Gayathri Girish @ Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Dec 26th, 2016

[revanthv552]

This margazhi, I flew down to Chennai to soak in all the music it had to offer. I am someone who enjoys music for all the emotion it has to offer and it is rare for me to be disappointed about any concert. Hence, I was very happy with all the concerts I attended in the three days of my time there. Lots of these concerts have already been reported here. I chose to write about the concert of Gayathri Girish at 4 PM on December 26, 2016.

Gayathri Girish is one of my favourite musicians. The last time I heard her sing was about five or six years ago. I carefully planned my time in Chennai to make sure I attend at least one of her concerts for I knew she is someone who never disappoints rasikas. And of course, I was not disappointed. Her music is pure and its a pure bliss for the listeners. The artists on violin, mridangam and ghatam were, Sri M R Gopinath, Sri B V Sivaraman and Sri Madipakkam Murali respectively. Here's the song list:

1. Suddha Dhanyasi Varnam- Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar
2. Sarasiruhasanapriye-Nata-Puliyoor Duraiswami Iyer [S]
3. Amba Neelayathakshi-Neelambari-Dikshitar
4. Narasimha Mamava Bhagavan-Arabhi-Swati Tirunal
5. Enna Perum Thavam-Sahana-Periyasami Thooran
6. RTP-Kalyani
" Anbe Shivam Endru Arivom. Inbam Idhendru Thelivom"
7. Akhiya Haridarsan ke-Behag[?]-Surdas
8. Kannan Madurai-Bimplas-[?]
9. Thillana-Chandrakauns-T N Seshagopalan
10. Tiruppugazh-Surati

The concert was a pure delight. There was a lot of sowkhyam in the rendition of Amba Neelayathakshi. The alapana of Arabhi was bright and there were really interesting rounds of swarams in madhyamakala for the pallavi. She did grahabedham and presented same phrases one after the other in two different ragas. Arabhi followed by Mohanakalyani. The swaras flowed with ease. It was exciting to see this inclusion. I also remember Gayatri (Ranjani-Gayatri) doing the same in the ragamalika swarams for RTP they presented at Music Academy the day before for ragas Abhogi and Valaji. She sang the Sahana composition considering that the day was associated to Kanchi Paramacharya. The song suited the occasion and also came in the right place before the grand Kalyani RTP.

The RTP was set to khanda triputa talam. The purvangam of the pallavi was in chatusra nadai and uttarangam was in tisra nadai. The alapana was full of brighas and sounded so beautiful. Her voice easily reached the higher octaves and it was an absolutely grand RTP. The thanam was for a significant amount of time and was sung too kalams. It was not one of those instant RTPs which qualify for "I need to sing an RTP for the sake of it" concerts and I am very happy about that. (In fact in all the concerts I attended in the three days, I heard about 5 RTPs and I was very satisfied with them) I am a lover of elaborate RTPs and this was an absolute treat. During the alapana she did grahabedham to Suddha Dhanyasi for a brief period. After presenting the swarams in two kaalams, there was a thaniavarthanam. Among the songs she sang after the main piece, the thillana remains my absolute favorite. She presented it beautifully!

[Rsachi]

Revanthv552,
I enjoyed reading your review. You have a lot of heart in listening to music and also sharing your views!

[rshankar]

Revanth- it was very nice to read a review from you after a hiatus! Thank you!

[kamalamba]

Revanth552, I meant to write about this concert, but you beat me to it.
The concert was brilliant and the ambA nIlAyadAkshi, Arabhi, and RTP all stand out.
The grahabedhams were excellent, I hadn't heard the Arabhi mOhanakalyANi combination before. Also, it was nice to see it done during the swarams rather than in the AlApanai.
I should also mention MadipAkkam MuraLi and SivarAman's skillful thani.

[arasi]

Revanth,
Thanks for your review. It was a lovely concert, one of my favorites this season.
A pity I missed meeting you, since I did not stay till the end (had to rush to be at another place for a family-related event). Glad you could be in Chennai this season. Still in Pune?

AmbA nIlAyadAkshi stole my heart too!
Yes, pakka vAdyams were pakkA vAdyams!