Vocal: Amrutha Venkatesh
Violin: L. Ramakrishnan
Mrudangam: S. J. Arjun Ganesh
Kanjira: ?
Approximate Songlist:
01. Ninne Bhajana - Nattai (Raga Sketch, S)
02. Siva Siva - Panthuvarali (Raga Sketch, N,S)
03. Ninnu Sevinchana (?) - Yadukulakamboji (R)
04. Ini Oru Kanam - Sriranjani
05. ? - Khamas
06. Gajavadana Sammodita - Thodi (R,N,S,T)
07. Madhura Madhura - Bageshri
Amrutha Venkatesh sang a good concert today. My highlight was her excellent and emotive Yadukulakamboji alapanai preceding a composition I have not heard before. She rendered all the krithis very articulately (I was told she knows Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and other languages, so her pronunciation is very good). Her Thodi was the complete classical package, right from a comprehensive and beautiful 15-min alapanai to the top-notch neraval. Swaras were good as well. The Bageshri was delivered really well. She has good shruti alignment, a voice that retains its depth in all octaves (although she didn't dwell much in mandra sthayi today), excellent krithi rendition, and seems to have good control over laya (there was no ottam at all even in second speed swaras). I'm told she tunes compositions as well. A bright prospect.
The violinist had good shruti alignment even when playing faster passages, and matched the vocalist's Thodi alapanai with a few special touches of his own. He has a fluid bowing technique and his fingering is generally precise. His neraval replies seemed a tad off-colour to me, though.
The mrudangam artiste was sedate throughout, and I could barely hear the kanjira. Their thani was extremely short and was almost literally over in the blink of an eye.