KS Vishnudev, Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha

KS Vishnudev - VS Gokul Alankode - NC Bharadwaj - Vellattanjoor Sreejith

Sri Parthasarathy Swami sabha
Vidya Bharathi
22 Dec 2019. 2 pm

taruNam idammA - gauLi pantu - Adi - SS
maravakavE O manasA - sAmA
kamalAmbhA bhajarE - kalyANi - Adi - MD (RNST)
manasulOni - hindOLam - T
RTP - kamala manOhari and dEva manohari - tisra jhampa misra naDai 2 akshara eDuppu 5 akshara aridi
srI kamalA manohari pAvani - paramEsvari dEva manohari

A beautiful concert by the team. Neatly presented kalyANi, which stood out. It was a classical exploration showing the majesty of the ragam. The pallavi was well structured and presented nicely.

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Sticking to the tradition and still showing innovations is always a tight rope to walk. And to do that within a short span of time, needs a lot of courage and knowledge and many other things.

When Vishnudev Namboodri started Kalyani alapanai, right after a brisk maravakavE O manasA, it was surprising a choice. One did not expect a main already, but the alapanai began in a grand manner and indicated of something big. The alapanai was done in a very relaxed and elaborate manner. Neatly dwelling in each svara and showing the essential sancharams and moving ahead, it gave a fitting prelude to the navAvarNam that was going to be taken up. VS Gokul Alakonde, on the violin, was following well and gave a good alapanai when his turn came. The kriti was rendered beautifully, both Gokul and NC Bharadwaj on the mrudangam played each line and sangati so very well gelled with Vishnu's rendition of the kriti. It was an excellent presentation. But, thats not all, there was a neraval at 'nitya kalyanim katyayanim' which was again very good and sang with many interesting sangatis. Then came an elaborate round of svarams in 2 speeds along with a korappu, which was designed in a very aesthetic manner to fit the start of the line. Gokul was good in his responses in these sections. Bharadwaj and Vellattanjoor Sreejith played an elaborate tani in stages that suited the grandeur of the kalyani presented. Overall, this kalyani was very impressive and memorable to this write.

Earlier the concert had began with Shyama Sastri's tarunam idhamma. Then came a racy rendition of manasuloni marmamulu. One was not sure if the concert would end soon or if there was anything else coming up. When Vishnu started an alapanai of kamala manohari, it was clear that a pallavi was in the offing. An artist who keeps his audience guessing and still keeps them engaged and excited, is always going go places. Vishnu was doing this very ably. After an elaboration of kamala manohari in the lower half of the octave, he moved to deva manohari in the next half. Then the two ragams were alternated during the alapanai by Vishnu before handing the baton over to Gokul, who gave a very similar and fitting response. Both of them chose to do an alapanai alternating between the two ragams, once in a few phrases, instead of doing one ragam at a time. Then came a tanam which was crisp and again in both ragams, similar to the alapanai. The pallavi 'Sri kamala manohari paavani - paramesvari deva manohari' was set in tisra jhampai, misra nadai. The poorvanga and uttaranga were in kamala manohari and deva manohari respectively. The neraval of the pallavi was done well along with tri kaalam. The swarams were sung in both ragams ending up in the corresponding sahitya, to finally finish off with a korappu and korvai in kamala manohari.

On the whole, it was a very good concert by Vishnu who showed his grip of tradition and training with the kalyani and his intelligence with his pallavi. Gokul, Bharadwaj and Sreejith supported him well, during his outing.