It was a fascinating to listen to a nadaswaram recital by Vadassery Brothers T. Sethumadhavan and T.V. Sivadasan in Palakkad. Performing with a fine rapport, the brothers showcased their musical acumen. The organisers did well to do away with the public address system for obvious reasons. Thavil accompaniment by Pollachi S. Sivashankar and Pollachi Senthil contributed to the success of the concert.
The brothers commenced with the Natta raga kriti Sakthi Ganapathim... of Muthiah Bhagavathar; they sparkled in the buoyant swarakorvais. Their wide repertoire was evident in the portrayal of the rare raga Nadabrahmam, derived from 64th Mela Vachaspathi. The kriti was Meesu Krishna Iyer’s Nadabrahma Anuragame....
Maayetvam yahi..., a beautiful composition of Muthuswamy Dikshitar in the raga Tarangini, popularised by the legend Madurai Mani Iyer, is rarely heard in concerts these days. The duo’s selection and rendition of this piece was laudable.
On a rasika’s request, they came out with a lovely essay of Charukesi, followed by Kripaya Paalaya... (Swathi Thirunal). Neevada naegaana... (Saranga – Tyagaraja) was an apt precursor to Poorvikalyani.
The myriad traits of the raga were essayed superbly by them with glorious sangathis. Taking up the popular Dikshitar kriti Meenakshi mae mudam... in praise of Goddess Madurai Meenakshi, the duo revealed the bhava of the composition vividly. The swaraprastharas made a great impact but the swaras in the ragamalika format at this stage could have been avoided.
The description of Thodi included traditional sancharas, though full justice was not done. The simple pallavi in Adi tala, suffixed with imaginative manodharma swaras, was a tidy presentation. The evocative Aliveni... (Kurinji – Swathi Thirunal), Muruganin marupeyar... (Behag – Surajanandar), Varuvaro... (Sama – Gopalakrishna Bharathi) and Hey Govinda... a Surdas bhajan in Desh, were soul stirring. The concluding items such as Eppadi Paadinaro... (Karnataka Devagandhari) and the lilting thillana in Misra Sivaranjani won accolades. The thani by the thavil duo in Adi tala was a feast to the audience.
The concert, organised by Palghat Fine Arts Society, was held at the Society’s auditorium at Tharekkad.