Age indeed shall not wither him. Sangeetha Kalanidhi Vidwan Sri R. K. Srikantan, 84 years, exemplified hallowed traditions of carnatic music in his June 20th concert in Andover. Experience and mastery shone through. One remembered his brilliant and moving concert at the Cleveland Aradhana earlier this year. Our children, and indeed we ourselves, need no better illustration of the glorious musical ideals that abound in our tradition and of the dedication and strength of will of the old school of practitioners like Sri Srikantan.

Mandaara, New England Kannada Koota, organized the concert. Sri Srikantan was provided vocal support by his son and disciple, Sangeetha Kala Praveena Rudrapatnam S. Ramakanth. Sri Ramakanth’s rich and flexible voice added mettle to many ragam delineations, especially in the higher octaves. The father and son duo had a fantastic synergetic effect on the audience.

Smt. Tara Bangalore’s exemplary violin accompaniment was a joy. It is a great fortune to have an artist and teacher of her caliber in our midst. Sri Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan on the mridangam provided excellent support. His short and brisk Thani was very befitting of the occasion.

The Kedaragowla varnam, Sami Dayajuda, one of my favorites, was followed by a brisk krithi ‘Siddhivinayakam’ in Raga Shanmukhapriya by Muthuswami Dikshitar. Then came a neat exposition of the rarely heard raga Mandari with the rendition of ‘Ninnu Cheppakaranamemi’ composed by Patnam Subramanya Iyer. The delicate sancharas of the raga were well portrayed. Brahmanda Valaye composed by the Mysore Maharaja in raga Maand followed by a wonderful delineation of Begada raga for the kriti ‘Nadopasana’of Thyagaraja.

Sri Srikantan’s bhava filled niraval on the line ‘Kala Roopini Kaathyayaneem’ of the Suddha Saveri kriti Lalithambikam was one of the many highlights of the evening. Another was the majestic Kamboji alapana followed by ‘Maa Janaki’. The niraval and swaraprasthara at ‘Vanimatalaku’ were very commendable. The thukkadas featuring Devarnamas were well received. Kandu Dhanyanade in Behag would have done Ariyakudi proud.

In recent times, the carnatic music world has lost such stalwarts as Semmangudi and KVN. Sri. Srikantan’s presence and his awe-inspiring concert performance bring much solace. May he live long and provide us with wonderful musical treats for many more years.

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