Melody is T.M. Krishna’s métier. His two-hour concert in Thrissur last week was an exposition of his urge to explore nuances of the ragas to the hilt. His rapport with the audience was evident when he invited the audience to occupy the stage at Regional Theatre.
As is his wont, Krishna does not follow the traditional concert format but each composition was treated with impeccable purity of raga. Most of the compositions were delivered in chowka kalam.
He began with a short alap of Sankarabharanam, the composition being Nagalingam bhajeham of Dikshitar in Adi. The musician, in a contemplative mood, took Sthoola sookshma for niraval. ‘Sthoola’ was stretched in the thara sthayi and a sudden descent to ‘Neelakanta’ was fascinating. As Kamas received a brief alap on the violin by Akkarai Subbalakshmi, the rendition entered into Tanam, which was presented as a dialogue between him and the violinist. The Malayalam composition excerpted from Mayura sandesham by Kerala Varma Valiya Koyil Thampuram, opened with Aakarathil sushama ithupol that described the beauty of peacock. A relatively prolonged rhythmic interlude by the mridangam-ganjira combination added to the beauty of the rendition.
Traversing sthayis
Poorvakalyani showcased the musician’s ability to traverse four sthayis with ease. While he began the alap in the mandra sthayi, as the rendition progressed, he descended to anu mandra sthayi and thereafter soared to athi thara sthayi making it colourful with flashes of swaras. The composition was Ninuvina of Syama Sastri that was presented in Viloma chap, ‘tha ka thi mi, tha ki da’.
Krishna, known for his stand against discrimination of the marginalised in society, rendered the lines of Tamil poet Perumal Murugan, Thaayillai, thanthayillai in ragamalika. A long pause during the performance indicated how the musician was emotional while rendering the poem. Soon he switched to Manavyalakim of Tyagaraja in Nalinakanti. A vivacious tani was tagged to this by Punkulam Subramanian (mridangam) and B.S. Purushotham (ganjira).
There was applause as he took Poromboke paadal to express his concern for environment protection. Kaber Vasuki’s lines were rendered in ragamalika, which included Anandabhairavi, Begada, Hamirkalyani, Devagandhari, Salaga Bhairavi and Sindhubhairavi. The smooth transition from one raga to the next, prompted by the violin, was enjoyable.
Marubalka was taken up on the request of the audience. The presentation enhanced the dynamism of the whole concert. Innumerable were the bundles of swaras that followed the niraval at ‘Dari nerigi’. Moreover, its tempo was relatively faster than the previous ones. The Tyagaraja composition was in Sri Ranjini, Adi.
An air of tranquillity filled the hall as Krishna rendered the bhajan Allah tero naam from the film Hum Dono composed by Jaidev in Gaud Sarang, that too in a subdued tone, sans rhythm. A touching rendition, it left the audience spell-bound, proving a fitting finale to the concert.
The concert was held under the aegis of Professor V. Aravindakshan Foundation.