Vijay Siva presented a concert that celebrated the grammar of music

Vijay Siva is known for following the D.K. Pattamal and D.K. Jayaraman style of singing, and this concert was no exception.

The concert was a beautiful blend of bhava-laden sancharas with brisk singing at the neraval and kalpanaswaras, the former merging well with the gamaka-laden Dikshitar kritis.

Vijay Siva began the concert with a composition in Nattai ‘Jaya jaya swamin’, followed by Tyagaraja’s ‘Sugunamule’ in Chakravakam, with a brisk niraval and kalpanaswaras at ‘Srinayaka’ in the charanam segment. This was followed by a brief alapana of Sree raga commencing on the tara shadja, essaying the grandeur of the raga in five minutes.

The emphasis on the classic phrase ‘Pa ma ri ga ri sa’ was perceptible throughout the raga essay. ‘Sree varalakshmi’, a popular Dikshitar kriti was chosen with kalpanaswaras at ‘Bahavana bedachature’. Next came the Varali raga alapana, a brief but impressive sketch, followed by the composition ‘Nee vandidaivamugana nannu’ in Adi tala with another brisk niraval in the charanam line.

Vijay Siva brought out the beauty and grandeur of Karaharapriya through his bhava-rich rendition.
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

‘Saragunga palimpa samayamu’ in two kalai Adi tala, a composition by Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar in Kedaragowla, followed. This paved the way for a majestic Karaharapriya. The alapana was complete with a mixture of briga-and-bhava-laden phrases in all the octaves, a small glimpse of swarabedham to Kurinji in the madhyasthayi.

In ‘Pakkala nilabadi’ in Misra Chapu, a popular composition by Tyagaraja, the niraval in ‘Manasuna’ in the charanam, was taken up in detail in all three octaves.

A shloka in Ragamalika was rendered in praise of Lord Nataraja of Chidambaram, followed by a lighter piece on Muruga. ‘Thullu matha vetkai’, a Thiruppuzagh in Hamsanandi was the concluding piece.

Vijay Siva was ably accompanied by Sanjeev Venkataramanan on the violin and Manoj Siva on the mridangam.

The dialogue between the mridangam and kanjira (S. Sunil Kumar) during the tani avartanam was exemplary.