concert review of TNS on 30-11-2007 in Bharthiya vidhya bhavan
The flag hoisting for the season has begun for the rasikas of TNS and it was oordhvadhvajam,, hoisted high up. A concert splendidly superb leaving the rasikas asking for more!
TNS was accompanied by VVRavi on the violin , Manjeri Esvaran on the Mridangam and Sundrakumar on kanjira. They served as the tripod for the flag hoisted by TNS.
TNS started with the Kalyani ata thala varna and that was followed by srivaralakshmi in sriraga. The sriraga had all the auspiciousness ‘sri,’ in it and was excellent. The krthi itself was beautiful where we saw Varalakshmi arriving in her splendour with so many varieties of singing of the word Varalakshmi, as though showing the different ways in which Varalakshmi will grace the devotee. The svaraprasthara that followed was full of soumangalya with rishabha as the sindhoora on the face of Sri.
What followed next was what made the rasika exclaim, ‘needhu mahima pokada naatharmaa,’ Yes, it was the hamsanandi krthi, ‘needhu mahima,’ by Muthiah bhagavathar. Hamsanandi is one of the delicacies TNS dishes out to his rasikas and this was sweet beyond description. What a hamsanandi it was, which made one feel, by closing the eyes, that it was a nadasvara recital! Such were the phrases of the raga that has been the speciality of the pithamahaguru of TNS, the great Muthiah Bhagavathar. To the rasika who have been listening to almost all the concerts of TNS it still remains a miracle how he makes his music sound astoundingly new and fresh every time. It creates a feeling that it is the best until he sings next time! By the raga Hamsanandi, the svara that followed which was beyond description ( ending the svara in ‘ni’ and ‘sa dha ni ‘ and with all the possible svara laya combinations), and by the krthi itself, TNS created ‘modhahrdhaya ‘ in the rasikas by his ,nadha svarupa.’ The lyric of the krthi itself is the correct description of the rendering by TNS.
‘Ramachandra ra ra’ in Anandabhairavi by Ramadasar, ‘kanakaanga’ a koteesvatra iyer krthi in kanakangi and ‘Mayamma ‘ of Shyamasasthri in Ahiri were the krthis that followed and then came shankarabharanam the main piece of the concert.
The sankarabharana raga was rendered with usual expertise with graha bhedha delicately and intricately woven into it and the krthi was ‘svararaga sudha rasa.’ Like the hamsanandi piece the lyric of the krthi itself served as a commentary for the music , that is , it was svararagasudha rasa. Svaras were sung at ‘moolaadhaara,’ the laya oriented nature of them presented a dance by the svaraanganas, damsels of svaras.
Manjeri Eesvaran and Sundarkumar added to the magnificence of the concert with their expert handling of the respective instruments and VVRavi gave the usual support on the violin.
What followed the resonant and excellent thani avarthanam by Eesvaran and Sundarkumar was ‘Begabaro,’ a dasara nama but rasikas had a surprise in store as TNS sang the piece in ragamalika instead of the usual maund raga. The ragas, revati, natakapriya and some other raga resembling bipas of Hindustani music were leisurely strokes from the brush of the master painter making them exquisite.
Then TNS concluded the concert with the thillana in Sindhubairavi and the mangalam pavamana was as usual sung with gusto which rasikas of TNS expect from him, his inexhaustible manodharma leaving its mark even in his mangalam. But instead of the ever delightful sriyahkaanthaaya the mangala sloka was sarvamangalamangalye, may be in consideration of the day being Friday and fitting indeed as both the beginning and the end were marked by soumangalya.
Anuradha Krishnamoorthi who sang before TNS finished with singing mangalam which raised many an eyebrow as it is not done usually when another concert follows but by God’s will it has indeed served as an augury for the soumangalya of the concert of TNS which was in store for the rasikas, an aaloka and not samapthi.