Devotion and dedication were the underlying components of the two music concerts hosted by Mulund Fine Arts Society on October 10 at the Bhakta Sangham Temple Complex Hall, Mulund West.The morning vocal rendition by Padma Ganapati of Thane had a strong devotional flavour. Senior disciple of Chellamani Bhagavathar and Alamelu
Mani, illustrious parents of playback and ghazal singer Hariharan, Padma Ganapati exhibits quality training and adherence to the intricacies of the art form. She also heads a classical music institute at Thane, where many children benefit by the learning. She is a spiritual guru to many devotees and a guiding force for many followers, for whom she is the revered Amma.
The well attended concert had highlights like Meenakshi Memudam in Poorvikalyani and Tyagaraja Kriti in Navarasa Kanada. “What is music without bhakti?” the question raised by many composers was answered.The evening concert was a duet Carnatic Vocal by Suguna Purushottoman and Suguna Varadarchary, both senior singers from Chennai. Extreme thoroughness and melodic refinement marked the entire concert.
“Though we are not regular duet singers, each of us travel to different concert destinations throughout the year performing in different sabhas, we do accept special requests for duet concerts, as we are disciples of the same guru Musiri Subramaniam Iyer,” informs Suguna Purushottaman.
“Both of us share the same methodology and do not change a single sangathi of our teacher. There is an underlying understanding when it comes to singing and though we sit together for only one session or so before the concert we are able to present a well knit concert,” says Suguna Varadachari.
“We both started singing along with Mani Krishnaswami for our guru’s centenary celebrations and later on many sabhas started asking both of us to sing together. In the manodharma sections and raga alapana, we use our originality but in the singing of the composition, we sing exactly as taught by our guru,” adds Purushottaman.
The opening Ragamalika Varnam, composed by Suguna Purushottaman, had ganaragams and dvitiya ganaragams like Nattai in the Pallavi and Gowlai in Anupallavi, Varali in the Mukhtayee Swaram, Sriragam, Reeti Gowlai, Narayana Gowlai, Kedaram and Bowli in the Charanam.
Song on Saradadevi composed by Ramaswamy Sivan followed next.“I very much enjoyed the rare composition Paruvam Parkka Nyayama in Dhanyasi. The emotional rendering was very pleasing to the ear,” says Hemalata Veeramani, principal of the MFAS Music School, senior disciple of Suguna Purushottaman.
The rest of the concert had O Jagadamba in Anandabhairavi by Shyama Sastri, Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Neerajakshi in Hindolam and Devi Jagat Janani in Shankarabaranam chosen to commemorate Navaratri. The end piece composed by Suguna Purushottaman, Mahadeva Manohari had a series of ragas, Devamanohari, Jayamanohari, Saraswatimanohari and Ramamanohari.
Their shared approach combined both substance and style and had a consistently dignified delineation. There was nothing that looked rehearsed but they sang in perfect unison. The concert was a synchronized meeting of two maestros, exhibiting their parampara of pedigree training and consummate command over the classical medium.
The violin by R Madhavan from Mulund had exceptional nicety and comfort and the mridangam support by Rajesh Sreenivasan was impeccable with a short and sweet tani avartanam, adding to a meritorious performance.
“Being Navaratri it is very apt that the sabha hosted concerts of three women and both concerts were well attended with the audience enjoying every bit of the singing,” says Savita Balasubramaniam, herself a senior singer from Mulund.
Review by Bhanu Kumar in Mulund-Powai Plus
A review of Smt Padma Ganapathy's concert by Sujatha Subaraman :
Navratri, is the time when devotional programmes are held at various venues. On Sunday, 10.10.10, Bhakta Sangham in Mulund (W) was the venue for one such devotional cum classical concert. Held under the banner of Mulund Fine Arts, the performing artiste Padma Ganapathy, a senior citizen from Thane, treated the audience to some of her own compositions.
This senior citizen is a well known music teacher cum performer who has composed over 1200 devotional songs. She received her vocal training from Guru Chellamani and subsequently from Alamelu Mani.
For her dedication and devotion to music she has been conferred with many titles like “Mahdurvani”, Brahmanandamayi and Annapuraneshwari.
In 1991, as a tribute to her Guru she started Chellamani Memorial Academy to provide training in carnatic music both vocal and instrumental.Fondly addressed as Amma by her students, she holds weekly sessions wherein she teaches her own compositions to her students.
On Sunday, music lovers got a taste of her magnetic voice while she rendered bhajans along with some classical music.
