Parassala Ponnammal - Kalakshetra - 22 Dec 2011

[bilahari]

Parassala Ponnammal - Vocal
Bhama Krishnan - Vocal Support
Trivandrum Sampath - Violin
Nanjil (?) Arul - Mrudangam

Duration: 1h 30m

Approximate Songlist:

01. svAmi nAn undan aDimai (varNam) - nATTaikurinji - Adi - PS
02. mUlAdhAra [N @ vimala kamala, S] - mAyAmALavagowLa - rUpakam - E.S. Sankaranarayana Iyer?
03. kamalAmba [R, S @ pallavi] - Ananda bhairavi - miSra cApu - MD
04. gnAnamOsagarAda [R, S @ paramAtmuDu] - pUrvikalyANi - rUpakam - T
05. satatam tAvaka [R, N @ madusUdhana, S, T] - kharaharapriya - ST
06. enna solli azhaittAl - kAnaDa - Adi - Ambujam Krishna
07. tillAna - hamsAnandi - Adi - ST?
08. karpagamE - madhyamAvati - Adi - PS

It was a typically classical and serene concert by PP complemented by the lovely ambience in the Rukmini Arundale auditorium at Kalakshetra. I sat on the floor right in front of the stage and it felt almost like a house concert to me. I do wish the concert had been scheduled for a longer period of time.

I had the privilege of hearing the nATTaikurinji pada varNam twice in a row, and while VS earlier embellished it with brighas, PP treated us to a gamaka-laden rendition with those ever so beautiful glides to the madhyamam. The subsequent mUlAdhAra had a brisk and short neraval and swaraprastAram, which injected great energy into the concert.

The highlight of the concert was definitely the Ananda bhairavi. PP's raga alapanai was short but so touching (lovely final brush of the G3), as was her rendition of MD's navAvarNa kriti, where she thoroughly dissolved herself into the kriti and took us with her. The kalpanaswaras maintained the contemplative atmosphere of the presentation.

The pUrvikalyANi was very succinct, as was the subsequent kharaharapriya alapanai. She sang kharaharapriya with a Semmangudi-esque verve and it was very engaging. ST's kriti was a welcome change from the usual T kritis taken up for elaboration.

PP's enna solli azhaittAl provided a fitting, touching conclusion to the concert.

PP's concert was remarkably concise, and while it was very enjoyable, I think a longer concert would have allowed her more creative space to develop ragas. Once again, it is worth mentioning how painstakingly PP customises her alapanais to the kritis about to be presented.

The violinist, Sampath, was decent and played a particularly nice Ananda bhairavi rAgam, and Arul played with nice azhuttam and sensitivity.

[rshankar]

Bilahari - I am jealous you got to hear Smt. PP at the kUtambalam (I presume it has been renamed as Smt. RDA Auditorium)...perfect ambience for the nATTaikurinji padavarNam - IIRC, Sri PS composed it during his stint with Smt. RDA.

[bilahari]

I didn't know that PS composed it at Kalakshetra. Thanks for the info, Ravi.

[srikant1987]

Thanks bilahari! Was the khpriya kriti Adi-2?

I sat on the floor right in front of the stage and it felt almost like a house concert to me. I do wish the concert had been scheduled for a longer period of time.

That's how we should listen to people like PP. And of course, you're going to do the same in Musiri House (hopefully) and in Naada Inbam too. :envy: :envy:

[cienu]

A review by Uday in "The Hindu"
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article2745100.ece