Song list:
1. Sri raja mathangi chamundeswari (varnam), suddha danyasi, adi, mysore wodeyar
2. Raghuvara nannu, pantuvarali, adi, ns @ manasuni neeke marulu konnavu
3. Nattaikurunji, Vazhi maraithirukkudhe, Misra chapu, GKB
4. Sasivadhana, Chandrajyoti, adi, Thyagaraja, swaras @ pallavi line
5. Bhairavi, Balagopala, adi, Dikshitar, ns @ neela neeradha
Personal Observations:
1. A mellifluous voice combined with the rare ability to decorate at will with lightning quick brighas mark this artiste's performances.
2. Sometimes in her alapanas she uses "na na na" most poignantly and when dwelling on the nishadam, this can melt the most hardened of hearts. As she dove right into the kriti, one felt a little bit of a let down. But a most wonderful neraval followed. There was no language barrier and no need to dig through a dictionary. In fact all barriers seem to disappear as she progressed through the neraval. My octogenarian friend who has stopped frequenting concerts as he used to just a couple of years ago and who always complains about the a/c remarked how warm it was
His hard trek from home on foot to this venue had proven worthwhile. 3. Nishant Chandran was masterful in his accompaniment and used the opportunity generously afforded to showcase his sensitive playing.
4. The concert continued with a nice alapana of "ragathil sirandha" Nattaikurinji with some short though exhilarating mandhra sthayi sancharas. Something we could definitely listen to more of.
5. Sangeetha's vidwat was on show for Sasivadhana where she broke into some brisk swaras.
6. A surfeit of Bhairavi (along with Thodi) early this season took some steam out of the main. Especially after hearing a slower Yaaro ivar yaaro with neraval and swaras from the same artiste just within the last week.
7. An unexpected phone call led me to miss the rest of the concert. But this once, I was happy to miss the events at the "major" locations in favor of the small sabha.
Searched for 'guru of ..' to make sure I got it right. In this search process, stumbled upon links to her 2001 December music season concert.. Though she sang the songs of that school, especially the thukkadas, her style did not come off too much like that.. which is good..But then that was 9 years back.