Gurucharan’s ‘Akhilam Madhuram’ was more a blend of songs and ragas

A tribute concert titled ‘Akhilam Madhuram’ was organised by Madhuradhwani as part of the 70th birth anniversary celebrations of well-known music connoisseur Vidya Subramanian. It was presented by Sikkil Gurucharan with Anil Srinivasan on the piano and B.S. Purushothaman on the kanjira.

Gurucharan began his concert with ‘Adharam madhuram vadanam madhuram’ from ‘Madhurashtakam’, composed by Vallabhacharya. It was a different experience to hear these Sanskrit verses being sung to the accompaniment of gentle piano notes.

Gurucharan next sang the Tamil composition, ‘Chinnanchiru penn pole’ in Sindhubhairavi, popularised by Sirkazhi Govindarajan. It describes the composer Ulundurpettai Shanmugasundaram’s experience of seeing Durga in a little girl. Matching the song’s mood, Anil’s playing was vibrant, sometimes even striking a dominant note.

Notes on Devi

Yet another song on Devi was ‘Neeye gati Eswari’ in Charukesi raga, from the film Annaiyin Aanai, sung originally by P. Leela. Charukesi carries an inherent solemnity, and both Gurucharan and Anil were able to highlight it. Surprisingly, the song had a few rounds of swarakalpana.

Annamacharya’s ‘Ksheerabdhi kanyakaku’ in Kurinji came next. It was then time for some raga essay and Anil began with the notes of Saramati and Gurucharan followed it up with an alapana. This culminated in a ragamalika tanam — Vachaspati, Mohanam, Kapi and Navarasakanada, which segued into ‘Naanilaththil pala piravi eduththu,’ the anupallavi line in the kriti ‘Nanoru vilayaattu bommaiya’ in Navarasakanada by Papanasam Sivan. B.S. Purushothaman, who was waiting for an opportunity to make his presence felt, played a soft and sober tani avartanam.

Gurucharan picked Bharatiyar’s ‘Nimirntha nannadai’ and ‘Nenjukku neediyum’ in Sindhubhairavi. The concluding piece was Lalgudi Jayaraman’s thillana in Maund.

The concert, not structured in the traditional format, was more a medley of songs and ragas. It’s a format that Sikkil and Anil have long made their own. As musicians experiment with new ways of presentating music, listeners need to develop an open mind to accept such interesting departures.

The Chennai-based author writes on music and culture.