(By Smt. Kalpana Rengarajan)
Sri. Madurai R. Sundar gave an excellent concert on January 16th
, at the Hindu temple of Atlanta. This concert was organized by
the Carnatic Music Association of Georgia.
Sundar opened the concert with Thodi varnam. This was followed by
the Bilahari piece “Eka Dandam” by Dikshithar. His
detailed alapana of “Keeravani” was excellent. The
neraval and swaras for the main piece in Keeravani “Kaligi
Yunte” by Thiagaraja was par excellence. He touched every
swarasthanam with great clarity and confidence even at the higher
octave.
Though the concert was the day after Pongal, he sang a
Thiruppavai “Thoomani Madathu” in Hamir Kalyani and
another piece “Thiruvadi Poorathil” in Yaman Kalyani.
Both these songs were rendered with so much Bhava that it felt
like Andal herself was amidst us. In the ragamalika slokam “Kanda
Kadirvela”- the way “Sahana “ was handled is
noteworthy.
A key point in the success of this concert was the rapport
between Sundar and the accompanying artists- Sri.
Lakshminarayanan on the violin and Sri. Ram Sriram on the
Mridangam. The raga alapana on “Sahana” by
Lakshminarayanan deserves a special mention. Lakshminarayanan
matched Sundar very efficiently in the “swara-ragamalika”
section. Ram Sriram blended to Sundar’s variations in all
aspects. He presented a neat and precise “taniavarthanam”.
Finally I would like to mention that none of the Raga alapanas
were overdone. Sundar’s mix of nidhanam, diction and the
bhava of the songs in the right proportions gave the audience an
opportunity to listen to chaste Carnatic music.