Recorded at Darbar Festival 2009

Musicians
Ganesh Rajagopalan (violin)
Kumaresh Rajagopalan (violin)
Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam)
RN Prakash (ghatam)

Ragas performed :
Raga Darbar, Composition by Saint Thyagaraja
Ragapravaham (instrumental composition) in Raag Gambheera Nattai
Ragam Tanam Pallavi in Raga Abheri
Ragamalika composed by Sage Patanjali

Hailed as prodigies of Carnatic music, violin brothers Ganesh and Kumaresh Rajagopalan had performed over 100 concerts before Kumaresh turned ten. By their teens, they were playing major festivals to wide acclaim.

In this 2009 concert, they are joined by master percussionists Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam) and RN Prakash (ghatam) for three miniatures and a ragam tanam pallavi.

They open with Thyagaraja’s ‘Mundu Venuka’ in Raga Darbar, Adi talam — a plaintive, devotional piece rendered with lyrical grace and subtle improvisations, supported by delicate percussion.

Next comes their own innovation, ragapravaham, in Raga Gambheera Nattai — a lively, lyric-free composition for instruments alone, marked by playful violin-percussion exchanges.

The centrepiece, a ragam tanam pallavi in Abheri, begins with a detailed alap, slips into tanam with plucked-string staccato phrases, and builds into fluid bowing. Ganesh offers a brief, silken vocal passage before the brothers weave through a series of ragas, ending in rapid-fire exchanges and a spirited rhythmic duel between mridangam and ghatam.

They conclude with a Sanskrit hymn to Lord Shiva by Saint Patanjali, blending Revathi, Shivranjani, Vasanti, Gambheera Nattai, and Kunthalavarali into a joyous garland of ragas, closing on a note of sublime devotion.