VASUNDHARA RAJAGOPAL AT VANI MAHAL ON 27 MAR 11

[CRama]

The concert of Smt Vasundhara Rajagopal was held on the Grand Finale Day of the Tamil Isai Festival in Vani Mahal conducted by Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha. She was accompanied by VV.Ravi on the violin, Ramaiah Vittal on the Mridangam and S.Krishna on the Ghatam.
Smt Vasundhara Rajagopal was a Management Accountant by profession in Toronto and Chennai before she left her lucrative career in 1999 for taking up music as her career, which was the passion of her life. She was a disciple of TRS, Calcutta Krishnamurthy and now taking advanced training under Vidhushi Suguna Varadhachary. Her daughter Nisha Rajagopal is already an upcoming artist. VVRavi needs no introduction. Ramaiah Vittal is a disciple of Karaikudi Mani and S.Krishna, a disciple of THVinayakram. The concert consisted of all tamil songs. The list is.

1.Thanjam enrale nenjam arul suranthe varuga- Varnam in Abhogi ragam, Adi thalam by Papanasam Sivan on Kapaleeswarar.
2.Sivalokanaathanai-Mayamalavagowla ragam, Roopakam thalam, composition of Gopalakrishna Bharathy
3.Ennai nee maravaadey- Amritavarshini ragam, Adi thalam, Composition of MM.Dandapani Desigar.
4.Thookkiya thiruvadi thunai ena nambinen-Sankarabharanam, Adi thalam, Composition of Sudhananda Bharathi.
5.Enna punniyam seytheno- Composition of Uthukadu Venkitasubbaiyer in the ragam Reethigowla
6.Punniyam oru koti purindeno- Keeravani ragam, Adi thalam (2Kalai), Composition of Periyaswami thooran.
7.Kanda naal muthalay kaathal peruki-Madhuvanthi, Composition of N.S,Chidambaram, tuned by Tanjore S.Kalyanaraman
8.Yaadumaaki ninray kaali- Sindubhairavi, Composition of Subramania Bharathiar.
9.Sree Ramachandranukku jaya mangalam-Madhyamavathy

This is the first time I am hearing this vidushi live although I have heard her a couple of times in AIR and I am happy that I took that decision. It was highly absorbing concert. Her style is clearly reflective of her Guru TRS, who is a favourite of mine and I have heard many of his concerts. Some of the TRS swaras will make you dance and I could experience that in her Amritavarshini swaras. Her voice is very rich and enunciates clearly the sahithyam and conveys emotions very effectively. There are no flashy sangathis or superfast brighas, but her music is much dignified than many of the women star performers of today. Her portrayal of the lilting varnam in Abhogi showed the glimpse of the rich music which was to follow. The alapanas of Amritavarshini, Sankarabharanam and Keeravani were well executed. The last two being very expansive for about 10 minutes. The kriti of Desigar is of very good sahithya bhavam and varnamettu. I am happy that the compositions of Desigar is getting the attention it deserves– yesterday Sikkil Gurucharan and today Vasundhara Rajagopal. The alapana of Amritavarshini was also very absorbing and second kala swaras were rendered in the 3rd line in charanam- Paattinile Isai Ootti enakkalikka. The swaras were in typical TRS style. For the kriti Thookkiya thiruvadi, neraval was done in the charanam line Ethanayo piravi edutheduthe ilaithen and second kala swaras were rendered.

Punniyam oru kodi purintheno is a wonderful composition of Periaswamy thooran on the Mahaswamy of Kanchi which the late doyen KVN rendered utmost soulfully. It was rendered with great bhavam, neraval at Annai Kaamakshi pole anbe vadivaai vandaar and elaborate swaras with nice poruthams were rendered. The accompanists gelled with the music of the vidushi to a good extent and their mutual appreciation was visible. VV Ravi was nadam personified as usual and his alapanas of the three ragams and replies were apt. The mridangam playing of Ramaiah Vittal amptly showed the training he received from the great Karaikudi Mani. Kannan on the Ghatam matched Ramaiah in every stroke. The thani lasted for 15 minutes. The post thani pieces were also rendered very well. I longed for more tukkadas as during the introduction of the artist, her other ventures like Paasurappadi Ramayanam, Nalayira Divya Prabandham etc were announced. A really very good concert with three alapanas and two neravals in a two and quarter hour concert.

[rshankar]

Lovely list. Thank you for the review.
#7 should be kaNDa nAL mudalAi kAdal perugudaDi (kayinil vEl piDitta karuNai SivabAlanai...) - I have heard this from Smt. Sudha Raghunathan. Did not know that Sri TKR had tuned it...

[rajeshnat]

Lovely list. Thank you for the review.
#7 should be kaNDa nAL mudalAi kAdal perugudaDi (kayinil vEl piDitta karuNai SivabAlanai...) - Did not know that Sri TKR had tuned it...

You meant SKR(Tanjore S kalyAnaraman) not TKR(who is TK RangAchari), madhuvanti just haunts you and when I heard for the first time the recording of SKR I got zapped.

[natakapriyan]

Kandhanal Mudalai was tuned by Calcutta Krishnamoorthi. Vasundhara's Guru

[CRama]

As far as my information goes, this song was tuned by Tanjore S.Kalyanaraman. It has been reported in many places accordingly.

[Lakshman]

kaNDa nAL and many other songs by N.S.Chidambaram were tuned by S.Kalyanaraman.