Kum.Amrutha Sankaranarayanan,23/10

[ganeshkant]

Venue:Saibaba Mandir,Saligramam

Violin:M.Rajeev
Mri:R.SankaranArAyanan

Song List:

1.vAranamukhavA – Hamsadhwani – S
2.jAnakiramana – suddha seemandhini – n @ ratnanalinadhara,S
3.Janani – Reedhigowlai – R
4.MarivErE – ShanmukhapriyA – R,N@sannuthAnga,S
5.kapAli – Mohanam – R,S,T
6.sArasamukhi – GowdamalhAr – S
7.endrum ondrAhi – virutham in hamsAnandi & sivaranjani
8.kurai ondrum illai – rAgamAlika
9.english note
10.Mangalam

In ’93 one of my relatives who worked in a city school had invited me for a cultural program in NGS given by students of various schools. A little girl sang a virutham in kApi which had a perfection that belied her age.Later I came to know that she was the daughter of vidwan TVS.

So, I am listening to Amrutha as a grown up concert artist for the first time.

She has a clear and bold voice like a summer’s morning sky.Though she is yet to get the 100 % perfection her concert guaranteed a good listening .All the rAga alApanais were good and another good factor is her own manOdharmam came to the fore while her father’s style remained as the substratum.

Amrutha is a good concert artist in the making was evident from the niraval @ rathannalinadhara.Not that easy to sing.She came out with a distinction.Even the surati switch over from SowrAshtram in the mangalam showed her manOdharmam same may be told about the sivaranjani virutham.

Rajeev’s versions of RG,SP and mOhanm were in his own style and good.RS supported suitably and played an electrifying tani.

What Amrutha needs to do is to internalize her music to make it soaked in Bhakti that will automatically give it a spiritual aura.And also she needs to practice a bit of voice modulation that will have the required vallinam and mellinam to convey the feelings rightly. Also it will be better if she learns more kritis that her father has not sung and of course she can present them in the MMI school’s style.

[kssr]

Good to see a review of AS after a long time. I have heard a couple of concerts and she is definitely concert-ready. The open throated TVS style is obvious. As Ganeshkant rightly says, she can establish her identity easily by taking in as many non-TVS songs as she can. A BMK or Lalgudi thillana, an MDR or Maha Santhanam song, etc., will immediately distinguish her. Of course the general MMI bani will not (and need not) be removed. It is in fact in her blood.

Her brother Mahadevan is also a very good singer. In fact, surprisingly, although male, Mahadevan's voice sounds more independent (ie. non-TVS!) than Amrita. The training given to these youngsters is obviously quite intense and once they have a full fledged launch on the stage they are bound to be successful. Wish them both great success.