Bowing with finesse
SVK
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The sharp angles T.N.Krishnan gave to sketch the ragas touched the rasikas.
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Manodharma fertile, technique graceful, alapana mellifluous, exposition exquisite, rasikas overwhelmed — this sums up T.N.Krishnan's concert on the New Year Day with violin support by his daughter Viji Krishnan.
The level of refinement delineated the essential difference between barren skill and delectable finesse and this typified the ιlan of Krishnan's approach. His incredibly cool attitude was the inspiring angel to make him dwell on sangita's supremacy.
What transported the rasikas were the sharp angles he gave to etch the rakti of ragas Sriranjani (`Maarubalka'), Bilahari (`Tolijenma') and Sahana (`Giripai'). He strolled royally along the raga marga. Every sanchara was a flash of poetic sublimity. Krishnan's special charm sprang from his raga essays mainly. This explains why his renderings were not merely heard, but reposefully experienced by the listeners.
Soulful play
PHOTO: K. PICHUMANI.
SUBLIME: T.N.Krishnan with daughter Viji Krishnan.
Sahana, in particular, was played at such a soulful level that made the raga all the more touching. Tenderness of melody brought this about. Interplay of karvais and sancharas marked the depth of Sriranjani. The fruity flavour of Bilahari was meshed with a breezy drive. Thodi was the main raga taken up for Ragam, Tanam and Pallavi. In the raga part, Krishnan moulded the sancharas with subtle and varied graces. Impeccably deep in content, smooth-flowing movements enriched the vista of the raga. In the raga segment his daughter's role too was noteworthy.
In the matter of kirtanas, Krishnan stands for the cultural loftiness nurtured since the days of the Trinity. Great music emerged from the way his high ideals were linked to the grandeur of the compositions — `Evarani' (Devamritavarshini), `Gnanamosa garaadha' (Purvikalyani), `Sangitagnanamu' (Dhanyasi) besides the other three Tyagaraja kritis mentioned earlier. It looked almost like a curtain-raiser on the eve of the saint's aradhana. It was rather difficult to assess which one was more tuneful — violin or mridangam by Vellore Ramabhadran. His accompanying technique revealed how gentle tapping contributed to the delicacy of laya support, more eloquent than assertive percussive rhetoric. His thani with Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan (ghatam) was brevity incarnate.
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