B. Kanan is performing for Bharat Kalachar in the December 2022 season. | Photo credit: Syamakrishnan
For B. Kanan’s concert Bharat Kalachar Lesser heard and classic ragas are featured. During the ragam tanam pallavi suite in raga Sachitra, he played an amazing tanam, an integral part of veena playing. Apparently, the old Vaneks used to perform Tanam not only during the RTP but also after the raga alapanas. Kanan benefited Tanam a lot. It attracted attention not only because the RTP suite was set to Sacharita, the less-heard 67th Melakarata raga, but also for the way the raga’s aesthetics were conveyed through different strings and playing techniques.
Apart from Tanam, Kanan’s raag clarity was also noteworthy. Violinist Bombay V. Anand’s talent for bringing out the beauty of the raga during his essay was equally impressive.
Kannan’s playing of the Sucharitra Pallavi ‘Chandrasekharam Bhajaham Satguram Shivam Kamakoti Peeta Visam Ansam’ (Adi Tala) was clean and nuanced though his energy seemed to flash at times.
Percussionist Melkavery K. Balaji (mridingam), S. Karthik (ghatam) and N. Sundar (tabla and moharsingh) came to an enthusiastic Tani. Another important offering by Kannan was Samhandramadhimam and the composition chosen was Muthswami Dikshatra’s ‘Pamarajana Palini’ in praise of the goddess at the Brihadeshwara temple in Thanjavur.
Kannan started his concert with ‘Prannamamiham Sri Gowri Sutham’ (Gola, Mysore Vasudevachar). He embellished it with a few rounds of Kalpanaswaras which made a good warm-up. The other pieces that followed – ‘Sobelu Saptswara’ (Jagan Mohini, Thyagaraja) and ‘Janani Nannuveena’ (Ratigula, Subraya Sastri) – piqued the interest of the audience. He concluded with ‘Harivarasanam’, a popular song among Sabarimala devotees.
