Ramakrishna Murthy, Rithvik Raja, Sandeep Narayanan, Bharath Sundar
These 4 musicians are the future men of Carnatic Music in my opinion. I listened to all of them among others around the season and especially listened to all of them during the Charsur festival this past week. It was also encouraging to note that they all attend each others concerts also.
First a few playful similarities:
Rithvik & Sandeep:
#1 Both are Iyengars
#2 Both seem to dress up very well and present themselves pleasantly with class
#3 Both sport a bright red shrichurnam
#4 Both have grown a considerable beard
Ram & Bharath:
#1 Both are Iyers
#2 Both wear glasses
#3 Both dress simply and remain an image of the old
#4 Both wear a generous amount of ash on their forehead
The only thing common between all of them is that all of them seem to be wearing ear studs or kadukkanns. As uncommon as it is in this day and age I was pleasantly surprised to notice that with them. The other thing that I find common between them all is their strength in all aspects of music and individual ability to last the long run and take over the baton from the present generation of stars.
But surprisingly with respect to their music I would group Ram & Rithvik together while I would put Bharath & Sandeep together.
Style:
Ram & Rithvik seem to give music a lot more importance and give a feeling that their music is not for the applause or for the concert success. They give a feeling of satisfaction to the people listening and they both also seem to enjoy their own music and sing it with great abandon. Their melody is very emotional and has great depth.
Sandeep & Bharath are more into flamboyance and speed. Because of that it does have its own sets of positives and negatives. They keep the audience in their seats with the rollercoaster ride of speed and felicity but I find the focus on music to be lacking which they make up with other aspects.
Crowd:
Personally I like the style of Ram & Rithvik better and their approach. Not that it is any yardstick for measurement but these two also seem to gather larger crowds. Ram sings to full houses everywhere while Rithvik and Sandeep garner a very healthy audience. Bharath used to get a good crowd too but for some reason has not managed to sustain it.
Strengths:
Each of them seem to have zeroed in on what their individual strengths are.
Ram - His appearance and music which couple together to portray a picture of spirituality and divinity. His music has an old world charm to it and sings good systematic concerts with great variety.
Rithvik - A serene and melodious voice that he uses beautifully well to showcase aesthetic subtleties and produces calm and meditative music that is refreshing.
Sandeep - A robust and powerful voice that he uses to articulate flamboyant ideas. Hits and misses are part of the package but there are many surprise elements. Good aggressive stage presence.
Bharath - Great voice clarity and delivery and ease of singing but somehow I feel he does not create an impact with the audience or leave a feeling of satisfaction.
Charsur Concerts:
All of their concerts at Charsur had four melakarthas each which was the theme for this years concerts. Though concerts in general got good crowds at Charsur barring a few, these four got a sizeable audience. Especially Ram and Rithvik
Ram - This was the best concert out of the four for me. It had a good variation of speed and selection was also very good. He created a great rapport with the audience and sustained the momentum till the end. The swarams for Shankarabaranam and Saveri were especially delightful and his Kanada raagam was equally good. He promptly sang a song for Vaikunta Ekadashi and announced the same and scored extra marks.
Rithvik - A very close second for me was this concert. The entire team on stage was in wonderful sync and the entire concert was absolutely pitch perfect. The highlight of this concert was the soulful rendering of Kamakshi in Bairavi and the Tanam section of Karaharapriya. The swarams in Seethapathe in Kamas and Theliyaleru in Dhenuka were exquisite. The entire concert was very pleasant and emotionally charged.
Both for this concert and Ram concert the audience were scrambling for seats and even the corridor was filled with people trying to listen in.
Sandeep - Comes next in the list for me. Lovely interpretation of Nalinakanthi with fiery brighas and great support from the accompanists. His voice was in top form. The concert was successful though high in decibel sometimes. The entire effect of the concert carried through to the audience wonderfully and left a mark.
Bharath - Not far behind Sandeep but I still put it a step behind because of its lack of overall impact. It was a typical concert with all the right ingredients but it fell short in terms of execution. Shoolini sounded close to Gowrimanohari many a time and the following song in Bhavapriya was too fast for anyone to internalise and react, though it had some creative phrases. However, the swarams for Malayamarutham and the entire Abheri piece were masterfully handled. Loads of talent that can be channelled properly.
I also did attend their individual concerts in other places about which I will be writing in detail. It is great to see so many good youngsters singing but only a handful have the class and the quality to go the next step. Though quite far behind, other names to look out for in the future in three to four years would be Vignesh Eashwar and Ashwath Narayanan provided they are along the same path. Though Trichur Brothers have managed to garner good support and sing in good slots their music is not at all appealing to me and at most times sounds like cacophony. Sorry for the strong use of words. Only time will tell as to how things turn out. Interesting times lie ahead
Will write about the four ladies who are making waves next. Nisha Rajagopalan, Amritha Murali, Gayathri K and Sriranjani Santhanagopalan.