The saxophone, an ambivalent musical instrument, is not new to Carnatic music. About nine decades ago, Nadhamuni Naidu and P.R. Lakshmipathy Naidu started their own wind band in Madras with saxophone as the lead instrument. Similarly, the Thanjavur Band was also renowned those days. Later, the Madras Corporation Band was formed. In recent times, we are of course witness to the instrument’s popularity in classical music.
When I learnt that veteran musician T.V. Gopalakrishnan was to accompany a ten-year-old saxophone artiste, I was certain that there must be something special. My intuition proved right.
Playing with ease
Having a saxophone artiste for a father (Shimoga Kumaraswamy) and being trained by a veteran (TVG), it was not surprising to see young Pravin Pundit playing the instrument with ease. Pravin has been under the tutelage of TVG for the past five years. He could eloquently bring out the beauty and the gamaka nuances of Begada, Dharmavathi, Manoranjani, Amritavarshini and Kiranavali . His proficiency in laya is immaculate — again, courtesy TVG. What better blessing can the youngster have than being accompanied by the Guru himself?
Pravin chose Dharmavathi for his RTP. TVG and Thirupunithura Radhakrishnan accompanied the tanam, giving it a royal boost – as is done at the Thiruvananthapuram Navarathri Mandapam concerts. S. Varadarajan (violin) offered two sparkling alapanas. The young artiste then rendered the Pallavi, ‘Rama Srirama Jayarama’ (Adi talam) in trikala. His handling of the Pallavi on the saxophone was awe-inspiring. . The percussion duo presented an outstanding thani.
The Sri Raga varnam provided a good start to the evening concert. After ‘Vatapi Ganapatim’ (Hamsadhwani) and ‘Atukaaraadani’ (Manoranjani), he offered, Harikhambodi alapana for ‘Dinamanivamsa’ (Tyagaraja). ‘Anandaamruthakarshini’ had a short alapana and crisp kalpanaswaras. ‘Paraku Ni Kelara’ in Kiranavali was another elegant rendering. If Pravin’s Begada was graceful, Varadarajan’s response was imaginative. Ramaswamy Sivan’s ‘Kadaikkan Vaitthennai’ (Misra Chapu) was the chosen kriti. After a leisurely delineation of Kadanakuthuhalam and a lovely response on the violin, Pravin offered a breezy ‘Raghuvamsa Sudha.’ He wound up the three-hour concert with a Meera bhajan (‘Paayoji meine’), a lalee (‘Pavanacharana’), a Tilang tillana of TVG, the Note Swara (Ga Ma Ga Ri Ga Pa) and a Dasar Devarnama, ‘Indhina Dinavu’ in Madhyamavati.
Kudos to Brahma Gana Sabha for offering prime slot to this young musician.