1. nAdi vanden pAdi aruL theDi ninren unnai(RS,S) - gambheera nAttai - in Tamil
The first number nAdi vanden was a beautiful number .The rAgam gambheera nAttai was asserted with a wonderful line in her anupallavi alavillA gambheeramudai , with sumitra really asserting with extra gambheerAm and gently remainding all
rasikas of that it is gambheera nAttai.Arasi gave a great first impression, that she is a musically inclined vageyakkara.
2. rAmA nee pAdamu pattina varulu dhanyulu - AbhOgi - in Telugu
The second number a telegu number. IMHO,Telegu the most perfect language for carnatic music. The rAga AbhOgi gives an excitement whenever end of the anupallavi/saranam accomodates the immediate ascent that typically follows in the
pallavi.arasi achieved this in her triple sundae of telegu+ AbhOgi + perfect ascent back to pallavi. This krithi was almost the same as the famous manasunilpA in AbhOgi. Felt Smt Sumitra could have done a neraval, it must have been wonderful.
3. cholla cholla inithidUmE amudhan nAmam (R,S)- vAchaspati -in Tamil
The third was to me the best in concert experience.Smt Sumitra gave a very wonderful rAga alApanai in vachaspathi. Sumitra continued with a wonderful number cholla cholla inithiDumE amudhan nAmam was a perfect vAchaspathi.This number had atleast two wonderful neraval piDi's, one in charanam "sollukku iniyavan eedhu inaiyilladavan, yashOdai maghizhum chella pillai avan" and the other in anupallavi "nArayana..."
4.Engu pArthalUm un innurAve kAnum inbAm enakkul arulvAyO(R)- devagAndhAri -in Tamil
Another nice number followed which gave a perfect devagAndhAri was her superlative pallavi line .If you just hum the line with a faint devagAndhari in your head,you would enjoy the choice of the rAga as a perfect one.But however in the charanam line "chilu chilu enru...", it appeared either our arasi dropped sumitra towards the arAbiian sea or maybe smt sumitra strayed into the arAbian land .
5.nAtyamAdO natarAja(R)- poorvikalyAni - in kannada
I am not sure if there is kannada number with rhythmic phrases( deem tOm)like what you would hear in neelakanta sivan's tamil number anandanadanamAduvAr in poorvikalyAni .That is what I heard with this nAtyamAdo which was a fast number .So she has filled a great gap.
6. valli nAyakane vA vA (R N S T) - bilahari - in Tamil
Nice alApanai in bilahari followed with a valli nAyakane vA vA ,with vA vA giving adequate scope for giving the life phrase of bilahari. Neraval was nice in the lines "thanthai neeyE tava pudalvanum neeyE" , the phrases thanthai and pudalvanum
provided 2 touch points for excellent neraval rendition by Smt Sumitra. Swarams and tani were good.
7.rAgamAliga - tamil number
Another fantastic rAgamaliga with excellent choice of rAgas. Is there a better rAgam to start the rAgamaliga than Anandabhairavi .The Anandabhairavi rAgamAliga had outstanding lyrics "Adi pAdi dhinam alaindirUndAl Ayar padiyinil Anandam thAn kannan". Followed with an excellent contrast bringing the valour in mOhanam rAgam with lyrical lines "mOhanamAi muruval izhayum mugham".
The next in rAgamaligai was shyamA with lines "vAri vAri mannai thoovinAlum" was another great contrast to mOhanam. Following The popular tradition of time immemorial vageyakkaras she ended the rAgamaliga in sindhubhairavi with excellent lines in "tava payanO enda jenma punniyAmO" .
8.makkalAtava nOdini neeve -behAg - in kannada
Nice number in behAg , bringing almost all beautiful rAgaswaroopam of behAg (maximum drowsiness and minimum tara stayi to just wakeup the rasikas ).
9.unnai ninaindhEn innisAi pAdi ennAlum irundhidalamO - punnagavarAli -in Tamil
The speciality of punnagavarAli as a tukkada is that it helps each of the rasikas (whether a sangeetha kalanidhi or a bathroom singer ) to give a unique emotional experience to hum and go home, which is generally difficult with most of the rAgas . The simplicity of the lyrics created by the composer is tested in punnagavarAli.Arasi was outstanding here with great lyrics with one emotively brilliant phrase "veenAsaigalil vizhvEnO ulaga..karai kAna inbAm"
10 .pavamAna( mangalam )
Attn Vidwans/Vidushis
I did attend few months before a concert of exclusive ambujam krishna concert. There is so much similiarity in Arasi's compositions to what Smt ambujam krishna achieved before .
There is simplicity in most of her numbers. Even if there is slight complexity, Arasi has intelligently choosen the right rAgas and never reduced a bit of classical content. If Shri SSI popularized Smt Ambujam Krishna , I would urge you all to take up her krithis. There is aesthetics in her numbers and her lyrical content(in tamil for sure) was almost perfect . I did talk to her, she said she composed roughly 400 krithis (She started writing from her age 10). Arasi mentioned that she roughly tuned most of her songs and took the help of her relative vidushis Smt Ananthalakshmi SadagOpan and Smt Jayalakshmi santhanam.
Hoping to hear more of arasi's composition from vidwans and vidushis
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