Renditions in classical tradition

TRIPUNITHURA: The traditional style of rendition stole the hearts of the audience. The concert presented by Chenkottai Harihara Subrahmanyam at Kalikotta Palace as part of the monthly programme of Sree Poornathrayeesha Sangeetha Sabha was enthralling with his Abhogi Varnam spreading serenity in the hall.The soothing effect of the rag Mayamalavagowla was felt in Thyagaraja’s popular composition, Thulasi Dalamulache. Here Subrahmanyam tried to bring out the little known attractive aspects of the rag through his matchless  techniques.The dynamism of the rag Reethigowla was well utilised in Subbaraya Sasthri’s composition, Janani Ninuvina.  While narrating the beauty of the rag percussionists Balakrishna Kamath on mridangam and Elanjimel Susheel Kumar on ghatam gave an excellent performance.He chose rag Naasika Bhooshani for the composition Mara Vairi Ramani. The nuances of the rag were woven with the lyrical beauty of the composition.The composition, Thaye Tripurasundari, by Tamil composer Periyasamithoran was an exciting experience for the music buffs as the singer skillfully delineated the beauty of  rag Sudhdha Saveri through the devout lyrics of the composition.Kalyani was the rag of the day. With skill in the ‘niraval’ the young singer portrayed the emotion-filled mood of the popular rag. While presenting the lower octaves the singer gave special care to explore the rare beauty of the rag in the lower octave notes. By absorbing even the subtle details of raga Visthara presented by T H Subrahmanyam he recreated the myriad new styles hidden in the popular rag.Here also the singer chose a rare composition ‘Pahi Pahi Sharade’ and the violinist extended an excellent tonal support, both in lower and higher octaves. This beautiful narration of the beauty of the rag Kalyani was followed by the pulsating Thaniavarthanam by Balakrishna Kamath (mridangam) and Elanjimel Susheel Kumar (ghatam)While presenting the ‘thukadas’ (tail piece) the singer was keen to select sensitive ragas like Sindhu Bhairavi and he presented ‘Venkitachala Nilayam Vaikunda Puravasam’ and also ‘Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma’. He made the rendition of Venkitachala Nilayam more attractive by repeating the ‘anupallavi’ starting with ‘Ambujotbhava Vinutham’ which resembled the singing style of bhajan.Even while laying stress on the intricacies of   each note, the singer tried to soothe the listeners by simply conveying the basic moods of ragas like ‘Reethigowla’ and ‘Mayamalavagowla’ as he is also a singer of sampradaya bhajan.