Dr. Shankar Srinivas Ganapathy displayed a good sense of timing during his two-hour vocal recital. The Cleveland-based radiologist, who is a disciple of vidwan P.S. Narayanaswami, never seemed to be in a rush, although the song in raga Jhonpuri was the lone short piece in the concert.
The artiste detailed the different stanzas of ‘Saranu Siddhi Vinayaka’ in his morning concert. But being better acquainted with the composition in raga Hamsadhwani, it took this listener a while to place this Purandaradasa kriti in raga Saurashtram.
Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Balambikayam’ was given a short outline of raga Kanada. This was followed by ‘Mohanakara Muthukumara,’ in raga Neetimati. The kriti from the very beginning bears the composer Koteeswara Iyer’s identity. The kriti came with an engaging alapana and swaraprasthara.
Thereafter, Swati Tirunal’s ‘Palaya mamayi bho srikhantesa,’ in Khamas was rendered with a brief niraval. Tyagaraja’s ‘Nama kusumamula’ was preceded by a melodious alapana in Sri and an improvisation followed subsequently.
Dr. Srinivas’s recital acquired greater resonance during Ragam Tanam Pallavi in raga Begada. He excused himself for a rather short presentation for want of time. But he kept the pallavi moving smoothly through Begada, Kangeyabhooshani and Salagabhairavi. ‘Venkataramana, Sankataharana, Tirupati,’ went the sahityam. ‘Sapasya Kausalya’ in Jhonpuri brought the skilful presentation to a close.
The violinist R. Ragul and Chidambaram Balashankar on the mridangam had their moments, in their otherwise brilliant overall supporting role.