It appeared as if the evening was dedicated to Shri Thyagaraja Swamigal……At various points, both the brothers were referring to some kritis of the Saint….the main kriti was of the Satguru's only....
The concert which started by 7 pm went almost up to 9.45 pm . It was a clear exhibition of scintillating , clean bow play, typical of their customary high speed style, splendidly accompanied by Shri V.Ramamurthy on the Mridangam and Shri Giridhar Udupa on the Ghatam.. There was no protocol as the accompanists were playing for both the brothers in tandem ! The Thani was extensive. I think , it took almost 25 minutes. !
Starting with a pleasing Nattai varnam, the duo moved to Sahana….
Then Kumaresh played an extensive alapana on Reethi Gowlai and explained the concept of RAGA PRAVAHAM which the brothers have been playing of late . The duo infact had launched during the previous week through Times Music at Mumbai which was inaugurated by Maestro Shri Zakir Hussain ( there was an interview too on Times Now wherein the brothers gave a an explanation on Ragapravaham ).
“ Now , we are going to play an unique composition , a form which we have introduced in carnatic music, or rather we will have to say that this is a reintroduction……because this was the original form of music …..for example, in Reedhi Gowlai….we have many kritis like Nannu vidachi, paripalayamam etc …if it is sung , you understand the meaning and enjoy…when it is played through an instrument, you enjoy while hearing the melody….…so, when it is played , whether it has lyric or not, it is Reedhi gowlai only no ?…..vaarthai irundhaalum illaataalum idhu reedhi gowlai dhaane…. So , why not have a composition which is purely melodic and can be played on the Violin ( or any other instrument ) with all the aesthetics of the instrument in its glory….so, keeping that aspect in mind, we have introduced many compositions in the title raga pravaham….and today, it will be on Reethi Gowlai. "
It was a 7 minute pleasant experience…
A creative artist should be given full freedom to try innovations without disturbing the already established convention…..after all, these 2 have been immensely contributing to carnatic music for more than 30-35 years…going forward, we are bound to witness some thousands of compositions like these which will not be linked to any lyric or kriti but will definitely benefit the future generation in the form of instrumental music melodies…..i view this as a great giant step forward …something to be appreciated………
Next item was Begada ..a fast paced Harinarayana Harinarayana Harinarayana enu manavu , the Purandara Dasar Kriti… Midway, Ganesh also sang the charanam …Vijyana satiyinda phalavaayitu adu gajaraajaninda dore hannaaidu
There was Kalyani alapana by Ganesh which also had the ragapravaham….
As a prelude to the main kriti, a brilliant 15 minute Karaharapriya alapana by Ganesh was followed by Chakkani Raja.. the neraval section had some vocal swaras too by Ganesh…
The concert touched its crescendo when a long sequence of ragas were played continuously … Ganesh spoke …" We become emotional when we talk about Thyagaraja Swamigal for his contribution and for what he has done to carnatic music. We are going to play medley of compositions as a dedication to him. We have taken the ragas composed by Thyagaraja Swamigal , especially the Desaadhi thala kritis which have a structure sounding the same… like for example …..Sitapathe naamanasuna….. Maajanaki chetapattaga… Orajupuchu…..these are compositions which have common ragas….So now, we are going to take the ragas Manoranjani,Sindhuramakriya, Jayanthashri, Kalanidhi, Kapi Narayani , Chenchukhambhoji, Kesari, Chandrayothi, Saraswathi manohari, Hamsanadham , Gambeera vani, Nalinakanthi, Kuntalavarali, Deepakam, Kaikavasi,Nagaswarali, Bhushavali, Margahindholam, Bhairavi and Balamanjari ….and create a medly of composition…we will take a raga, do a pallavi, use another raga for anupallavi and the third one for charanam, make a garland and dedicate to the Saint…."
As rightly mentioned by Ganesh, it was like a beautiful journey… in around 20 minutes, we were made to hear 20 ragas in cascade following pallavi / anupallavi / charanam order …they were also played in different speeds …..breathtaking moments…
Then, Ganesh sang a nice Behaag composition … Aazimazai kanna ….un thiru aravinda malaradi charanam.. while Kumaresh played the support . This must be their own.
Sindhubhairavi thillana was the penultimate one….
The concluding part had Bagya Lakshmi baramma and Harivarasanam together
The audience gave a standing ovation at the end. All through the concert , there were frequent responses from the large crowd present !
To take a leaf out of their website, it was virtuosity, perfect layam and novel innovations soaked in the grammar of Carnatic music on the violin .
