Smt. Gayathri Venkataraghavan (Vocal)
Kum. Amritha Murali (Violin)
Thiruvarur Sri. Vaidyanathan (Mridangam)
Sri. N Guruprasad (Ghatam)
Waetjen Auditorium, CSU, Cleveland, OH, USA
2013, April 5th, 1630-1845
1. Sloka - Hamsadhvani
2. Varna - Kamalamanohari - Adi
3. Intakannaanandamemi - Bilahari - Rupaka - Thyagaraja (R)
4. O Jagadamba - Anandabhairavi - Adi - Syama Sastri (R)
5. Gaanaamudapaanam - Jyotisvaroopini - Misra Chapu - Koteesvara Iyer (S)
6. Vidajaaladura - Janaranjani - Adi - Thyagaraja
7. Raama Raama Gunaseemaa - Simhendramadhyamam - Adi - Svati Tirunal (RNST)
8. Virutham - Ragamalika
A well-planned and organised concert, with alternating pace and a good mix of raga types and talas. The sruti was a bit off at the beginning but Smt. Gayathri soon settled The Anandabhairavi piece was sung with a lot of emotion, and although there was a little bit of confusion around the charanam lyrics, Kum. Amritha stepped in in time. The Kalpanasvara at 3 different lines in Gaanaamudapaanam was interesting and well-executed. GV is a known admirer of Smt. MSS, and her Raama Raama was structured to be reminiscent of MSS's famed rendition. Her Niraval at "Munimaanasadhaama ..." was impeccably executed and reached a resounding climax. Maybe she could even have eschewed svaraprastara - the effect was so good! Amritha was excellent, with great technique, imagination, fidelity, and team-spirit. The Mridangam was a little too loud for my taste, but Sri. Vaidyanathan and Sri. Guruprasad were obviously masters of the art.