A spirited showcase of skills
Vocalist S. Saketharaman of Chennai gave an enthralling vocal concert the other day at the ‘Bharat Sangeet Utsav’ organised in New Delhi by the Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha and Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. He delighted audience by intelligently choosing compositions and intertwining these with his creative talent. His ragam-tanam-pallavi session was delectable and brought out his depth in creative aspects.
It needs to be mentioned that performance of all the artistes on the stage as a team contributed significantly to the excellent concert.
Saketharaman started in a delightful manner with the Todi raga Adi taal varnam in two speeds. He sang Tyagaraja’s “Tanavari tanamu” in Begada raga in a detailed manner by introducing neraval of the phrase “Rama Rama Rama Raccaseyakava” and swarakalpanas. He also took up Muthuswami Dikshitar’s “Ardha narisvaram” in raga Kumudakriya for detailed rendition. Singing the song in an emotive manner, he presented a scintillating alapana of the raga to the utter delight of the music lovers. Saketharaman included a composition of Shyma Sastri too by taking up “Durusuga krpajuci” in the raga Saveri. In an unhurried raga alapana, he brought out the nuances of this raga in a fine manner. He made good use of his creative talents while singing the neraval of the phrase “Narayani Shyma Krishna Vinuta Na Manavini Vinu Giri Suta”.
Including a ragam-tanam-pallavi session lifted the stature of Saketharaman’s concert. Execution of the pallavi “Sudha Madurya Bhashini Sadha Nandini Vandana Dharini Palayamam” composed in a rare raga Vandana Dharini and to a slightly complex chatusra jati Triputa taal in khanda nadai and the subsequent kalpanaswaras in the ragamallika pattern, in both forward and reverse directions, was again a delightful experience for music lovers.
Vittal Rangan (disciple of A. Kanyakumari) on the violin provided excellent support. He handled in a matured manner even ragas like Saveri and Kumudakriya, besides producing befitting swarakalpanas. He also rose to the occasion during the RTP session. DSR Murthy on the mridangam and S. Sunilkumar on the kanjira paired together to provide riveting percussion support. Besides, the duo played a captivating tani avartanam in Adi taal.
Shertala Dr. K.N. Renganatha Sharma who also gave vocal recital at the Bharat Sangeet Utsav, regaled the audience.
