Ramakrishnan Murthy concert for CMANA on Oct 24th in NJ

[Sankar Narayanan]

Ramakrishnan Murthy (RKM) extended the Navarathri festival and brought an early Halloween to NJ rasikas yesterday. His 2.5 hours concert portrayed a ‘Golu’ on vishnu, rAmA, ambAL, and sivA; and was like a succession of treat after treat (no tricks!).

The team:
vidwan rAmakrishnan mUrthy (vOcal)
vidwan r.k.shrirAmkumAr (violin)
vidwan aruN prakAsh (mridangam)

Song List:
• suma sAyaka – pada varnam by svAti tirunAL – karnAtaka kApi
• mEru samAnamevaru - mAyAmALava gowLai - tyAgarAja ; very elaborate N, S @ kanakabhUshanamula
• amma rAvamma – kalyANi – tyAgarAja ; brief raga sketch but a very elaborate N @ nI mrdu tanuvunu gani and energetic swarams @ tAmarasa daLa nEtrudu; it was interesting to see niraval done at the first line of caraNam and kalpanaswarm at the second line, but there was no hesitation and the effect was very pleasing.
• pAhimAm ratnAcalanAyaka – mukhAri – MD ; RKM gave a very authentic rendition of this rare kriti on lord sivA on kuLittalai (later I gathered from RKSK that this was part of DKP’s repertoire); MD’s use of the phrase ‘pancha mukhAri’ as rAga mudra and as depiction of lord sivA enhanced my appreciation of his profound prosodic and Agama genius
• nI sari evvarE rAmayyA – gAngeyabhUshani – tyAgarAja; RKM included a nice raga sketch
• giripai – sahAnA – tyAgarAja; R followed by S @ pallavi line; followed by AP’s thani
• mAyammA yani pilacitE - Ahiri – syAmA sAstri
• mangaLam

Overall RKM’s singing style and manodharma continues to be authentic and traditional, only getting better. As the reader can see, each selection above is weighty – RKM rendered each one with great attention and elaborateness as if it was the main. I am sure the audience & the artists would have loved an RTP added to the above list but this concert was part of a triple-header and the organizers had time & logistical constraints – so maybe next time! The accompanists are seasoned vidwans (RKSK is also a guru to RMK), and provided excellent support and encouragement to RKM.

I left the concert hall with a feeling of having listened to not one, but two RKM concerts!!