A brilliant Carnatic concert featuring one voice and two mridangams

Ramakrishnan Murthy performing at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s 2023 Margazhi Festival
| Photo Credit: Courtesy: BVB

Ramakrishnan Murthy’s concert featured two mridangists – Delhi Sairam and N.C. Bharadwaj – belonging to different schools of thought. The question about the use of two mridangams has been around for long. And, after this concert, I decided to find answers to it.

The concert opened with the Patnam Subramanya Iyer composition, the Navaragamalika varnam ‘Valachi vacchi’. This tana varnam has a strong and pulsating rhythmic structure, which lends a majestic aura to the performance. The varnam, a string of nine ragas, opens with raga Kedaram which shines well in madhyamakala sancharas. The musician rendered the varnam with an energy that befits the composition. He embarked on swaraprastaras in each of the nine ragas — brief and precise — and the elaborate, final improvisation was a seamless coming together of all the ragas in the reverse order, Shree downwards. This was a well-structured and fine addition to the beautiful varnam.

With Ramakrishnan Murthy, nothing is casual or customary. The sincerity of his approach and regard for the Carnatic tradition glows in his music. He expresses his fidelity to the legends, but there is also a constant negotiation with the old to find a voice of his own. ‘Evarani’ (Devamrutavarshini), a K.V. Narayanaswamy’s masterpiece was a passionate experience. His rich voice, shruti shuddham throughout (memorably at ‘Shivudano madhavudano’) and the fine kriti rendition were a befitting tribute to the maestro. A succinct alapana in Pantuvarali, followed by a niraval constantly expanding the horizons of the kriti, ‘Ninne nera nammi naanuraa’ (also from the KVN repertoire), held on to the pace and vigour of the concert.

‘Shree Matrubhootam’ in Kannada was followed by a short tani led by Delhi Sairam. The initial portion was a well-built one, presenting the korvai in two speeds. The Chalanattai composition ‘Eydayya gati’ by Koteeswara Iyer was a poignant rendition. Charumati Raghuraman (violin) added a couple of lingering phrases.

The main piece of the concert was Thodi. With an inner poise that is not easily disturbed by extraneous factors, he laid out a grand Thodi. His movement between notes and the octaves was effortless. The panchamavarjya prayogas were striking and so were his explorations in the upper octaves. His rendition of the kriti, ‘Shri Krishnam bhaja manasa’ was stately with a well-expounded niraval and a torrential swaraprastara. A second tani was led by Bharadwaj. He started off with tisra nadai, following it with rhythmic developments in the misra nadai. The korvai and koraippu were an illustration of his calibre. The concluding korvai was the storied Manpoondia Pillai’s korvai which has alternating tisra and chatursra elements.

Do twin mridangams add musical value or enhance aesthetics? From earlier experiences, it perhaps diminishes it. No artiste can establish his thinking process, more so, when both are from different schools. With all the limitations of this format, the two mridangam players did a fine job and were respectful of each other’s space and ability.