Ashwath Narayanan sings to full house at Raga Sudha Hall

Accompanied by Vidwan S Varadarajan on Violin, Maestro T V Gopalakrishnan on Mridangam and Shri Alathur T Rajaganesh on Kanjira

(9 December, 2018)

We can fathom that Shri Ashwath Narayanan is an accomplished artist by the crowd that assembled at Raga Sudha Hall on the Sunday evening. Many rasikas were standing outside and peeping through the windows to see if they could find an empty seat. The better indication about the entire team is that about dozen other musicians were attending the concert, among whom could identify Shri Bharath Sundar, Smt K Gayatri, Shri Aditya Narayanan.

The concert began with a brisk rendering of the kalyANi rAga varnam "vanajAkshi". He then followed it up with a brisk rendition of "shiva kAmasundari" in jaganmOHini, which was also at a good pace. The vidwans were in good flow and were enjoying each other's music as well as the small innovative sangatis or subtle plays at different points of the song. Shri Ashwath Narayanan included a nice set of kalpanaswarams before the first big item. Shri TVG showed his knowledge of the compositions as well as decades of polishing of the skills by giving such a subtle accompaniment appropriate to each kriti. Shri Alathur T Rajaganesh played a subdued role and sometimes had to be goaded by the Maestro to play further and play more.

Ashwath Narayanan and team, in full flow

Shri AN took up aTAnA for a very good AlApanA. Given that this rAgam cannot be easily fit into any structure but has a beautiful swaroopam drawn by the many compositions in it, this was a commendable AlApanA. Vidwan Varadarajan stuck to his role of playing an appropriate AlApanA in length, but brought out all the beauty of aTAnA within the time that a violinist is expected to play compared to the main artist. Ela ni dayarAdu was the song chosen, with the standard start at the anupallavi 'bAlakanakamaya'.

After the three faster paced songs, it was time to slow down and relax with cEtashri bAlakrishnam in dvijAvanti. The short AlApanA prior to it by Shri AN was followed by a crisp and beautiful one by Shri SV. The composition was sung with lot of bhava, which was appreciated by the Maestro TVG as well. The next song was kaDaikkaN vaittennai ALammA in bEgaDA. This was also rendered in a relaxed fashion before a fast paced paramapurusham Hrdaya bhAvayatam. I had not heard this one before and was wondering that it was not really paras rAgam which was the closest I could associate with. The lyrics revealed that this is in lalitapancamam rAgam.

Eagerly looking forward to the main song for the evening, we were treated to the regal shankarAbharanam. Shri AN's AlApanA was very elaborate and enjoyed by Shri TVG too. Shri SV's version was again kept within a shorter timeframe but brought out the full scope of the rAgam, showing his tremendous knowledge and experience. swara rAga sudhA was the chosen kriti which was presented well, including an extended neraval at kamalanupai. Then followed a free flow of kalpanaswarams. The tani avartanam was excellent with a nice exchange between the mridangam and kanjira. Nuances from the enormous experience were played and there was good response too from Shri Rajaganesh.

Shri Ashwath Narayanan made everyone relax with viruttam in kApi, sindhu bhairavi, beHAg and bAgEshri rounding it up with a nice rendition of Shri M D Ramanathan's sAgara Shayana vibhO. Shri TVG again appreciated this very much, as, if I am not mistaken, he is a contemporary to Shri MDR. The concert was closed with the pUrnacandrikA rAgam tillAnA and mangaLam. The Maestro placed his hand on Shri Ashwath Narayanan and blessed him at the end of the concert during the applause.

Though a few members in the audience left at varied times, the hall was back-filled by those waiting outside and listening - this happened over the entire duration of the concert. Overall a very good concert.

However, have to mention that there were a couple of slips in tara stAyi by Shri Ashwath Narayanan in aTAnA AlApanA, shankarAbharanam AlApanA and in kalpanaswarams of the same. This was a bit uncharacteristic of him. We could say an influence "tad bit" on the percussionists too, as they also missed one of their korvais each (Maestro TVG and Shri ATR) during the tani avartanam. Shri SV however was flawless in his bowing and sangatis throughout. Let us blame this on some superstition, like the artists leaving home during RahukAlam on a Sunday or some such  - because to my knowledge it was uncharacteristic of them.

These small blips did not affect the mood and quality of the concert at all. We can always enjoy this rising star, in my opinion.