Bharat Sundar impresses with his Harikamboji elucidation

Bharat Sundar with L. Ramakrishnan (violin), Vijay Natesan (mridangam) and Sai Subramaniam at the Kedaram concert, organised in memory of N.V. Subramaniam, founder Saraswathi Vaggeyakar Trust.
| Photo Credit: Courtesy: Kedaram

Kedaram recently organised a concert in memory of N.V. Subramaniam (NVS), who founded Saraswathi, a performance-oriented organisation, and the Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust, which focussed on the deeper aspects of music. NVS was more than just a concert organiser. He had learnt to play the violin, and had perfected the art to the extent that he even accompanied senior artistes such as Maharajapuram Santhanam and T.R. Subramaniam. NVS tried to find time to pursue his passion for music despite holding a senior position in the Southern Railways.

In his concert at the Ragasudha auditorium, Bharat Sundar impressed with his voice and presentation. For instance, his Harikamboji elucidation, with engaging gamakas and lucid phrase, had a lingering effect. Senior violinist L. Ramakrishnan played the phrases with equal zeal.

Bharat Sundar chose ‘Enta rani tanakenta’ in an appropriate nadai in the raga. The saint says, “Lord, whatever happens, I will never move away from you.” The niraval and kalpanaswaras were aptly rendered at the charanam ‘Seshudu sivuniki bhushudu lakshmana’. If the extensive niraval was studded with aesthetic phrases, the impromptu swara clusters displayed the vocalist’s imagination.

On the mridangam, Vijay Natesan, disciple of T.V. Gopalakrishnan, played a sprightly thani punctuated with many sparkling passages. On the morsing, Sai Subramaniam, disciple of A.S. Krishnan, was able to produce the desired tonality with his subdued playing.

Poignant rendition

Earlier, Bharat Sundar sang a well-nuanced Dhanyasi. Dhanyasi is a raga that lets the rasika experience multiple rasas. Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Balakrishan paadamalar panivorkku’ (Rupakam), which came next, conveyed the bhakti and karuna rasa.

The vocalist began his concert appropriately with Kedaram. He chose Dikshitar’s ‘Ananda natana prakasam’ (Misra Chapu), a Panchabhuta kriti on Nataraja in Chidambaram. It has an in-built jathi-swara with a sollukattu in line. ‘Neekela dayaradu’ (Khanda Chapu) in Sarasangi by Ramaswami Sivan had niraval at ‘Nerataka bhuvi mida’ in the charanam segment, and an elaborate swaraprastara.

At this point, Bharat Sundar recalled how once T.R. Subramaniam stopped him while singing this niraval to point out a mistake in the enunciation of the lyric.

He next sang Tyagaraja’s ‘Shara shara samaraika’ (Kuntalavarali) with a chittaswaram, set by the legendary M. Balamuralikrishna.

‘Udayadri Pai’ was part of the popular Lalitha Sangeetham (light music) programme broadcast by AIR Vijayawada in the 1980s. The lyrics were by Rachakonda Lakshmee Narasimhan, and it was tuned by Malladi Suribabu in Ragamalika. The song pays obeisance to the Sun. Bharat Sundar presented this song, giving it a special touch with impressive modulation.

‘Charana kamalaalayathai’, a Tiruppugazh in Subha Pantuvarali, and a thillana in Khamas were the concluding pieces.