Date: 10th Dec 2019 / 18:45 Hrs
Venue: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore
Team: Vijay Siva, Varadarajan (Violin),
Bharadwaj (Mridangam),
This time, I decided to go at least 30 minutes before the concert and
try my luck on the ground floor itself. The previous concert of Sangeetha
Sivakumar was still going on. Some listeners, inside, were trying to enjoy
the concert whilst most others started making a beeline to the exit. Fortunately,
I could find one on the last but second row. Soon after, an elderly lady,
perhaps an NRI, came and sat next to me. She started enquiring whether it was Vijay
Siva’s concert that day. I replied in the affirmative. She didn’t seem to
believe me. After pointing out to the dais, she questioned the veracity of my
statement pointing out to the lady vocalist Sangeetha. The old lady was absolutely
certain that Vijay Siva was a male. I reassured her that was still the case and
this was another artist. Having corroborated her initial enquiries, she
proceeded to dissect my pedigree, family, job in that order. I could sense that
this lady is quite used to working in a chronological order. After five
minutes, I excused myself after attributing to an urgent call from Sinha (my
friend) and sat in another seat next to the videographer. One thing, you can be
sure about him is that he doesn’t open his mouth!
This was one concert I was really looking forward to. Vijay Siva is the
prime disciple of D.K.Jayaraman
and is known to adhere to his Guru’s bani. He renders the kritis
precisely the same way every time. Varadu, at violin, was a bonus!
After a quick varnam, Vijay took to Shuddha Saveri
in the form of Periyasamy
Thooran’s “Thaye Tripurasundari Umamaheshwari.” A brief niraval
was done at “Kamadhenu vazahngum karuna rupini.” There is
something about the pentatonic scale of this ragam that evokes joy. In
Dikshitar’s school, it is known as “Devakriya.” I remember the beautiful song “Radha
Radha nee nege” in “Meendum Kokila.”
Next Saranga
was taken up. Dikshitar’s
“Arunachala Natham Smarami” wafted in the air. This melodious ragam is a Janya of Kalyani. It was an appropriate occasion too as the Tiruvannamalai Karthigai Deepam was that day. Varadu, I felt,
just waiting for a great start and this provided. What a mastery over violin! Full
marks to Varadu. Vijay Siva’s shishya was also on the stage and he provided some
help when Vijay took short pauses now and then.
Then came the masterpiece of the day. “Nannu Brovu Lalitha”
where Shyma Sastry seeks
the protection of Devi filled the sabha completely. Everyone was fully soaked
in piety and devotion. Varadu took it to the next level. Bharadwaj was sedate at
Mridangam and ensured no one noticed him.
After Lalita, Vijay moved to Neelambari.
The not-so-often kriti was “MatadavEmi nato madhurya purnadhara.”
A Thodi composition of
Dikshitar “Shri Subrahmanyo mam
rakshatu” was taken up for elaboration. Vijay explored the complete
nuances in the scales during his alapanaa. He took the lines “bhasamana
vallidevaseno “ for Niraval and Kalpanaswarams. There was naturally
some time given for Tani.
Overall, the concert was good in parts. The lack of synchronization
between Vijay and the Shishya was obvious in pockets. Certain things should not
be noticed! Vijay Siva left, too often, some words as well as swaras for filling
in the blanks. To top it, the harmony amongst the artists that can lift the
concert by a notch took leave. One thing that you must give to Vijay Siva is
that he never crosses the boundaries and adheres to the strict pathanthram.
Ambience: **
Vocalist: *
Accompanying artists: *
Raga of the Concert: Lalitha
Overall: *
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