Anna Nagar Music Circle Trust hosted Vidwan Sunil Gargyan for the February concert, accompanied by veteran violinist Vidwan V V Ravi, Vidwan Trivandrum V Balaji on Mridangam and Vidwan V Sivaramakrishnan on the kanjira. It was heartening to see the hall was nearly full on Sunday evening (17 February).
Vidwan Sunil began the concert with the navarAgamAlikA varnam 'valaci vaci'. The second item was in rAgam ShanmuKapriyA, which he outlined briefly in a short AlApanai, before rendition of 'siddhi vinAyakam' of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar, in rUpaka tALam, at a fast pace. It was in a very fast clip, wherein he and Vidwan Ravi presented well, though a slower rendition can allow to bring out more beauty in this composition and the rAgam. The kalpana swarams rendered by both of them were breathtaking, as it was in the same high speed.
Vidwan Sunil chose to give a good AlApanai of saHAnA to start the third song for the day. Both he and Vidwan Ravi brought out the melodious rAgam very well before the rendition of Shri Gopalakrishna Bharathi's lyrics 'tillai ambalatAnai'. After the song, Vidwan Sunil announced that the composition was set to saHAnA by Vidwan Sanjay Subrahmanyan.
The fourth rAgam began with a brilliant AlApanai of pUrna shadjam. The elaborate AlApanai by him and Shri Ravi were excellent and brought out the full facet of this rAgam. Even though there are some swara sancArAs similar to allied rAgams, there was no doubt left that he was singing pUrna shadjam only by using its own unique phrases. 'lAvanya rAmA', a composition of Shri Thyagaraja set to rUpaka tALam, was the kriti that was sung. Following it, a brisk rendition of a rare malayamArutam kriti danuDevvuDO dAsharatE was presented followed by a vilambita kAlam 'cEtah shri bAlakrishnam' in dwijAvanti of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar.
The rAgam varALi was chosen for exploration. Vidwan Sunil presented it well and Vidwan Ravi followed it with a compact AlApanai showing his prowess on the violin. The song that was sung, 'mAmava mInAkshi' is a composition of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar set to mishra Eka tALam. A brisk 'idi nyAyamA shrI rAmacandrA' in rAgam mALavi, composed by Shri Patnam Subramanya Iyer was the interlude before the grand main item for the day.
A very elaborate presentation of kApi AlApanai was a treat for all of us. The ease with which he covered the tri-stAyis and full throated singing without holding back was thoroughly enjoyed by us. Vidwan Ravi followed up with a shorter and crisp kApi. We hoped it would be 'inta sowkhya maninE' and it was indeed this composition of Shri Thyagaraja. The last time I heard it as a main song of the concert was in the 90s! Loved this treat which rounded off a nice choice of kritis. Excellent neraval at 'swara rAga laya' was sung, followed by kalpana swarams too. The tani avartanam that followed was very elaborate and nuanced too. Vidwan Balaji showed so many variations on the mridangam, while Vidwan Sivaramakrishnan chose to present some lightning strokes, which for me were unbelievable. To be able to roll them out with one hand, while other percussion instruments have two hands to bring out the similar sol was breathtaking.
The tukkaDa section of the concert included vandu kEtpAr illayO, a rAgamAlikA set to HindOLam, aTAnA and bilaHari, a composition of Shri Oothukkadu Venkatasubbaiyar (I believe; Vidwan Sunil announced as Smt. Ambujam Krishna; experts can help here) and khaMAs rAga viruttam followed by karpUram nArumO in kanda cApu tALam.
This was one of the satisfying concerts and evening well spent for us. We could see that Vidwan Sunil has a bright future ahead.
Vidwan Sunil began the concert with the navarAgamAlikA varnam 'valaci vaci'. The second item was in rAgam ShanmuKapriyA, which he outlined briefly in a short AlApanai, before rendition of 'siddhi vinAyakam' of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar, in rUpaka tALam, at a fast pace. It was in a very fast clip, wherein he and Vidwan Ravi presented well, though a slower rendition can allow to bring out more beauty in this composition and the rAgam. The kalpana swarams rendered by both of them were breathtaking, as it was in the same high speed.
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| Picture courtesy : Secretary Srikanth Krishnamurthy |
The fourth rAgam began with a brilliant AlApanai of pUrna shadjam. The elaborate AlApanai by him and Shri Ravi were excellent and brought out the full facet of this rAgam. Even though there are some swara sancArAs similar to allied rAgams, there was no doubt left that he was singing pUrna shadjam only by using its own unique phrases. 'lAvanya rAmA', a composition of Shri Thyagaraja set to rUpaka tALam, was the kriti that was sung. Following it, a brisk rendition of a rare malayamArutam kriti danuDevvuDO dAsharatE was presented followed by a vilambita kAlam 'cEtah shri bAlakrishnam' in dwijAvanti of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar.
The rAgam varALi was chosen for exploration. Vidwan Sunil presented it well and Vidwan Ravi followed it with a compact AlApanai showing his prowess on the violin. The song that was sung, 'mAmava mInAkshi' is a composition of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar set to mishra Eka tALam. A brisk 'idi nyAyamA shrI rAmacandrA' in rAgam mALavi, composed by Shri Patnam Subramanya Iyer was the interlude before the grand main item for the day.
A very elaborate presentation of kApi AlApanai was a treat for all of us. The ease with which he covered the tri-stAyis and full throated singing without holding back was thoroughly enjoyed by us. Vidwan Ravi followed up with a shorter and crisp kApi. We hoped it would be 'inta sowkhya maninE' and it was indeed this composition of Shri Thyagaraja. The last time I heard it as a main song of the concert was in the 90s! Loved this treat which rounded off a nice choice of kritis. Excellent neraval at 'swara rAga laya' was sung, followed by kalpana swarams too. The tani avartanam that followed was very elaborate and nuanced too. Vidwan Balaji showed so many variations on the mridangam, while Vidwan Sivaramakrishnan chose to present some lightning strokes, which for me were unbelievable. To be able to roll them out with one hand, while other percussion instruments have two hands to bring out the similar sol was breathtaking.
The tukkaDa section of the concert included vandu kEtpAr illayO, a rAgamAlikA set to HindOLam, aTAnA and bilaHari, a composition of Shri Oothukkadu Venkatasubbaiyar (I believe; Vidwan Sunil announced as Smt. Ambujam Krishna; experts can help here) and khaMAs rAga viruttam followed by karpUram nArumO in kanda cApu tALam.
This was one of the satisfying concerts and evening well spent for us. We could see that Vidwan Sunil has a bright future ahead.
