T M Krishna's 4-hour concert for Kalarasna on January 8, 2012 - not one of his best

(This review appeared in The Hindu on Friday, 13th January, 2012)

Carnatic music's celebrated ‘So-what'ist T.M. Krishna caused no surprise when he took up Nattai for elaborate treatment as the third piece of his concert, but a titter did run around the hall when the delectable alapana abruptly segued into a tanam. But the flag-waving iconoclast had more surprises in store, for, when everyone was expecting a pallavi to follow the tanam, what did appear was the Tyagaraja Pancharatna, ‘Jagadaanandakaraka.'

TMK and violinist R.K. Shriramkumar led the show alternately, with the latter playing the notes and the singer doing the lyrics. Then, when it came to the seventh charanam ‘Onkara Panjara,' it was time for another ripple of titter, for the colourful vocalist picked up the line for a niraval. Whoever had heard of a niraval in a Pancharatna rendition?

The way TMK is getting his fans used to sudden twists and turns in his concert, a day will come when no one would be surprised if he opened a concert with a mangalam and did the national anthem right in the middle. Bruised and bleeding, ‘tradition' is going to sing back to TMK one of his favourites – ‘Irakkam Varaamal Ponadenna Karanam?' But it was indeed a superb Nattai and one must thank TMK for showing the raga in its full splendour rather than dismiss it as a dispensable opener.

Early on in his four-hour concert, TMK hummed an alapana a little and just as the audience were beginning to label it as Chakaravagam, he announced it as Vegavahini. Now, Vegavahini is Chakaravagam in Dikshitar's ‘asampoorna paddahati.' The textbook distinguishes Vegavahini from Charavakam in a slight variation in the ascent — pa-da-ni-da-sa, instead of pa-da-ni-sa. However, TMK freely used the ni-sa combination right through the rendition. While the alapana was intellectually stimulating, the rendition of the Dikshitar composition, ‘Veena Pustaka Dharini,' dragged, and turned out to be a dead bore.

Wedged between Vegavahini and Nattai was Dr. Balamuralikrishna's composition, ‘Omkaarakarini,' in Lavangi, a derivative of Mayamalavagowla. (The raga omits ga, pa and ni). TMK's swara singing here drew a huge applause.

The main piece was Dhanyasi. It was a creative alapana, somewhat speedy, and a little into it, TMK appeared to be physically uncomfortable and was seen massaging his foot. From this point and till the end of the concert, the singer was obliged to take sips of water frequently. Nevertheless, TMK's musical prowess shone through the alapana, which rode all over the second upper octave. Shriramkumar's follow-through was a marvel and, at least in aesthetics, his raga essay outshone TMK's.

Syama Sastri's ‘Meenalochani' was the song chosen. The niraval landed alternately on the words ‘Meenalochani' and ‘Neerada Veni' and swaras were prefixed to ‘Chandrakaladhari.' This was followed by a thoroughly enjoyable 27-minute tani. The three percussionists – Tiruchi Sankaran (mridangam), B.S. Purushotaman (ganjira) and N. Guruprasad (ghatam) did a remarkable job.

Then came Sankarabharanam. TMK was not quite himself here. His discomfort was evident from the long pauses between phrases of the alapana and indeed at the end of one unusually long pause, he simply waved to the violinist asking him to carry on. Despite the patches of brilliance, the Sankarabharanam did not turn out to be a wholesome offering.

The ragamalika sequences that followed were perhaps the best part of the concert. Here, in yet another departure from the convention, TMK and the violinist alternated in choosing the raga. In this way, they went through Latangi, Varali, Hamir Kalyani, a rare raga, Bhoopalam, Sama and Kanada. After singing a few notes of that rare raga, TMK challenged Sriram Kumar to identify it. Pat came the answer - Kokilavarali.

To sum it up, it was a lovely concert, though admittedly, one has heard TMK sing better.