Vintage flavour, strict adherence to shruti, disciplined and uncontrived music, positive attitude and complete devotion towards music – all these qualities formed the hallmark of Smt Jayalakshmi Santanam’s concert for Suswaraa at Gokhale Shastri Hall on Dec 11th, 2007.
One would wonder what made her music so special though she sang the very same masterpieces that are heard often in many concert stages (unfortunately, I missed the first 2-3 pieces).
1. Sujana jeevana – khamach
2. Ananda nataprakasham – kedaram
3. Jaya jaya padmanabha – manirangu
4. Chingara velavan vandan - anandabhairavi
5. Himadri sute – kalyani
6. Ksheera sagara shayana – devagandhari
7. Kamakshi – bhairavi
8. Shanti nilava vendum – tillang
Some vital aspects that made her concert so special were:
1. No phrase was rendered out of place thereby maintaining the right proportion and balance of phrases.
2. Simple, short and elegant raga alapanas of Bhairavi, Devagandhari, Anandabhairavi, without dramatization of phrases under the pretext of singing with bhava.
3. The kalpana swarams and neraval at Shyama Krishna sodara for Himadri sut