Ramana Balachander (RB) appears to be a prodigious talent. At 17, he certainly shows great promise of evolving an ace Vainika, over time. I thoroughly enjoyed this concert of his.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVL6hum7WQ8&feature=youtu.be
A few observations:
1. The Suddha Todi Varnam opener stole my heart away. This is one of the masterpiece creations of the late Dr. Balamuralikrishna. RB has done full justice to the rendition. Brought in images of MB himself singing this.
2. The Janaranjani was top-class. One of the nuances of this ragam is that for the "Ni", as a way of gamakam, the Ni should sound somewhere in between Ni and Sa ( and not in either of them). That brings out the beauty of the ragam. RB has handled it exceedingly well.
3. Enta Muddho - Bindumalini - I do not know of any other composition by anyone else, in this ragam. But this one is a masterpiece of St. Thyagaraja, with very deep philosophical meaning.
3. The Bhairavi Thaanam and Kalpanaswarams were special. They show his mastery over both the instrument as well as over the music.
4. Miyan Ki Malhar - an out and out Hindustani Music Raag, has been well adopted by Tanjavur Kalyanaraman, the composer, and handled beautifully by RB. Note that this Raag has many "misra swaras" which are usually not the norm in Carantic music, but are the ones that bring out the beauty in Hindustani style. This Raag was supposedly commissioned by Miyan Tansen, the great musician in Emperor Akbar's court. Hence the name " Miyan Ki Malhar" It's "cousin", Megh Malhar is the equivalent of Carnatic Music's Amritavarshini, in it's supposed powers to bring in the rains.
No comments:
Post a Comment