Vignesh Ishwar performing at The Music Academy’s 2023 December Music Festival.
| Photo Credit: K. Pichumani
Vignesh Ishwar has a plateful of skill set . A powerful but flexible voice and a keen musical sense are the chief ones, as he demonstrated at the Music Academy. A seesaw in the tempo of a concert is often recommended to break the monotony and to offer varied experiences. But if carried too far, some parts could be a drag, as he must have discovered in this concert.
A brief raga sketch of Begada was followed by Tyagarajaya namste (Dikshitar) that established good classical baseline. Niraval was in the same leisurely stride. Vignesh then sang a beautiful viruttam in Ahiri and capped with an ultra-slow rendition of ‘Mayamma’, Syma sastry’s outstanding contribution to the raga invoking goddess Meenakshi. Vignesh’s gentle pace allowed for a good musical experience, but chowkam as a tool tends to decelerate a concert, akin to a train slowing in anticipation of a traffic signal. The balance between measured singing and concert progression is a delicate one and must be learnt on the job.
As Vignesh was generally in a rakthi mood, the choice of Mukhari with a bright pa, da, sa start was not surprising. Raga delineation was woven around the higher notes, as Vignesh effortlessly reached the higher octave panchamam with clarity and stability. Kalapramana of the alapana was also stlyed in vilamba course. ‘Ksheenamai’ (Tyagaraja) sung with the same grandeur as Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and T. M. Krishna confirmed Vignesh’s rapid rise to the top. Niraval at ‘Etijesina’ had some equally aesthetic passages.
Saranga made a brief appearance (‘Neevada ne gana’, Tyagarja, Kanda Chapu) with swarams at ‘Satyambu’ in an effort to provide some antidote to the tempo. Vignesh then launched his RTP in a dwi-raga, dwi-nadai pallavi that had some breathtaking alternating raga and niraval moves. Several ragas like Sama, Sahana, Hamir Kalyani, Dwijavanti had cameo roles. The pallavi in Purvi Kalyani and Arabhi was set to Adi in two nadais – kanda in the poorvanga and misra in the uttaranga. It also had a delayed eduppu that added further complexity to the composition of mridangam vidwan Arun Prakash who was on stage to guide the pallavi singing. The young brigade of today like to challenge themselves and when Vignesh’s tisram of the pallavi ran into rough waters, he stayed on course and completed it eventually. While the persistence and the respect for the composer’s laya intellect is laudable, some may expect a more complete preparation. It is also a reflection of generational change in the performance rules, where it is acceptable to be a bit vulnerable as long as the end result is good.
Violinist Hemalatha matched Vignesh point for point and embellished the pallavi strongly, as did Arun Prakash with slow and fast sollus.
Vignesh squeezed in a melodious Behag (‘Saramaina’) piece, Mandu (‘Baro Krishnayya’) and a rapid-fire tillana in Kamaj to complete a kaleidoscopic concert that had many different hues.
Maintaining a booming voice and energy throughout, he shaded all ragas with their unique silhouettes. Those are abilities that would take his career quite far.
Hemalatha is an experienced campaigner and showed good dexterity in the slower and faster segments with remarkable fluency and melody. Arun Prakash has now mastered his stop-play-stop style to a telling effect that often allows the main performer more freedom to concentrate on his plans rather than worry about intrusion by mridangists. Arun’s own vocal appreciation helps him to lend support at the right moments. N. Guruprasad on the ghatam participated keenly with active playing in the pallavi.
Vignesh has several trump cards in his hand and from here, it’s his game to lose.