The Fort of Music
An assembly of 28 stars (like the nakshatras) occupied the fort of music.
An array of 15 violinists occupied the outer periphery, the next inner circle
had a mix of three violins, three on the Veena and two Flautists and the inner
most circle contained the conductor A. Kanyakumari and her student Nishanth and
along with them was Patri Satish Kumar on the Mridangam, Bangalore Amrit on the
Kanjira and Vaikom Gopalakrishnan on the Ghatam. The army
I spotted a few in their late teens on the violin, while two of the women
on the Veena were well into their sixties. But age didn’t seem to have bearing
on the quality of music and the youth had practiced so well to match up to the
veterans.
The beginning
The evening began with GNB’s varnam in Gavathi
and Enta Ninnu in Chandrahastam, another composition of his, came as one down. His
delectable compositions in Purnachandrika, Kamavardhini and Thodi came in quick
succession. GNB’s fast paced style of music with verve and energy transforming every
instrument into another 28 mini GNB’s. Absence of vocalist helped the
instrumentalist play at a higher octave and for a change even the Mridangam
sounded liked a stringed instrument.
The perfect power play
Sitting in the middle, Kanyakumari signaled the next in the line-up to get
ready for their individual power play. Like the baton that gets passed around
in a relay race, kalapanaswarams after woven by the violinists was handed over
to the veena veterans (Smt. RS Jayalakshmi, Smt. Kalyani Ganesan and Sri.
Mudikondam Ramesh) and then passed on the flautist and finally came back to the
Kanyakumari and Nishanth. And one could hear every instrument in isolation and
at the same time were in perfect symphony. Mridhangam, Ghatam and Kanjira also
turned into stringed instruments that evening complimenting and not competing
with each other.
Kaapi takes the center stage
40 minutes had elapsed into the concert and after all the major ragas
were played, Kanyakumari brought out the magnificent flavors of Kaapi (Classical,
Folk and Hindustani) which was followed by exposition of thanam by the three
artists on the Veena showcasing the elements of thanam in different octaves.
Unveils a garland of 108 ragas - Ashtothara Ragamalika
Kaapi raga and thanam was followed by a garland of swarams in 108 ragas,
both colorful and intoxicating. Stringed instruments took turns to weave the colorful
garland of swaras with enthralling fragrance. Some common ragas like Ranjani,
Valaji, Revathi was easy to identify, Dubar turned the garland royal, Kadanakuthuhalam
made people sway and jive, while ragas like Andolika kept people guessing. I
have heard a dozen ragas, but never 108 and today it felt like walking in the
valley of flowers. Fingers plucking the raga devata and showering the swaram of
flowers of swarams in unison was sensory overload.
Display of hard work and practice
We have seen musicians slyly, bravely and incessantly starring into their
notebooks for a few stanzas but this ensemble had time to just look at the paper only to cross
over to the next raga. They exchanged smiles as they progressed from one raga to
another and as the baton passed on from one assembly of instruments to another
assembly. It is not a joke to play 108 ragas in quick succession and moving
from one together without stutter, pause or trespassing into an alien note. This
concert proves that GNB’s style of music (verve and energy) can be played on any instrument and only needs focus,
practice and discipline.
A befitting finale
The percussion and non-percussion ensemble was a befitting finale to the 2012
December music season. Instruments continued to show their spirit, unity and
strength in offering an aural and visual treat as they played Jayathi Jayathi
in Kamas (Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri), Venkatachala Nilayam in Sindhu Bairavi
and Bhagayada Lakshmi in Sree ragam. One must not forget to give a big round of
applause to the audio system for managing a show with 28 microphones and making
sure everyone is heard well separately and together.
PS: Please email me at kdbulls@gmail.com,
if you need a copy of the recording.
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