A pull at the heart strings Scintillating concert by Jayanthi Kumaresh

------------------------------   By Vidhya Mahadevan

When there is unison of creativity and technicality and the music is soul-filling, that is an ultimate concert experience and Jayanthi Kumaresh’s performance for Narada Gana Sabha’s Margazhi Festival exemplified this. 

Invoking Lord Ganesha, she began the concert with Gajananayutham in Chakravakam (Vegavahini in Dikshitar school) and added a rich garnish of swarams to enhance the composition. Pallavi Seshaiyer’s Entani vinnavintura in Urmika, a janya ragam of Simhendramadhyamam, followed. Her clarity in sangathis and the pace of the krithi brought out the beauty of the ragam very well. Jayanthi’s alapana of ragam Sama was a picture of serenity and calmness and led into Annapurne Visalakshi by Muthuswami Dikshitar in Adhi thalam. 

She next presented the 45th Melakartha ragam - Shubapanthuvarali. An artist shines when they lead the listener to look beyond just the notes and absorb the essence of the ragam in its entirety. Jayanthi’s incredible raga essay, the silence between the bhava-laden phrases and the poignant glides took us on a beautiful journey into the soul of the raga. Ennalu Urake, a nindha-stuti by Thiagaraja was the chosen kriti and her rendition conveyed the frustration expressed by the composer where he questions Rama for being so unconcerned. The detailed kalpana swarams and kuraippu was elevating. Her rendition of Papanasam Sivan’s Kapali in Mohanam provided a complete shift in the musicscape that she created. 

There are so many lessons to be learnt while listening to established artists and one of them is creating a song list which catered to various rasas and this concert’s repertoire addressed the key ones - bhakti, shanti and karuna rasa. 

She then presented a ragam, thanam and pallavi in ragam Bahudari. The garland of raga phrases woven together with soulful glides made for an impactful alapana. Her mastery over the instrument music was highlighted in her ragamalika thanam where she shifted the Gandharam from Bahudari (S G3 M1) by one note to Suddha Dhanyasi (S G2 M1) to Arabi (S R2 M1) and then to Saveri ( S R1 M1). The raga shifts were seamless and the kaleidoscopic rendition of thanam in varying speeds was spellbinding. A lilting pallavi and a melody-percussion dialog came next. Kalpana swarams came with the same Gandharam shift but with new ragams - from Bahudari (S G3 M1) to Varamu(S G2 M1), Brindavana Saranga (S R2 M1) and then to Revathi ( S R1 M1). 

Perform in an instrumental concert is much more challenging than a vocal concert, and both K.U. Jayachandra Rao on Mridangam and Trichy Krishnaswamy on Ghatam demonstrated their percussion expertise with this in mind, providing an exciting and sparkling thani avarthanam and allowing the tones of the veena to bloom during the krithis. 

Kanda Naal Mudhalai in Madhuvanti, Lalgudi Jayaraman’s Thillana in Khamas and Kamakshi Lokasakshini in Madhyamavati by Shyama Sastri brought the serene evening to a close. 

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