Ramakrishnan Murthy’s well-balanced music

Ramakrishnan Murthy impressed with his uniform voice output and gentle handling of kritis

Ramakrishnan Murthy’s concert was steady and measured, riding strongly on his endearing voice. It was a busy concert with as many as nine songs and several languages. ‘Rama neepai’ (Kedaram, Tyagaraja) acted as a good anchor at the start with some predictable second speed swaras. Purandaradasa’s ‘Ramanama payasake’ in Anandabhairavi, Rupakam sailed without making an impact. Ramakrishnan next sang a poignant Lalitha alapana, with many rakti phrases, including in the upper octaves. R. K. Shriramkumar penned his essay equally melodiously.

Syama Sastri’s ‘Nannu brovu lalitha’ in viloma chapu structure has its own charm, gait and muscle that one just needs to render it competently, without excessive demonstration of manodharma. Ramakrishnan revelled in that task for a delightful outcome. Good enunciation of words and syllables is also his forte. The niraval at ‘Uma sri Meenakshi’ saw Shriramkumar employ soothing phrases that brought out the lure of the raga.