Day 6 concert
- Vocal: Vishnudev Namboothiri
- Violin: Sampath Narayanan
- Mridangam: G Babu
- Ghatam: Manjoor Unnikrishnan
Vishnudev, after having quit his job in the US, has made a name for himself in the Carnatic world and like fine wine, only seems to get better and better every year. He is a winner of the Carnatic Idol music competition conducted by Jaya TV, and other awards have come his way. G Babu is so good at his art that he is as much a magician as he is a musician, in addition to being a physician (G Babu is a medical doctor by profession). Babu is also a good vocalist and composer as well, having composed tillanas and the like.
Setlist
- paripAhi gaNAdhipA - sAveri
- This is the only song on Ganesha in Swati's oeuvre.
- vandE sadA padmanAbham - navarasa kAnada
- padmanAbha palitEbha - malayamArutam
- A very rarely heard song, this is.
- bhavati vishwAso me - mukhAri
- Only Semmangudi used to sing this song, apparently.
- --- 1.5 hour mark ---
- paramapurusham hridaya bhAvayatam - lalitA panchamam
- adrisutavara kalyAnashaila - kalyANi (Main piece)
- This was the main piece. Thani.
- Aaj Aaye shAm mOhan - mishra pahADi
- Used to be sung in yaman kalyAN long ago.
- shankara shrI girinATH prabhu ke - hamsAnandi
This was a fantastic concert, following which CRama was effuse in his praise for Vishnudev's kalyANi and delighted at the now seldom-heard "Semmangudi uruppidis". That appellation makes sense to me as, after all, Semmangudi was one of those who were tasked with the revival and popularization of many of the Swati kritis by the Amma Maharani of Travancore.
Vishnudev's alapanas were well-crafted, with gradual build-ups leading to evocative phrases. I was happy to have correctly identified malayamArutham sans any Googling. The hamsAnandi song was sung by Amrutha Venkatesh on Day 3 as well, but I liked Vishnudev's version better. His handling of the Hindustani raag and pronunciation also impressed me a lot.
Manjoor Unnikrishnan's ghatam playing was spectacular. He started unbuttoning his shirt quite early on, and so I knew this guy meant serious business! What followed was some great ghatam prayogams (if I may call them that) and extensive use of his belly to modulate the tone of the instrument. His histrionics greatly accentuated the fireworks he created onstage. G Babu's mridangam playing was excellent as well, as was Sampath's violin playing. My only cavil with Sampath could be his onstage demeanour: the man is a great violin player and very experienced, but his body language while playing is very defensive and he doesn't appear to be at ease - like a nervous novice - which is unfortunate.
I think it is quite significant that I was able to attend this concert given by an established and leading Malayali musician along with CRama who has written a series of articles profiling Malayali musicians. The list of songs sung was quite eclectic to my ears, and Vishnudev's rendition of vandE sadA padmanAbham still rings in my ears, no exaggeration.