Smt. GAyathri Girish at BhArat KalAchAr 27 December 2012

[kamalamba]

V.Sanjeev - Violin
Poongulam Subramanian - Mridangam
H.Prasanna - Ghatam

I arrived late in Chennai for this season and Smt gAyathri Girish's concert was one of the first I attended. As always it was excellent and really enjoyable. Also ran into Arasi madam at the venue.

1. varNam - navarAgamAlikA - Adi - patnam subramanya iyer. The varnam was sung in brisk and brisker tempo (two speeds), which fit rAgams like kalyANi and bEgadA. Incidentally this varnam was the opening piece for 4 out of the first 5 concerts I attended this season and still never gets tiring.
2. sadAnanda tANdavam - bahudAri - Adi - achyutadAsar
3. entani nE varNintunu - mukhAri - rUpakam - tyAgarAjar (R,N,S). The specialty of this sub-main was the beautiful AlApanai and a rare (at least for me) kriti. By this time gAyatri's voice was in its best element. Unfortunately, due to poor audio feedback for the artistes on the stage GG had to strain her voice before the sound systems were configured properly.
4. nambikettavar - hindOLam - Adi - pApanAsam sivan. This kriti, which lasted all of 3-4 minutes, had beautiful sangathis that I have never heard that established every attractive facet of hindoLam in this short few minutes.
5. srI kAntimatIm - dEsi simhAravam - Adi- muttuswAmi dIkshitar (R,N,S,T). MD masterpiece. Excellent AlApanai clearly minimizing any influence of kharaharapriyA (which is seen frequently). The AlApanai lasted approximately 15 minutes and there was an equally beautiful return of 10 minutes by Sanjeev, who I think is exceptional and every time I see him my appreciation for his accompaniment only increases. The pallavi line itself was chosen for the neraval followed by lengthy swaras. As with Sanjeev, PoonguLam Subramaniam and PrasannA's accompaniment in general, and thani in particular were appropriate for the kriti and excellent.
6. dAriNi telusukonti - shuddasAvEri - Adi - tyAgarAjar. This classic kriti with all the nice sangathis in the pallavi followed. Again, this shortish piece packed a lot of manodharmam in anupallavi and charaNam.
7. RTP - sAvEri - misra cApu - "murugA kumarA parama dayALA saravaNabhava"
(rAgamAlikA neraval in shanmukhapriya, bEgadA and madhyamAvati)
8. murugA murugA - sAvEri - misra cApu - periasAmi tooran. The RTP followed by the periasami thooran kriti was the highlight of the evening, especially how gAyathri seamlessly transferred from the RTP to the kriti. Mrs. YGP showered praises of the aritstes, especially highlighting the ease with which gAyathri moved from on rAgam to the next in the neraval part of the pallavi. Incidentally, I like rAgamAlikA neravals more than the rAgamAlikA swarams that is more common in RTPs. I also like the fact that gAyathri follows the tradition of a second thani following the RTP (which I heard about from UmayALapuram sir in a concert).
9. gOpi gOpAla - gamanAshramA - Adi (tisra)-sUrdAs
10.kannA vA - rAgamAlikA - Adi - Smt. Ambujam Krishna. This kriti was sung in the TNS style and very soothing.
11. tillAnA - sindhubhairavi - Adi - oothukkAdu vEnkatakavi. Excellent thillAnA, which then ended the concert.

In all, wonderful concert, characterized by novelty and creativity as is usual for GG concerts and good understanding between all the artistes as well.