A well-curated concert by a team of young musicians

Madhuradhwani presented three young, talented and spirited musicians — vocalist Gokul Namagiripettai, violinist Shreya Ananth and mridangist Pranav Tirumalai — for a Sunday morning concert. Gokul, great grandson of the Nagaswaram maestro Namagiripettai Krishnan, is endowed with a rich voice that traverses the three octaves without a hitch.

Having had his initial training under Manakkal Rangarajan and Kadayanallur Venkataraman, he is presently being groomed by Rohit Chandrasekhar.

Among the kritis rendered, mention must be made of Tyagaraja’s ‘Nannu palimpa’ in Mohanam for its graceful raga alapana with the niraval and swaras at ‘Karamuna sara’. His rendering of Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Unai allaal vere gati illai’ after a Kalyani alapana had a poignant touch. He also enjoyably handled Syama Sastri’s ‘Himachala tanaya’ which had a wholesome Ananda Bhairavi alapana.

Gokul Namagiripettai at Madhuradhwani’s Margazhi utsavam 2025.
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Special Arrangement

Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Siddhi vinayakam anisham’ in raga Chamaram set to Rupakam with swaras at pallavi gave the concert a brisk opening. Gokul showcased how a good rendering of the well-structured Swati Tirunal kriti ‘Gopalaka pahimam anisham’ in raga Revagupti, Mishra Chapu tala, with a unique jatiswaram, could calm the mind. The singer concluded the concert with Thanjavur Sankara Iyer’s ‘Manadhirkugandhathu murugan rupam’ in Sindhu Bhairavi.

Shreya Ananth, daughter and disciple of senior violinist B. Ananthakrishnan, embellished the concert with her splendid accompaniment. Her alapana and swara responses in Mohanam, Kalyani and Ananda Bhairavi were of a high quality. On the mridangam was the ever-alert Pranav Tirumalai from the Bay area in the U.S. A disciple of Trichur Narendran, Pranav has imbibed his master’s style; this added to the appeal of the concert. He offered a lovely thani with many melkala phrases.