I was late by a minute when I entered the ground floor hall at Music Academy and just as I opened the door I was welcomed by a powerful voice rendering a master piece of Thyagaraja in Jaganmohini. By the time I found a seat TS Pattabhirama Pandit began to render the chittaswarams and I was quickly forced to settle down to enjoy the delectable composition. To lengthen the joy of swatting hands and swaying heads he threw in a quick round of kalpanaswarams. What a bold and beautiful way to begin a concert I thought.
As a next item he presented one of Shyama Sastri Krithi in Reetigowlai Janani Ninnuvina. One could have written down the notation and lyrics, credit goes to the clarity and devotion of his rendition. With two of the Trinity presented the next one was expected to be Mutthuswami Dikshithar. Pattabirama began with Pantuvaralai, the first one to elaborate at Music Academy this season and many more may come, but his rendition will linger in our mind for long. He turned his vocal chords into an wind instrument and traversed the three scales effortlessly, paused and moved between notes making the raga exposition a deva gaanam. Dikshithar's composition on Ramanatha Swamy of Rameshwaram, Ramanathan Bhajeham was rendered in adherence to tradition giving listeners much needed tranquility after Vardah, tropical cyclone.
He quickly outlined Nalinakanthi to delight listeners with the popular and fast paced Krithi Manavyalakin. Who would dare to step out of the hall or fall asleep? While listeners where under his magic spell, he went on to sketch Shanmukhapriya bringing out the hidden beauty and emotions in its contours and presented a Thanam followed by a Pallavi (Aadum Deivam Un Paadham Panivom, Thaka Thakita Thakadhimi Natana) in Tisra Triputa talam. The way he moved from Ragam, Thanam, Pallavi to Kalpanaswarams in Revathi, Bilahari, Malayamarutham, Desh and came back in reserve order reminded me of a gymnast moving from a bar to bench and back and forth to leaving the audience with many Aha moments without bringing them to the edge of the seat. Though Pandit was given his last name, I felt he has duly earned to make it a prefix to his first name.
He concluded the concert with a beautiful Virutham Ramanarayanam saluting his Guru followed by Kandu Dhanya in Behag on Udipi Krishna. Though there wasn't a memory shortage to take home his raga expositions and renditions, but which one do I takeaway? Should it be Pantuvarali or Shanmukhapriya or Nalinakanthi? I'm sure you will have a similar dilemma if you heard him.
Through practice and hard work Pattabirama has graduated from 11.45 am to 1.30 pm slot at Music Academy. The compositions of Trinity earned him a spot in the hearts of layman, while his scholarly rendition of RTP deserves a double promotion. Will Music Academy move him up by a slot?
As a next item he presented one of Shyama Sastri Krithi in Reetigowlai Janani Ninnuvina. One could have written down the notation and lyrics, credit goes to the clarity and devotion of his rendition. With two of the Trinity presented the next one was expected to be Mutthuswami Dikshithar. Pattabirama began with Pantuvaralai, the first one to elaborate at Music Academy this season and many more may come, but his rendition will linger in our mind for long. He turned his vocal chords into an wind instrument and traversed the three scales effortlessly, paused and moved between notes making the raga exposition a deva gaanam. Dikshithar's composition on Ramanatha Swamy of Rameshwaram, Ramanathan Bhajeham was rendered in adherence to tradition giving listeners much needed tranquility after Vardah, tropical cyclone.
He quickly outlined Nalinakanthi to delight listeners with the popular and fast paced Krithi Manavyalakin. Who would dare to step out of the hall or fall asleep? While listeners where under his magic spell, he went on to sketch Shanmukhapriya bringing out the hidden beauty and emotions in its contours and presented a Thanam followed by a Pallavi (Aadum Deivam Un Paadham Panivom, Thaka Thakita Thakadhimi Natana) in Tisra Triputa talam. The way he moved from Ragam, Thanam, Pallavi to Kalpanaswarams in Revathi, Bilahari, Malayamarutham, Desh and came back in reserve order reminded me of a gymnast moving from a bar to bench and back and forth to leaving the audience with many Aha moments without bringing them to the edge of the seat. Though Pandit was given his last name, I felt he has duly earned to make it a prefix to his first name.
He concluded the concert with a beautiful Virutham Ramanarayanam saluting his Guru followed by Kandu Dhanya in Behag on Udipi Krishna. Though there wasn't a memory shortage to take home his raga expositions and renditions, but which one do I takeaway? Should it be Pantuvarali or Shanmukhapriya or Nalinakanthi? I'm sure you will have a similar dilemma if you heard him.
Through practice and hard work Pattabirama has graduated from 11.45 am to 1.30 pm slot at Music Academy. The compositions of Trinity earned him a spot in the hearts of layman, while his scholarly rendition of RTP deserves a double promotion. Will Music Academy move him up by a slot?
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