Seamless flow of notes at Shashank’s flute recital

Shashank performing with Srikanth Venkataraman (violin), V.V. Ramana Murthy (mridangam) and Giridhar Udupa (ghatam) at Narada Gana Sabha’s Margazhi festival, 2022, in Chennai
| Photo Credit: VELANKANNI RAJ B

Flautist Shashank brings to his performances his training in the Carnatic idiom and his exposure to international genres.

During his concert at Narada Gana Sabha, Shashank came up with exciting and colourful portraits of Kumudakriya and Vagadeeswari.

Assisting Shashank on this journey were Srikanth Venkataraman (violin), V.V. Ramana Murthy (mridangam) and Giridhar Udupa (ghatam).

Shashank gave Kumudakriya a languid start with the longer flute. He then built up the raga edifice, alternatively using the shorter and longer flutes. He presented Muthuswami Dikshitar’s masterpiece ‘Ardhanareeswaram’ in the raga. The kalpanaswaras came as an icing on the well-structured raga essay.

Next came ‘Paramatmudu’ by Tyagaraja in Vagadeeshwari. The alapana portions on the longer flute added a different dimension to the phrases, especially the ones in the lower sthayi. Shashank began ‘Paramatmudu’ in a precise kalapramanam, and on the anupallavi to save time. The final kalpanaswara suite for this kriti anchored on the upper shadja and the lower gandhara effectively.

Shashank began the recital with ‘Evarura ninnuvina’ (Mohanam, Tyagaraja). The line up also included ‘Annapoorne’ (Sama, Muthuswami Dikshitar) and ‘Sri chakraraja simhasaneshwari’ (Ragamalika).