Samajam music festival ends on a high with Vignesh Eswar’s versatile concert

It was a grand finale for the rasikas on the 74th annual music and arts festival at Sri Sathguru Sangeetha Samajam. 

They witnessed variety and versatility in Vignesh Eswar’s vocal concert with Sai Rakshit on the Violin, Sumesh Narayanan on the Mridangam and Tiruchi Krishnaswamy on the Ghatam.

Vignesh commenced his concert with “devaamrutavarshani raga kriti of Saint Thiagaraja, “evarani nirnayincirira,“ in praise of Lord Rama, exploring the essence of divinity (Para Brahman).

His next rendition “rara mayintidaka’ in asaveri by Thiagaraja, depicted how Prahlada invited Lord Hari to come to his house. He brought out the sombre and compassionate (karuna) mood of the raga in a fine manner.

A brief alapana followed “marivere gati evaramma” in Anandabhairavi by Shyama Shastri, asking for refuge to Mother Meenakshi, brought out the karunya (compassion) and vatsalya (parental love) through detailed exploration particularly through the niraval “sada nammithi namithi”.

His next rendition, Gopalakrishna Bharati’s “enneramum undan”(Nandanar Charitram, desiring to be in the sanctum of the Lord at Chidambaram) on Lord Nataraja in devaghandari, was best sung at a leisurely pace with correct musical elements, technical precision and emotional expression.

He then went on to render, “amba paradevate” by Krishnaswami Ayya in rudrapriya, with attractive chittaswaras. The main raga ‘Khamas”, for H.N. Muthiah Bhagavathar’s “mate malayadvaja pandya samjate“ witnessed different dimension, enticing and graceful of presentation and showed his authority.

The violinist Sai Rakshit helped to evoke the intended aesthetic flavour and sustained the sruti (pitch) and filled the sonic space. The tani that followed, witnessed sparkling display of mridangam by Sumesh and ghatam by Krishnaswamy, showcasing technical skill and creativity within the concert’s main piece.

He concluded with the Dikshidar’s, Mangala Kriti (benedictory piece) Kamalamba.

Vignesh’s delivery of all the songs and sangathis were unique and in an authoritative way that the rasikas appreciated.