Chetulara Srngaramu- Dr. M Balamuralikrishna-M Chandrasekaran-Umayalpuram K Sivaraman (SKGS- 1977)

Chetulara Srngaramu- Bhairavi, Adi (2 kalai), Thyagaraja Live at the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (1977) vocal: Dr. M Balamuralikrishna violin: Dr. M Chandrasekaran mridangam: Dr. Umayalpuram K Sivaraman A rare Thyagaraja krithi rendered by BMK from the late 70s. We don’t hear BMK render Bhairavi very much, but when we do, we pay rapt attention. Here he is giving an erudite Bhairavi alapana. He does not want to show off by hitting the highest notes; instead he brings out the beauty of each note like for example differentiating between the two dhaivatas. We can feel the ragam’s tenderness throughout. MC in his response produces Arabian taans which changes the name from Bhairavi to Arabiabhairavi but still maintains the Anandam. Chetulara Sringaramu is usually rendered as an Aradhana song as it is meant to be performed as Aradhana. It is as if we are the disciples of Thyagaraja witnessing him bedecking his Lord Sri Rama. The diction, the poetry and the visualization of the Aradhana are delightful. He elicits marvelous sangatis in the pallavi line ‘SRngAramu jEsi jUtunu’ which sound so new each time, yet hold the same emotional appeal and meaning, “I shall behold You bedecked.” Some of them are slow like a river and others are fast like a roller coaster. Listen to how he plays around with the notes by emphasizing some in one sangati and rest of the notes in other sangatis. I love how he and UKS makes ‘jEsi’ into three ta-thI-ki-na-dhoms before proceeding to ‘jUtunu’. And the new sangatis keep coming for ‘sri rAma’ and later the full Pallavi line. During the anupallavi, he focuses on ‘sEtu bandhana sura pati’ and produces more striking sangatis especially towards the end where he begins with the rishabha before transitioning to ‘sarasI-ruha bhav(A)dulu pogaDa nA’. Not satisfied with what he’s done, he repeats the anupallavi line but this time focuses on ‘sarasI-ruha bhav(A)dulu pogaDa nA’ by repeating it twice. He seems to be speaking from experience as he sings the anupallavi like he was portraying Narada in Bhakta Prahalada! Usually with a long song like this, we wish he sang all the charanams which number three in total. Instead he sings the last charanam in a tempting manner that we can’t resent him for eschewing the previous two. And he doesn’t speed up the tempo. The sangatis keep coming especially during ‘Ani-mutyAla koNDe vEsi’ and ‘hausuga parimaLa gandhamu pUsi’ and I love how he pronounces ‘hausuga parimaLa’. For the former word, I read it is derived from the Arabic word ‘hawas’ meaning lust; here it indicates ‘SRngAram’. The ending of the charanam possesses a charm that can be reverberated in one’s body. Here Thyagaraja says ‘while Saraswathi is fanning You, I shall behold You having bedecked You with my own hands’ with the emphasis on ‘pogada nA’. With these last lines, we become blessed for observing such a massive Aradhana lasting for more than 11 minutes without any deviation! After the immense Aradhana is over, the swaraprastara commences where he ends on panchama. The intertwining of swara, laya and raga is clearly apparent and pleasant to our ears. The trio are in complete command of the complex mathematical combinations but don’t lose sight of encouraging and uplifting each other as well as the audience. I loved how they took turns and how they added the third kalpanaswaram of Viriboni. Although we want them to go for 30 mins more, they wrap up the swaraprastara within 14 mins with a quick, yet intelligent kalpanaswara. UKS plays a short, yet superlative thani on his kappi mridangam (48:47). He doesn’t show off too much, but displays his mastery over the instrument. He experiments with the nam and thim where you can softy hear the bass side and BMK complements him with some "Pa Da Ni Sa" humming. Without wasting time, he proceeds to his trademark sollukattus and then jumps to the farans without doing much gathibhedam. The clarity of his strokes is remarkable on a kappi whether they are slow or fast, yet he maintains the kalapramana. The mohara and korvai are his usual standard ones, but he brings a freshness every time much to our delight and he ends it with style. I hope this was to your satisfaction. Let's listen to this rare krithi which allows us to visualize Thyagaraja's Sri Rama Aradhana and share it with the world to enjoy. And here's the full concert:    • Dr. M Balamuralikrishna-M Chandrasekaran-U...