Vishnudev K.S.: At his creative best

Listening to Vishnudev K.S. at two concerts has reinforced the impression that he is among an emerging bunch of young musicians who try to raise the bar with each performance.

A majority of the kritis he sang in his 70-minute performance at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan had brisk kalpanaswaras. A similar streak could be seen in his recital for Charsur on the theme, ‘Sarvam Vishnu mayam’. The common feature in both concerts were the brisk starts and the exploring of innovative ideas.

In his concert at Bhavan, he began with a refreshing ‘Saketha nikethana’ by Tyagaraja in Kannada with madhyamakala swaras at the pallavi lines set to Rupaka tala. He chose to present a brief Simhendramadhyamam alapana with abundant brigas in the kriti ‘Ninne nammithinayya’ by Mysore Vasudevachar. He displayed remarkable ease at rendering interesting patterns in the swarakalpanas, in both slow and fast speeds.

Tyagaraja’s ‘Makelara vicharamu’ in Ravichandrika was quick and precise, and an expansive Saveri kriti ‘Devi pavane’, one of Swati Tirunal’s Navaratri compositions, followed. Skipping the niraval, he swarmed the kalpanaswaras in ragamalika, with seven ragas in keezh kalam and nine ragas in the fast-paced section for each avarthanam. L. Ramakrishnan on the violin came up with a competent response. The percussion accompanists, Delhi Sairam (mridangam) and S. Krishna (ghatam), kept up with the spirit of the vocalist.

At Charsur, the theme gave Vishnudev scope to render some beautiful compositions. The Ata tala varnam in Sankarabharanam, ‘Chalamela’, with a tinge of the Western scale in the last swara was a sparky start. His picturisation of Lathangi in a layered structure and the twirls in the niraval at ‘Alarmel mangai manala’ in Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Venkata ramana’ were a treat for the ears. The alapana for a raga like Jayantasena is a tightrope walk and Vishnudev handled it carefully, devoid of any trace of Karaharapriya. But the over-rapid swaraprastaras in this kriti and in the subsequent ‘Paridanamicchithe’ (Bilahari, Patnam Subramania Iyer) warned of the need for restraint.

Breezy Hamirkalyani

When Hamirkalyani, the main raga, flowed in bright and breezy with its emotive contents intact, it furthered the anticipation of the listeners. Vishnudev did not disappoint with his beautiful version of Subbaraya Sastri’s ‘Venkata shaila vihara’, a wordy composition, stringing the sangatis well with the lyrics at the phrase ‘Manimaya mantapa’ and during the niraval in the charanam line ‘Vintinine ni varaguna’. Dhrupad-style phrases in the manodharma segment stood out. The harmonious dialogue between the singer and the violinist (Vittal Rangan) was perceptible in the swarakalpana of this kriti as well as in the Jayantasena kriti earlier.

The synergetic percussion team — Patri Satish Kumar on the mridangam and Anirudh Athreya on the kanjira — blended well with the flow of ideas of the singer and the violinist. In their tani avartanam that lasted for close to 10 minutes, they exhibited their prowess in the interesting pattern of koraippus.

After the thani, Vishnudev presented Periyazhwar’s pasuram ‘Manickam katti’ in ragamalika with Nilambari, Khamas and Surutti, returning to Nilambari after each quatrain with agility. Three more Hindustani ragas followed. While ‘Sri Madhava’ in Behag was sterile, ‘Harigun Gaavat’, a Meera bhajan set to tune in raga Dipali by master-musician Thanjavur S. Kalyanaraman brought out the beauty of both madhyamams used in succession. It was thoughtful of the singer to conclude his concert in line with the theme, with the word ‘Vishnu’ from Panchapakesa Shastri’s ‘Sapasyat kausalya’ in Jhonpuri.

The writer specialises

in Carnatic music.