Photo: Lyrical Sky Studio
STAGE
The classical scene T S
mrithya Balasubramanian’s bharatanatya arangetram was held on February 25 at the George Wood Performing Arts Centre. She is the 56th graduate of Smt Shanthy Rajendran’s Nrithakshetra School of Dance. Smrithya began with a Pushpanjali, alarippu, and an invocation to Lord Ganesha. Sri Ramachandra Krupalu, a Tulsidas bhajan was next, and was rendered with feeling - bringing tears to many eyes in the audience. Smrithya’s sancharis included Sita Swayamvaram, Tataka vadam and the abduction of Sita by Ravana. For a debutante, Smrithya’s “natya” was superb: she was the demure Sita one minute and the valorous Rama the next, enacting each episode with apt expressions and demeanour. The varnam, a Madurai Muralidharan composition on Meenakshi, Smrithya’s sancharis included the portrayal of the yagnya by the Pandyan King Malayadwaja and the appearance of the baby girl Meenakshi, her years growing up like a man-
Smrithya Balasubramanian
warrior, until her eventual meeting with the Lord of Kailash, Shiva in the form of Sundareshwara. In the first keertanam after the intermission, Shankara Sri Giri, a composition of Swati Tirunal in Hamsanandi, Smrithya outdid herself with a wonderful portrayal of Shiva’s dance incorporating some really tough adavus, statuesque poses and energetic sequences. Mrs Rajendran’s choreography was variegated and imaginative, and Smrithya delivered it with the right balance of energy and grace. The musicians, most of who were from India, consisted of Nandakumar Unnikrishnan on vocals, whose sonorous voice captivated the audience and Suresh Babu on the violin, Thiagarajan Ramani on the flute and Balasri Rasiah on the mrudangam – all providing able support. Smt Shanthy Rajendran held the orchestra together with her dextrous nattuvangam, as always.
he Academy of Indian Music started the year with a bang – with a gala concert at the Kel Watson Theatre on February 11. The evening began with a solo violin recital by a visiting artiste from Canada, Smt Thanathevy Mithradeva, a senior disciple of Sangeeta Kalanidhis, Prof T N Krishnan and Prof M S Anandaraman. Smt Thanathevy’s short and sweet concert was enjoyed by one and all as she presented popular ragas and kritis; by far her Karaharapriya was soulful and most enjoyable. Smt Narmatha Ravichandhira’s vocal recital came up next, and her mastery of Carnatic music was evident. Lisa Young followed on Konnakkol – onomatopoeic imitation of the percussion – and provided a lively finale. Lisa is a former student of the Academy of Indian Music and graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts. The evening was also a celebration of Ravichandhira’s recent award, that of the Order of Australia, and Vasan Srinivasan, President of FIMDAV, spoke on the occasion. Chitra Sudarshan
Iyer sisters live up to expectations M
elbourne’s cultural scene has an embarrassment of riches, especially if one’s tastes tend towards the classical South Indian forms of music and dance. From among the cornucopia on offer, there was one event that was especially looked forward to; the veena arangetram of Nisha and Mahita Iyer, daughters of Sri Gopinath and Ramnath Iyer, acclaimed principals of the Pichumani School of Carnatic Music on February 18, supported by the renowned percussion maestros from India, Shri Tanjavur Kumar on the mrdangam and Vaikom Gopalakrishnan on the ghatam. There’s a scene from the epochal Telugu movie Shankarabharanam where the young pupil, on crossing the musician Shankara Shastri’s threshold, imagines the rich strum of the tambura. The aural symbology of that scene underlined for the viewer the protagonist’s rich musical heritage. One imagines that the homes of the guru-shreshta Iyer brothers would ring just as deeply to the divine amalgam of the seven notes. Raised in such a verdant environment, the expectations 10 MARCH 2012
were high for Nisha and Mahita to deliver an event of unsurpassed quality. They did not disappoint. Indeed, the standard of the full length concert was high enough for someone as accomplished and experienced as the ghatam maestro Sri Vaikom Gopalakrishnan who accompanied the young ladies, to say they performed “...not like in an arangetram but like fully practised artists”. The medium of expression was from a spectrum of composers in the Carnatic pantheon including among others, Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Swati Tirunal and Arunachala Kavi. The knowledgeable audience, well-schooled in the idiom of a Carnatic music concert heard a high quality concert fully in keeping with the Himalayan standards one has come to expect from the Pichumani school. The fact that several well-known but exacting pieces beginning with Vanajaakshi in Kalyaaani, Mahaganapatim in Naatai, Siva Siva Siva enaraadha in Pantuvaraali and the piéce de résistance ragam-tanam-pallavi in a sparkling Dharmavati were delivered with gravitas and grace to the knowledgeable audience,
Nisha and Mahita will stand these supremely talented and schooled young ladies in good stead. For this listener, several things stayed in memory. The sharp counterpoint of the ghatam by Sri Vaikom Gopalakrishnan to the sober and measured gait of the veenas in the Ritigowlai piece ‘Nannu vidachi’. KaNden, kaNden, Arunachala Kavi’s composition in Vasanta is Hanuman’s report on having sighted Sita in captivity and given her Sri Rama’s signet ring (the kanai-aazhi). One could sense the excitement combined with sobriety that Hanuman would have had on delivering this longawaited news to Sri Rama. The alapanai, and the call and response for ‘Sri Subramanyaya
namaste’ in Kambhoji was more than matched by the stalwarts Sri Tanjavur Kumar and Sri Gopalakrishnan, who were synchronicity personified. A lot more can be written about, for instance, the kalpanaswaram in Mahaganapathim or the pace of the Revati piece Venkatagiri Naada, or indeed the gruelling effort behind such an event. Mention though, must be made of chief guest Tara Rajkumar, OAM’s address regarding these ‘exceptionally talented young ladies’ music being food for the soul. Here, one has to quote the Tamil social thinker-poet Subramanya Bharati from his ‘Sentamizh Naadenum Podhinile’ “Idhu uNmai, verum pugazhcchi illai”
(this is the truth, not idle praise). Tara also compared an arangetram to the act of crossing a temple’s threshold. The journey to the centre but begins here with a lot of metaphorical distance to be covered. Which then reminds us of America’s poet-laureate Walt Whitman’s lines: But where is what I started for so long ago? And why is it yet unfound? The answer would lie in the nature of an ongoing quest, with the journey being its own reward. Having gained a rapturous commencement to that journey, here’s wishing Nisha and Mahita, the torchbearers of the future, a musical journey replete with wonderment and discovery. Soundarajan Iyer
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