Violin - Vittal Ramamurthy
Mridangam - Trivandrum Balaji
I had mixed feelings a few months ago, before coming to the US to study. New country, new place and all. Would I be able to pursue music? Listen to concerts? All my questions were answered, thanks to the presence of some friends and relatives nearby and the Siva Vishnu Temple! The temple is a great one and conducts programs regularly. They are celebrating "Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri Day" this weekend and there have been performances by local kids throughout the two days.
Yesterday Abhishek gave a fabulous concert here. You know what is "awesome" when you listen to Abhishek! There was a GNB in my Grandpa's generation, a TNS in my father's: there is Abhishek in mine. No, I am not simply using superlative adjectives for this vidvAn like others. I have my misgivings with his music too. But the positives outnumber the negatives by a very large margin! So why unnecessarily crib about what I didn't like? I believe in taking home the best that one has to offer and appreciate it whole heartedly. And Abhishek's mind-blowing creativity throws you off your feet and makes you think, "So what if the N2 in thodi was not so classical " or "So what if most of the ragams were scalar" or "So what if some phrases did not sound Carnatic at all." I believe in traditional classicism and innovation within strictly Carnatic boundaries. But with ABhishek, all my boundaries get expanded to this one big realm called "Music" where I am mesmerized by the fantastic gimmicks and I am stunned with astonishment!
Apologies for these lofty words. I know that there has been a parallel thread on how reviewers use "hi-fi" language but when you listen to high-quality music, at times even the simple mind is forced to weave out poetic epithets and descriptions (Did I really write that :^) May be Abhishek's music has instigated some creative writing in me!
)The list:
sarasuda - saveri varnam
nAda tanumanisham
mEru samAna - R,N,S @ gaLamuna
mA ramanan R,S @ mA ramaNan
tatva meruga taramA R,S @ tatva
shrI krishnam bhaja - RNST @ pankajAsanAdi
A song in rAgam sAma, composed by Shri Kumaresh (of the Ganesh Kumaresh duo)
A bhajan in sanskrit in sindhu bhairavi
A mangalam in yadukula kambodi
Before the concert, the organizers requested the audience to move out for 30 minutes for the artists to set up the mike system. It did not help much as, in spite of this, Abhishek's volume was a little low throughout the concert -> may also be because he kept moving away from the mike. But that did not affect the quality of the music or the experience of the audience. The concert actually started from "mEru samAna". Amazing round of swarams at gaLAmuna. I did not enjoy the AlApana though. It was too light for my taste.
The hindolam AlApana was sublime. He sang it in madhyama shruti - maybe that added to the effect. He used the scalar nature of the ragam to great effect. Swarams were again brilliant. His AlApana for garudadhwani had very interesting patterns. The kriti rendition and the swarams reminded one of TRS's popular rendition that was floating in Facebook some time back. But Abhishek added a lot of his creativity and brought out superb laya-intricate patterns.
The piece de resistance was of course the todi Alapana and swarams. Someone prompted Abhishek to sing todi and shrI krishnam bhaja. Thankfully the request came early, else, knowing Abhishek, he would have gone on and on!
The last swaram was fully in khanda nadai - I haven't heard a better rendition of khanda nadai. His grandfather's brilliance shone brightly here. I have heard some recordings of Palghat Raghu Sir's khanda nadai and have been awestruck with the intricacies and the intelligent sollus and korvais. Though Abhishek's korvai was a simple one, I thoroughly enjoyed that fact that he sang khanda nadai without explicitly "disclosing the nadai" That is exactly the brilliance of his Grandpa!
Vittal Sir's support was enthusiastic. Trivandrum Balaji was his usual best, displaying his intellectual prowess that he has imbibed from Raghu Sir.
The best part of Abhishek's concert is his stage presence. When he sings something complicate, he gives this "Yes I did it!" smile (something like this -
) and not the "See, I can do this" grin (something like this - ] ). In the end, I have just one more adjective for Abhishek -"electrifying"! After the concert, I told my aunt, "naan appiDiyE bhramicchu poi irukkEn!"--Gokul--
and don't worry... you can get your heart's fill of carnatic music here in the USA. 
My old knees protest when I stand in line too long to buy that coveted piece of paper.