Amritha Murali for Nada Inbam

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kvchellappa
Posts: 3598
Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

Amritha Murali for Nada Inbam

Post by kvchellappa »

I read this review in FB and loved it.

Amritha Murali
R K Shriram Kumar
Arun Prakash Krishnan
S Sunil Kumar

Review by Ramaswamy Narayanan
Once I start typing,I may hedge my bet,so let me say it here and now: Amritha Murali gave one of her best ever concerts a couple of days back!..
(and I have been listening to her for a decade or so now).

I think Amritha just rose to the occasion,which was big. It was the inaugural concert of the (late) SV Krishnan birthday series for 10 days. SVK,a good friend and a great rasika,became an even greater,but self-effacing,patron of music over the years.Legion are the young boys and girls he sought out and encouraged. Amritha was one of SVK's chosen favorites,and I believe this weighed in on Amritha as she sat in somber meditation for minutes before beginning.
Then,again,the day was Musiri Day. As a thinking and sensitized artist,Amirtha paid tribute to Musiri,not just with one fav of his,but by adopting the unique "Musiri kalapramanam" for the entire concert.The rasika just had to close his eyes and get soaked in manodarma music of high quality and rare consistency.
Finally,there was a constant theme running thru Amirtha's concert,of supplication,surrender and seeking refuge in Him or the Mother,whether the songs were in Telugu/Tamil/Sanskrit. Let me confess I have no clue why but u will see this as we go along!

Thyagaraja's Thodi supplication ninnu vinA sukhamu gAna nIraja nayana set the mood within 5 minutes of the concert. It was an absolute keezhkala rendering which touched ur heart because it went to the core of Thodi as well as the mood of the Saint in an expansive three kAla niraval at the first charanam line...rUpamu pratApamu shara cApamu sallApamu. That was to Lord Ram..ninnu vina=who else?
Next cameSyAmA Sastry's ninnu vina= who else,this time to Mother bRhannAyaki.
ninnu vinA mari galadA gati lOkamulO. And what a Ritigowla raga as a preface! I was curious to see how Amritha was going to sing it,as I had heard her RG three times before,and always in the austere Dikshithar school of the raga,eschewing chatUsruti dhaiwatam. Today,she sang it with the normal scale,and the bakthi and kArunya rasam came enchantingly across."In this World, is there any refuge other than You?"..as Amritha sang the krithi,it was pure bliss of the kind Sastry beseeched.

Now,it was the turn of Pazhani Murugan,His lotus feet!....Papanasam Sivan's, kamalap pada malariNai maRavaadE in Harikamboji..My feet threatened to tap as Amirtha got the eduppu spot on (at half before the beat?). The strong nishadam in the raga sketch and the song still rings in my ears.
Next,the turn of the lotus eyed kamAkshi...Dikshithar's nIrajAkshi kAmAkshi in Hindolam,a thoughtful offering to Musiri. madhyama kAlam was rendered emotively.. tAraya mAM =take me across..the day's theme again!

Finally,the main piece,upachAramulanu chEkonavayya in Bairavi where Saint Thyagaraja offers all 14 upachAras..Amritha sang all the charanams and my cup was full of nectar.As I am running out of time and space,let me just say there was nothing to separate the main course from the appetizers above,it was of a piece in the grand scheme of things on Amritha's day.Except to say the Bairavi swarakalpanas were a piece of virtuosity in which senior violinist RK Shriramkumar participated with relish and authority.For the rest,Kumar played well within himself as only he can..the perfect foil to the vocalist on a roll.

Arunprakash Krishnan has patented the pregnant pause in today's mrudangam. He sensed easily this was a special day for slow,soft,subdued music,listened,relished and supported with silence and muted play throughout.Ditto for S Sunil Kumar on kanjira who followed the leader. Their thani was long and soft,laying bare the hidden attractions of kanda nadai.

alphakrishnan
Posts: 18
Joined: 12 Nov 2005, 17:11

Re: Amritha Murali for Nada Inbam

Post by alphakrishnan »

Is this concert available on youtube?

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