of the varnam. Eschewing melody at the expense of calculations will only drive away rasikas. ‘Gajananayutham' (Chakravaham) proved that he is the chip off the old block. His meanderings in the mandhara stayi reminded one of vidwan T. Viswanathan.
Having trained in vocal music from the age of four by his grandmother V.S. Sundari, Vineet should consider interspersing vocal interpretations too. ‘Toli Naynu' (Kokiladhwani) exhibited the boy's capabilities in all the three octaves. He sketched Saranga (‘Nee Vada') with ease. K. Ramesh (mridangam; a disciple of V. Kamalakar Rao) from A.P. displayed master craftsmanship.
Supporting him aptly on the ganjira was Bhargava Halambi (disciple of C.P. Vyasa Vittala) from Karnataka. His was a different style with lesser use of ghumkis. A disciple of Mavelikkara R. Prabhakara Varma and G. Seethalakshmy, Thiruvananthapuram, N. Sampath's (violin) perspective of the raga was equally refreshing.
Thodi with all its phrasings occupied centre stage with Vineet's approach belying his age. The spontaneity was striking. He should avoid the unwanted gyratory movements of his body and head while playing and channelise the energy into his playing.
Good in parts
C.S. Sajeev's vocal concert on Sunday did not rise beyond a level and was interesting only in parts. Adopting a closed mouth approach does not augur well for Carnatic music. That he had not checked with the organisers about the ragas and pieces sung so far in the festival was evident when he took up Saveri (‘Sankari') and Varali (‘Mamava'). Nevertheless, it was a sincere effort. K.V. Krishna (violin) from A.P. was a perfect foil. Ranjani Venkatesh (mridangam) of Karnataka and disciple of H.S.Sudhindra proved her mettle. It was heartening to see young V. Sai Subramaniam (disciple of A. S. Krishnan) play moharsing, an instrument which is on the wane. Khambhodi (‘O Rangasayee') was again a repeat.
The last day saw R. Sriram play veena, substituting for Vinay Sharva. An epitome of concentration, Sriram exhibited absolute control. He was adept at spruitams without splitting fingers. A disciple of Revathy Srinivasan, his delineation of Hamsadhwani, Keeravani and Varali bore testimony to his skill. The Madhyamavathi raga essay followed by tanam (ragamalika) was a sure winner. Aditi Krishnaprakash (violin), a disciple of H.K. Narasimhamurthy, proved her virtuosity and earned appreciation from the audience for her raga essays. Sreekanth K. Pulickan (disciple of V. Surendran) from Thiruvananthapuram displayed a soft approach during the kriti phase and unleashed an array of patterns during the tani. School boy Mylai S. Krishna (ghatam) now being trained by T.H. Vinayakaram, showcased his talent by playing imaginatively both during the kriti and the tani phase.
Rithvik Raja, Vikram K. Raghavan and Emmanuelle Martin, disciples of T. M. Krishna deserve special mention for their ‘serve with a smile attitude' on all the four days, be it taking care of the vidwans or helping the audience. Sekar did a commendable job in balancing the sound. That talent in classical music lies even beyond the horizons of Chennai was a revealing factor of this series.
