Brindha Manickavasakan’s concert for Madhuradhwani was a mixed bag

Brindha Manickavasakan attempted a high-strung package, but brought it down a notch by the time she embarked on the sub-main item. At Madhuradhwani, her Brindavana Saranga, ahead of the principal Mohanam suite, was fairly relaxed, but an overall penchant for too many ideas deprived the listener of tranquil moments.

Young Brindha hails from one of Carnatic’s most meditative schools. Her main guru Suguna Varadachari belongs to the Musiri bani, renowned for its reposeful approach to music. That trait resonated best in Brindha’s delivery of ‘Soundararajam’ with streaks of Hindustani Dhrupad that inspired its composer Muthuswami Dikshitar. The Brindavana Saranga bore its essential serenity, though the vocalist’s alapana at times strayed towards raga Shree. Violinist Bombay R. Madhavan’s solo response bore a pleasant easiness.

Earlier, the vocalist ignited a quick take-off by opening her concert with a bright melody. Abhogi shone well through Tyagaraja’s sprightly ‘Nanubrova’, straightaway earning recognition to the percussionists — Poongulam Subramanian (mridangam) and Nerkunam Sankar (kanjira). Brindha’s throat wasn’t yet fully equipped towards upper forays; amid that she resorted to swaraprastara. An avalanche of notes effectively left the singer gasping.

Brindha Manickavasakan.
| Photo Credit:
SRINATH M

To choose Begada next was wise. A structured wobbliness in the raga’s expression found ample representation in the alapana. Yet, a flurry of phrases in the build-up forced Brindha to partly fake her voice at the top register. Madhavan’s turn highlighted the classical delight of Begada, plus the sweet timber his instrument can generate. ‘Kadaikkan’ (Ramaswamy Sivan) came out well, also owing to the patterned zigzag of mishra chapu.

Varali, as the third item, served the recital’s first niraval. Around ‘Paramatmudu’ of the Tyajaraja kriti ‘Karuna elagante’, Brindha’s lyrical conversation with the violinist was warmly backed by the mridangam-kanjira duo. That exercise equipped the percussionists to bond even better in the concert’s second half when they executed a tani avartanam that defined the last lap of Brindha’s piece de resistance in Mohanam.

The vocalist’s selection of the pentatonic raga came without a filler after ‘Soundararajam’. Strangely, an ascending passage of Brindha’s alapana bore a whiff of Begada, while Madhavan sprang a momentary Vasanthi (which is explicable). Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Kapali’ was studded with niraval and swara ahead of the ten-minute tani in two-kalai Adi tala.

The concluding piece was Gopalakrishna Bharati’s ‘Varuvaro’ in lilting Sama. It was preceded by a viruttam beginning with Hamir Kalyani and developing around Hindolam.