akkarai swarnalatha – violin
erode Nagaraj - mrudangam
(concert for thyagaraja aradhana festival at thiruvanmiyur asthika samajam on 15.2.08 at 4.30 – 6.45pm)
1. rAma nannu - harikAmbOji - rUpaka chApu
2. vara nAradha – vijayashrI – Adhi
3. balamu kulamu - sAveri – Adhi – thisra gathi
4. sangItha jnAnamu –dhanyAsi – Adhi
5. gIthArthamu – surati – Adhi
6. kaligiyundE – kIrvAni – Adhi
7. mOsamaya – kshEthragnar padham – misra chapu
8. vinAyakuni – madhyamAvathi – Adhi
[ all thyAgaraja krithis except 7 ]
It was a breezy evening that we felt we would do the concert near the kuLam [temple tank] itself.
ishwarya began the concert with rAma nannu brOvurA with a fine niraval and swaram.
varanAradha was a bit faster and added pep to the evening. [ I have heard a lot about the combination of shrI VVS and UKS sir playing this krithi in an elaborate manner with niraval and swaram followed by thunderous “thani” in high speed by UKS sir… can anybody find a recording of this and upload it?
]She presented a neat and soothing alApanai in sAvEri.
The sangathis had nidhAnam and rAga bhAvam existed everywhere. balamu kulamu in thisra gathi Adhi thALam, a dhivya nAma krithi of the saint seems to be a rare one in concert platforms.
A moving niraval in “valchu thyAgarAja varadhu” and kIzh kAla – madhyama kAla swarams were done. dhanyAsi krithi was a good filler before going for a detailed alApanai in surati. The atmosphere was becoming “madi” with an excellent rendering of gIthArthamu. [ I like her attitude of singing ragas like surati, Ahiri, harikamboji… she sang ‘mArubalka’ as sub main and ‘entharA nI thana’ as main in her concert (KFA, 21.12.07) during the season].
She reminded chemmangudi mama’s sangathis in kIrvani [she is a disciple of smt. Seethalakshmi venkatesan, shrI PSN and Vegavahini vijayaragavan]. That was an enjoyable package of 45mts, (including my thani…:P)
The padham stole the show. The kAlapramANam of that misra chApu was like a medium thisra thruputa. Ishwarya had a very nice control in rendering the padham and thALam as well. madhyamAvathi brought a pleasant ending.
Swarnalatha exhibited a refined playing and her sanchArams in manthra sthAyi were noteworthy.
shrI Narasimman, secretary of samajam, delivered an interesting speech describing the concert with anecdotes of yesteryears.
I swear ya… ishwarya is bound to shine…