Total involvement and convincing portrayals

BANGALORE: Veteran scholar-musician Prof. Nagamani Srinath regaled the rasikas with her treatment, method and mode of movement of voice, notes of accent and rest. By virtue of that in their impact and atmosphere she rendered a melodious vocal recital at the Seshadripuram College open air auditorium for Sri Seshadripuram Rama Seva Samiti. The technical and emotional posture of Nagamani’s Vachaspathi for ‘Kanthajudume’ was unimpeachably correct. Blessed with a rich voice having a broad and high range and reach, she exploited it, her boon for better results. Hence, the systematic and graceful singing of the next Dhanyasi ‘Sangeetha gnanamu’ and Kamavardhini(‘Ennaganu Ramabhajana’) numbers brought to the fore her independent thinking instead of projecting the received ideas. The grace, suppleness and other allurements of expression as borne out in her lovely gamakas and tonal elongations in an engrossing vilamba beautified the evergreen krithi ‘Vandanamu’ set to Shahana raga. One of her most prominent disciples, an adept singer and a staffer on AIR R. Chandrika imparted a lively vocal support. In the delineation of Mohana, in special, for ‘Raara Rajeevalochana’ she was a class by herself. Mattur R. Srinidhi(violin), Anur Ananthakrishna Sharma(mridanga) and Arunkumar(rhythms) enriched the recital with their useful contributions.Refined techniqueThe popular vocalist Sanjay Subramanyam impressed his fans at the Govt. Fort High School Grounds with his usual artistry, approach and attraction. Singing for Sri Ramasevamandali in its 74th Sri Ramanavami celebrations, he portrayed his sincere deep felt emotions and feelings. Melodic beauty also got manifested in the form of righteous, unalloyed, symmetrical and taut organisation musical material and technique. One got to hear a complicated raga Manirangu for that famous Dikshitar-krithi ‘Maamava Pattabhirama’. It was ornamented with sahitya and swaraprastara. Kambhoji(‘Neeye sharanam’) was enjoyable. It was in the delineation of Kalyani that Sanjay reached the acme of his expertise. The alapana, neraval and kalpanaswaras had the imprint of Sanjay. He is known for singing exclusive alapanas, neravals and swaras. Besides, he is also liked for rendering rare krithis in popular ragas. In this direction, singing of Thyagaraja’s rarest krithi ‘Enduku nee manasukaragadu’ was notable. The highlight of his recital was a four-raga (Saveri, Anandabhairavi, Hameerkalyani and Mohana)raga, tana and pallavi. The pallavi line ‘Varattum, maname varattum iru maname varattum pataradiru maname varattum’ was elaborated within the trishratriputa tala frame. The Kannada compostion‘Matadabaaradeno’(Khamach) was full of feelings. Muthaiah Bhagavatar’s ‘Kalilo Harismarana’(Kapi) created a rare experience. S Varadarajan(violin), Harikuamar(mridanga) and S Venkataraman(khanjari) were in their elements.Confident teenagerJust in her early teens, petite and pretty looking Atula Chandrasekhar trained by Dharani Kashyap dazzled in her Bharatanatya recital held at the ADA Rangamandira. Her performance was like the calm unruffled beauty of a still lake. She proved to be a promising dancer with lot of potential. Oozing confidence and filled with conviction Atula’s dance spared no quarter for present day tastes, no mile long teermanas, no special consideration for covering stage space, in long strides, and no hyped or exaggerated histrionics.Moving like a doll on the stage, she executed the marga-items with  poise. Though serious rasikas were distracted by her a couple of missing ardhamandalis and dismantled ornamentations. She could very easily enact the pranks of the Child Krishna on the basis of a ragamalika shabda. The Ranjini varna saw the devotee urging the compassionate Goddess to bestow her grace and benediction. The unhurried elegance of the dancer was a treat. Atula’s eye movements which had a special clarity added a dimension to her dance. The pure dance sequences were intricate but Atula quietly translated them into a vibrant limb-language. Her grip over laya was astonishing. The rasikas were treated to a fine abhinaya when she presented Kanakadasa’s ‘Yadava raaya’(ragamalika) and the Shiva panchaksara stotra eulogising Lord Shiva. She etched eye catching poses and made the number an eye filling one. Dharani Kashyap (nattuvanga), Rama Jagannath (vocal), Natarajamurthy (violin), Venugopal(flute), Ramesh(mridanga and Prasannakumar (rhythms) excelled as accompanists.