(Another version of this review appeared in The Hindu on 7th January 2010. http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/music/article77508.ece)
Take any standard text book on carnatic music, you will come across references to ‘minor ragas’ that “do not give much scope for elaboration”. That is hogwash. While most musicians hide behind the ‘lack of scope’ argument to cover up their incompetence, imaginative musicians have picked such ragas for detailed treatment.
In his concert for AIMA, Prince Rama Varma proved this very point. The musicologist, Dr S Bhagyalekshmy, in her book ‘Ragas in Carnatic Music’, describes Hamirkalyani as “a minor raga which is sung towards the conclusion of a concert”. Well, Rama Varma sang it plonk in the middle of the concert and it was brilliant.
Prince Rama Varma, a scion of the Travancore Royal family and a disciple of K V Narayanasamy and Balamuralikrishna, has a light voice that gently flits over the musical notes. Hamirkalyani was eminently appropriate for his voice and style of singing. Prince Varma gave away the identity of the raga in his opening phrase, using the signature combination of ‘ma-ri’. It was a sweet alapana and the violinist, Dr Hemalatha, did a good job of following it. The singer chose his ancestor Swathi Thirunal’s Gangeyavasana dhara.
Once notices a few interesting features in the Prince’s style of alapana singing. He plays a lot around the lower octave notes for a splendid bass effect. There are not too many brikha sequences, nor does he stress on long karvais on each note. Phrases are short and clipped. All these were evident in both Hamirkalyani and the previous piece, Saveri (Barayya Venkataramana of Purandhara Dasar).
Clearly, swara singing is Prince Varma’s strong forte. He sings a lot of single tala cycle (ekaavarthana) swaras – a fading trait that is today only with a handful of elderly musicians. In fact, the swaras for Saveri ended with some ten ekaavarthana rounds. For the Hamirkalyani piece, the singer used the prathi madhyamam as the landing point for his sequences during koraippu.
Earlier, Prince Varma sang Dikshithar’s Siddhi Vinayakam in Shanmukhapriya and it was here that the lack of ‘weight’ in the singer’s voice seemed to be a handicap.
Barayya Venkataramana was rather an odd choice. The dasar kirtana is popular among ‘namasankirtanam’ music and to select that was rather unwise, considering that a Hamirkalyani was to follow. Both are slow-moving and consequently, the concert suffered a ‘drag’.
Wedged between the Shanmukhapriya and Saveri was a Nalinakanti (Manavyala of Thyagaraja). Swaras again were brilliant.
Mridangist Seethalai Ananthakrishnan extended the ‘Hamirkalyani mood’ with his feather-touch play and did a good job of giving percussive support.
Take any standard text book on carnatic music, you will come across references to ‘minor ragas’ that “do not give much scope for elaboration”. That is hogwash. While most musicians hide behind the ‘lack of scope’ argument to cover up their incompetence, imaginative musicians have picked such ragas for detailed treatment.
In his concert for AIMA, Prince Rama Varma proved this very point. The musicologist, Dr S Bhagyalekshmy, in her book ‘Ragas in Carnatic Music’, describes Hamirkalyani as “a minor raga which is sung towards the conclusion of a concert”. Well, Rama Varma sang it plonk in the middle of the concert and it was brilliant.
Prince Rama Varma, a scion of the Travancore Royal family and a disciple of K V Narayanasamy and Balamuralikrishna, has a light voice that gently flits over the musical notes. Hamirkalyani was eminently appropriate for his voice and style of singing. Prince Varma gave away the identity of the raga in his opening phrase, using the signature combination of ‘ma-ri’. It was a sweet alapana and the violinist, Dr Hemalatha, did a good job of following it. The singer chose his ancestor Swathi Thirunal’s Gangeyavasana dhara.
Once notices a few interesting features in the Prince’s style of alapana singing. He plays a lot around the lower octave notes for a splendid bass effect. There are not too many brikha sequences, nor does he stress on long karvais on each note. Phrases are short and clipped. All these were evident in both Hamirkalyani and the previous piece, Saveri (Barayya Venkataramana of Purandhara Dasar).
Clearly, swara singing is Prince Varma’s strong forte. He sings a lot of single tala cycle (ekaavarthana) swaras – a fading trait that is today only with a handful of elderly musicians. In fact, the swaras for Saveri ended with some ten ekaavarthana rounds. For the Hamirkalyani piece, the singer used the prathi madhyamam as the landing point for his sequences during koraippu.
Earlier, Prince Varma sang Dikshithar’s Siddhi Vinayakam in Shanmukhapriya and it was here that the lack of ‘weight’ in the singer’s voice seemed to be a handicap.
Barayya Venkataramana was rather an odd choice. The dasar kirtana is popular among ‘namasankirtanam’ music and to select that was rather unwise, considering that a Hamirkalyani was to follow. Both are slow-moving and consequently, the concert suffered a ‘drag’.
Wedged between the Shanmukhapriya and Saveri was a Nalinakanti (Manavyala of Thyagaraja). Swaras again were brilliant.
Mridangist Seethalai Ananthakrishnan extended the ‘Hamirkalyani mood’ with his feather-touch play and did a good job of giving percussive support.
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