Bhavya Hari with Madan Mohan (violin), and Sunda Krishna (mridangam). , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
For Arkay Convention CenterThe grand Hari of the 12th anniversary series showcased the full range of his scintillating talents in his evening concert. She gives the credit mainly to her mentor, mentor and mother TV Sundaravalli.
Bhavya received her advanced training from scholars Sulochana Pattabhiraman, scholars Padma Shandilyan and for a brief period from S Soumya.
The young singer brought immense richness to the listening experience in terms of melodious expressions and intellectual sophistication. Such a sincere effort was supported by the able violin accompaniment of Madan Mohan, a student of RK Sriram Kumar, and on mridangam by Sunada Krishna, who is undergoing advanced training under Mannargudi Easwaran.
impressive speech
The main piece that Bhavya took for her recital was the magnum opus of Muthuswami Dikshitar, ‘Akshaya Linga Vibho’ in a majestic Shankarabharanam (Mishra Chapu) with an impressive raga alapana and charanam with Niraval, the ‘Badri Van Mool Nayika’. Samatha’. His alluring melody lent this masterpiece to the temple of Lord Shiva at Keevalur, situated between Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam, where the sacred tree Badari, Illanthai in Tamil, stands.
Incidentally, this temple houses a prominent Bhadrakali shrine. The flip side of this work is that it is in the second inflection. No wonder then that Bhavya allotted almost half of her two-hour singing duration to the composition. Madan Mohan on violin gave excellent response to raga interpretation, niraval and kalpanaswaras. On the mridangam, Sunda Krishna brings a fitting finale to his scintillating thani.
Earlier, Bhavya set the pace singing with Putnam Subramania Iyer’s Thodi Varnam ‘Era Naapai’. Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar’s ‘Siddhi Vinayakam Seveham’ preceded by a splendid Mohanakalyani alapana, beautifully embellished with a swaraprastha in the pallavi.
A Tyagaraja composition ‘Tulsi Dalmula’ in Mayamalavagaula (Roopakam) had an elaborate swaraprastra. Another Tyagaraja composition, ‘Bale Balendu Bhoshani’, began with a beautiful alapana at Ritigoulai on Sri Dharmasamvardhini of Tiruvaiyaru. Swarprastar was icing on the cake.
Dr.S. Ramanathan popularized, and Bhavya introduced, ‘Va Velava Tamiyenai’, a composition of his own in Sivaranjani (Desadi Taal), which immediately created an intense devotional mood.
steeped in devotion
Continuing the same devotional spirit, Bhavya rendered two Viruthams from Kandahar Anubhuti – one in Dwijavanti and the other in Sumanesh Ranjani. This was followed by the Thiruppugazh stanza, ‘Tharakasuran Sarinthu’ in the rhythmic third gathi. No wonder, as his mother was devoted to Thiruppugazh throughout his life, and his father, Valayapettai R. Krishnan, who did extensive research on Thiruppugazh, and belongs to the lineage of Syama Sastri.
Bhavya Hari ends his concert with Narayana Theertha Tarangam, ‘Goverdhan Giridhar’ in Shuddha Sarong.
Chennai-based critic writes on Carnatic music.