In a unique yet wonderful show, a mikeless concert mesmerised the residents of Malleshwaram last week. Performed by great artistes like Veena Vidwan Shankar Raman accompanied by Vidwan Ganakalashree C Cheluvaraj on the Mrudanga, the entire show needed no introduction to start with. Disciple of Kalaimamani Rajeshwari Padmanabhan, Shankar Raman enchanted the crowd right from the first note.
“The concept of a mikeless concert is not new, but it had seen a decline in popularity when compared to the yesteryear. In this context, we at Ananya Sabhangana were fortunate to revive such a venture. The result was the calm and serene ambience with ‘Nirmalasangeetha’ or soft soulful music, which was undistorted by any mike or amplifier problems.”
The concert started with chaste music adhering to the great Carnatic veena tradition with starting phrases of 'raga' describing volumes about its identity, which is truly the hallmark of a Vidwan. During the entire concert a steady pace was maintained, starting with a ‘varnam’ in 'raga' Valachi- aditala. Many popular Krithis like Mahaganapathim- Nata, RamanipaiThanaku- Kedaram, Sarasasamadaana- Kapinarayini were also rendered on the occasion.  The main item of the evening was Charukeshi the alapane, which was replete with Raga Bhava. No Veena concert should conclude without a Thana, which is the sweetest when rendered on this instrument. Doing justice to this, Shankar Raman rendered a brisk thana after which he went on to play the Krithi  - Ada modigalada of Saint Tyagaraja complete with Neraval, Swarakalpana and 'korapu'. Later, he concluded his concert with YennaThavamsaideno - Kapi, Venkataachalanilayam- SindhuBhairavi and Tillana in Revathy.