Akkarai Sisters, Chennai Cultural Academy Trust, December 25, 2019

[tmmurali]

Akkarai S. Subhalakshmi and Akkarai S. Sornalatha
H M Smitha (violin)
B Sivaraman (mridangam)
S Krishna (ghatam)

My first concert of the season was by the Akkarai sisters at Rama Rao Kalyana Mantap. I have heard a couple of concert recordings of theirs as well as one or two YouTube concerts. I have really liked Subhalakshmi's voice, so I was looking forward to a live concert. Here are my impressions.

I reached a bit late. They had launched into the navaragamlika varnam "Valaci vacci" which they sang with gusto. It appears that the authorship of this varnam is unclear. There is a rasikas.org thread from early 2009 that discusses this point: viewtopic.php?t=8315

As a prelude to swAminAtha paripAlayAsumAm, Subhalakshmi next sang a very short alapanai of nATa. Very short it was, like Jasprit Bumrah's run-up. The rendering was nice. Gusto here as well, as befits the pace of the song. There were chittaswarams both after vAmadEva pArvatI and after kAmitarttha vitaraNa, which I do not recall hearing before.

So far so good.

Then Sornalatha started an alapanai of a ragam that I could not immediately place. Haunting and somewhat poignant without descending into melancholy. It took me a minute or so to zero in on Madhukauns/Sumanesaranjani/Samudrapriya, which I have heard only in recordings and that too very rarely (e.g., Chitti Babu's Karunincha, swarams in a Ranjani RTP by Ranjani-Gayatri, swarams by Mandolin Srinivas after an RTP in Gamanasrama, and a YT video of Gayatri doing graha bhedam between Madhukauns and Chandrakauns). Sornalatha sang it really very well. It was a surprising choice for the third item in the concert. I started to wonder if they were going to present a composition of their grandfather's, which I have heard them do even in the small number of concerts of theirs that I have heard. The violin return was very good and cemented my certainty of the ragam's identity. The song went along the lines of "karunAdhAri dEvi kAmAkshi". Who composed it? DuckDuckGo was of no help. I enjoyed the song and the rounds of swarams that followed. The lyrics contained the name of the ragam, which was very thoughtful of the composer. After finishing the swarams, Subhalakshmi confirmed that the composition was in Sumanesaranjani and said it was by composed her sister.

This piece was off the beaten track and immensely satisfying. Paisa vasool, as they say. The highlight of the concert.

The rendition stayed in my mind as the sisters presented "kOti janmamu saphala" in Reethigowla after a short alapanai by Subbulakshmi (not as short as Bumrah's run-up). At its conclusion, Subhalakshmi announced that it was a composition of OVK in Misra Chapu.

I was still thinking about Sumanesaranjani when they started the next song with "parama sAmbhava ..." It was a filler that went by very quickly. Gusto was the keyword once again. Starting this particular song at the anupallavi! No neraval at "hitavu mATalentO"? No swarams either! Any diehard MMI fan in the audience may have harrumphed their consternation and resolved to dash off a strongly-worded postcard to the Sabha secretary in protest.

Subhalakshmi then launched into sAveri. I don't have much to say except that she seemed to do full justice to the ragam and showcased the power and range of her voice. At the higher frequencies, her voice was a trifle too loud. The violin return was fine. At this point, I left the concert. It occurred to me only later that I should have stayed a bit longer to see if they sang a Hanuman song to mark the day.

There were only about 50-60 people in the audience spread throughout the hall. I wonder how artistes feel to see such a patchy audience when the curtain raises. It must take a lot of professionalism and dedication to give off your best.

Here is the song list.

1. valaci vacci, Navaragamalika varnam, Adi, composer disputed
2. swAminAtha paripAlayAsumAm, naTa, Muthuswami Dikshitar
3. karunAdhAri dEvi kAmAkshi, sumanesaranjani, ???, Akkarai Sornalatha
4. kOti janmamu saphala, reetigowla, misra chApu, Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi
5. sarasa sAma dAna, kapinarayani, dEsadi, Thyagaraja
6. sAveri

[rajeshnat]

this sabha though a 1000 seater is bit strangled by mudhra vanimahal and,bharat kalchar. The canteen food is awesome.thank u for your lovely review murali. personally i think sumanesaranjani has refused to go off ur head . you had,to leave after a bit worrying saveri.

[CRama]

The sabha President Lion Natarajan Sir passed away a month back. One good news I heard is that they will not be holding music festival from next year.

[rajeshnat]

The sabha President Lion Natarajan Sir passed away a month back. One good news I heard is that they will not be holding music festival from next year.

That is a very bad news Crama if they are winding up this year . I am surprised when you consider it as good news.

[CRama]

I am pained many times when I see single digit numbers in the audience. This year itself I had three experiences like that. This year, in one concert, I was the only one rasika other than two disciples of the musician. It seems, the artistes should bring ten people with them as audience when they come for the concert.

[tmmurali]

Thanks for the feedback, @rajeshnat and @CRama. Judging by the advance sales, the hall will be packed to the rafters for the Ra-Ga concert this evening.

[CRama]

The hall will be packed for the concerts of only Sanjay, Ranjani, Gayathri, yesudas, ABHISHEK RAGHURAM. Other concerts deplorable.

[RSR]

There were only about 50-60 people in the audience spread throughout the hall. I wonder how artistes feel to see such a patchy audience when the curtain raises. It must take a lot of professionalism and dedication to give off your best.

The artistes under review are said to be of high caliber.
It is disquieting to learn of the poor attendance.