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| Carnatic vocal by Abhishek Raghuram | |
On Sunday the 18th of March 2012, Nadasurabhi organized its usual monthly programme at the IHA hall in Koramangala. The main artist was the young popular carnatic vocalist Abhishek Raghuram from Chennai. The hall was full and overflowing even before the concert began. Then people kept pouring in. They filled up the open quadrangle in front of the hall and the passages and the nooks and the corners! The turnover was more than double the capacity of the hall. The organisers must have been pleased at the good attendance although it nearly became a burden on them. But from some hidden reservoir, more and more chairs kept appearing accommodating (almost) everyone. The rain gods luckily stayed away. The most remarkable feature of the event was the dignified and mature way in which the large audience conducted themselves, patiently waiting and quietly taking the seat offered to them without a fuss and all the time enjoying the beautiful music that was flowing from the speakers. This elite behavior is what the whole nation should learn from the carnatic music rasika.
Coming to the concert, there was full justification for the public enthusiasm. Abhishek started with a Kanada varnam in which he alternated between different speeds. This kick-started the concert to a sparkling beginning. The Mayamalavagowla kriti Tulasi dala mulache was rounded up with some rounds of swarams. The beauty personified composition of Thyagaraja, Evarani was then well presented. The sub- main was in a relatively less popular melakartha raga, Ramapriya in which the song was Korinavara. It was a well balanced presentation where all aspects like ragam, neraval and swaram were adequately covered.
Brovavamma Bangaaru is a lovely Neelambari item of Shyama Sastry, suitably rendered by the artist at the right speed and emotion. A brisk Sarasa saama daana in Kaapinaarayani was a filler before going into a leisurely and most elaborate Saveri alapana. This introduced peace and relaxation among the audience which is a charecteristic of a high quality Carnatic presentation. The song was Muthuswami dikshitar's Kari Kalabha Mukham. Surprisingly there was no neraval. An impressive swara prasthara which was not too elaborate completed this main number. After the thani avarthanam a few bhava soaked thukkadas - Ullavaru Shivaalaya Maaduvaru, Sarvam Brama Mayam and Aadideva paramaatma - brought the extremely satisfactory concert to the end.Sri. Ganesh Prasad on Violin, Sri.B.C.Manjunath on Mridangam and Sri. Pramath Kiran on Morsing played their parts well thus making the concert an extremely successful performance.
