Rich tonal quality
G. JAYAKUMAR
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The vocal concert of K.J. Jesudas brought to the fore his unparalleled prowess as a classical singer.
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SPELLBINDING: K.J. Jesudas' vast experience and mastery were evident during his concert. Photo: S. Gopakumar
The expectations of the packed crowd at the venue of the inaugural day of the 28th Soorya Dance and Music Festival were not belied. With K.J. Jesudas at the helm, they embarked on an unforgettable musical voyage, that was marked by rich tonal quality, shruthi shudhatha, manodharmam and devotion.
The main feature of the evening was a ragam thanam pallavi in Ramapriya, `Kousalya kumaranai,' wherein the vocalist was at his best with manodharma sangeetham. After an elaborate raga alapanam, the form and essence was well brought out; the beauty of the raga traversing the different sthayis.
It only displayed the vocalist's prowess in classical music. Niraval in the pallavi, and the swaras were rendered without compromising on the quality of the raga. This was followed by a brief thaniavarthanam with K.V. Prasad on the mridangam and Thripunithura Radhakrishnan on the ghatam doing a commendable job.
Earlier, Jesudas began his recital with a varnam, `Valachi' in Navaragamalika set to Adi talam. This was followed by a Ganapathi kirtan `Saranampukunthein' in Komalangi a janya of Sarasangi without the panchamam.
Next was the famous Pavana guru in Hamsanandi paying homage to his guru. Jesudas also rendered a kirtan, which he learnt from the veteran musician Nellai T.V. Krishnamoorthy during Jesudas' days as a student at the Swati Tirunal Music Academy.
The piece was `Nee kelane' in Devamanohari. An attraction of the concert was the Arabic song `Salathullah' in Anandabhairavi.
Chinese music and Mohanam
As an aside, Jesudas demonstrated the similarities between Chinese music and the raga Mohanam in Carnatic music, and also Western blues to the 72nd melakartha raga.
The other compositions included `Manasa sree Ramunai' in Malarenjini, which is akin to Charukesi up to dhaivatham; with elaborate ragavistara and resonating brigha `Rama Rama guna seema' in Simhendramadhyamam. The thukkadas towards the close of the concert included `Polthinkal kala,' `Alaipaayuthe,' `Enthu athisayam,' `Harimuraleeravam,' `Kanane kanikaanan,' `Harivarasanam,' `Agrepasyami,' `Yogeetranam' and mangalam.
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