Kashyap Mahesh weaves a rich musical tapestry

Kashyap Mahesh, a disciple of the legendary musician T.V. Gopalakrishnan and mridangam exponent Karaikudi Mani, has a pliable voice that traverses all three octaves with ease.

Kashyap opened the concert with ‘Mathe maladwaja’, a daru varnam by Muthiah Bhagavatar in raga Khamas. This was followed by ‘Sri mahaganapathe’ in Gowla set to Misra Chapu tala, with brisk swaras in the charanam line ‘Prakashakaro’. A brief raga alapana in Ritigowla in all three octaves with ‘Cherarademira’ by Tyagaraja in Adi tala was the next piece with equally brisk swaras in ‘Merakadanura’, which was apt in keeping with the tempo of the kriti.

A raga alapana in Lathangi followed Ritigowla, with an emphasis on phrases covering kakalinishadam, suddha daivatam, panchamam, madhyamam and the antara gandharam, the hallmark of this scale-based raga.

Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Venkataramana’ in Rupaka tala was chosen with a niraval at the charanam segment ‘Alarmelmangai manala’, followed by kalpanaswaras, with the final swara in a temple gopuram pattern, culminating in a beautifully-rendered muthaipu. ‘Unnadiye gati’, a composition by G.N. Balasubramanian, in raga Bahudari set to Adi tala, preceded raga Abheri. The raga alapana in Abheri was a detailed exposition using the chatusruthi daivatam. The beautiful phrases with subtle nuances of the raga were well-brought out.

‘Bhajare manasa’ in Adi tala (rendu kalai), a composition by Mysore Vasudevachar, was rendered with emotion, followed by swaras in two speeds. The kuraipu swara with a muthaipu at the end brought the rendition to a grand finale.

V.L. Kumar’s violin sketch of the ragas in Abheri and Ritigowla stood out for the sruthi suddham and bhava-laden phrases, so characteristic of these ragas. Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam on the mridangam and N. Guruprasad on the ghatam lent able support, with an exciting tani avartanam. Kashyap Mahesh concluded his concert with a devotional piece in Bageshri, composed by Madurai Somasundaram, followed by a thillana (Maharajapuram Santhanam) and a Thiruppugazh in Suddhasaveri.