Krithika Natarajan with M. Rajeev, Vijay Natesan (mridangam) and Sunil Kumar (Kanjira).
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
It was Edward Bulwer Lytton who said that ‘Music once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies.’ Our music, in particular, is for the soul. So, it is always a joy to listen to a classical concert. More so when the performing artiste is young and imaginative.
Krithika Natarajan’s concert for Kedaram was throughly fulfilling. The highlight of her concert was Tyagaraja’s ‘Na jeevadhara’ in Bilahari. It is believed that the saint-composer brought a person back to life by singing this song. Krithika brought out the essence of the kriti in every sangathi of the pallavi. Of course, our vidwans have already demonstrated the spectrum of sangathis that the pallavi could be embellished with. She included a splendid chittaswaram to this already elegant kriti. The detailed kalpanaswaras were at the pallavi. As a prelude to this composition, she offered an extensive alapana.
On the violin, M. Rajeev complemented the vocalist by aptly bringing out every nuance of the sangathis. His Bilahari alapana in particular stood out. Vijay Natesan (mridangam) and Sunil Kumar (Kanjira) offered a pleasing thani as a continuation of the song. Both of them enriched the concert throughout.
Music training
Krithika had her training under Lalgudi Jayaraman, Manjula Sriram and Ranjani-Gayatri. She commenced this recital with a Khamas Dharu varnam, ‘Mathey malayadhwaja pandya sanjathey’ by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar. She followed it up with N.S. Ramachandran’s ‘Sri mahaganapathe’ in Abhogi (Jhampa tala). The kalpanaswaras were at the madhyama kala segment, ‘Hema mani vibhushana’.
After a brief sketch of Sahana, Krithika rendered one of Dikshitar’s Abhayamba Vibhakti kritis, ‘Abhayambayam, bhaktim karomi’. This is in praise of Abhayambha of Mayiladuthurai. A Panthuvarali alapana followed this kriti, as a prelude to Papanasam Sivan’s popular ‘Ninnarul iyambalaaguma’ (Roopakam). Niraval and kalpanaswaras were at the usual ‘Innal lootti inbamootti’. Tyagaraja’s Jayanthasri Kriti, ‘Marugelara O raghava’ was a neat rendering.
Krithika next took up Ambujam Krishna’s Kanada song ‘Enna solli azhaithal varuvayo’, after a viruththam. Narayana Theertha’s ‘Nanda nandana gopala’ was pleasing. How could one not be reminded of Bombay Sisters’ rendering of this piece! Krithika Natarajan wound up her concert with a Lalgudi thillana in Sindhu Bhairavi.
