Nada Bharathi's November audience witnessed a couple of pleasant recitals staged by vocalist Vaidhyanathan and veena artist Meduri Srinivas. Both the artists gently warmed up the venue with their seasoned renderings.
Vaidyanathan's recital has an emphasis on melody elaboration and lyric stylizations that he has specially imbibed under his gurus like the late Balasubramaniya Bhagavatar and Puranam Purushotham Sastry. Commencing with an unknown poet's Atta Tala Kalyani Varnam, a rare and difficult composition that was rendered in two speeds effortlessly, the artist, in a mounting manner, rendered songs of poets like Srinivas Iyengar, Narayana Theertha, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Thyagaraja.
Interestingly, each rendering carried a mood of the individualistic style of the composer - especially the singing of the 'swara kalpanas' like in the Todi raga, which streamed spontaneously. The recital concluded with 'Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi' in a chosen Khambhoji raga, Kandha Chapu, Triputa Talam. Violinist Uma Shankar and percussionist M S Varadhan supported Vaidhyanathan.
The following evening's Veena recital by veteran Meduri Srinivas Rao, belonging to a family of musicians, carried that string of royal grace in rendering. With select compositions of saint Tyagaraja, the instrumental recital accentuated the varied melodies that the poet used to suit the mood of themes. There was a Nata Kuranji Tanavarnam, a spirited "Vatapi Ganapatim Bhaje" in the Hamswadhani raga, "Emani Pogadu" in Veera Vasantam, "Niravadhi Sukhadai" and more, and each number was aptly embellished with 'Nervals', 'Raagalapana' and 'Swarakalpana', concluding with pure Shankarabharanam Raagam-Tanam-Pallavi.
Violinist N C Ananta Krishna and percussionist Srinivasa Gopalan, supporting this instrumental recital also individually explored their performance.
{{todos[0].text}}