T.N. Krishnan - Violin
Viji Natarajan - Violin
Sriram Krishnan - Violin
K.M.S. Mani - Mrudangam
Tripunithura Radhakrishnan - Ghatam
Neelakanta Sivan Cultural Academy
Duration: 1h 45m
Approximate Songlist:
01. ninnukOri (varNam) - mOhanam - Adi - Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar
02. gajAnanayutam [S] - vEgavAhini - Adi - MD
03. gananAyakam - pUrnashadjam - Adi - MD
04. gnAnamOsagarAda [R, N, S] - pUrvikalyANi - rUpakam - T
05. rAgam tAnam pallavi - SaNmugapriya - Adi(2) [samam +1 eDuppu]
rAgamAliga neraval and swaras in bEhAg, kAnaDa, ranjani, and kApi
tani Avartanam
06. vinarAda nA [R] - dEvagAndAri - Adi - T
07. taruNi jnAn - dwijAvanti - miSra cApu - ST
08. ? - srI rAgam
09. viSwESwara - sindhu bhairavi - rUpakam - ST
10. nI nAma rUpamulaku (mangaLam) - sowrASTram - Adi - T
Sunday's TNK concert got shortened because of inauguration speeches, and I hoped there would be no delays today attending a TNK concert with my mother and grandfather right near our home in Velachery. But misfortune struck me once again and my heart sank as I saw people rapidly mounting chairs in front of a stage. Then I realised that speeches need not only happen on inauguration day - they happen on closing days of festivals too! And today was the last day of the Neelakanta Sivan Cultural Academy's festival in Velachery, where 5-6 people each said a "few words" and let the audience do the arithmetic that many people x a few words = many words.
Nevertheless the concert finally began to a packed hall that unlike in Triplicane did not dissipate rapidly throughout the concert (kudos to Velachery rasikas). The concert was a classy affair from start to finish, with the mOhana varNam played in the first and second speeds initially in the pUrvangam and then in the second and third speeds for the uttarangam. Elaborate swaras were played for gajAnanayutam, with Sriram and Viji sharing the finale, and they did a decent job building up the climax and bringing the swaras to a smooth landing. I particularly enjoyed the fast fingering (NOT fast bowing) swara exchanges between the siblings midway through the exercise. The pUrnashadjam kriti was rare (for me) and played beautifully by TNK and Sriram.
All three violinists took turns with the raga alapanais. As I have mentioned before, TNK is one of the few people who can make me like pUrvikalyANi and similar prati madhyama ragas because he plays them with a certain intensity that captures the rasika's (or at least this rasika's) interest throughout. The pUrvikalyANi, right from the madhyama kAla alapanai to the kriti to the neraval and swaras, maintained the required level of intensity and it was enjoyable. The neraval and swaras were particularly crisp.
I was surprised when TNK took up another prati madhyama raga immediately for elaboration. The SaNmugapriya had all the TNK touches, with Sriram contributing some of his own flourishes. The fast exchanges in the upper octave were particularly enjoyable, and TNK gave his impeccable finishing touches to the alapanai. The tAnam was beautifully played in two and a half octaves, and there were no unnecessary alapanai-ish extensions. Although I am not a fan of ragamaliga intrusions in pallavis, I must confess I rather enjoyed TNK's ragamaliga neravals and swaras this evening. He and Viji played a really beautiful bEhAg, and Sriram's kAnaDa was impressive too. Interestingly, after ragamaliga neraval, swaras were presented in the last raga and worked in reverse to SaNmugapriya.
The tani Avartanam was brisk and enjoyable. K.M.S. Mani and T. Radhakrishnan both played well this evening, and I particularly enjoyed Sri Radhakrishnan's responses. He has great clarity and azhuttam. Both percussionists were sensitive and lent a minimalist touch to the proceedings by not overdoing tIrmAnams.
I was immensely pleased to hear TNK take up dEvagAndAri immediately after the tani. After a concise and beautiful alapanai, they played SSI's favourite vinarAda. TaruNi jnAn was moving as well, and the concert concluded with a beautiful sindhu bhairavi.
It was a really enjoyable concert and I must particularly commend Sriram for rising to the occasion once again.