Lalgudi duo strike the right notes

Brother-sister duo Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi mesmerised the audience with their scintillating violin recital on the opening day of Kalasagaram, an annual cultural fest

The 47th annual cultural festival of Kalasagaram opened to a fantastic start recently with a violin recital by brother-sister duo Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, children of world renowned violin legend late Lalgudi G Jayaraman. The duo mesmerised the audience and were successful in bringing back the memories of Jayaraman strings once again.

Earlier, the event was inaugurated at Keyes High School, Secunderabad, by chief general manager, SBH, V Viswanathan, who lauded the efforts of Kalasagaram in identifying young talent and promoting classical.

Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi started their recital with Bahudari raga varnam penned and tuned by Lalgudi G Jayaraman, which they presented with all the beauty and in unison giving the native feeling of Jayaraman bani. They then moved on to “Janaki Ramana” (Suddha Seemanthini) of Thyagaraja and presented in the same emotive tenor of the work.

They dealt Kalyana Vsantham raga krithi “Nadaloludai” of Thyagaraaja with good elaboration. In another of Thyagaraja krithi “Nadupai Balikeru Narulu” (Madhyamavathi) brother and sister gave a sumptuous ragaalapana one by one with equal majesty on the bow. They moved on to a Tamil number of Koteswara Ayyar in Rasikapriya raga. It was Bhairavi raga krithi “Enaati Nomu Phalamoh” of Thyagaraja, Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi mesmerised the audience with their magic on the strings.

Thaniavarthanam by mridanga vidwan B Harikumar, ghatam vidwan Tripuranithrua Radhakrishnan and mridanga vidwan Paravasthu Srinivas Gopalan (morsing) proved to be a treat. They excelled in their performance. They showcased RTP in Hamsadhwani raga.

They rendered ragalapana and thanam in brief and allotted more time space to pallavi charanams, “Sada Ramachandram Bhajeham Sudha Ramana Sada Ramachandra Bhajeham”. Poorvanga Thisra Gathi and Uttranga Chaturasra Gathi in Khanda Triputa thalam was meticulously executed by the duo. They concluded with “Bhajarey Manasa” (Bhimpalas) of Mysore Vasudevachar, “Enna Tavam Seidanai” (Kapi) Tamil work of Papanasm Sivan and a thillana in Mohana Kalyani of Lalgudi G Jayaraman as the end.