Sri.P.Unnikrishnan at Sruti,Philadelphia on April 17th 2010

[gs1968]

We attended an enjoyable concert by Sri.P.Unnikrishnan at the Calvary Vision Center in Norristown,Pennsylvania on April 17th 2010
He was accompanied by Embar.S.Kannan on the violin and Bangalore Arjun Kumar on Mridangam

The song list compiled to the best of my knowledge is as follows
1.Varnam-Saaranga
2.Sivakamasundari-Jaganmohini
3.Karuna elagante-Varali
4.Emanaticedivo-Sahana
5.Paripalimpsa-Suddhasaveri
6.Kaligiyuntegada-Kiravani (main song with alapana,neraval,swaram and tani)
7.RTP- Paripalaya Kripanidhi Hare Ramachandra
Main Ragam was Purvikalyani followed by Ranjani,Bahudari and Kuntalavarali. There was one more ragam which I could not identify.
8.Sarvataratmudu-Annamacharya-Lalitha
9.Pibare Ramarasam-Yamunakalyani
10.Chinnanjiru Kiliye
11. Pulli kalaba mayil
12.Mangalam

This is my first attempt at a post although I spend hours on this website every week. I am sure other concert attendees will shed more light and make necessary corrections to this post. On the whole, the experience was wonderful and the accompanists were sound. I had never heard Embar.S.Kannan in person and he lived up to all the great things we have heard about him. Same goes for the mridangam player.
Sri.Unnikrishnan was in good form throughout and we were fortunate to get him in the first part of his tour (4th concert of 16). Sometimes at the end of a long tour, fatigue sets in and concerts don't live up to expectations. Some people felt the concert list was unbalanced due to too many requests from attendees but I thought it was just fine.

[rajeshnat]

11. Pulli kalaba mayil
This is my first attempt at a post although I spend hours on this website every week.

pulli kalaba mayil is a kavadi chindu , may be close to kurinji rAgam.
Keep it coming gs1968, a great start.

[gs1968]

Thank you for the encouragement. The concert was about 3 hrs and 30 minutes althought the song list does not seem long. Also no speeches except a brief introduction before the concert started. I will try and keep this up but where I live, opportunities are limited. Our next concert is Sri.Vijay Siva on May 16th. I will do the same if I am able to make it.

[musicapriya]

Item 7 - the other ragam was Hamsanandi

Item 9 - was in Ahir Bhairav though he did seem to have started in Yamunakalyani.

Very good concert - Keeravani was the best piece. His korvai to finish Kaligiyunte was a 'mammoth' one which really grabbed everyone's attention. RTP was in Tisra Triputa in Khanda nadai.

Pakka vadyams were excellent. It was wonderful watching Arjun Kumar enjoy himself playing. Good rapport between the artists especially between Kannan and Arjun Kumar.

[sreecons]

I had never heard Embar.S.Kannan in person and he lived up to all the great things we have heard about him. Same goes for the mridangam player.

Thanks for the review. Yes, Embar Kannan is brilliant and definitely the best amongst the young crop. I have seen/heard his performances accompanying top musicians as well as in the Hearbeat ensemble, where he plays a major role. Definitely makes his guru A Kanyakumari amma proud.