Melodious Carnatic concerts gave classical twist to New Year celebrations
Trained in the ‘Ariakudi Bani’ by her guru Padma Sandilyan and further honing her skill under several legendary musicians, Anjana has been a regular performer in several prime organisations around the country.
Hyderabad: The New Year started with the presentation of ‘Panchabhuta Linga Kshetra Krithis’ of Muthuswami Dikshitar. These beautiful compositions were presented in perfect tandem by L Nagavalli, R Sri Sudha, J Sravani and Urjitha Patel. Their efforts in presenting ‘manodharmam’ for the compositions deserves special appreciation, very ably supported by Koundinya on the violin, Chandrakanth on mridangam and Veeraswamy on ghatam.
The main concert of the morning featured Anjana Tirumalai. Trained in the ‘Ariakudi Bani’ by her guru Padma Sandilyan and further honing her skill under several legendary musicians, Anjana has been a regular performer in several prime organisations around the country.
The concert started with a varnam in ‘Kadanakutuhalam’, a composition reflecting the New Year’s energy and providing an exciting start to the programme. She beautifully rendered Thyagaraja’s ‘Mundu Venuka’ in ‘Darbar’ and Dikshitar’s ‘Namaste Paradevate’, among others, followed by an appealing presentation of ‘Raave Himagiri Kumari’ of Shyama Shastry, the main item of the programme. Detailed ‘manodharmam’ with good clarity of thought and deliverance is Anjana’s strength, which she showcased in ‘Thodi’.
The concert was diligently supported by Kolanka Sai Kumar on violin, a popular exponent of the instrument hailing from Hyderabad, TP Balasubrahmanyam on mridangam and M Chandrakanth on ghatam. Their dynamic style of accompanying and engaging ‘Thani Avarthanam’ was a highlight.
The first evening of the New Year witnessed an energetic vocal concert by Sriram Jonnalagadda, who performs Carnatic classical concerts as well as Namasankeerthans with the same ease. An MA Music gold medallist from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, Sriram started his initial music tutelage under his mother J Chidrupa Lakshmi and continued advanced training under Akella Mallikarjuna Sarma. A scholarship holder from the Ministry of Culture, Sriram has been conferred with the title ‘Taranga Yuva Gayaka Shikhamani’ for his special efforts in presenting and propagating Narayana Teertha ‘Tarangam’.
The concert started off with a pleasant rendition of ‘Valaji Varnam’ of Lalgudi Jayaraman. Following up was a relaxed yet invigorating ‘alapana’ of ‘Amritavarshini’, also touching upon Hindustani style of rendition for a few phrases. ‘Satvikam Shankaram’, a rarely heard composition of Muthaiah Bhagavathar was presented with exhilarating ‘neraval’ and ‘swarakalpana’ patterns. Sriram then moved on to ‘Devasri Tapasteertha’ in ‘Madhyamavati’, the main piece for the concert. With a crisp ‘ragalapana’ and interesting exchanges during ‘swarakalpana’ patterns between the vocal and violin, the item was a listener’s delight.
Komanduri Krishna’s melodious ‘alapana’ and ‘manodharmam’ expositions captured the hearts of the audience. Arvind Ranganathan’s accompaniment on the mridangam elevated the entire concert experience to a higher level, with a special mention to the thunderous ‘thani avarthanam’ after the main item. Hanumantha Rao on ghatam added lustre to the concert.