Smt. Sankari Krishnan (Vocal) - Sun, 29th May - Madison, WI

[rasikapriyaa]

Carnatic Music lovers in Madison, WI were treated to a soul-stirring concert by Smt. Sankari Krishnan (disciple of Padmabhushan Shri. G.Lalgudi Jayaraman) on Sunday, May 29th in the Oakwood auditorium. She was very ably accompanied by Akkarai S. Subhalaskhmi on the violin, and Rajna Swaminathan on the mridangam.

1. Neevegatiyani - Nalinakanthi - Adi - Shri. Lalgudi Jayaraman
2. Siddhi Vinayakam (+ kalpana swaram)- Shanmukapriya - Rupakam - Muthuswamy Dikshithar
3. Padhumanabhan Maruga - Nagaswarali - Rupakam - Papanasam Sivan
4. Shyama Sundranga - Dhanyasi - Rupakam - Thyagaraja (Alapanai)
5. Kamakshi - Bilahari - Adi - Muthuswamy Dikshithar
6. Raguvara - Panthuvarali - Adi - Thyagaraja (Alapanai + Neraval in Manasuna niki)
7. Anupama gunaambudhi - Ataana - Kanda Chaapu - Thyagaraja
8. Nee Padhamuley - Bhairavi - Adi - Patnam Subramania Iyer (Main piece)
9. Naaneke Badavanu - Behaag - Kanda Chapu - Purandara Dasa
10. Vishamakaara Kannan - Chenchurutti - Adi - Oottukaadu Venkata Kavi
11. Sriman Narayana - Bowli - Adi - Annamacharya
12. Thillana - Madhuvanthi - Adi - Lalgudi Jayaraman

The audience was spell-bound by Smt. Sankari's melodious and cultured voice, her outstanding performance, and her high class accompanists. Starting from the spritely Nalinakanthi varnam to the Madhuvanthi Thillana, her music was steeped in the rich Lalgudi Paataantharam. Her choice of songs was very nice, and she interspersed some brisk tempo krithis wherever appropriate. Her alapanais for Dhanyasi, Panthuvarali and Bhairavi were beautifully structured and presented, and so were the kalpana swarams and neraval. Her renditions had a beautiful balance of gamakams, brighas, jaarus and plain notes and highly bhava-laden - the hallmark of the Lalgudi baani. She was very ably supported by Akkarai Subhalakshmi on the violin and Rajna Swaminathan on the mridangam. Subhalakshmi's rendition of the Bhairavi alapanai was particularly outstanding and melted the audience. Rajna's thani-avarthanam (solo) was very elegant, and her sarvalaghu style was very appealing. She played along with the sahithyam very well, and her responses for the kalpana swaram exchanges in Raghuvara was very impressive.
Sankari did a great job of "Kamakshi" with her own little subtleties that she added to the famous version popularized by DKP/DKJ. In the thukda section, Sankari sang "Vishamakaara Kannan" on request, and she did a foot-tapping rendition of the same. Sankari added her own twist to the song... her experience in Tamil Folk singing was brought out very beautifully in this. She concluded the concert with the evergreen Shriman Narayana and a very brisk Madhuvanthi thillana. We had to unfortunately vacate the auditorium by 6 PM. If not, we would have loved to hear her perform longer. We had a very good turnout (more than 100 Indians + Non-Indians) despite being in the middle of the long weekend. In summary, a wonderful and very memorable concert!

[Dhanavendra]

Nice review for a versatile artiste. Sankari Krishnan has been doing justice to the Carnatic genre of music for many years now.
The style of the review is very appealing. Keep it up.