S.SowmyA,ayOdhyA mantapam,01/04/12

[ganeshkant]

Mri: Poonkulam subhramanian
Violin: Dr.narmadA
ghatam: chandrasekhara sarma

List:

1.vanajAkshi – kalyANi - Adi
2.rAmachandram – vasantA – N @ kAkustham dheemantam,S
3.ETijenma – varALi – (R,N@ sAgarasayanuni,S)
4.manavyAla – naLinakAnti - S
5.yArO – sAvEri
6.yArO enDrennAmalE - sankarAbharaNam
7.mundhurAvana – tOdi – (R,N @ rAjarAja,S,T)
8.neelAmbuja – slOkam in subha pantuvarALi foloowed by
Bhajan - tulasidAs
9.karunA jaladhE - nAdanAmakriyA
10.patiki hArati – suraTi
11.mangaLam

It was a wonderful concert. There were positive innovations that proved SS’s mettle and also the command and confidence she has in hand like

a) the place selected for n&s @ kAkustham….not an easy & comfortable one.yet she executed them brilliantly.
b) The svarams in rocket speed in a wide range for manavyAla esp.the marathon one in the last. Requires a sound grip in layam.

The concert had other plusses too.The treatment of varALi and toDi were totally different. While varALi was sedate with long phrases and absorbing kArvais in a correct way to register that rAga , tODi was sung in an youthful exuberance with short phrases with likeable brighAs and gamakams and the kriti was a bit rare in the concert circuit.
Also the n&s for the above kritis were measured and were very much enjoyable.

The slokam and bhajan that followed in subhapantuvarALi was sung evoking bhakti instantly with a touch and flavor of the north.

Dr.narmadA as usual played competently throughout and her rAga AlApanais were v.good and on her part she beautifully replied with her deft bowing for the marathon svaram in n’kanti.

Poonkulam and sarma played with a lot of enthusiasm (esp.for manavyAla where the tempo was maintained tightly giving the rendition a great lift) and played a v.g..tani in a good tempo that received applause at each stage from the audience.

[CRama]

Thanks for the review Ganesh. Looks like a very good concert with nice selection of songs. The neraval at Kakustham sreemantham is a very difficult place to execute and I am, sure given her capabilities, she would have done brilliantly. Yaaro iver yaaro , the original tune was in Saveri which was changed to Bhairavi by ARI. Still very few people sing this in Saveri. Munnuravana also not often heard in the concert circuit.
Sowmya's concert always maintains a distinct standard in terms of selection and execution.

[rshankar]

Ganeshkant - was yArO in sAvEri yArO ivar yArO? (by the way, CRama - Smt. Vedavalli and her disciples, Sri TNS and his disciples, and now Smt. Sowmya all sing it in the original sAvEri - of the current musicians, I have heard Smt. Nityashree sing it in bhairavi - she has to, given Smt. DKP used to sing it in bhairavi - I suspect, Sri Vijaya Siva also soes the same; Sri Sanjay also sings it in bhairavi)...

If it indeed was yArO ivar yArO, it is interesting that she went on to sing the next song in rAmanATakam - 'yArO ivar yAro' describes rAma's thoughts when he accidentally catches sight of sItA as the trio of rAma, lakshmaNa and viSvAmitra enters mythilA, and 'yArenreNNAmalE nALum ivan adisayangaLai solla kELum' describes how viSvAmitra introduces rAma to king janaka.

[ganeshkant]

Ganeshkant - was yArO in sAvEri yArO ivar yArO?

yes it was.She sang this in MA in dec'10 also.