Nov 4th, 6:15pm
Bhakthiyudaiyaar (Viruttam) - Begada - Subramania Bharathiyar
Vallabha Nayakasya - Begada - Rupakam - MD (S)
Jaya Jaya - Nattai - Khandachapu - PD (S)
Nadaloludai - Kalyanavasantham - Rupakam - T (R)
Intha Vaddani - Vakulabharanam - Rupakam - ?? (R,S)
Mohana Rama - Mohanam - Adi (2 kalai) - T (R,N,S,T)
Kanda Guha (Viruttam) - Misra Sivaranjani (r)
Thillana - Misrasivaranjani - Adi - Maharajapuram Santhanam
Pavamana - Sowrashtram - Adi - T
nb: kalpana swaras were taken at the pallavi only.
There were so many moments I could not help but think "his delightful voice is almost the same as his father's, Maharajapuram Santhanam" during this concert - which featured chaste classical music for just over 2hrs. The speech at the end of the Youtube telecast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdiy7HCBIYk) which goes for just under 5 minutes was short and sweet, and probably better summarises what needs to be said about each of the well-established professional senior artists who were on stage.
The invocatory viruttham on Gananatha preceding Dikshitar's composition was like a fresh appetiser to me which made me look forward to what else was in store. Noticeable breathlessness did appear during the Purandaradasar composition (and even briefly at the anupallavi of Begada), but he made up for this with enjoyable and crisp swarakalpana in Nattai. If there were people in the audience who had doubts, the mridangist through his gestures confirmed that a couple of lines of the swaras were identical to those in the Nattai Pancharathna; they fitted in the kalpana swara passage so well. I was surprised at how he handled the akara sangathis in the Kalyanavasantham alapana; age was no barrier - though the raga was commonly handled by his father very well too at a time when the raga was less common in concerts. Nadaloludai was more of a filler in this concert.
I could immediately recognise Vakulabharanam which he took up next as I have heard Nithyashree Mahadevan render this raga beautifully on many other occasions, but to his credit he announced the name of the raga for those who were unaware. The sense of his innocence in double checking the number of the melakartha with the violinist some time later during the alapana was enjoyable to watch. The composition was very new to me, but several phrasings were similar to Ee Ramuni.
What followed were regular staples of the Maharajapuram parampara. The main in Mohanam followed by thani avarthanam was handled very well. I have listened to recordings of his father render Misra Sivaranjani repeatedly many times (particularly the Thillana), so when the raga was taken to conclude the concert with such great bhaavam, I was thrilled. The violinist became very involved in the rendition of the Thillana and faithfully followed the way Santhanam sir would sing it even when Ramachandran sir perhaps inadvertently skipped one of the syllable sangathis at the end. Whether the Mangalam was required or not after that remains unclear to me, and perhaps it was unclear to the artists too, which is may be why they included it just in case.
