Vocal : K V Krishnaprasad
Violin : K J Dileep
Mrudangam : K U Jayachandra Rao
Ghatam : Srishylan
List:
01 shLOkam ( namastE shAradAdEvi shrIrangapura vAsini) – bhauLi
mElukOvayya – bhauLi – Thyagaraja
02 mArubalka – shrIranjani – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S )
neraval & swara @ ‘ dAri nerigi santasilli naTTi tyAgarAjanuta’
03 nAda lOluDai – kalyANavasantam – Thyagaraja
04 marukELarA – jayanthashrI – Thyagaraja
05 mInAkSi mEmudam dEhi – gamakakriya/pUrvikalyANi – Dikshitar ( A,t,N,S,T )
neraval & swara @ ‘madhurApuri nilayE maNi valayE’
06 shLOkam ( hara shambhO mahAdEva) – bhAgEshrI
bhaja bhaja gaurIsham ( bhajan) – bhAgEshrI – Smt Shantha Pati
07 shLOkam ( srIrAmam sugrIvam) – sindhubhairavi
thillAna ( tAm takiTa taka dhinuta dhIm ??) – sindhubhairavi – Own ?? ( mudra ‘padmanAbha dAsa’)
08 mangaLam – saurAStram/madhyamAvati – Thyagaraja
Important to catch up on some of the new voices in the circuit. Away from the often heard and predictable performances. Despite my week physical condition, I ventured out to listen to Krishnaprasad last evening, having known about the changes in the artists ( his name wasn’t featuring in the original list). In the end my decision was proven to be right.
What an awesome start that was, almost like a dream sequence. round, mellifluous voice soothed itself into a fabulous bhauli kriti of Thyagaraja in such a moving way. Very well done. That probably is a start one should look for in a concert. He quickly started the shrIranjani alapana, mostly conveyed through fast paced bhriga laden spurts. Good effort, followed in a similar fashion by the accompanying artist. Marubalka, came in like water flow from the opening of a flood gate. Kriti followed by an impressive neraval and the kalpana saras were super fast. A kriti immortalised by Semmangudi, which he mentioned before the start and also singing a few swara passages we used to hearing in Semmangudi’s rendition were impactful. While it was exhilarating and done with a lot of verve, personally I would have appreciated it more with speed a notch or two lower for the shear beauty of the composition and the ‘bhAva’ of the rAga.
To balance it out, he sang the kalyanavasantham kriti with much leisurely way. Another short piece in Jayanthashri came in before the main. Purvikalyani alapana was grand. His strength is in speedy bhriga oriented phrases mostly done at middle and higher octave, which he deployed at ample occasions. Alapana did go a bit in ‘to and fro’ way but it definitely was top class. K J Dileep did a commendable job in his turn as well. There was tanam, and was thinking in line of a pallavi. Tanam started off brilliantly , very slow and long deliberate movements which was very very good. He chose to sing a kriti instead of pallavi and Dikshitar’s master piece was in the offing. He sang the kriti pretty well. Neraval was good and adequately explored. His second speed neraval was impressive, but lacked a bit of clarity in breaking the syllables. Kalpana swaras were only in the higher speeds. He did some innovative ‘swarakshara’ explorations at ‘madhurapuri nilaye’. Jayachandra Rao and Srishylan, the percussion duo who were impeccably adaptive to the main artist ( I am impressed that he did not get carried away during the marubalka exhilaration ) made a memorable day. The duo played out a decent tani avartanam post the main.
Krishnaprasad sang a couple of kritis post the felicitation each of them preceded with a short shloka. I am always in favour of artists singing shloka or viruttam in the second part of the concerts. Both the bhAgeshrI bhajan ( written by Smt Shantha Pati, who was in the audience) and the sindhubhairavi thillana was good. Looks like the thillana was his own, as the mudra ‘padmanabha dasa’ was distinct.
Krishnaprasad is a gifted musician, with a strong yet melodic voice supported with musical acumen and skills. Good to see such young artists getting noticed and recognised in premier music events.
Brain Drain 