S Aishwarya. 7 Dec, Brahma Gana sabha

[pattamaa]

S Aishwarya
H N Smitha
B Sivaraman

1 varnam - todi
2 manavyala - nalinakanti
3 deva deva - poorvi kalyani
4 nenarunchinanu - malavi
5 sri subrahmanyaya Namaste - kambhodi
6 kurai ondrum illai - ragamalika

The concert was of less than 1-1/2 hours duration, but had all ingredients of a great concert... Aishwarya is going greater hights..

poorvi kalyani and kambhodi alapana had some nice sangathis. due to lack of time, the neraval in vasavadi sakala was rather curtailed...I am very happy to hear this master piece from this young and budding vidushi.

Both accompanists supported well as a team

[advaitam]

I was pleased to hear young Aishwarya and found that she has greatly improved in both presentation style as well as delivery of voice. Though Kambhoji neraval and swaras were a little rushed due to paucity of time, the raga alapana in both Poorvikalyani and Kambhoji was really good. Overall a top-notch concert. Her voice has a ringing quality to it that is rare among singers today. Her sruti fidelity is almost flawless. She needs to develop range and strength in the lower octave but that will come with time. No doubt in the years to come she will be a top class musician. Her sense of laya is also very strong. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the young violinist. I haven't heard her before. She ably supported the singer. Her bowing was clean and sans any scratchy-ness. Sivaraman was the great bolstering effect throughout the concert. He greatly heightened the concert with his apt and wonderful accompaniment for the songs. He clearly showed his knowledge of the songs as he accompanied Aishwarya. It was also a pleasure to hear him play uninhibited in the wonderful style of his master, Dr. T.K.Murthy. A very pleasant afternoon indeed!

[Rsachi]

Sir, thanks for the detailed notes.
Just a small advice to reviewers (since some of us often comment on concerts without actually attending them!!!):
The statement should have read "I was pleased to hear young Aishwarya and found that .." Instead of

I was pleased to hear that young Aishwarya has greatly...

[cienu]

Thanks to Pattamma and Advaitam for the review and comments. It was also a pleasure to meet Rajeshnat. Please find below a picture of the concert. It was the first time that Vidushi Smitha was accompanying Aishwarya and she provided excellent accompaniment. Vidwan B Sivaraman's playing was exquisite and in the Malavi Kriti he was just fantastic ..

[advaitam]

Sir, thanks for the detailed notes.
Just a small advice to reviewers (since some of us often comment on concerts without actually attending them!!!):
The statement should have read "I was pleased to hear young Aishwarya and found that .."

I have made the edit as suggested. What I meant in the original post was that I was pleased to hear from my auditory faculties, rather than from someone else, about Aishwarya's improvement. Thanks anyway

[Rsachi]

Thank you.
Yes, B. Sivaraman is VERY good, especially in accompanying songs. I think he is the son of the (late) great Sethalapathi Balasubrahmanyam, torchbearer of the Papanasam Sivan repertoire, and has done riyaaz under the legendary TKM.

[KNV1955]

Lovely selections. I couldn't attend as it was raining heavily. Hope to hear her in some other venue.

KNV

[KNV1955]

Sachi talking about reviews the worst is Hindu. On most occasions the reviewer seems to have the opposite view of mine whenever I attend a concert. Some of them come with an agenda in mind. That is the feeling I get when I read these reviews.

KNV

[rajeshnat]

I entered late when she just began swathi tirunal's deva deva jagadeeshwara.While aishwarya irons out sangathis and inches to high quality in her krithi rendition, there is a noticeable shortfall in the aspect of creative improvisation . Possibly being a short concert she did not have a choice to showcase her imagination- hopefully that would come out well next time. The accompanists supported well , B sivaraman skipping the tani indeed gave more time for Aishwarya - certainly a very commendable one.