Raghavan Maniyan gave a unique concert performance where he was both a vocalist and a saxophone player. He was accompanied by Shradha Raveendran on violin, Neyveli Skandasubramaniam on Mridangam and H. Sivaramakrishnan on Ghatam.
Raagavan’s raga selection, work selection and presentation were all unusual. Possessing his soft yet strong voice, Raghavan was able to render masterpieces at varying speeds, some slow and unimpeded, some moderate, and some very fast.
surface of swaras
He began the concert with a varnam in Raga Sarasangi, influenced by Adi Shankara’s verse ‘Parabrahma Lingam Bhaje Pandurangam’. As expected of the varnam, it had several vowel paths, chitta and muktayi swaras. The next piece ‘Gam Ganapatim’ was composed by his mentor Dr M Balamuralikrishna in Raga Ganapati, consisting of just three notes ‘Sa Ga Pa’. Raghavan added a few rounds of vocals to it as he struck with three notes.
A precise Purvakalani raga essay was followed by Shyama Shastri’s work ‘Enneram Un Namam’. This leisurely singing was introduced in Raga Shruthiranjani with ‘Edari Sancharinthura’, a rare masterpiece by Tyagaraja.
The main offering was the kamboji, sung in a simple fashion, retaining all the signature phrases of the raga. But Ragavan decided to add a different flavor to it by adding a tanam to the raga Alapana on the saxophone. And then, just as everyone expected him to continue playing the instrument, Raghavan started singing. His choice of work was Papanasam Sivan’s popular ‘Adum Devam Arulvai’, a complex vocal section with distinct nadis. The singer focused the final vocals with a combination of ‘pdsrg s’ and ‘mgpds p’, creating a grand finale.
Finally, Raghavan again entered the saxophone arena with Dixit’s ‘Rangpura Vihar’. Then, he switched vocals to perform a spirited thilana at breakneck tempo in Brindavanasaranga, re-composed by Balamuralikrishna.
Shraddha Ravindran stuck to her methodical approach to ragas, tanams or swaras. Skandasubramaniam and Sivaramakrishnan played their roles downplayed but gave their best in supporting Raghavan’s performance.
The author of Chennai reviews Carnatic music.
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