After nearly a year in NJ, I finally got to attend a live concert.
Smts. Ranjani and Gayatri treated us to one of their trademark concerts, their singing ably supported and excellently enhanced by Sri HN Bhaskar on the violin and Delhi Sri Sairam on the mrudangam. I found the experience to be somewhat mixed, but enjoyable overall, especially towards the end. Smt. Gayatri announced at the start that they were dedicating this concert to Semmangudi Sri Srinivasa Iyer on the event of his 100th birth anniversary (as they were part of his illustrious SiSya paramparA).The afternoon started slowly, with many of us fighting the post-lunch torpor that usually besets us on what was sure to be one of the last warm Sundays of this season!
#1 They opened the concert with a varNam in the maNgaLa rAgam, SrI (I think it had the mudra - garbhapurivAsa). It was well rendered, but I did not appreciate the electric spark that was certainly going to be needed to ignite us out of our languor.
#2 The next was a melodiously rendered kEdAram - paramAnanda naTana - of Maharaja Swati Tirunal, with a brief outline preceding it, and swarAs at the pallavi in the last iteration.
#3 was a new one for me - sarasijanAbha sOdari of MD's in nAgagAndhArI
#4 The first alApanA of the concert - hari kAmbhOjI by Smt. Ranjani - followed by entarA nItana of Sri tyAgarAja - embellished with nereval and swaras very nicely for/at the phrase 'sESuDu Sivuniki bhUshuDu lakSmaNA', but the meaning of that caraNa was sacrificed in the process.
#5 A very lovely rendition of Sri Periasami Thooran's sAvEri kriti - murugA, murugA...
Until this point, the concert, while replete in sowkhyam was, IMO lacking in oomph!
#6 A fabulous bharavi AlApana by Smt. Gayatri woke me up fully! I thought that the SSI stamped 'E nAti nOmu phalamO?' would follow, but what followed was a beautiful 'rakSa b(p)eTTarE doraku' - and in the last iteration of the pallavi, a lovely suite of swaras were rendered - towards the end of this set of swaras, Sri Sairam started to play so, so, so sharply - the concert was elevated to a new plane, and the oomph was in!
And this was carried into the tani that followed.#7 An extremely lively (and, to me, new) composition of Sri Muttaiah Bhagavatar followed - SaravaNa bhava in paSupatipriya - the ciTTaswaras were delightful, and were delectably rendered.
#8 This was the highlight of the concert for me - RTP in ranjani - awesome AlApana, great tAnam, and the pallavi was superb - 'ranjani kanjadaLa lOcanI brovavammA talli ni' set in tiSra jAti tripuTa tAlam, khaNDa naDai. The pallavi was very emotively rendered by both sisters - Smt. Ranjani's lower pitch, and Smt. Gayatri's thinner and higher pitch at times separate, and together at times, but blending perfectly at all times. A lovely set of swarams in ranjani capped the first segment of the pallavi rendition, and what followed was a ranjani mAla of rAgamAlika swarams - starting with a beautiful SrIranjani by Smt. Ranjani, followed by a very popular janaranjani by Smt Gayatri, a mEgharanjani that floated by on delicate swaras, a manOranjani, followed by a haunting Sivaranjani, topped off with an almost ethereal sumanEsa ranjanI. The pallavi line was appropriately modified with the last 'ni' changed to SrI, jana, mEgha etc. Then, Sri Sairam played a few avartanas (like a micro mini tani), after which Smt. Gayatri sang the (1 Avartana each?) swaras in the rAgas already sung, but now in the reverse order, to end in ranjani, after which the pallavi was repeated and the RTP ended to well deserved, thunderous applause. Even if the cognoscenti find technical flaws in it, IMO, my cup of rasAnubhava was veritably brimming over.
#9 The sisters sang a viruttam (another trademark, in addition to the abhangas they sing) - very nice, but I do not remember the words - did not catch the first rAga, followed by hamsAnandI and ending with jOnpuri - segueing seamlessly into "eppO varuvArO?" of SrI GKB.
#10 An impassioned request to krishNa to come quickly rendered in a very slow pace
- krishNA nI bEganE bArO in yaman kalyAN. It may have been a misperception on my part, but I felt that Smt. Ranjani (purposely) sang half a beat after Smt. Gayatri giving the feeling of an echo in some places - experts can set me right here, if I have got this one wrong.... After the pallavi, the sisters were deluged with requests - they were the very epitome of grace, as they excused themselves from singing most of the requested songs!
#11 Since the audience seemed to be divided on whether they wanted to hear a new abhanga, or a repeat of 'panDarica bhUta' they decided to indulge us with 2 abahangas - fortunately for me, they sang the newer one first - bOlO viTThala - Smt. Gayatri explained that in this compostion, Sant Tukaram exhorts us to chant, think of, and in general become one with viTThala - he recommends it because, in that state of exalted bliss all earthly sins (like greed, lust and anger), and bondage will disappear. The sisters have tuned this in the hindustani bhaTiyAr. It was rendered with their characteristic flair and impeccable maraThi diction.
At this point, the concert was well into the 4th hour, and I had other engagements/obligations beckoning me and a LONG haul back north to boot, so I had to leave. If anyone else who was fortunate enough to have stayed back can complete the list, I will be curious to know what I missed. But, all in all, it was a very nice experience and I am still enveloped by that lovely, yet indescribable feeling that one gets after attending an uplifting performance.
Sri HN Bhaskar has accompanied the sisters on numerous occasions and the rapport they share is very obvious. He played very well, and very appropriately. I have already expressed my pleasure with Sri Sairam's playing - it was awesome (BTW, although I still remain woefully laya-challenged, I thank our laya-ful members for making me begin to appreciate the rhythm aspects).
Experts can please take stab at a review. (Will be educational for me!)