Review of the concert on 12-12-2007 at Mudra.
TNS started the concert with the kanada ada tala varnam followed by ‘salamelara,’ margahindolam krthi of Thyagaraja. Then he started the alapana of mohanakalyani, and it was kalyaaNamaana mohatthai ttharum mohanakalyaaNi. The raga was majestic but full of beauty heralding the advent of Lord Narasimha . Yes TNS sang the sloka ‘ugram veeram mahaavishnum ‘ the manthra raja sloka of Lord Narasimha followed by the krthi of Mysore Vasudevachar ‘bajare re maanasa naarasimham.’ The svara prasthara was at ‘bhakthaprahlaadha.’
The next was the krthi in asaaveri, ‘epaniko,’ a thyagarajakrthi and then came the raga naasikaabhushaNi. Well it was rather a rasikakarNabhushani!. TNS painted the raga with deft strokes and created a beautiful picture of this rare raga giving it name and form making it recognizable by all. TNS alone can sing ragas like Nasikabhushani so elaborately enhancing the splendour of it exploring all the possible nuances of the raga. The krthi that followed was ‘sriran maasarasvathi’ of Dikdhithar.
After the lasya of nasikabhushani there was a nrthya when TNS started ‘nenarunchinaanu,’ of Thyagaraja in malavi. TNS executed all possible techniques of laya in the chiittasvaram and it was a fanfare or rather fun-fare for the rasikas with B.Harikumar on mrdhangam and B.S.Prushottham on Kanjira. It was really breathtaking! The next was the krthi in varali, ‘nepokadakunte,’ of Thyagaraja. As could be expected the svaraprasthara which was at neerajanayana , with svaras ending in ‘ni’ was wonderful.
Then came the madhyamavathi which was a niravaDhika (unlimited) utthamaavathi. The krthi was ‘paalinchu kaamaakshi,’ which was a bhaavapoorva rendition and the svaras were sung at ‘kaanthamaku,’ needless to say that it was fantastic coming from TNS.
After the thani the next piece was ‘sarasadurai unnai,’ in sama, acompositon of Muthiah bhagavathar.
Last but not least was the pasuram ‘vannamaadangal,’; of Periazvar. TNS sangthe four lines of the pasuram in shanmukhapriya, valaji, revathi and hindolam. TNSKrishna joined in singing the ragas valaji and revathi and how!. His exposition of valaji and revathi was fabulous. He supplemented and complemented the music which was complimenting to his guru and father, TNS. The viruttham was followed by the oothukkadu composition in ragamalika ‘vandhu ketpaar illaiyo.’ TNS concluded the concert with the thillana in hameer kalyani.