Splendid and Mellifluous

Astounding performances marked the third day of Yuva Sangeetothsavam organised at Sri Gnana Saraswathi Temple. The performances by Vivek Sadasivam and Ambale Brothers (Heramba and Hemantha) have once again proved that music doesn’t have any barriers.

Vivek’s splendid performance

Vivek Sadasivam belongs to lineage of Muthuswamy Deekhsitar. He was initiated into music by his grandfather A Anantha Narayana and is now trained by Rudrapatnam N Thyagarajan. A holder of CCRT scholarship Vivek won many competitions and is touted as a prodigious talent.

Vivek Sadasivam opened the concert with “Swami Daya Chooda”, a Kedaragoula varnam of Tiruvottiyur Thyagayya and it was a pleasing rendition. He then took to Pantuvarali raga kriti of Thyagaraja “Vaaderaa Daivamu” with an astounding ragaalapana, moving on to three scales comfortably. He has to be praised for clear pronunciation and punctuation in the phrases; “Aadina Maatalu” and “Dhatru Vinuthudaina”.

This was followed up by a famous work of Muthuswamy Deekshitar, “Sarasijanabha Sodari” (Naga Gandhari), which was rendered with splendid ragalapana. He delineated the anupallavi and pallavi charanams in tune with the lyrical beauty of the chouka kala krithi.

He chose Todi raga krithi of Thyagaraja “Gathi Neevani Ney Kori Vachhithi” as the main piece of the evening. His ragaalapana not only enhanced the tonal beauty but also helped him to move onto upper and lower octaves with ease. His rendering of the phrases “Mathini Entho Vethaki Nammithini” and “Brovu Mika Nija Dasulaku”, in neraval showed his command over aarohana and avarohana (higher and lower octaves).

Vivek concluded the concert with Misra Mond raga kriti of Purandara Dasu, “Kandena Govindana”. Radhika Srinivasan on violin and Karra Srtinivas on mridangam gave an excellent support to the Young artist. Vivek Sadasivam proved to be the best performer in the music fest so far.

Ambale Brothers mellifluous flute recital

Flute recital by Ambale Brothers (Heramba and Hemantha) was on a melodious note. The twins hail from a family that has rich music heritage. They are the grandsons of ‘Bakhti Sangeetha Ratna’ Ambale Subbarao of Karnataka. They learnt under ‘Vidwan Bharthi’ Symanna, Neyvelli Santhana Gopalan and noted flautist Mysore AV Prakash.

The twins opened the concert with “Sobhillu Saptaswara” (Jaganmohini) of Thyagaraja as a straight rendition impressing the audeince. This was followed by “Gnana Mosaga Raadaa Garudagamana” (Pantuvarali) of Thyagaraja. Heramba took the lead in expanding the ragalapana in all its manifestations. The twins displayed their mettle, while rendering the phrase “Paramathmudu Jeevaathmudu”.

Kadanakuthoohala raga kriti of Patnam Subrmanya Ayyar, “Raghuvamsas Sudambudhi” was rendered spendidly. The speed, the tala and laya and emanating sound was in tune with raga bhava. The ease at which they moved from one note to other astounded the audience.

It was an immaculate performance and the brothers have to be commended for their mastery over the wind instrument. K Anil Kumar on violin and Om Prakash on Ghatam matched the performance by the twins.