Harini Raghavan
As part of the monthly programme, Nadasurabhi had arranged a vocal concert by Vidwan Mahadevan Sankaranarayan, an upcoming artiste from Chennai. Having been under the tutelage of his father, Sangitha Kalanidhi, Padmabhushan Vidwan T V Sankaranatayan right from a very young age, Vidwan Mahadevan has thoroughly imbibed the style of Madurai Mani Iyer school style. Mahadevan is endowed with a rich, powerful voice which he utilised very well.
He has rich manodharma. His maturity in treatment of ragas and professionalism in handling of swars exhibited through out, was remarkable. He started with a rare composition of Nilakanta Sivan in Nattai – Sri Ganapathiyai….and embellished it with appealing swaras at pallavi. Rara maa intidaga had beautiful sangathis and was followed by a flawless set of swara prasthara. Eepariya sobagava of Purandaradasa was rendered in a comfortable pace, with lot of ‘bhavam’, as if to enhance the ‘sobhagu’ of the God and the composition itself!
The song ‘Adi Sankarar potruvom’ in Purvikalyani is composed by Periyasami Thooran which is beautifully set to music by Vidwan T V Sankaranarayan. Mahadevan gave a rich account of the ragam with rare sancharas and daatu prayogams. With a neat presentation of the song, the spell binding swaras that followed were highly admirable. After a crisp Dhanyasi composition of Dikshitar, Janaranjani raga and the composition Vidajaladura came with full energy with tricky swara combinations which the violinist handled with all competence. Bhairavi ragam was classic, for ‘Koluvai’ of St.Thyagaraja, with neraval and swaram at ‘manasu ranjilla’. Once again the well calculated swara combinations were tasteful. The control on sruthi, speed, kalapramanam, along with the beautiful combinations and patterns of swaras were most cherishable. The charm of the “Madurai Mani School” was witnessed and relished all along.
A quick RTP in Behag was well received by the audience. ‘Kalpana swaras’ in shanmukhapriya, mohanam and sindhubhairavi came with lot of ease. Chaliye kunjan, Eppo varuvaro were spirited. A Dikshitar’s kriti in Sri raga – Sri Kamalambike and the ususal ‘Pavamana..’ marked the end of the concert.
The support by the accompanying artists was highly commendable. Violinist Vidwan B. Raghuram is known for his perfect following and fine bowing. In this concert his response to the main artist was exceptional.
The challenges were well handled. So too were the percussionists, playing with all energy and spirit. They had good co-ordination with each other and also with the vocal and violin artists. Their tani avartanam was also very good and balanced. On the whole there was a perfect understanding on the stage, with all the artists participating vibrantly. It was well attended and highly satisfying to all those who attended.
