Harini Raghavan
Vidwan J A Jayanth, a young flautist from Chennai left the audience totally mesmerised by his extraordinary performance at Indian Heritage academy Hall during his concert for Nadasurabhi on Sunday, 18th December 2016.
A child prodigy who gave his first performance at the age of 7, is now in his early 20’s, still studying his Instrumentation Engineering course. He is already in the lime light with over several hundred concerts given all over India and abroad! He is undoubtedly a genius! During this concert his creativity with the instrument was simply stupendous! He started with the ‘Navaragamalika varnam – Valachi vachchi’ with a very impressive set of speedy swaras for ‘Charana-padasaroja..’ With a pleasant sketch of ‘Ritigoule’, Maharaja Swathitirunal’s ‘paripalaya mam’ was treated with extensive swara prasthara which came out with all felicity. ‘Nandagopala’ in ‘Yaman kalyani’ was delightful with the stress on the lovely lyrics. A composition ‘Raghunatha nannu’ in a very rarely heard raga ‘Swararanjani – a janya of Karaharapriya’ was a fast, bouncy presentation, yet with full clarity and control in entirety! The sub-main being ‘Saranga’, it was given quite an elaborate treatment, nurtured with aesthetic sancharas throughout. For the Thyagaraja’s evergreen composition ‘Neevada ne gaana’, a beautifully knit swaraprastharam at ‘sathyambu nityambu’ was a treat. The entourage through ‘Kambodhi’ was relaxed and was given an elaborate coverage with many beautifying nuances and special usages. Thyagaraja’s master piece ‘O Ranga shayee’ unfurled with excellent ‘sangathis’. The intricate swaras for ‘bhooloka vaikuntam’ was challenging for the percussionists which they handled most satisfactorily. ‘Venkatachala nilayam – Sindhubhairavi’, a Meera Bhajan, ‘Hari gun gavath’ in raga ‘Deepali’ and ‘Baro krishnayya’, a ragamalika devaranama in the end, emanated the expected rasas and bhava. The pure and clear notes, with perfect control over the instrument brought out some blissful and mature music, something unimaginable at such an young age. It is a pleasure to say that this highly gifted youngster shows none of the eccentricities normally posed by the “geniuses”! His friendly countenance both on the stage and off stage adds to his popularity.
Vidwan Nishanth Chandran, another accomplished young violinist showed his class by his valuable support and soulful rendering of the ragas. He matched his playing very well with Jayanth. Vidwan Jayachandra Rao and Vidwan Sunaad Anoor on mridangam and khanjira respectively, were at their best. While the mridangam artist showed his powerful play, Sunaad’s improvisation was commendable. The ‘tani avartanam was as admirable section. The concert was well attemded and highly appreciated.
