She was dressed in an olive green saree (Maanthulir) - tender, fresh and full of life just like her music and he was wearing a deep red kurta (Molahapazham) striking, rich, fiery and aggressive. Should we just listen to the music or interpret their singing style from their attire? What would be the outcome when such distinctly different styles of music confluence?
The ambience was energetic and the tampura drones that engulfed the house full auditorium only raised their curiosity levels and made them levitate to find out what is on the other side of the curtain. Finally when the curtains went up so did their eyebrows. TM Krishna and Bombay Jayashri adorned the dais with calm and majesty. They came from two different schools of Music one trained by Sangeetha Pithamaha Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and other molded by the violin Maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman. Can two different and distinct schools of music blend together and bring the divine unison without compromising on individual identity, style and creative freedom?
To add to this vocal fanfare we had renowned percussionist and non-percussionist – RK Shriramkumar who accompanied doyens like Semmangudi mama and MS amma on the violin, Ghatam Karthik and Arun Prakash on the mridangam, both distinctly accomplished and associated with music for more than two and half decades. In totality there was more than 125 years of musical experience on the dias – it was undoubtedly a confluence of jambavans.
The army of 4 tampuras strummed to bring the two souls to the same sruthi – musically and metaphysically. Jayashree started with Omkara Pancharasukhi, a stuthi on Parvathi and Krishna soon joined her in perfect sruthi and together they rendered the piece in Mayamalavagowlai, Sahana, Kalyani, Reethigowlai and the and Todi. Muthuswamy Dikshithar’s Rave Himagiri in Todi followed the stuthi in an unhurried pace packed with sowkyam. Jayashree’s voice carried the innate softness, and was laden with bakthi. It was as mild as a morning breeze, while TM Krishna was brisk, energizing and loaded with technicalities and emotions.
Saalakalla in Aarabhi was delivered with effervescence, spirit and swara. It had shades of brilliance from both their paatanthiram. Remember it is never easy for male and female singer to comfortably sing at a mutually convenient sruthi and that too from 2 different schools of music. Though TMK did not sing at his usual pitch, but his output didn’t suffer in terms of quality or sruthi.
While the audience was lost in the musical heaven the illumination on the dais quickly changed to reflect the mood of the raga and the composition. The stage turned saffron to go with the bakthi flavor in the krithi Nadhaloludai in Kalyanavasantham. When did Carnatic music become so sensory?
TMK showed maturity in rendering kritis loaded with such bhava and bakthi with atmost devotion and perfection. When one did the sanchara at the higher octave, the other would get into the lower octave without distracting the other.
The next piece titled Mahitha Bharatham paid tribute to our land, our thought and our philosophy. Violinist RK Shriramkumar must be given a big hand for picking up apt verses from Tagore, Barathi, Poonthanam, etc. in different languages to salute India and our motherland. This piece made the concert a Jugalbandhi. Diffused white, green and saffron lighting on the dais accentuated the sense of patriotism.
Shubhadayaka mahitha Bharatham Vande mathram – Shankarabharanam – Sanskrit
Hazaron khahishen aisi ki har khasish pe dam nikle – Shubapantuvarali - Urdu
Accham illai accham illai accham enbadillaye – Kambodhi – Tamil
Purona Shei diner kotha bhulbi ki re hai, o shei – Ananda Bairavi– Bengali
Chirunavvulu shirulu kanuchupulo karuna – Reetigowlai – Telugu
Kandu Kandann Irikkum janangale – Sivaranjani – Malayalam
Maati Kahe kumbhar ko tu kya rondhe mohe – Sindhubairavi – Hindi
The 6 language piece was presented in the typical ragam, thanam and pallavi style with enough room for swara exercise and thani avarthanam. The choice of the lines and ragas brought out the mightiness and diversity of our motherland and finally concluded with the famous Vande Maatram piece.
The last 15 minutes of the concert was packed with some lighter Hindustani ragas. Sri Ramachandra Kripalo in Behag, Sarvam Bhramamayam in Durbari Kanada. The double thillana rendition in Kamas was a highlight. Jayshri had taken Lalgudi’s composition and Krishna had taken a similar one from his school and they rendered them separately and in the end they came to together like strands of DNA.
The evening was very different in every respect – singers from different schools in Carnatic music coming together yet maintaining their individual identity and creativity. The stage décor added to the wow factor, the crowd turned disciplined and switched off their microwaves and washing machines and stayed in their seats till the curtain came down. This was the first time in the Carnatic Music history that music was ever made so sensory and stimulating. May be it is birth of a new dawn in the South Indian classical music?
