S.M. Vilasini impresses with her poignant Subhapantuvarali raga essay

S.M. Vilasini performing at Mylapore Fine Arts club’s annual margazhi festival, 2022.
| Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B

S.M. Vilasini judiciously chose pleasant ragas and a comforting pace for her early evening concert at the Mylapore Fine Arts Club. Nayaki and Subhapantuvarali presented in succession, with just a short Kuntalavarali in between, added to the quietude.

Beginning with a Hamsadhwani varnam, Vilasini took off with the Thiruppavai, ‘Margazhi thingal’ in Nattai, in a mellow pace. She then presented the relatively brisk ‘Saraswathi namostute’ by G.N. Balasubramaniam in the raga Saraswathi with its lilting chittaswaram, before moving on to Mohanam.

An alapana, right in technique, felt a bit lengthy in the first half of the concert. Vilasini’s voice can open up in the upper octaves, shedding inhibitions. And, her voice sounds submerged when she tries to control its throw.

Building each sangathi with variations in the rhythmic pattern in Tyagaraja’s ‘Bhavanuta’, Vilasini brought out the aesthetic subtleties of the sahitya well. The madhyama kala swarakalpana at the pallavi began with short single avartanams and culminated in a lengthy phrase with an interesting korvai. Arunachala Karthick on the violin matched her, and presented the swaras delightfully.

Dikshitar’s ‘Ranganayakam’ in Nayaki was rendered in its majestic but leisurely gait. The percussion display at the madhyama kalam ‘Aganita suguna’ was pleasing.

The customary swift number before launching the main kriti was Swati Tirunal’s ‘Bhogindra sayinam’ in Kuntalavarali. Not going in for a jet-speed for this kriti helped Vilasini present a flawless Tisra nadai.

Vilasini took Subhapantuvarali as the main raga for the day. A remarkable swarasthana shuddham in the akara phrases could be heard in the poignant delineation of the raga. The mood of the raga was intact throughout the rendition of Tyagaraja’s ‘Ennalu urake’. The niraval and swaras at ‘Konnallu saketa puramela’ had some jantais and brighas.

S.M. Vilasini with Arunachala Karthik, Madipakkam Suresh and Madippakam Gopalakrishnan at Mylapore Fine Arts club, during the annual music festival, 2022.
| Photo Credit:
JOTHI RAMALINGAM B

Arunachala Karthik followed her imagination, while Madipakkam Suresh and Madipakkam Gopalakrishnan on the mridangam and kanjira, respectively, provided soothing support with melodic phrases that perfectly suited the kriti’s lyrics — they gently question Rama as to how long he would remain unconcerned.

Despite all these in place, momentary sruti issues popped up as a distraction. The brisk and brief tani was energetic. The accompanists’ delicate playing for the songs and display of skills during their solo parts was appreciable.

Vilasini concluded her concert with Annamacharya’s melodious ‘Bhavayami gopala balam’ in Yamunakalyani.