Amrutha Venkatesh @ Swathi Sangeethotsavam 2015

[makham]

Swati Sangeethotsavam 2015
06 Jan 2015
Amrutha Venkatesh – M Rajeev – Arjun Ganesh – Dr S Karthik – Payyanur Govinda Prasad

Amrutha Venkatesh’s concert at Kuthiramalika vindicated the lavish praises heaped on her in recent posts by members of the forum especially Rsachi, bharathi and Rasikapriya2013. Some comparisons have been made – MMI’s swara singing, BMK’s melody and so on. Absence of MLV style has also been commented. All these show that she surveys every input she can lay hands on, discriminates, internalizes the selected ideas and delivers them in her own way. Thus there can be no aping any specific style. In the concert under reference I could also observe influences of Sanjay in parts of the alapana structure, and MDR’s leisurely phrases.

The opening padavarnam in Dhanyasi and post-tani items (Sreesha Padmanabha in Kamas, Jagadeesa panchaasara in Nadanamakriya, Visweswara in Sindhubhairavi and Tillana in Dhanasri) are already posted in Youtube.

In between she rendered Seve Sreekantam (Mohanakalyani), Smara manasa padmanabha charanam (Darbar), Saara saaksha (Pantuvarali) and Vihara maanasa raame (Kapi).

Full throated singing had the desired effect in overcoming the “kara kara” throat condition at the beginning. Kapi received a very elaborate treatment. The main piece alone took almost 90 minutes with 25 minutes for alapana by vocalist. She sang a ragamalika tanam after the alapana accompanied by percussion in true Trivandrum Navaratri style.

The team appeared made-for-each-other. The perfect chemistry among the team members ensured that the effect of the “Whole” was GREATER than the sum of the individual effects. That is the hallmark of excellence which distinguishes the Great from the Good. While Arjun Ganesh and Karthik indulged in exuberant effervescence, the Morsing artist who is a competent and knowledgeable vidwan chose to remain subdued and self-effacing. It is debatable whether we should have more than one upa pakkavadyam in vocal concerts.

Concerts at Swati Sangeethotsavam are marked by unpolluted open air ambience, punctuality and perfect sound arrangements. Only one concert is scheduled per day so that all are of Nirvana type.

[Rsachi]

Is a video available of the entire concert, please?
I think Arjun Ganesh adds a lot of value as the mridangist for Amrutha. Rajeev is very felicitous.

[HarishankarK]

Was Kapi the main item or Mohanakalyani??
She is really good, as it seems.
i also hope this concert will be uploaded in youtube. It will be a treat to the senses.

[rajeshnat]

Was Kapi the main item or Mohanakalyani??

The main is pantuvarali sarasAksha- each day of swathi sangeethotsavam , a particular main krithi is fixed.

[pattamaa]

Rajesh - not quite correct. There are no constraints in swathi festival, only navarathri mandapam has fixed raga/keerthana of the day for main item..

[rajeshnat]

Rajesh - not quite correct. There are no constraints in swathi festival, only navarathri mandapam has fixed raga/keerthana of the day for main item..

Pattamaa,
Sorry the navarathri mandapam and swathi festival kind of crossed . My mistake . I still guess the main could only be sarasAksha,some who attended can confirm.

[makham]

Kapi was the main item - in fact it can be called super main since it occupied almost 60% of the total duration. Amrutha Venkatesh's diction was so clear that a student could actually take down the lyrics. Another notable aspect was that even during the complex kuraippu swarams phase the raga bhava was not lost.

Only Shri Rama Varma perhaps could help in uploading the other parts of the concert in youtube.

[kssr]

Very happy to see that Amrutha is going places. Heartiest congratulations. I do not want to say " I told you so". She definitely deserves all the appreciation and support.

[vasanthakokilam]

>I do not want to say " I told you so".

Go ahead, say it!

I do recall you writing about Amrutha early on. May be you ( and Sreeni Rajarao) are the one who got me hooked on to her music. That all started for me with her elaborate, relaxed and leisurely treatment of Bhavayami ( available in YouTube). I can listen to that any number of times.

[shripathi_g]

Here's a very nice rendition of Theeradha Vilayattu Pillai by her during an interview - https://soundcloud.com/sripathi-g/amrut ... attupillai

She embellishes the song very well and ends nicely in all 4 ragas. By the way, her concert at Ananya last year is on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax9siiAq5oM The Kedaragowla in that concert is excellent.