Veena : Jayanthi Kumaresh
Violin : Vid. Kumaresh
Mrudangam : K U Jayachandra Rao
Tabla & Morsing : Pramad Kiran
List :
01 Own Composition – chakravAkam – Adi ( O,S )
02 paripAlayamAm – rItigauLa – rUpakam – Thyagaraja ( S )
03 mA jAnaki – kAmbOji – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A, S )
04 sari evvaramma – bhairavi – khaNDa tripuTa – Shyama Shastry ( A )
05 rAgam & tAnam – pantuvarALi
tani Avartanam – Adi
own composition – pantuvarALi – mishra chAp ( S )
…… the End …….
‘We are extending our conversations at home’ , musical conversations he hastened to add, ‘to the listeners’, said Kumaresh after the first piece of the evening. It indeed sounded so, with the deliberations over the compositions , especially those which are composed by them for ‘strings attached’, – as they are promoting it now. Those conversations, if one might call it so, were enthralling to the audience, going by the reception they received at the end. There were deliberations, those fast paced to and fro ( or the question and answers ) between the two, those sweet passing of the mantle from one artist to the other, those little add-ons to the part being played by the other, those ‘if you do that, I can also do this’ type of showmanship , those collective crescendo and exhilaration that seems to have taken over the music of late. There was exhibition of skills, knowledge and capabilities of both the artists as well as instruments they handle at galore, which connected with the audience immensely, or that is what was evident going by the standing ovation and the applause and appreciation they received.
Beyond these, exuberance and high octane playing, there were indeed many moments of brilliance, to please my musical aesthetics. Leaving aside the first piece, the reetigaula was very traditional and played with such a pleasing ‘bhava’. Kamboji alapana had some mesmerizing phrases, especially on the veena. Tanam for pantuarali was again exquisite. As is expected, the Veena had some delectable playing of tanam. So, the traditional compositions were played withing the usual norms, and the improvised compositions of their pursuit had the highs and lows that titillate the listeners. Personally, my tastes are with the former.
Interestingly, immediately after the tAnam, the percussion duo took up their solo. Jayanthi had announced the composition to be in mishra chAp, however the tani avartanam was in Adi. Jayachandra Rao and Pramad Kiran was really superb in their turns. During his turn, Jayachandra Rao even played the arohana-avarohana scale on the ‘thoppi’ perfectly in unison with Veena. Pramad kiran started with Table, switched to Morsing, combined both, settled back to Tabla and played some impromptu duet with mrudangam by alternating sides – both a vusual and musical treat. Pramd’s Table accompaniment was top class through out.
The concert closed with the main piece, with no winding down at the end. MAy be they could have given 5 mins or so for a proper close down. One must also extend the credit to the organiser who spoke eloquently, adding wits and humour in right measure, summing up the ‘strings’ & ‘ beats’ attached duos performance. Seldom we hear such a commendable effort from the organisers.
* ————–
In the follow on concert, Vidhushi Sangeetha Katti sang a brilliant Bhoop for an hour and a melodious ‘nAyaki kAnaDa’ for nearly 30 mins.
Brain Drain 