O.S.Thiagarajan at Bhairavi Puducherry on 4-12-10

[Ponbhairavi]

Rangasayee…reigns Supreme

The concert of Shri O.S.Thiagarajan under the auspices of Bhairavi on 4th December was a model of pure classicism. No frills, no fireworks.

It started with the saveri varnam Sarajuda. Thiagarajan was at his best and his voice was perfectly sruthi aligned and needed no warming up.

After a couple of delicious hors- d’oeuvre he chose rithi gowlai as auxiliary main for the day ... A brief alapanai of 8 minutes preceded the krithi “dvaithamu sukhama” The pace of the krithi, and Thiagarajan’s voice modulation brought out splendidly the self enquiring, loud-thinking mood of the composer Shri Thiagaraja Swamigal, who raises the question: which one is sukham the dwaitham or the adwaitham. The answer he gives in another krithi is his conviction that only Smarane sukhamu o rama nama (jana ranjani).

The main piece of the concert was the ever green O Rangasayee in Khamboji. What a majestic treatment he gave to that majestic composition in that majestic raga. Following a detailed alapanai, the emotive neraval turned the Societe hall into a Booloka Vaikuntam as though to enable Smt. Lakshmi Duraiswamy, in whose memory the concert has been sponsored by her husband Shri Duraiswamy, Jt. Secretary of Bhairavi, to descend from her celestial abode and enjoy the musical offering. A splendid swaraprasthara kept the audience mesmerized for 40 golden minutes

The post thani session was shortened as he was entrusted with the task of distributing the certificates to the participants of the last month’s members day event. If it was a loss to the eager audience, it was a memorable gain to the fortunate recipients. It is a pity that there was no time for thukadas, not even for one of Bharathiyar’s song in this month, when the poets’s birthday was just one week away! It looked as though the whole concert was dedicated to the bard of Thiruvaiyaru.

The violin accompaniment of Shri V.V. Srinivasa Rao was impeccable and melodious through out. Neyveli Shri Skanda Prasad’s mridangam accompaniment was cut and right, though he tended to be noisy at the thani. Young Shri Raja Ganesh, grandson of the legendary Alathoor Subbier, handled the kanjira with deft fingers with appropriate padding
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This concert of Shri O.S. Thiagarajan at the beginning of December, if it is taken as a stage dress rehearsal, augurs very well for him a successful and brilliant forthcomimg music Season at Chennai.

V. Rajagopalan.