Sandeep Narayan’s concert focussed on musical aesthetics

Sandeep Narayan.
| Photo Credit: SRINATH M

Sandeep Narayan demonstrated that the allure of frills and thrills need not necessarily come at the expense of aesthetics. The vocalist treated the audience to scintillating music in his concert for Krishna Gana Sabha, in the company of Vittal Rangan (violin), Neyveli Venkatesh (mridangam), and K.V. Gopalakrishnan (kanjira).

Endowed with a pleasant voice that can soar and dip with equal ease, Sandeep, in a start-to-finish presentation of consummate appeal, conjured creative raga alapanas, and rendered kritis with aplomb, infusing nuanced energy into niravals and kalpanaswaras.

The recital began with Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Sri vathapi ganapathiye’ in Sahana, and the kalpanaswaras at the pallavi opening were interspersed with delightful jantai and dhattu patterns. The delineation of Kapi, both by the vocalist and the violinist, was subtle and sweet in the lead-up to ‘Meevalla gunadosham’, a composition by Tyagaraja in Khanda Chapu.

Sandeep Narayan.
| Photo Credit:
SRINATH M

The pensive, devotional flavour of Dikshitar’s Dwijavanti masterpiece ‘Akhilandeswari’ was well brought out by Sandeep in an ideal kalapramanam. He effected a swift mood shift with a brisk rendition of Tyagaraja’s ‘Padavini sathbhakti’ in Salakabhairavi. Exhilarating swara singing by Sandeep, pleasing responses with the bow from Vittal, and the engaging rhythmic support by Venkatesh and Gopalakrishnan drew spontaneous applause.

The delicate hues of Nattakurinji unfolded as Sandeep crafted a raga essay replete with long phrases and characteristic glides. Vittal mirrored the vocalist’s artistry. Emotion reigned in the rendition of Swati Tirunal’s eighth-day Navaratri kriti ‘Pahi janani santatam’ in Misra Chapu. The charanam opening ‘Kamaneeya’ was the niraval point, and not only were the variations he employed for the word true to its meaning — ‘charming’ — but also the entire niraval and swara passages.

Sandeep captured the stateliness of Simhendramadhyamam with an organic flow across octaves, with long and imaginative phrases. The points of confluence in the take-off and landing in grahabedham, sandwiching Bowli, provided a breathtaking contrast.

Vittal’s version of the main raga had a velvety touch, bringing out its soul and melody. He chose Saveri, a sibling of Bowli, for the variation, which arrived at the fag end of his essay.

Then came the tanam, which was presented neatly. The pallavi line was ‘Kamakshi sakalaloka sakshi tripurasundari kanchi’, set to Adi tala. As is the order of the day, the pallavi was presented very briefly, with a couple of niraval rounds and a few avartanas of swaras, all under 10 minutes. While what was presented was nice, what got omitted also caught one’s attention.

Interesting rhythmic match-ups dominated a vibrant tani avartanam featuring Venkatesh and Gopalakrishnan.

The concluding phase offered a journey through diverse musical landscapes — ‘Nindati chandanam,’ a Jayadeva Ashtapadi in Darbari Kanada; a Kannada song ‘Guruvige tanuvannu’ in Mohanam with a Hindustani touch, composed by Puttaraj Gawai; a Lalgudi Jayaraman thillana in Ragesri; and a Tiruppugazh in Behag, set to Khanda triputa tala, sung in two speeds.