Madurai Mani Iyer, who was undeniably one of the greatest exponents of Carnatic music, had dominated the music stage for several decades. R. Suryaprakash has imbibed that inimitable style, through his tutelage under T.V. Sankaranarayanan. In his evening concert for the Music Club, IIT Chennai, I could see glimpses of that stamp in several sangathis in alapana and swaraprasthara. In the Mani Iyer ‘note swara,’ this was evident. However, there is a noticeable attempt on his part to break the mould and create his own style.

The highlight of the concert was Dikshitar’s ‘Ardhanareeswaram’ in Kumudhakriya. A rare freshness marked the alapana.

Through several intricate and appealing phrases, he brought out the serenity of the raga. B.V. Raghavendra Rao with his tranquil expositions on the violin impressed the listeners. Suryaprakash’s excursion into the higher octaves in the swaraprasthara at ‘Agamadi Sannutam’ was admirable.

The main raga of the recital was Kiravani. The alapana was high quality. Suryaprakash combined assorted raga phrases to create a vibrant effect. There was grahabhedam to craft a Bowli out of Kiravani. Raghavendra Rao too responded with a two-in-one-Bowli within the main raga. The chosen kriti was ‘Innamum Sandegappadalaamo’ of Gopalakrishna Bharati.

Suryaprakash commenced the song from the anupallavi. The niraval and swaras were at ‘Thannai Arigindra thavame peridhu’ (to know thyself is the greatest penance).

The thani in which Trivandrum V. Balaji (mridangam) duetted with Tiruchi Murali (ghatam) was well-conceived and competently executed. Balaji’s rhythmic phrases showed several glimpses of his master, Palghat Raghu. The percussionists enriched the concert.

After offering a striking delineation of Devagandhari, Suryaprakash rendered ‘Seethavara Sangeethagnanamu’ of Saint Tyagaraja. The other Tyagaraja kritis featured in the concert were ‘Seethapathe’ (Khamas) and ‘Marukelara’ (Jayantasri).

He commenced the concert with the Andolika varnam of Muthaiah Bhagavatar. ‘Ka va va’ (Varali) of Papanasam Sivan, ‘Venkatachala Nilayam’ (Sindhu Bhairavi) of Purandara Dasa and ‘Paarukkulle Nalla Nadu’ of Bharatiyar were the other songs rendered by him. His own composition, ‘Sangeetha Sowbhagyame’ (Ragamalika) dwelling on the present state of society reminded one of Vedanayakam Pillai’s songs.

With an impeccable sense of laya and manodharma, Suryaprakash’s music philosophy looks interesting.

The acoustically friendly CLT auditorium of IIT provided the right ambience to enjoy good music.