Abhishek Raghuram performing at Sri Thyaga Brahama Gana Sabha, T. Nagar, during its margazhi festival 2022.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Abhishek Raghuram approaches every raga and kriti he presents in his own unique way. His concert was both energetic and intellectual — from the varnam to the concluding Madhyamavati raga composition. Every alapana, song and creative segment showed that a lot of thought goes into structuring of the concert.
Abhishek packed the first half with a surfeit of kalpanaswaras suffixed to all the compositions, except the briskly rendered Kiranavali and the slow-paced Yadukulakamboji kritis. The Purvikalyani alapana that began in a sedate pace also landed in supersonic phrases in the swara segment. However, his free-flowing creativity and change in tempo sustained the audience interest throughout the three-hour concert.
The Bhairavi Ata tala varnam ‘Viriboni’ in two speeds was a nice warm-up piece, while the Harikamboji kriti ‘Rama nannu brovara’ by Tyagaraja came with a brief alapana, niraval and kalpanaswaras.
Playing on the word ‘Velava’, he sang ‘Vaa velava, ka va velava’ before arriving at ‘Ka va va kanda va va’, Papanasam Sivan’s composition in Varali.
R. Sankaranarayanan on the mridangam added a few sparklers at the phrase ‘Pazhani malai’. Exploring all of the three octaves in the lines ‘Padmanabhan maruga’, the Madhyamakala swarakalpanas were back at the pallavi line.
Moving on to Jayantasena raga alapana, Abhishek’s innovative phrases came with brigas and glides and clarity in the lower octaves.
L. Ramakrishnan on the violin was equally imaginative and presented a snappy alapana. He began Tyagaraja’s ‘Vinathasuta vahana’ from the anupallavi, and followed this style in the other compositions too. During his niraval at the charanam line, Abhishek again played with the words ‘sukha’ and ‘sowkhyam’. Ramakrishnan’s brilliant interludes added glitter to the presentation. The kalpanaswaras just whizzed by.
‘Eti yochanalu’ another Tyagaraja composition in Kiranavali, set in a tad fast tempo, also began on the anupallavi line ‘Noti mata’. So did the Yadukulakamboji kriti ‘Heccharikaga rara’. The layered swaras with exquisite modulation of the voice to suit the mood of the lyrics served as a breather at this point.
Purvikalyani was presented in all its grandeur. Its long phrases showcased Abhishek’s wide vocal range and remarkable breath control. Appreciably, the violin almost went silent to highlight the singing. After a couple of tanam phrases, Abhishek let the violinist present his version.
The lines ‘iniyaghilum ninai maname inakula tilakanai raghavanai’ from Ambujam Krishna’s composition was taken up for pallavi set in Mishra Chapu. Many nadai variations dominated the swarakalpana.
Sahana followed by Aahiri with swarakalpana incorporating these ragas seamlessly led to the main raga. It was an enjoyable exercise. The intricate kanakkus were for the erudite listeners.
Sankaranarayanan on the mridangam and Sunil Kumar on the kanjira swung into action during their 15-minute tani avarthanam and replied to all the arithmetical challenges thrown by Abhishek, which garnered them thunderous applause.
After a few short, delightful phrases of Maand, Periyasami Thooran’s ‘Muralidhara Gopala’ was a breeze. Muthuswami Dikshitar’s vara kriti for Tuesday — ‘Angarakamashrayamyaham’ in Surutti and Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Karpagame’ were the concluding pieces. All of them came with anupallavi.
Despite the racy pace and excessive calculations, Abhishek made every composition his own and the concert was memorable for many listeners.
