An authentic performance

Veena artiste Geetha Krishnamurthy in her performance for Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha stuck to the parampariya guidelines. And as always, her concert was marked by authenticity. Her skills, acquired from her tutor late Chitti Babu, and her tutelage under vocalist Nedanuri Krishnamurthy and Veena Venkatraman have been keeping her in good stead, revealing her musical heritage.With commendable classical thrust she brought out the contours of Pantuvarali (Apparama Bhakti) in Rupakam of Thyagaraja. Her skill in handling the kriti with a clear perception was evident and the swara passages at Apparama Bhakti around swaras Paa-Pa-Ma-Ga-Ri-Ree were devoid of excessive rhythmic intricacies. When she explored Keeravani Raga Alapana (Devi Neeyae Thunai) of Papanasam Sivan with Thanam, and innate cautiousness for bringing out the best, there was neither too much of harsh Meetu  nor an abundant interference, by the jingle of the Thala strings.Earlier, her rendition of Raga Sudhdhadanyasi (Narayana Ninnu) of Purandarasa was rendered heartwarmingly well, with a few bars of swaras.The dictum that listening to good instrumental does have a magical effect on the mind, was proved when she took up Raga Sankarabaranam (Enthuku Bethala) of Thyagaraja and embellished it with fine touches. Both the Ragas Keeravani and Sankarabaranam  moved on well set tracks, carrying a heavy burden. She was very careful not to fall into a monotonous groove by turning her attention to ‘beat techniques’ so that melody was not sacrificed at the cost of rhythm. The selection of Madhyama Kala kritis certainly contributed to the briskness, when she played with self assurance.At the end of the day, I felt that it was a good performance with a restrained display of virtuosity. Yet it was clear that in order to retain the interest of rasikas, this capable artiste, had to introduce new dimensions based on traditional values and ethos, revealing a mellifluous display, for which her Guru Chitti Babu is known for.On Mridangam, Tirupati Sudhakar was ebullient with his rhythmic support and H Sivaramakrishnan’s Ghatam was of a good order.