Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

An entertainer, certainly

Rising talent Ramakrishnan Murthy.

Good music, unjustifiable speed marked the vocal concert of Ramakrishnan Murthy conducted by Kalasagaram last week. This always happens when a kid tries to do the job of an expert without measuring the magnitude of such a massive job. In any field of art, it takes time to grow and if the attempt is more than possible or needed, the artist may end up as an entertainer and not a performer. This is what happened on the occasion.

Murthy is just 18 years old. The reason was that he tried to do too much in too short a time; it may eventually lead to an isolation of sorts.

The audience being lay, applaud such a ploy and may mislead the artist in his own assessment. More importantly, Murthy must devote his attention to voice culture. As it is, it refuses to register at adhara shadjam, lacking depth holistically. It must be accepted that Murthy’s talent is admirable for his age, but he should shed his overconfidence and be more composed, patient and relaxed. Madhhyamakala krithis like B uvinidasudane (S iranjani) or P aridanamichchithe (B ilahari), have a designed and set kalaparamanam (time measure); exceeding that will destroy the melody as well as the lyric. Such exercises are worth appreciating but not worth listening.

That he can yet resort to pleasing tempo in terms of speed was evident in his rendering of the krithi, Khirasgara Shayana, in Devagandhari, all because these songs refuse to yield to speedy rendition. He could have chosen more such songs, particularly those of Dikshithar or Shyama Sastri. It is often found that contemporary singers, in their eagerness to impress, choose uncommon raga and songs without getting into communication with the audience. Ghana ragas, like Thodi, Kalyani, Shankarabharanam, Khraharapriya, etc. have enormous scope in development and melody.

Murthy’s concept of alapana is mature but it is imbalanced in the sense the modules are inconsistent and more often excessive. While it pleases the common listener, it is a little away from conventional norms; even so his neraval and swarakalpana.

However, from the common listener’s point of view it was an excellent concert. Murthy is still very young and with time and the corners rounded off, he will prove an eminent artist.

Thyagaraju on the violin was good in his accompaniment. Although still young, he has been adequately exposed to music and has accompanied many of the local artists. What he perhaps needs is his improvement in playing the faster phrases, particularly in the alapana. Kappa Srinivasa Rao was on the mridangam and the team work, all in all, was pleasing.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail