Fitting tribute by Krishna Ramarathinam

A prominent vocalist apart, Sathur A.G. Subramaniam was a much-loved guru. A purist to the core, he was known for his raga alapanas and pallavi elaborations marked by lakshya and lakshana. When Chennai-based sabha Kedaram recently organised a concert in his honour, what better choice for singer than his grandson, Krishna Ramarathinam?

The concert, replete with Tyagaraja’s compositions, began with ‘Sri Ganapatini’ (Sourashtram) from the poet’s opera Prahlada Bhakthi Vijayam. It was followed with a virutham, ‘Ramabrahmakya viprendra’, in Gowri Manohari, as a prelude to ‘Guruleka etuvanti’ (Khanda Chapu) with niraval at ‘Thathva bodhana’.

Krishna, an IT professional from Sydney, trained initially under M.S. Ramanathan. He later learnt from V. Subramaniam, A.S. Murali, M. Chandrasekaran and, of course, his aunts, the Sathur Sisters.

Extensive alapana

His next piece was the Chenju Kamboji kriti, ‘Vararagalaya,’ popularised by GNB, who had composed a lovely chittaswaram for the piece. Krishna’s next was ‘Intha Sowkhyamanine’ in raga Kapi with swaras at ‘Swararagalaya.’ He rendered an extensive alapana, exploring almost all the charming nuances of the raga.

On the violin, his wife Mahathi Balajee, a corporate risk manager in Sydney, responded with a lovely elucidation. Having had her initial training under her grandmother Padma Veeraraghavan (disciple of KVN), she learnt violin under S.D. Sridhar and H.N. Bhaskar.

This was followed by ‘Lekana ninnu’ (Asaveri).

The centrepiece of the concert was ‘Manasu swadheenamaina’ in Sankarabharanam. The alapanas by the couple were expansive. Niraval and swaras were at ‘Rajarajesa niranjana.’ The thani by Sumukha Jagadeesh in misra chapu, especially the tisra nadai, was impressive. Sumukha, also from Sydney, had his initial training under Suthanthiraraj. He is currently undergoing advanced training under Melakkaveri Balaji.

Krishna Ramarathinam concluded his two-hour recital with ‘Shobhane’ (Pantuvarali), Tyagaraja’s Utsava Sampradaya kriti.

The Chennai-based author writes on music and culture.