Shashank mesmerized the audience with an optimal dose of great ragas and popular kritis. We also witnessed his masterly swapping of flutes, his unique fingering techniques, and his style of audience engagement via giving them choices and getting feedback.
Song List:
1. rAgasudhA rasa - AndoLikA - Adi ; T ; brief S @ caraNam line
2. parandhAmavatI jayati - dharmavati - roopkam ; MD; elaborate R; N , S @ paranjyOti; nice swarams, koraippu, and a fitting ending korvai
3. anupama guNAmbudhi - atANA - kanda chApu; T; brisk/brief S @ pallavi line (only mEl Kalam)
4. rAmA neeyedA – karaharapriyA – Adi ; T ; elaborate R; brief neraval but elaborate swarams at the caraNam line, incl many delightful kathiri swarams in mEl kalam; rounded up with a nice thani
5. RTP – “paradEvathE vidiyuvatE lalithE || mAmpAhi” - chandrakauns and behAg (dwi-ragam) – kanda triputa, tisra nadai ; rapid-fire ragamalika swarams with 10+ ragams
6. barO krishNaiyyA- mAND (rAgamAlikA) – Adi ; kanaka dAsA
7. sAgara sayana vibO – bAgEsrI - MDR
Shashank started the concert with an energetic ‘rAgasudhA rasa’ in AndoLikA. It was like a breath of fresh spring air, given we do not hear this kriti often unless it is a GNB or MLV school. It is one of a few songs where Tyagaraja pays tribute and reverence to divine music itself - other examples being ‘nAdasudhA rasa’ , ‘nAda tanumanisham shankaram’, ‘sogasugA mridanga tALamu’, and ‘rAgasudhA rasa’.
Next Shashank took a raga of a different mood – dharmavati. Though he announced he would play a ‘short’ dharmavati, to our delight he did an elaborate AlApanA, bringing out all the shades and nuances of this beautiful ragam (madhuvanti being the close equivalent in Hindustani Music). Shashank craftly brought out the sringAra rasA as well as the karuNA rasA innate in this ragam. The song chosen was MD’s ‘parandhAmavatI jayati’ which he played elaborately with a number of sangatis. The niraval and swarams @ the anupallavi line ‘paramjyOtI vikAsinI’ pleasingly exhibited the raga-bhAvA of dharmavati. Ganesh Prasad’s accompanying was soothing and exhibited his gayaka-style of playing given his foray into vocal performances as well in recent times.
A brisk ‘anupama guNAmbudhi’ was like an energy drink. Both the raga-bhAvA (aTANA) and the tala-bhAvA (kanda chApu) made us sit up! The briefness also signaled the impending arrival of the ‘main’.
For the main item, Shashank gave a choice of kAmbhOji or karaharapriyA. Based on audience responses, the maestro of flute chose the king of ragas! The elaborate karaharapriyA AlApanA reminded us why it is called the king of ragas. For the first round of AlApanA, Shashank notably used the longest flute to explore the mandra sthAyi notes and micro-notes. Nice return by Ganesh Prasad, with his apt use of mostly the 4th string as a matching reply to the long flute!
Time for kriti rendition (no marks for guessing it would be a tyagaraja kriti
). Shashank gave a choice of ‘rAmA neeyadA’ or ‘pakkala nilabaDi’, and based on rasiksa’s response, he took up ‘rAmA neeyadA’. After elaboration, he skipped niraval and instead played extensive kalpanaswarams at the caraNam line. He delectably included multiple rounds of 'kathri-swarams' in mEl kaalam including his trademark fingering where his fingers flutter over the flute holes like a humming bird flipping its wings hundred times per second! The thani that followed was delectable. Phalgun started in misra nadai and ensured the mood and tempo of the song were maintained. As they say, there are 3 aspects of mridangam-playing – playing for the talam, playing for the song, and playing for the artiste! Phalgun maintained not only the talam and the mood, but also the ‘style’ with which Shanshank rendered the kriti before handing off for the thani! Also, as he was seated to the left of Shashank (though Phalgun is right-handed), seeing the thoppi strokes and gumkis was enjoyable.
After conferring with the audience once again, Shashank announced he would play an RTP in two ragas - Chandrakauns + behAg. In the alapana he played a mellow Chandrakauns followed by a moody behAg. Whereas in the thanam, he switched the order, going with behAg first, so as to give a seamless transition and then finished with Chandrakauns.
The pallavi – “paradEvagthE vidiyuvatE lalithE || mAmpAhi” was rendered in kanda triputa talam in tisra nadai. The fast-paced Pallavi went into even a higher gear when he played magic with his ragamalika kalpanaswarams with the ragams meandering at jet speed (or should I again say humming bird speed?). As the guest speaker Ramakrishnan would later admit, I too started following and staying close but it was like running a sprint with Usain Bolt! I noted sAmA, shammugapriyA, mOhanam, vasanthA (or lalithA?), kApi, khambOji, and then lost track
. Kudos to Ganesh Prasad and Phalgun for keeping pace adroitly.It was post-pallavi session and time for the smallest flute! Here Shashank played a soothing ‘barO krishnaiyyA’. He rendered a folksy anupallavi – a la flute mAli - using the smallest flute; he traversed all the high pitch notes while maintaining very good clarity. The dhim-dhimi-dhimi and the kinkiNi-kiNi-kiNi lyrical sounds in the caraNam could be heard high fidelity!
Shashank concluded with the emotive MDR kriti – ‘sAgara sayana vibO’ in sedate bAgEsrI.
It was an enthralling concert with amazing display of speed, agility, control, bhava, all rolled in one. The flute was a true extension of his mind, arms, and fingers. The final applause was a sounding confirmation that Shashank is indeed a crafty horseman, and the flute his galloping horse. A true shining knight, or should we say a true Chevalier !