The simplest of Pallavi words in one of the simplest of talas, in a raga that has a humongous corpus of already composed music. And yet, the sophistication of rendition lies in its deceptive simplicity. Something that could be extrapolated quite safely to the music in general of the great man, Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar.
Ariyakkudi was a man who knew his own strengths well, and how his skills could be packaged to appeal to a wide swathe of listeners. In his own words, his music was the golden mean of Carnatic music. He said “If you want fast paced brikas, go to GNB; if you want emotive music, go to Musiri; if you want complex laya vyavahara, go to Alathur brothers; but if you want a bit of everything in one concert, come to me!” It was not arrogance, but true self awareness. To his list, I can safely add “if you want thrilling raga alapana, go to Maharajapuram; if you want lilting swara kalpana, go to Madurai Mani Iyer; if you want those little musical nuances that make all the difference, go to Semmangudi; but if want you a glimpse of all of these, come to me!”
With this background, let us listen to this superlative rendition of an RTP in Sankarabhanam, which to me is living proof of the above sentiment.
https://youtu.be/LWGMQar2zt0