Satthur Sisters - Vocal
Srilakshmi Venkataramani - Violin
Melakkaveri Balaji - Mridangam
December 17, 2007 at Raga Sudha Hall
Satthur Sisters performed under the Brahmaswarupini Trust banner at Raga Sudha Hall.
I had no idea what I was letting myself in for when I went to this concert. I have heard the Satthur Sisters before and I like their music.
It turned out that there were songs on Brahmaswarupini and this was a concert that would consist only of those kritis.
Some trustee from the Trust read out a mercifully brief introduction which mentioned that these kritis were written by some person(s) and set to tune by T K Govinda Rao.
Well, T K Govinda Rao couldn't save these kritis. Even Brahmaswarupini could not have saved these kritis.
The concert had one thing going for it, I have to admit.
When you listen to these kritis, you realize how well crafted even the simplest kritis of Sri Thyagaraja are. Even simple songs that might be taught to children to introduce them to music, such as "Raminchuvar evarura" (Suposhini) achieve musical heights comparable to Mt. Everest when compared to these kritis. It is not that these kritis achieve the height of molehills; that would be pardonable. But they actually dig deep into the ground.
Usually, I feel bad when artists on stage start referring to notes. In this case, I felt bad that the Satthur Sisters had actually memorized these kritis. These are kritis worth singing from a book and after which they could be thrown into a bonfire.
I fled from the venue feeling sorry for all the artists on the stage.
Please do not ask me for a song list.
Take the words (in Tamil) for "Poor helpless me", "Why won't you come to my help", etc., put them in any combination that pays no attention to meter or rhyme and you would get not just one but all of the kritis.
If the Satthur Sisters sing even one of these kritis in any concert (you can identify them easily because there is the word Brahmaswarupini in all of them), I swear I shall never attend any of their concerts after that.