Kum. Amritha Murali (Vocal)
Smt. Anuradha Sridhar (Violin)
Sri. Vinod Seetharaman (Mridangam)
Sri. Karthik Venkataraman (Khanjira)
Waetjen Auditorium, CSU, Cleveland, OH, USA
2013, April 6th, 1300-1445
1. Sloka (Sadaa Baalaroopaapi) - Nattai
2. Pavanaatmaja - Nattai - Khanda Chapu - Muttusvami Dikshitar (S)
3. Lokaavana Chatura - Begada - Adi - Thyagaraja (RNS)
4. Sanaatana Paramapaavana - Phalamanjari - Adi - Thyagaraja (RS)
5. Sloka (Srirangamangalanidhim) - Hamirkalyani
6. Parimala Ranganaatham - Hamirkalyani - Rupaka - Muttusvami Dikshitar
7. Paramapurusha Jagadeesvara - Vasanta - Adi - Svati Tirunal
8. Kaamaakshi Bangaaru - Varali - Misra Chapu - Syama Sastri (RST)
9. Varugalaamo - Manji - Misra Chapu - Gopalakrishna Bharati
I'd heard Kum. Amritha the violinist the previous day, accompanying Smt. GV, and I wanted to hear Amritha the vocalist deliver. The sruti was off in the beginning, especially in Nattai, but was better by the time she got to Begada. She sang a lovely alapana, and Lokaavanachatura was in the top 5 of my hoped-for Begada songs, so that worked out :-) The niraval at "Saaketaadhipa Sarasaguna" was also well sung.
Amritha then picked up a raga-elaboration with lots of "S G2 M1 D2 S" phrases. I misidentified it as Jayantasena (didn't realise there was G2-M1-R2-S in the descent), and Smt. Anuradha's response, exemplary though it was, didn't help me. I only realised it was Phalamanjari after hearing the opening words of the song. My seat-neighbour was also upset at Begada and Phalamanjari sung in succession :-), but I thought it added a touch of scholarliness to the concert.
The Hamirkalyani was soothing, although I'm not a big fan of 2 x Tisra Eka Dikshitar compositions with zero laya. Varali was sung well; I did feel better time-management could have afforded her time for a Varali Niraval (I'm a sucker for Niraval).
A shout-out to the Mridangam and Khanjira artistes - they were really good! I'd been a touch disappointed with the quality of percussion this year at Cleveland - too loud, too pedestrian or too intrusive. Sri. Vinod and Sri. Karthik were none of those. Vinod played with perfect adherence to the state of the concert - with the right mix of fast phrases and slow phrases, of sarvalaghu and kanakku, of sound and silence. And Karthik followed Vinod to a tee.
The highlight of their accompaniment was when Amritha sang a moving Varugalaamo. That rendition made a very good concert excellent.