Both Kalyanapuram Aravind and Chaitrra made their gurus proud at Parampara 2015

Singing on the penultimate day of Parampara 2015, Kalyanapuram S. Aravind, disciple of Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan, did his guru proud. There was never a dull moment in the two-hour essay, with diligent selections and a bright tempo the hallmarks of the evening. The singer’s self-assurance was pleasing and he did ample justice to Darbar varnam and ‘Thulasidhala’. The niravals and swaras for this mayamalavagowla kriti were measured renditions.
The beginning of the Shanmukhapriya alapana from the top shadjam blossomed into a high calibre performance. The singer’s open-mouth approach aids him a lot. K.J. Dileep’s replies were with a striking grace. ‘Marivere’ saw Aravind venture into swaras with phrases that had a mathematical symmetry about them. He also showed remarkable authenticity in the Sahana (‘Vandanamu,’ Tyagaraja) raga alapana. Dikshitar’s Anandabhairavi kriti ‘Manasa Guru Guha’ was performed at a leisurely pace after a fireworks filled swaraprastara for ‘Samaja Vara Gamana.’ The evening’s highlight was Sankarabharanam (a favourite of his guru too). The sequence of raga development was interesting, but the edifice he built took a hit when he meandered into another raga on ‘swara-bedha’ technique, a cheap gimmick. A faithful rendition of ‘Akshaya LInga’ was completed with niraval and swaras in logical patterns.
N.C. Bharadwaj’s mridangam work is scaling new heights with every concert. That evening too, his playing showed a brilliant knowledge of rhythm craftsmanship. Nerkunam Shankar (ganjira), along with Bharadwaj presented an lively thani.
Parampara 2015 came to a close last Friday with Chaitrra Sairam’s concert at Aarkay Convention Centre, Mylapore. Endowed with a thin and silky voice, Chaitrra Sairam, Bombay Jayashri’s disciple, began the evening with Lalgudi’s beautiful Nalinakanti varnam. A brief interpretation of Mayamalavagowla through a sloka ‘Sarva Mangala Mangalye’ was apt, as the song that followed was Ponniah Pillai’s ‘Mayatheetha Swarupini.’ She laced it with swaras that showcased the raga further.
Andal’s Tiruppavai tuned soulfully by Ariyakudi in Kalyani ‘Ambaramay Thaneeray’ came next and was a reminder that Margazhi is round the corner. A detailed essay in Kharaharapriya saw Chaitrra experimenting in all three octaves with mellow grace. K.J. Dileep on the violin excelled again, his maturity in approach belying his age. ‘Rama Nee Samanamevaru’ with niraval and swaras was well slotted. Next was a two-raga exposition. Mohanam and Kalyanavasantham were first delineated with melodic phrases; in the tanam phase Chaitrra capitalised on her voice to exhibit phrases that one finds during a tanam of a vainika. Dileep ventured to play the tanam phrases alternating between the two ragas. A pallavi was set in Khanda Jati Tirupuda talam (rettai kalai). The line ‘Mohana Muralidara Gopala’ (jagan) was interpreted in both ragas with perfection. Sumesh Narayanan (disciple of Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam) is another youngster who has been consistently showing progress. His anticipations during the kriti phrase showed off his knowledge, while his thani was an aggressive but interesting exercise.