At a certain moment she announces her presence firmly freezing time on its tracks bringing it to a stand still, affording you the luxury to wholely savor the moment and enable you to retain it forever in your consciousness. I still recall vividly, years later, the moment when I caught the glint in my four year old's eyes peeking at me from behind a 7-storey tower of playing cards that she diligently put together all by herself over a summer afternoon when everyone else was snoozing after a hearty weekend lunch. Years from now I will remember this concert for the moment when the performing team shared appreciatory nods and glances acknowledging the flawless execution of the multi-stage korvai crowning a particularly intricate pallavi.
Gayathri Venkatraghavan's performance for the Gokulashtami series at Krishna Gana Sabha on Vinayaka Chathurthi was stuff of legend. The festival itself has been waning away from systemic negligence of late but this one concert was enough to remind us of its once grandiose stature. Every item was specially picked and presented with utmost repose and polish. I could go on and on
but will get to the details before I get repetitive. Accompanists:
B. Raghavendra Rao
Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan
Guruprasad (G)
Song List:
1. Varnam, Bahudari, Adi, Late Guru Sri A.Sundaresan
2. Ganapathy thaalai, Nattai, Adi, Subramanya Bharathy
3. Kambodhi, Lambodaram avalambe, Rupakam, Mysore Vasudevachar
4. Vasantha, Hariharaputram, Dikshitar
5. Vidalajathura, Janaranjani, Adi, Thyagaraja
6. Todi, Karthikeya Gangeya, Adi, Papanasam Sivan
7. RTP, Hamsanadam, Khanda jati triputa in khanda nadai, Ragamalika in Arabhi, Malayamarutham, ??
8. Poonkuyil koovum, Kapi, Kalki Krishnamurthy
9. Slokam, Yamuna Kalyani, Bhavayami gopalabalam, Annamacharya
10. Vinayaka kriti, Saraswathi, Sivan
Some observations:
1. Few top-ranking artistes take the pains to present new varnams and with such energy and flair. On other platforms, GV recently presented varnams in Saraswathi and Poornachandrika both of which I had never heard before.
2. Subramanya Bharathi's composition featured in the early portion on the concert was a welcome change.
3. GV excels in Kambodhi and today was more evidence of the same. What made the alapana even better was its crispness, without a hint of excess.
4. We got to hear a whole other side of Vasantha, not the vehement energetic version paraded around albeit occasionally, but one soaked-in-melody (this one could be Vasantham, fully deburred with no sharp edges) appropriate for the monsoon weather outside. The kriti carried the same mood all the way through.
5. Vidalajathura was a hyper speed rendition and few artistes are capable of executing this without sacrificing the melodic aspect of the song.
6. This concert was the culmination of a hat-trick of sorts as GV had performed on consecutive days prior to this. The todi elaboration was in stark contrast with the previous one from the weekend. While that one was more akin to dispersing a pressurized todi filled canister to saturate the upper strata of the auditorium (Ninne nammi) , this one was more like moving a baby grand piano gingerly with utmost care for closer view by the audience.
7. So after all this, she kicks off the RTP in hamsanadam. The tanam had the soft accompaniment of both the mrudangam and ghatam raising it to another level. The mrudangist is notorious for his strident playing but today he had mellowed down and stuck to the program. Pallavi was on Vigneswara to mark the occasion and included trikalam and ragamalika swarams. The accompanists really proved their mettle in this part of the concert and the ineffable moment referred to earlier came to pass.
8. Poonkuyil was sung with great bhavam and all its strategic pauses and timing. Rhythmic accompnaniment could have been a bit more sensitive. GV mentioned the fact that this was Kalki rememberance day. It was almost a decade ago that she herself received the Kalki Krishnamurthy award where she sang this same song to the same electric effect. In some ways, time has stood still indeed.
9. Double dessert included chinna Bhavayami made popular by MS. The slokam put us in proper meditative bent to relish the song itself. The concluding song was one featured in a movie and I apologize for not remembering the starting words.
10. The concert itself lasted a little over 3 hours and was nothing less than a gift of Vinayaka which will stay with me for a long time.