Vidya Shankar, Kalakshetra

Smoggy Chennai's Friday evening was a witness to a practical example of the fact that age is not something which hinders one's abilities.

The kAmbhOji which Smt. Vidya Sankar, played at kalAkshEtrA on 24th Sept was as fresh as it would be out of a young vidwan's vINai. mA jAnaki with neraval and swarams at "rAja rAjavara rAjIvAkshavinu" were good. The shyAma sAstri's kalyANi varNam in tisra maTyam was a lovely starter.

Her elaborations and kriti renditions in bEgaDa, aTANA, darbAr, sArangA, sAvEri were all good.

There of course a few slips which one has to wink off considering the fact that it is a lady who is going to be nonagenarian who is giving this music.

Sri. K. P. Anilkumar on the mrUdangam did a very good job in accompanying and in the tani. Sri. H. Subramanian who accompanied Smt. Vidya on the geththu vAdhyam which is a rare stringed percussion instrument was also good. It was mentioned that this is an insturment used in temples.

I did not know most of the pieces which were presented.