Vasudha Keshav @ Bharathi Kala Manram Toronto, March 19,2011

[mahavishnu]

Smt Vasudha Keshav - vocal
Sri Prashant Gururaja - violin
Toronto Sri Gowrishankar - mridangam
Sri Karthik Venkataraman - kanjira

1. ErA nApai - Todi varnam - patnam
2. vinAyakA ninnu vinA - hamsadwani - Ramakrishna bhagavatar (S)
3. unnaDiyE gathi - bahudAri - GNB (R, S)
4. ranganAyakam - nAyaki - MD (R)
5. bAgAyanayya - chandrajyoti - T (R, N, S).
6. bhogIndra sAyinam - kuntala varAli - ST
7. O rangasAyi - kambOji - T (R, N, S, T)
8. kaliyuga varadan - brindAvana sAranga - Periyasami Thooran
9. innudaya bhAratE - kalyAna vasantam - Purandara Dasa
10. tOm tana tana dhirana - hamsAnandi tillAna - Srimushnam Raja Rao

This is the first live concert for me since the Chennai music season, since the spring festivities in this continent do not begin for another three weeks. Vasudha Keshav came highly recommended to me by seasoned Chennai rasikas such as Rajesh, so I was excited to attend this event.

Vasudha has an interesting voice with a lot of "azhuttham" in her singing. The bahudari was very well executed and the GNB kriti was a nice surprise, since I was expecting brova bharama or sadananda tandavam. She had a little bit of difficulty finding her element in ragams like nayaki (with slippery swarastanams) and chandrajyoti (with chromatic scale/vivadi elements). However she managed both kritis impressively, the short neraval in Chandrajyoti was the highlight of the concert for me. Bhogindra Sayinam was brisk and energetic; the percussion support was excellent here. Sri Gowrishankar concluded the khanta chapu with a tirmanam that is characteristic of his guru Sri Bhaktavatsalam, a syncopated ta dim repeated five times. His mridangam accompaniment was filled with sowkhyam and he got a wonderful nadham from his instrument even at the higher pitch. Kamboji alapani was elaborate with a full treatment of O Rangasayi, with no details spared. The tani that followed was a very nice exchange between Sri Gowrishankar and Sri Karthik. The tillana was a nice surprise; it was a unique hamsanandi with sahityam in kannada. Just as I was wondering who the composer was she announced that it was Srimushnam Raja Rao. It is good to see his compositions being performed regularly these days. The violin support was adequate, he followed the singer reasonably well for most of the concert.

Overall, I really liked Smt Vasudha Keshav's performance and would recommend her enthusiastically. Smt Vasudha still needs to work on swarastana suddham and tighter control of raga handling. Her stage presence is excellent, it felt that she was in complete control of the musical space (both physical and interpersonal) from the beginning. She worked very well with accompanists and never missed an opportunity to compliment them on a good sangati or rhythmic phrase. This confident demeanor will work well for her. She has a wonderful future and I wish her the best.

[suma]

She sang the same songs here in chicago last year. You can listen to those on you tube. I think the main was different in chicago and i dont remember if the thillana and varnam were the same, but the rest of the songs were rendered here last year.

[rajeshnat]

Ramesh
Tx for the review , perhaps she just entered toronto after a l o n g flight. I am assuming she is just starting her tour with a jet lag . I checked her website to find an un updated schedule http://www.vasudakesav.com/upcomingevents.html
If some one puts her schedule that would help many in NA.

[Abhishek]

Thanks Ramesh for the wonderful review!

I completely agree, the chandrajyoti neraval was the highlight of the concert. I wish it had lasted a little longer.
I felt the neraval in O rangasAyi was a bit repetitive after a certain point - she kept singing the same phrases over and over again.

I loved the two viruttams preceding kaliyuga varadan and innudaya bhAratE.
As you said, the hamsAnandi tillana was a fantastic finish to the concert. Overall, a lovely experience.

Ramesh, will you be attending BKM's tyagaraja aradhana next month? Hope to see you there.

[Abhishek]

4. ranganAyakam - nAyaki - MD (R,S)

I don't think she sang swaram for ranganAyakam, did she?

[mahavishnu]

@Abhishek: Didn't see you yesterday... Where were you sitting? Yes you are right, there were no swarams for Ranganayakam. my bad. I will be at the Tyagaraja festival. Look forward to seeing you there; it sounds like a great line-up this year.
@Rajesh: You were right about the weighty timbre in Smt Vasudha's voice at the slightly lower female shruti (F # ish?). It would be nice to see other reviews of this artiste from the rest of her N. American tour.
@Suma: I did see the youtube video. Is that your son on the violin? It is nice to see him as an accompanist.

[rshankar]

Ramesh thanks for that review! I will try and listen to her if she comes our way.

The bahudari was very well executed and the GNB kriti was a nice surprise, since I was expecting brova ba rama

The kRti you quote is not a request for rAma to come (bA) to protect (brOva), but a question, 'is it too burdensome (bhAramA) to protect (brOva) (me)'?

[mahavishnu]

Ravi, I stand corrected.

[srikant1987]

mahavishnu, you can edit your post to reflect the corrections (especially the 'S' in the list for nAyaki).

Yes, she sings with azhuttham and confidence.

[mahavishnu]

edits made.

And a picture from the concert yesterday, shot from my iPhone...