BANGALORE: The just concluded four-day annual ‘Sangathi’ youth music festival under the auspices of Ananya left an indelible mark with all the youngsters rising to the occasion to project their innate talents. The festival began on May 9 at the Ananya Auditorium. A CD by a scholar-vocalist Dr.Hamsini Nagendra entitled ‘Apoorva Krithi Manjari’ was released on the occasion by a seasoned vainika D Balakrishna. The CD contains erudite expositions of Shuddha Todi(varna by Patnam), Simhavahini(Nenarunchara, Thyagaraja), Varali(Karuna joodavamma, Shyama Sastry), Ragamalika(Neene dayalu, Purandaradasa), Shankarabharana (Sahajaguna Ramachandra, Muthaiah Bhagavatar) and Anandabhairavi(tillana, Lalgudi Jayaraman).Young flautist N Rajakamal was featured in the inaugural concert with competent accompanists Raghu (violin), Srinivas (mridanga) and Kirankumar (khanjari). He activated the concert with Thyagaraja’s Sri Raghukula(Hamsadhwani) studded with melkaala swaras. Playing with a rich tone and admirable felicity his breath control and artistic tuttukkaras made it easy to decipher the sahitya (text) of the songs. It was good that he did not concentrate all on merely feat-oriented skills. He balanced his renditions with meaningfully expressive classicism and artistry. His rhythmic prowess too did not come in the way of aesthetics. The essay of Khamach (Thyagaraja’s Sujana jeevana) was leisurely. I liked the way he and the violinist Raghu inserted catchy lines drawn from the familiar krithis set in Khamach raga in their delineations. He created a fine listening experience in the rendition of Idi Nyaayamaa Ramachandra (Malavi) of Patnam. He accorded a pivotal place to Simhendramadhyama. The nuances of the raga were skillfully surveyed and his raga’s journey through mandra, Madhya and tara sthayis was fetching. Swati Tirunal’s Rama Rama Gunaseema’ was played with ease and the neraval at Muni Maanasaagama attached with swaraprastara was a connoisseur’s delight. Venkatachala Nilayam was enjoyable.Virtuoso vocalist: Getting stuck up in virtuosic aims may act as a block to growth in musical expressiveness and this seems to have been realised by the experienced and seasoned singer Chandanbala Kalyan. Her concert on day two of the festival proved that she is a virtuoso in the astonishing manner in which she completed the sixth tempo (shatkaala) singing of the highlight of her concert-the raga, tana and pallavi line ‘Daasadaasara maneya daasaanudaasa namma Purandaradasa’ in Hindola raga. Hindola Raga was sketched with all its details intact on a wider canvass encompassing all the registers. After singing the pallavi(khanda triputa) in the traditional manner she enthralled the rasikas by exploring it in six tempos. She went on to regale the lovers of music by weaving a Ragamalika Swaravinyasa. She also exhibited her singular talent and expertise by choosing ragas like Surya, Sunadavinodini, Shivashakthi (Bageshri without rishabha, a creation of GNB) and Chandrakauns-which had the same sagamadanisa sanidamagasa swaras as Hindola but at changed placements. Likewise, her grahabedha branching off to Arabhi, Sunadavinodini, Mohana and Madhyamavathi ragas was an extraordinary feat indeed.Singing at a high pitch, Chandanabala filled her earlier part of the recital with Bhairavi Atatala Varna followed by Dikshitar’s Lambodaraya Namasthe in Varali raga. The neraval at Sambashivaatmajaya and Kalpanaswaras were applauded. She exercised all care, interest and zeal in expanding the Nattakuranji Raga and stunned the audience by singing the popular Kanakadasa Pada Kula Kulavendu. Her detailing of Siri Kaaginelayaadi with two speed swaras was a happy marriage between melody and rhythm. I was extremely happy to hear Thyagaraja’s Seethamanohara (Ramapriya raga) after a long time. A cascade of swaras adorned the line Gattigaanu Thyagarajuni. Shankararajan (violin) had some anxious moments while playing on his tensed strings which tuned the high pitch of the vocalist. BS Prashanth(mridanga) and Bhargava Halambi (khanjari) were in their true elements. Veteran vocalist BS Vijayaraghavan(Ananya puraskara), RS Nandakumar (Shastra Kaushtubha) and the winners of the Ananya Yuva Puraskara NRajakamal (flute), Ashwinanand (veena) and A Radhesh (mridanga) were felicitated at Seva Sadana.Quiet Instrumental Ensemble: Classical music had a quiet flow in the concert of an instrumental ensemble comprising Geetha Ramananda, Revathi Murthy, Radhika Bhaskar and Gopal (all veenas), LV Mukund (flute), Venkatesh Josier (violin), Renukaprasad (mridanga), ASN Swamy (Khanjari), Raghunandan (Ghata) and Lakshminarayana(morsing). Without those usual frills and trills which mar the instrumental concerts, the Naada Vaibhava literally made for a chaste music. Beginning with the Bhairavi Atatala Varna, Sharavanabhava (Pashupathipriya Raga) was rendered in a lively tempo. The climax was reached in the exposition of Poorvikalyani (Gangadhara Tripurahara, with neraval and swaras at Ahibhooshana). The shared rendition of Khamach (Brochevarevarura) ornamented with tana had classical values. The Swaraprastara for the chittaiswaras reminded me of the great Veena Doreswamy Iyengar. The Keeravani Nagama was delightful. Jhanjhuti Tillana was a befitting finale.
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