Bharath Narayan – Kutcheri Review

Bharath Narayan started his recital for Mudhra with the Kambhoji Ata tala varnam ‘Sarasijanabha’. A good grip over layam was observed when he navigated the chiseled charanam and chittaswarams of this piece. This was followed by ‘Namami Vighna Vinayaka’ of CS Krishnaswamy Ayya in Hamsadhwani. The exchanges between Bharath and R.Raghul on the violin were sharp and firm when fast swaras were sung at ‘Kumara Sodara’.

Bharath Narayan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement – The Hindu

The sub-main that Bharath chose was Thyagaraja’s ‘Paraloka Sadhaname’ in Purvikalyani. The raga alapana was creatively constructed by minimizing certain oft-heard phrases. The neraval and kalpanaswarams at ‘tanayadi baandhavula’ were brisk. Raghul was able to match Bharath’s speedy brigas by executing the swaras with precision.

‘Paridanamichite’ in Bilahari was sung as a filler before proceeding on to the main piece in Thodi. At this point, fitting in a chowka kaala kriti instead of a medium-paced one could have added some variety to the performance.

A fairly exhaustive delineation of Thodi was presented by Bharath wherein the rishabham to daivatam section of the madhya sthayi was explored in detail. Long-drawn phrases in Thodi were handled well by Raghul during the alapana. The main kriti of the evening was “Gati Neevani” from Thyagaraja’s Lalgudi Pancharatnam. This kriti was a suitable choice to demonstrate the musician’s potential.   

Throughout the recital, a fine balance was struck between the essential phrases and the inventive aspects when exploring manodharma. Kishore Ramesh on the mridangam exhibited musical awareness while providing percussion support during kritis. Both Kishore and Kottayam Rohith Prasad on the ghatam complemented the other artistes admirably during the kalpanaswaram sections. 

(The article was originally published in The Hindu on December 19, 2022)