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The
Tani Avartanam by Palladam Ravi (Mridangam) and S Raman (Morsing) was
crisply rendered. With Bantureeti (Hamsanadam) and Guruvayurappane
(Ritigowla) coming immediately after this, one decided to settle for a
half hour session of Tukkada pieces, but Sudha Raghunathan
surprised the audience by taking up Natabhairavi for a Ragam Tanam Pallavi
exercise.
Not
only was this a case of poor concert planning, in terms of timing, it was
also one of extremely poor choice. Why begin such a major effort without
setting aside the requisite time for it, and why choose a Mela scale that
resists all attempts to convert it to a major raga for elaborate
delineation? Valiant efforts to impart charm and colour to Natabhairavi
remind one of a parched traveler in a desert trying to squeeze out
precious water drops from wayside cacti. Sudha sought to compensate, with
a garland of ragas, incorporating Ahirbhairav, Bhairavi, Vasantabhairavi,
Salagabhairavi, Anandabhairavi and Sindhubhairavi. Giving her the benefit
of doubt, she might have fared better if she had had more time on her
hands. Everything fell flat. Ahirbhairav belongs to the Bhairav category,
which is different from Bhairavi (in Hindustani music), and it served only
to separate Bhairavi from Natabhairavi in the sequence.
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How far the
attempt succeeded is a moot point, as Sudha’s Bhairavi did not sound
much different from Natabhairavi. The two lines of Salagabhairavi that she
sang sounded more like Karnaranjani. The Tanam was a stop-gap arrangement,
the only noteworthy feature of which was the Mridangam
accompaniment. To some extent, Embar Kannan’s surety of
expression on the violin shored up a vain exercise that was doomed to
failure from the start. He exploited Natabhairavi's potential to be
rendered as a Minor scale in Western Classical music.
The
words of the Pallavi were Bhairavi Natabhairavi Mahabhairavi Bhargavi Parvati
Parameshwari, in Khanda Triputa (Khanda gati). Sudha rounded off her Pallavi
with a few obligatory swara-s, singing just single lines in each of the
ragas of her ragamalika. The pattern of choosing ragas with allied names
and incorporating them in the Pallavi line at the end of a swara is
becoming very cliched, and its value for holding audience interest is
vastly overrated. At the end of the Pallavi, Sudha had already taken up
more time than officially allotted for her concert. Nevertheless, she took
up Kurai onrum illai, and Balamuralikrishna’s tillana in Brindavanasaranga, finally managing to get a round of applause from the majority of
the audience. Sudha needs to do some intensive introspection, if she wants
to justify her claim to being the torchbearer of a great legacy. Her guru,
M L Vasantakumari, did sing briga-oriented music with briskness,
but her vidwat nevertheless shone through. This was sorely lacking in what
we heard from Sudha at the Music Academy on December 23, 2001.
When
her concert ended more than ten minutes beyond schedule, one could not
help being reminded of what happened at a morning lecture-demonstration
session just the previous day. After an information packed lecture, S R
Janakiraman had to take an extra couple of minutes in order to properly
finish an answer to a question. The Academy committee members pointedly
and nastily reminded him of the time, and all but hounded him off the
stage. Apparently, different rules apply to different people. There could
be no greater demonstration of the power with which money and star status
can speak. All in all, the whole show was a very disappointing experience.
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General
remarks:
Voice:
Unstable in terms of flow and shaky with respect to notes. It was steady
and coherent only in the higher half-octave.
Range:
Two octaves.
Ratings:
Sruti
- 35% (Tambura was off tune most of the time, the vocalist’s middle
octave Sa never attained firmness)
Kalapramanam - 40% (Galloping speed on unsure footing)
Rendering
of Compositions - 40%
Sahitya - 70%
Raga
alapana - 40%
Kalpanaswara - 40% (Usually strong, but seemed like her
off-day)
Sowkhyam - 35%
Overall
effect:
Vocal
- 35%
Violin - 60%
Mridangam - 70%
Morsing - 65%
Concert
- 35%
Estimated
audience ratings:
Audience
in hall - 100%
Response - Tepid to warm through most of the concert, ovation only
at the end.
-
Nisshanka
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