Yesudas, 13th December 2009, Nungambakkam Cultural Academy

At 69, Yesudas still fully retains the zest for giving his best. As it is, his somewhat confounding style of carnatic rendering itself adds to the thrill of listening to him. The renowned vocalist adds colour to this style by selecting rare ragas and compositions, bringing them to life.

For example, in his concert for Nungambakkam Cultural Academy on (December 13, 2009), the singer picked up two rare numbers – Sri Gananatham Bhajamyaham in Kanakangi and Nee Sari Sati in Hemavathi. By a remarkable coincidence, both these compositions are subject to a view that they are not Thyagaraja’s compositions as they are supposed to be, but are among the ‘prakshipta kritis’ (spurious) that have the saint composer’s signature woven into them by other composers. Notably, ‘Sri Gananatham’ also has ‘Guru guha’ in its lines, but nobody believes it to be a composition of Muthuswamy Dikshithar.

Regardless, both the numbers were brilliantly sung. Yesudas’ handling of Kanakangi (the 1st raga on the melakarta table) was a sufficient illustration to demolish the illogical view that vivadis are neither easy to sing nor provide an aesthetic appeal. The kalpana swaras had a ‘vedic recitation’ aspect about them.

It was in the Hemavathi alapana that Yesudas’ flummoxing style came to the fore. If the more-popular Dikshithar composition, Sri Kanti Matim, is taken as the benchmark for the raga, Yesudas’ alapana sounded quite different. But as much as it lacked the commonly accepted Hemavathi-feel, it was thoroughly enjoyable.

But what followed was a contrast. God alone can tell why Yesudas picked up the pancha ratna kriti Dudukuku gala (Gowlai). It was sung slow and bald, so much so that one had to search for Gowlai in it. Perhaps the vocalist lost the momentum owing to his distraction from the low but hoarse noise of plastic chairs being moved in the area behind him, which he publicly deprecated more than once. It was a relief when the Gowlai ended.

The Bhairavi (Upacharamu of Thyagaraja) that followed had strokes of ‘light music’ – a ‘different’ Bhairavi.

Mahadeva Sarma on the violin accompanied brilliantly, though at points through the Bhairavi, Yesudas was visibly unhappy with the instrument’s sruthi alignment. Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam on the mridangam, who played raucously in another concert, was this time sweetness itself. He played every so gently and truly nourished the concert. Ghatam artiste Tirupunanthurai Radhakrishnan was full of verve and drew thunderous applause.