Dr. S. Sundar is one of those musicians who are strong supporters of the traditional approach to music, in which ragas and kritis are presented without deviating from the time-tested method. In concerts of such artists there is no aggression or pretentiousness. The effort is to be to the point and perfect.
The Navratri series organized by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan marks the presentation of Sundar, a bouquet of delightful creations by various musicians and in various ragas. He was accompanied by his students JB Kirtan on vocals, Narmada on violin, Sumesh Narayanan on mridangam and Sai Subramaniam on morsing.
Since the concert was based on Navratri, the works he chose were on the goddess. The evening began with a tana varnam in Muttiah Bhagavatar’s ‘Sri Raja Matangi’, Raga Shuddh Dhanyasi, which set the stage for other goddess creations to follow. But Sundar’s next composition was ‘Maha Ganapati Palayasum’, a rare composition on Ganesha by Dixit in Nat Narayani. The inclusion of this composition among a range of goddess works was not surprising as no classical performance is complete without a salutation to Ganesha. He sang another work on Shakti – Shyama Sastri’s ‘Tarunam Adamma’ in Gauli Pantu, before proceeding to present a short treatise of the lively raga Nalinakanti. Sundar handled it with magnificence and brought out the distinctive features of the raga. And his choice of Kriti was Thanjavur Shankar Iyer’s ‘Naathjan Palini Nalinakanti’. A few rounds of swarakalpana set on Pallavi adorn the work.
touching presentation
After challenging Nalinakanti, there was a change in the mood when Sundar opened his next masterpiece on the Anupalavi line ‘Bhavarogam Aara Veru Mundedu’ from the song, ‘Sivagama Sundari’, set in raga vocals by Papanasam Sivan. The musician pleads with Shakti for his well being. There was enough purity in the singing. Shyama Shastri’s ‘Nannu Brovu Lalita’ in Raga Lalita revived the atmosphere. It is originally depicted in ‘Sri Mahabalgiri Nivasini’ in Saranga Malhar, a unique raga by Muttiah Bhagavatar.
The melodious raga Hemavati was chosen as the main one. The opening segment was performed by kirtan, and then Sundar took over to convey subtle nuances and sing soulful and melodious phrases of the raga. Could there be a better option here than Dixit’s ‘Shri Kanthimathim’? After Kriti’s slow, steady and touching rendition, Sundar elaborates on the line ‘Shuka Saunakadi Sadadhikam’ with tactile combinations. Swarakalpana went through both slow and fast movements, but without any redundancies.
With her long innings in the field, Narmada proved to be perfect for Sundar’s traditional approach to ragas, swaras and creations. He punctuated his Hemvati raga essay with strong and poignant phrases. Sumesh and Sai Subramaniam were fully aware of the singer’s privilege. However, his Tani Avataram was sharp, bright and colourful.
The closing pieces were ‘Ninnai Charan Adenthene’ in Punnagavarali by Subramanya Bharathi and ‘Palisemma Muddu Sharde’ in Bhimpalas by Purandaradasara.
The author of Chennai reviews Carnatic music.