GANESH –KUMARESH AT CHEMBAI MUSIC FESTIVAL -31/08/13

[CRama]

I attended the concert of Ganesh Kumaresh in the 8 PM slot on 31/08/13. They were accompanied by Harikumar on the Mridangam and Trichy Krishna on the Ghatam. The list of songs.
• Sathinchane-Arabhi
• Samajavaragamana- Hindolam
• Maruthi Namosthuthe- Bhairavi- composition of Lalithadasar.
• Manavyala-Nalinakanthi
• Nannupalimpa-Mohanam- Thani
• Balakrishna devam-Yamunakalyani
• Thirupugazh- Sindubhairavi.

For Sathinchane, only sahithyam was played. Samajavaragamana was decorated with nice second kala swaras. Kumaresh played a brilliant alapana of Bhairavi covering the entire gamut of the ragam. Ganesh announced that the song was tuned by Chembai as many of the Lalithadasar songs were tuned by him only. The song was dedicated to the Mahavidwan Chembai. Ganesh sang the complete charanam of the song. There was no swaram for the song. After the filler Manavyala, Ganesh played a very detailed alapana of the ragam Mohanam for the kriti Nannu palimpa. Elaborate swaras at two kalams were rendered for the Pallavi. The swaras had attractive patterns, with nice poruthams and various nadais. The laya fireworks during the swaras was gripping. At some point, the brothers played swaras together which was repeated by the percussion duo. The thani was quite engaging and received continuous applause from the audience. Then Ganesh sang the Yamunakalyani kriti and Kumaresh accompanied him. The concert ended with the Thirupugazh. Their virtuosity, perfect control of the instrument and layam was amazing. It was a highly spirited power packed performance which is the hallmark of the duo.