Girijashankar Sundaresan 19 Dec 2019 BVB mini hall

[rajeevsid]

Wonderful Concert!!!
I usually refrain from writing reviews given the general nature of either exaggerating the singers capabilities and/or downplaying the negatives of the artist or the performance. I sincerely believe in being silent if I have nothing good or positive to say.
However, having said that Girijashankar Sundaresan gave an absolutely mesmerising concert yesterday and I have my reasons as to why I say so.
The concert list was as follows -
BVB Mini Hall - 4:30 PM
1. Sri rajamathangi - suddha Dhanyasi (Brief sketch R)
2. Shiva Kama Sundari - Mukhari (brief sketch R)
3. Mamava sada-Nattaikurunji (R,N at lalitha mani hara,S)
4. Ranjani niranjani - Ranjani( brief sketch R)
5. Bhajare re Chitha- Kalyani (R,N at devi shakti,S,Thani)
Unfortunately, I had to leave early due to a prior engagement and couldn't be present for the post-thani peices.
The varnam was rendered adequately although the sound system wasn't at optimal setting yet. Shiva Kama Sundari is an all time favourite in Mukhari and was rendered well. I liked how he could maintain the same volume in both mantra stayi and tara stayi but chose the thick thin variation to suit the mood of the krithi . For many singers the voice naturally thins outs at higher octaves. Fortunately this was not the case with Girijashankar.
The pick of the concert for me was the nattaikurinji Alapana which followed. The unique thing about this particular Alapana were the short phrases in permutation with long winding brigas creating a wonderful mood for nattaikurinji. I almost expected him to sing vazhi maraikuthe but he chose the swati Thirunal staple Mamava sada. The krithi was rendered well with a scintillating nereval at lalitha mani hara. Again,for me the way he blended the slow gamaka laden phrases with fast briga based phrases in the neraval stood out.I thought the Kalpana swara section which followed was not fully explored and it felt as though he rushed to the crescendo too quickly. Might just be the time constraint of the concert.
Ranjani niranjani , a fast paced GNB krithi served to shake up the audience and get them all set for the main piece in Kalyani which was to follow.
The Kalyani Alapana was very good ,but somehow for me, the way the nattaikurinji Alapana was handled was much better. Bajare Chita followed with apt neraval and swara prasthara. The Kalpana swara rendition here was top notch using gandara and nishadam as resting Swaras and alternating between mantra and tara stayi phrases. What followed was the thaniavartanam. As I said earlier , unfortunately I had to leave due to a prior engagement.
Vijay Muralidharan on the violin support was good although at some places, the response to the Neraval and Swaras seemed overly conventional as opposed to the experimental nature of Girijashankar's singing. On the other hand, there were some extraordinary phrases of creative genius in both nattaikurinji and Kalyani by Vijay as well.
Akshay Anathapadmanaban was great as usual.His ability to eerily predict the Korvais that the singer and violinist will use still leaves me amazed and in certain instances totally baffled.

All said, a wonderful kutcheri which I am sure would not have disappointed any rasika!!