An enjoyable line up of kritis by Chinmaya Sisters

Uma and Radhika, Chinamaya Sisters, rendering Carnatic vocal with M.R. Gopinath on violin, Neyveli Skandasubramaniam on Mrudangam, and N.Sundar on Morsing at the 33rd Annual music, Dance and Drama festival of Hamsadhwani, March 2023.
| Photo Credit: RAGHUNATHAN SR

Chinmaya Sisters, Uma and Radhika, performed a vocal duet at Hamsadhwani’s 33rd annual festival dedicated to founder R. Ramachandran’s birth centenary.

The sisters impressed with their judicious choice of ragas and kritis. They were careful enough not to overstep the grammar of classical music and confined their creativity to highlight the intrinsic beauty of the ragas and the profundity of the compositions.

They chose two ragas for detailing — Charukesi and Kalyani. Radhika delineated raga Charukesi with deft phrases. Uma joined her in the kriti rendition.

The duo’s choice was Tyagaraja’s ‘Adamodi galade.’ It was followed by swara exchanges and the sisters explored the various facets of the raga.

The main raga was Kalyani. The exposition was taken up by Uma, who developed the raga taking ample time to highlight its several features. The duo chose yet another Tyagaraja kriti, ‘Ethavunara.’ The niraval and swara sections were at the usual ‘Seetha gauri’. This segment too provided the siblings an opportunity to explore the range and depth of Kalyani. The swara sallies, in slow and fast tempos, moved up with shadjam as the landing note weaving a fine matrix of swaras.

Senior violinist M.R. Gopinath impressed with his responses. His exposition of Charukesi and Kalyani carried memorable phrases that focussed on the richness of the ragas.

Neyveli Skandasubramaniam displayed his expertise by showcasing a variety of rhythmic patterns to suit the tenor of the kritis and their rendition. So was N. Sundar on the morsing. But at certain junctures, the instrument sounded too sharp and loud. However, a fine blend of string and percussion came through in the tani avartanam.

In addition to the two main ragas and kritis, Chinmaya sisters also presented Patnam Subramanya Iyer’s ‘Valachi’, the Navaragamalika varnam, Swati Tirunal’s ‘Deva deva’ in Mayamalavagowla with swara adjunct at ‘Jaatharoopa nipa chela’, Pallavi Sesha Iyer’s ‘Palimpa ravedelara’ in Arabhi with a lively chittaswaram, Oothukadu Venkatasubbaiyer’s ‘Kaneere kanjamalar kannan’ in Khamas, and ‘Chinna nadena’ in Kalanidhi by Tyagaraja.

The concluding session had Bharatiyar’s ‘Bharata desam endru’ in ragamalika (Mohanam, Shanmukhapriya, Hamsanandi, Hindolam and Kapi) and the popular Dhanashree thillana by Swati Tirunal.