What made Trichur Brothers’ concert experiential?

Trichur Brothers during their performance at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s 2023 Margazhi festival.
| Photo Credit: Courtesy: BVB

There were moments in the concert when the vocalists and audience sang together and clapped for each other

The Trichur Brothers employed three prudent ideas that added to the experiential value of their concert at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, endearing the audience even more towards the last lap of the 140 minutes. A bhajan Srikrishna and his younger sibling Ramkumar delivered after the main suite featured introductory sketches with just the notes of Bihag, which the listeners intoned back on a warm call from the singers. More impressively, the duo earlier came up with a detailed niraval along the centrepiece, and set the stage for the tani avartanam. Their skill in the swaraprastara was anyway made clear in the preceding sub-main package, which skipped the niraval altogether.

This three-pronged strategy, so to speak, had an uncluttering effect. Not to forget the refreshing assistance from teenaged violinist V.S.P. Gayathri Sivani. The siblings’ father, Trichur R. Mohan, supplemented on the mridangam with a subdued approach, as did Nerkunram S. Sankar on the ganjira. Together, the five converged best in ‘Sujana jeevana’ (Khamas, Tyagaraja) just ahead of the focal ragam-tanam-keertanam in Hemavathi. It was an hour’s package.

The alapana took no time in revealing the identity of the melody, 58th in the Melakarta system. Starting with Srikrishna’s emphasis on rounded oscillations, the brothers built it up through long rallies in the middle and upper registers. The pace increased, but never sounded animated. Gayathri brought out the essence of Hemavathi in her solo response of five minutes, which was only one-third of the vocalists’ alapana span.

Srikrishna and Ramkumar Mohan
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy: BVB

The tanam opened to short phrases and proceeded to a phase where both vocalists sang together. This, however brief, was somewhat cacophonic. The grand winding-up arcs weren’t attempted. ‘Shri kantimatim’ was a bit brisk for its slot, yet neatly delivered. The Dikshitar kriti took a grand pause at ‘Shukashounakadi’, churning up a reposeful niraval.

Into the tani avartanam, Srikrishna prompted the gathering to join in by tapping for the two-kalai Adi tala. Mohan and Sankar explored a bit of the tisra-nadai prospects in the 16-beat cycle before co-travelling from their meeting point.

The charm of the Carnatic swara patterns was unveiled around the first-half piece in Varali. Stringing together korvais and culminating in a pleasing kanakku, the notes came as a beautiful ornamentation to ‘Ka va va’. Interspersing glides with frills, the kriti was rendered closer to the Semmangudi style — the brothers have had their chief mentor in late P.S. Narayanaswamy, who learned from Srinivasa Iyer. This song was preceded by another from Papanasam Sivan: ‘Maaramanan’ in Hindolam.

The concert began with the ‘Chalamela’ varnam in Sankarabharanam. The short alapana was plain, suiting the aesthetics of Swati Tirunal’s Ata-tala composition that has a penchant for sounding western in parts. As if with a cascading effect, the subsequent Nattai bore a slant towards the Hindustani Jog. ‘Sivatraya mahaganapatim’ gave way to kalpanaswara, giving the violinist her first chance to be noticed.

The post-tani section featured ‘Narayana te’ and ‘Harivarasanam’. The latter in Madhyamavati was an apt swansong, also because it was the Mandalam pilgrimage time at Sabarimala.