Nisha Rajagopal - Vocal ; L Ramakrishnan - Violin
Vijay Natesan - Mrudangam ; S Krishna - Ghatam
List:
Valaci - Navaragamalika varnam - Patnam
kancadalAyadAksI - kamalAmanOhari - Muthusvami Dikshitar
syAmasundarAnga - dhanyAsi - Tyagaraja - Alapana
bhajarE rE - Abheri/Devagandharam - Mysore vasudevacar - Alapana and svaras at pallavi
karunajUdavamma - Varali - Syama Sastri
pattividuvarAdu - Manjari - Tyagaraja
kailAsanAtEna - Kambhoji - Muthusvami Dikshitar - Alapana and neraval/svaras @ kailAsagiri vihArEna + tani
alivEnI entu ceyyu - Kurinji - Svati Tirunal
gAnamazhai - Behag,Bauli, manirangu - Ambujam Krishna
pavamAna - Saurashtram - Tyagaraja
Observations:
1. Strong points of the vidusi - A very mellifluous voice and good svara gnana, a very good reach both in mandhara and tAra stayi, capable of not just making the forays to reach the tAra pancama but able to anchor at the tAra antara gandhara and roll out strong akara phrases, a very pristine fine voice ( not a flaky one); excellent manodharmam both in raga vinyasa and in svara kalpana and sound kAlapramana and competence in kanakku are all strong points. I should compliment her additionally for not using any electronic display devices as a prompt in front of her during this recital.
2. The artiste leveraged quite a few of her strengths during the concert - a well encapsulated Dhanyasi alapana for instance showed that she was capable of wrapping around a solid rakti raga in a few choice phrases. Her strong sense of svara gnana was obvious by her pristine enunciation of the Varali madhyama and its rishabha and nishadha svara. Her variation in pace and treatment, without letting the percussionists runaway was obvious as she negotiated a slow Karunajudavamma with the same ease as the Manjari kriti and the sonorous cadence of Aliveni.
3. That said, two singular points stuck out as a sore thumb which can be definitely worked away. The choice of the Devagandharam kriti is not the one for the rasikas coming to Raga Sudha hall. A good number of them are alike the snooty rasikas of Kumbakonam held in awe even by the vidvans of older times. The 'Bhajare re mAnasa' though prefaced by a technically sound alapana could have been instead replaced by a kriti say in a Bahudari or a Arabhi or a Devagandhari or a Begada or a Surati which could have been the optimal choice. It suddenly made the concert a wee bit light'ish, which might have worked had it been another day/time/venue, IMO.
4. The other key choice which didn't work really well IMO was the Kambhoji and the kriti. Her raga vinyasa could have been more weightier. In fact the violinist IMO did a better job. The choice of the kriti as well fell flat. A weightier one such as Sri Raghuvara aprameya or a Sri Subramanyaya Namaste could have been a sure hit. A kriti to be a main piece should be capable of a wholesome treatment - replete with solid sahitya, progressive and nuanced delineation of the raga in its body and an optimal gait to provide enough room for the artiste to orchestrate manodharmam. The chosen kriti fell short on every count. Alternatively the Vidusi could have perhaps even enlisted a Bhairavi to do the job for her. That was how one potentially felt at that point in time, at the hall, given the ragas she had rendered so far and the momentum she had gained that far.
Monsieur Google tells me that she is now in Sri PSN's finishing school ( the Manjari kriti was a giveaway). Anyways nowadays except for Smt Jaya of Nada Inbam and yours truly , everyone in town seems to be Sri PSN's disciple
. Hope she gets a little more of the knack of the SSI school technique of choosing kritis. After all for humble mortals, the Ariyakudi format with the Semmangudi school choice & sequence of ragas and kritis is the sure fire first step for a satisfying recital. The Vidusi may do well to hone that to a perfection which I am sure she will as she transits the 40+ age mark. And in a decade or two I am sure like a Vedavalli today, she will be become a purveyor of fine wines..errrr music with her strengths today. The accompanists gave competent support. The misra capu tani was good. Looking forward to her concert at the Meccademy.
PS: Not sure how others heard it, I felt that the drone was at an extra high volume level, filling the hall with much of aadhara sruti. Not that I was bothered by it. It wasn't distracting at all one should say.
-R
) - anda tAlam pAvam adai pOTTu ippaDi aDittAl ( pity that tAlam if we beat on it so much ) 
- and there are many Dikshitar examples. I am hoping to return to Tech section/lyrical beauty thread to discuss how some of those can be elevated.