01
Oct

63rd Heritage Music Festival at 8th Cross Ganesha Pandal concludes: Distinctive style…

As we all know, Krishna does not follow the usual pattern of the concert system like other musicians and goes beyond the confines of conventional classical music circuits. Musicians and connoisseurs always wonder what they are going to witness in the concert ahead.
In the present concert too, there were quite a few surprises. He began the concert with Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Ananda naTana prakAsham’ in Kedara, which also brought a pleasing neraval at ‘Sangeeta vAdya vinOda tAnDava jAta bahutara bhEda chOdyam’ but the swaras were developed in the first speed only here and in the melkalam for the chitteswara, which is unusual. This beautiful composition is one of the few compositions of Dikshitar  with jatis in the chitteswara.
While one wondered what Krishna would take up next, he started singing a tana in kharaharapriya, with no ragalapana, which was again unexpected. While Subhalakshmi looked at him questioningly to ask if she should play the raga, the vocalist suddenly started to sing Sri Tyagaraja’s ‘Chakkani rAjamArgamu yunDaga’ hurriedly with kalpana swaras for the pallavi part.
Next came an array of ragas alternatively by the vocalist and the violinist. While Subhalakshmi played Shankarabharana, Begade and Kambhoji, Krishna sang Janaranjani, Poorvi Kalyani and Yamuna Kalyani lading onto Vyasarayaru’s  popular devaranama ‘Krishna nee bEgane bAro’, elaborating the sahity of the line ‘JagadOddhAraka  namma uDupi Sree Krishna.’