Disclaimer : Just my personal views, and I can't show any 'authority' I have to write a 'review', in terms of musical knowledge. But then, I love listening to CM, and sharing my joy with the other rasikas in this forum. So here we go!
Vocal : Vid. Bombay S Jayashri
Violin : Vid. Embar Kannan
Mridangam : Vid. Poongulam Subrahmanya
Ghatam : Vid. Karthik
Venue : Ramanavami celebrations, Sree Rama Seva Mandali, Chamarajpet, Bangalore. 26-04-2008.
1. Deva deva Jagadeeshwara – Poorvikalyani – Ad- = Swati Tirunal
2. Raghuveera ranadheera – Huseni – Roopaka – Thyagaraja
3. Nannu vidachi – Reetigowla – Mishrachapu – Thyagaraja [A]
4. Teliyaleru raama – Dhenuka – Adi – Thyagaraja [N, S]
5. Shankaraachaaryam – Shankarabharanam – Adi – Subbarama Dikshitar [R,N,S,T]
6. Smaraneyonde saalade – Malayamaruta – Adi – Purandaradasar
7. RTP – Brindavanasaranga – Khanda Triputa
ShrirangamangaLanidhim aashraye bhoolokavaikuNTha
Ragamalika swarams, but I couldn’t identify the ragas…
8. Raagi tandira – Shubhapantuvarali – Tishra nadai – Purandaradasar
9. Krishna nee begane – Yamuna Kalyani – Adi
10. Dhimtajhanu [Tillana] - ??? – Adi
Jayashri was in fine form for most of the concert. She started off well with two pretty kritis. Nannu vidachi was preceded by an expansive, leisurely alapana. Teliyaleru aama was rendered briskly, with matching neraval and swarams. Neraval was at ‘Vegalechi neetamunigi bhooti poosi’.
Main piece for the day was Shankarabharanam. The alapana was one place where I felt she was not at her best. I personally felt it had a few out-of-place phrases. But the kriti was rendered well, and the accompanying neraval [at ‘parama-advaita-sthaapana-sheelam’] and swaras were superb. RTP was amazing too. Her ragam and tanam were very endearing.
The tukkada section deserves more than just a mention for its beauty. The two devaranamas were rendered with perfect diction and bhavam. The tillana was brilliant. It was a polished rendition, sung with as much commitment as a main piece, and not just eyewash to end the concert. The result was a scintillating end, in which all the minor lapses earlier were forgotten. No wonder she is so popular. The auditorium was almost full [that’s saying something, given it’s size!], and stayed full till the end.
Embar Kannan is one of the violinists I admire very much. He had his moments of brilliance today, and his Shankarabharanam was spon-on, but the total effect was less than satisfactory. The naadam was not quite the pure, mesmerising sound he usually produces. Percussion was superb. Both vidwans kept the audience fully engaged throughout the tani, producing many ‘special effects’, drawing applause many times midway.