Ashwath Narayanan’s concert evoked a sense of nostalgia

The modern performance hallway is simply a abstraction of mixed interests and aggregate distractions. To clasp an assemblage successful thrall today, a instrumentalist needs not simply talent, but quality arsenic well. Ashwath Narayanan demonstrated some successful his caller kutcheri astatine The Music Academy. With a thoughtfully chosen repertoire presented successful an unconventional sequence, helium created moments of astonishment for the listener.

Trained successful the legendary K.V. Narayanaswamy bani nether vidushi Padma Narayanaswamy, Ashwath evoked memories of the maestro portion seamlessly integrating his ain philharmonic choices. The stage, thus, was good set.

The evening recovered its acme successful the accompaniment of the mridangam vidwan Umayalapuram Sivaraman, who had turned 91 lone the time before. Alert, buoyant and softly commanding, helium infused the performance with a beingness that lifted it acold beyond its fixed moment.

Ashwath’s rendition of the varnam successful raga Vasantha was brisk, punctuated by crisp swara passages that firmly acceptable the concert’s tempo. The Tiruppavai successful raga Arabhi, ‘Ongi ulagalandha’ — apt for the 3rd time of Margazhi — was presented with akin restraint, its kalpanaswaras concise, yet affluent successful meaning. Sivaraman, who has accompanied Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar himself, the creator of the Tiruppavai successful philharmonic form, enriched the swara exchanges with a seasoned philharmonic instinct.

A compact yet vibrant Atana alapana, dense with briga phrases, followed. Ashwath past unfolded an exploratory niraval astatine ‘Rajakula kalashabdhi’, the 2nd velocity charged with moments of restrained drama. The rendition intelligibly evoked the KVN style, and Sivaraman’s accompaniment — measured, poised, and responsive — spoke of a profound internalisation of the kriti.

The classical ‘Sri mathrubhootam’ successful Kannada raga unfolded astatine a relaxed gait — perhaps, astatine moments, astir excessively unhurried. Yet the Mishra Chapu tala, with its innate scope for ideation, allowed Sivaraman’s judicious deployment of sarvalaghu patterns to subtly framework Ashwath’s rendition. The effect was a serene ambiance that mildly foregrounded the compositional genius of Muthuswami Dikshitar.

Ashwath’s delineation of raga Kapi was memorable, its affectional gravity occasionally drafting the euphony inward. On the violin, B.U. Ganesh Prasad brought a soulful richness to Kapi, his phrases steeped successful warmth and introspective depth. KVN’s immortal ‘Inta sowkhya’ hovered successful the mind, arsenic Ashwath came up with his ain mentation with imaginative niraval and swara patterns.

What followed was a tani. From a perfectly tuned mridangam, the meetu and chapu resonated done the auditorium. Sivaraman’s gumki strokes and finely accented sarvalaghu passages were brilliant. B.S. Purushottam, connected the kanjira, extended the temper with delicate usage of gumki, the exchanges remaining brief, yet complete. His playing ever demonstrates an insightful knowing of the stylistic nuances of assorted percussionists.

An apt and concise Purvikalyani alapana, followed by an engaging tana, acceptable the signifier arsenic Ashwath rendered the celebrated pallavi ‘Kanakkidaikkumo sabesan darisanam’. The pallavi featured a challenging take-off constituent with an ateeta eduppu. The raga passages that followed — Anandabhairavi, Kedara and Sindhubhairavi — were handled with finesse. Ganesh Prasad’s Purvikalyani possessed a lingering and evocative quality.

The enactment of making euphony and the enactment of listening to it are some profoundly inward journeys, requiring an undivided attraction from the instrumentalist and the listener. In caller times, the impulse to applaud astatine each crook successful concerts has begun to interrupt this fragile continuum. Perhaps, the artiste should beryllium allowed to delve into the euphony successful silence, and the listener to beryllium afloat contiguous successful that shared moment.