Dazzling Duo - Anahita & Apoorva


DAZZLING  DUO



“Sangita Kalanidhi” Chitraveena  N.Ravikiran’s  disciples  ANAHITA & APOORVA  gave a wonderful concert for MUDHRA  on 9th December 2019. Accompanied by M.Vijay on the violin,  Sumesh Narayanan on the Mridangam  and N.Sundar on the Moharsing and Smt Latha Venkataraman on the tambura, the concert dazzled right from the inception with a fast paced majestic Mysore Maharaja Jaya Chamaraja Wodeyar composition in Atanaa set to Aadi taalam. Needless to say the song was “Sree Maha Ganapathim Bhajeham” in Sanskrit. The duo did full justice to this invocation song.

Apoorva gave a brief account of raagam Kaikavashi duly shared by Anahita subsequently. That was wonderfully re-played by M.Vijay on the violin. The composition presented was “Vachama Gocharame” a Thyagaraja composition in Desaadhi taalam. The swara passages were subtle and crystal clear bringing out the nuances of the ragam instantly without leaving any time for the rasikas to keep guessing. Presentation of such a complex rare raagam needs lot of home work and thorough knowledge of the intricacies involved. The duo did full justice and it was a very nice presentation.  

The duo  then proceeded to present a brisk ragamalikai in tamil. The composition was “Ippadiyum orr Pillai Engeyum illai” by Oothukkadu Venkata Subba Iyer set to Jhampa taalam. The Pallavi and Anupallavi in Durbar and  the charanams in Dhanyasi, Vasantha and Madhyamavathi were captivating. The violin Moharsing combo matching with Mridangam vocal duo was like a dance session  in progress.

Next came a scintillating Sankarabharanam. The duo presented Muthuswamy Deekshithar’s Sanskrit composition “Akshaya Linga Vibho” set to Misrachpu taalam. This is in praise of Akshaya Lingeswarar with his consort Sundarakujambikai of Kivalur in Tamil Nadu. The temple town of Kivalur is situated between Thiruvaarur and Nagappattinam. The sthala vruksham is Badari tree or “Ilandhai” tree. Once again the violinist displayed a colourful sankarabharanam followed by raaga exploration at “Badari vana…”.

Then came their magnum opus. A Raagam-Thaanam-Pallavi….(Kanda jaathi triputa thaalam) The duo presented a complex ragam “Jayamanohari” which is a combination of Sriranjani and Aabhogi with ease and elan. After traversing through Naattai, Lalitha and Sahaana the special pallavi designed for Mudhra’s Silver Jubilee was presented. “Maam paahi Meenambike, Muni Jana nuthe..Dasa MUDHRA aaradhithe” was that special piece. The Kalpana swaram interlude had Bowli, Bilahari, Jayanthasena and Saveri. The Thani aavarthanam that followed sparkled with brilliance.
  
Heard that this was their first prime slot concert awarded by Mudhra in its Silver Jubilee year. And the entire team did their full justice. A DAZZLING concert indeed.


About the Author

SHANKAR VENKATRAMAN, a practising company secretary by profession, hails from a family with musical lineage. On the maternal side, his mother’s great grandfather Nemam Subramania Iyer was one of the last disciples of Saint Thyagaraja Swamigal. His maternal grandfather Nemam Nataraja Bhagavathar was the disciple of Mahavaidhyanatha Sivan and an Asthana Vidhwan of Sringeri Samasthanam. His son “Kalaimaamani” Prof N.S.Ramachandran was the Director of different  Kendras of All India Radio and the  Dean and Director of Music Department, University of Delhi. He had composed many kruthis out of which “Sri Chandrasekhara Yatheendram Aashrayae”on Sri Kanchi Paramacharya in Sankarabharanam popularized by Dr.M.S.Subbulakshmi and “Sree Maha Ganapathae..” in Aabhogi an evergreen hit of M.L.Vasanthakumari are very popular.

Shankar Venkatraman’s father (Late) K.V.Venkatraman, son of Kanjanur-Kottur S.Vaithyanatha Swamy Iyer was an ardent devotee of Sri Kanchi Paramacharya and had served as the Correspondence-in-charge for Sri Paramacharya while Shri Periyavaa was camping in Kumbakonam during 1930-31(When Periyavaa was referred as Kumbakonam Periyavaa). Sri Sengalipuram Anantharama Deekshithar is Vaithyanathaswamy Iyer’s maternal cousin.

 Shankar did his schooling at Vidya Mandir, Mylapore (1968-1982) Chennai and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. He did his Company Secretary course from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Chennai-600034.

(*The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of Music of Madras.) 



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