GAYATHRI GIREESH IN PALLAVI DURBAR – 5 AUG 11

[CRama]

As a part of the Pallavi Durbar organised by Carnatica and Sree Parthasarathi Swami Sabha in MFAC Auditorium, Vidushi Gayathri Gireesh presented the Pallavi at the 7.00 PM slot .She was accompanied by V. Sanjeev on the Violin and Poongulam Subramaniam on the Mridangam.
The theme of the Pallavi was Multiple Arudhi Multi kalai pallavi. The raga chosen was Keeravani. I was hearing Gayathri Gireesh live for the first time. She has a pleasant voice capable of traversing three sthayis, good stage presence and vidwat. The raga was rendered elaborately for 10 minutes. Violin also took 10 minutes which could have been less. Thanam was rendered for 10 minutes. Her thanam was very good. It was very methodical not hurried. Gayathri Gireesh very clearly explained the thala structure. The thala of the pallavi was Chatusra jathi Ata thalam. The first laghu was in 4 kalai, next laghu in 2 kalai and drutham in 1 kalai. I think I have explained correctly. It had two arudis. The pallavi was:
Devi sree Umamaheswari (4 kalai) Bala Tripurasundari (2 kalai) Maampahi (1kalai)
There were 28 aksharams. She explained that it can be sung in tisra jathi triputa thalam (14 aksharams) and misra chapu (7 aksharams) which she did later.
The intricate pallavi and anulomam and pratilomam was done with perfect precision. V. Sanjeev also did the trikalam with precision. She started the swaras in the chatusra jathi ata thalam and rendered swarams in tisra nadai and khanda nadai also. Later switched to tisra triputa thalam. Elaborate swaras were rendered. Ragamalika swaras in the pattern of her Guru TNS followed in the ragas Nata, kanada, Mohanakalyani,Vasantha, Thodi, Hamsanadam, Kannada, Kalyani, Bilahari, Behag, Reethigowla, Shanmugapriya and suruti. Thani was in Tisra triputa. After thani, she rendered swaras in Misra chapu and concluded the pallavi. It was a very scholarly rendition and very pleasant for listening also. V Sanjeev’s replies to the thanam and swaras were perfect. Poongulam Subramaniam enhanced the quality of the concert significantly. The concert lasted for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The organisers deserves appreciation and our gratitude for organising such a unique event. Hope that the concerts are released commercially so that it will reach a wider audience.

[rshankar]

CRama, thank you for the review! Do you know if these were recorded?