The word passion doesn’t seem enough to describe Abhishek Raghuram’s relentless pursuit of musical excellence. Abhishek began with a virutham ‘Naanadhedhu neeyadhedhu’ extolling Rama nama in Sahana as a prelude to the varnam ‘Karunimpa’ by Tiruvotriyur Tyagayyar. Tyagaraja’s ‘Endundi vedalithivo’ in Misra Chapu and the swara passages at the pallavi opening provided the full spectrum of the raga. Abhishek’s Varali …
Leading artistes enthralled music aficionados at the 11th National Music Festival in Palakkad. ‘Vanajakshi’, a varnam in Kalyani, and Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s ‘Sri Maha Ganapathi ravathumam’ in Gowla, which were the opening pieces, were suffixed with fine swaras. The niraval and the imaginative manodharma swaras in the Tyagaraja kriti ‘Dasarathe’ were the best part of the recital. Niraval and well-conceived swaras …