Uttara Swaminathan at BTM, Bengaluru

[sweetsong]

The adjectives flowed thick and fast. Classy, poised, dignified, elegant , measured, aesthetic,
pleasing.....This was the unanimous verdict of the enthusiastic and well informed rasikas
at BTM Cultural Academy, Bengaluru http://www.btmculture.org/ after the maiden concert by
young Vidushi, Ms.Uttara Swaminathan there today. She was ably accompanied by
Smt.Charulatha Ramanujam on the violin, Sri Jayachandra Rao on the mridangam and
Sri Pramath Kiran on the morching.

Song list

Begada varnam - Veena Kuppaiyar
Sidhi Vinayakam - Shanmukhapriya - Dikshitar
Jagadanandakaraka - Nattai - Thyagaraja
Sogasuga - Sriranjini - Thyagaraja
Pahimam Sri - Janaranjani - Maha vaidyanatha Iyer
Entha Nerchina - Shuddha Dhanyasi - Thyagaraja
Meenakshi - Purvikalyani - Dikshitar
Kandena - Ragamalika - Puramdaradasa
Yadava Nee Ba - Tilang - Purandaradasa
Muruganin - Behag - Surajananda
Thillana - Darbadi - Lalgudi ?
Kamakshi - Shyama Sastri

It was impossible to accept the fact that this was her first concert! It was classicism and
professionalism at it's very best, from the word Go. Her guru, Veena Vidushi Jayanti Kumaresh
deserves encomiums for having trained a student this way. Her voice is clear, melodious, tuneful
and totally in sruti. The enunciation of the lyrics was better than most. Kaalapramanam was
totally shuddham. Her stage presence was pleasing. Neither dull and indifferent nor exaggerated
and theatrical. Everything had an authentic, wholesome and satvic feel to it.

In due course if she develops the lower register in her voice more, pays even more attention to
the lyrics, develops her kelvi jnaanam and lets the genuine manodharma flow, restrains from
indulging too much in set, mathematical patterns and most importantly, remains grounded and
doesn't allow early success to derail her the way it has done with a host of talented artists
before her, the sky truly would be the limit for her. Do mark "Uttara Swaminathan" in your
Not - To - Be - Missed list and I hope many of you will get to listen to her soon.

[rshankar]

Sweetsong, what a sweet review...probably as wonderful as the maiden concert you enjoyed....thank you for bringing another name for us to watch for.

[rajeshnat]

best wishes to uttara , singing nattai pancharatna after two numbers then sogasuga and singing a rare enta nerchina is also a great choice.quit a few sweetsongs(thank you sweetsong for the review)

[gardabha_gana]

Is Kum. Uttara the one who occasionally sings in Vid. Jayanthi's concerts? This was in my backyard - didn't know she was Jayanthi's student. Missed it Looking forward to her concerts

[sweetsong]

They said that she has been her student for more than ten years now. Vidushi Jayanthi has done an exceptionally good job of tutoring this girl, including the
manodharma part. It would be interesting to see how she turns out in due course when her own creative faculties develop. The veena gnaanam that Vidushi
Jayanthi has, added clarity and lustre to the girl's singing. It definitely sounds at least to my ears that vocalists who model themselves on veena playing on the
one hand and on nadaswaram playing on the other hand, sound better than ones who model themselves on other instruments like the gottuvadyam, the violin
and so on. I hope Vidushi Jayanthi is training several students this way, though even one student of this calibre is quite enough to fulfil one's role as guru.