CHICAGO: Chicago Academy of Indian Fine Arts (CAIFA) hosted a concert by internationally renowned Carnatic vocalist and national award winning playback singer P. Unnikrishnan on Sunday September 14 at the Schaumburg Prairie Centre for the Arts, in Schaumburg (a northwest suburb of Chicago) to benefit the American Cancer Society.
Unnikrishnan was accompanied by H.N Bhaskar on violin and Naiveli Narayanan on mridangam. He began with a set composition (varnam) “Sarasuda” composed by Kotthavasal Venkatrama Iyer in ragam Saveri in two tempos. He then rendered “Sarasiruhasana priye” in Natam with brisk imaginative improvisation of musical notes (solfeggio or kalpana svara), followed by the Tamil “Sabhapatiki” in Abhogi.
In his pleasant voice, he explored the underlying feeling (bhaavam) of ragam Vachaspathi in Tyagaraja’s “Kantha Judumi,” where the melodic improvisations (sangati) on specific musical phrases resounded with ease and perfection. His main piece, Papanasham Sivan’s “Karunakarane Sivasankarane” in Kiravani in slow tempo completely swayed the audience, for he brought out the compassion of Lord Shiva with effective soul-stirring musical phrases.
The detailed aalapanam (non-rhythmic prelude) emphasizing the life-giving notes (jiva svara) of the ragam with brilliant briga (where the notes span fractional units of time) sangatis traversed both higher and lower octaves effortlessly.
The kalpana svaras that followed scaled very high and deep with many intricate cascades of note patterns that brought out the different flavors of Kiravani, adding much variety and charm. Accompanists Bhaskar and Narayan exhibited equal proficiency on their respective instruments making for a wonderful team.
The latter part of the concert mostly consisted of devotional songs from different Indian languages. These included a Tamil composition in ragam Sama, Sanskrit “Pavana Guru” by Lalita Dasar in Hamsanandi, Tamil “Alai Payude” in Kaanada, “Ramamantrava Japiso” by Purandaradasa, a garland of ragas (ragamalika) “Sri Chakraraja Simhasaneshwari” composed by Sri Agastyar, and Narayana Tirtha’s “Govardhana Giridhara” in Darbari Kaanada.
Unnikrishnan concluded by transporting the audience into a world of spiritual ecstasy with the beautiful “Pibare Rama Rasam” of Sadasiva Brahmendra.
Dr Jaishree Prasad
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