Ernakulam Shiva Temple Fest

When T.M.Krishna is on the stage one can expect an unhindered flow of ragas, compositions rendered with a clean diction and an avalanche of swaras, woven in a colourful combination. His innate ability in meshing the prescribed aspects of carnatic music to those of the applied ones, swayed the music lovers at the Siva temple at Ernakulam, during the recently concluded festival there. This young stickler to tradition set out with the varnam, ‘Saami Ninne’ in Sree Ragam ,by Karoor Devudu Iyer. Gaula is a raga which is usually disposed of through ‘Sree Mahaganapathi’ or ‘Pranamamyaham’, merely as a formality. Even ‘Dudugu’, one among the famous Ghanaraga Pancharathna by Tyagaraja, is not given the pride of place in a concert. Krishna exposed the inherent weightiness embedded in Gaula, through a bewitching elaboration.‘Thiagaraja paalayaasumam’ by Deekshithar in Roopakam had a stunning fixture of swara-singing, to prove that the vidwans of the day are more venturesome than those of yesteryear. Meticulously trained by Sitharama Sasthri and Sammangudi Srinivasa Iyer, TMK is always been able to lend lustre to his artistry in such a way that the audiences are being taken by surprise. Mukhaari had its curves soulfully etched and supplemented by Entraikku Sivakripai(chaappu) by Neelakantasivan.‘Ee Vasudhaa’ by Tyagaraj in Sahana, made way for the lilt in Kedaram, through a crafty description and Anandanatana prakaasam by Deekshithar on the deity of Chidambaram(triputa), enlivened it. Venugaanaloluni(roopakam) by Tyagaraja, preceded a detailed sketch of Reethigaula , along with ‘Dvaithamu’ by the same poet-composer, with niraval and a torrent of swaras. T. H. Subrahmaniam, a native of Tripunithura gave an exemplary accompaniment with the violin. K.V. Prasad shone well with the mridangam on his home-turf and the thani, he presented with Udipi Sridhar playing the ghatom, had many tamtalizing rhythmic sequences.
Musicians from Andhra Pradesh always move in a different direction, compared to their counterparts from the neighbouring states. They show a penchant in unearthing rare krithis by the popular poet-composers, in a glittering version, that smacks of erudition as well as an aesthetic sense of a high order. Panthula Rema from Visakhapattanam, when on the stage reminds one of D. K. Pattammal in her heyday, singing with the same vitality , verve and composure which are fast disappearing from concert platforms. There is no unwarranted haste nor a bundle of papers to take a surreptitious glance from, when Rema performs. Endowed with a awesome repertoire that would suit any crowd, her command in all the octaves was appealing. A disciple of the violin maestro Evattoori Vijayeswara Rao, she is adept in both violin and viola. The tempo and the graces with which she adorned Vathapi gave it a loftiness of its own. Endaro in Sreeragam in which the bard from Tiruvarur, pays homage to the great ones, was rendered doing full justice to its purport. Jambupathe by Deekshithar on Tiruvanaikkaval(Jambukeswaram) in Yamunakalyani is rarely sung and its presentation was well taken by the listeners. Shanmukhapriya was replete with catchy passages.