R Vedavalli, IMScCA

R Vedavalli - V Sumithra (Vocal Support) - Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi - Manoj Siva

IMSc Cultural Association. Ramanujan Auditorium, IMSc Campus
9th April 2007. 5:30 pm

vanajAksha ninnE - rItigauLa - aTa tALam - Veenai Kuppaiyer
bhuvinidAsuDanE - srI ranjani - Adi - T (S)
mEru samAna - mAyAmALavagauLa - dEsAdi(2) - T (RNS)
nIlOtpalAmbikayAh kaTAkshitOham - kannaDa gauLa - Adi(2) - MD
yArukkAgilum bayamA - bEgaDa - misra cApu (R)
pavanAtmaja - nATTai - kaNDa cApu - MD
ninnuvinA marigaladA - AbEri - tisra Ekam - SS
UrakE galguna - sahAnA - misra cApu - T (R)
mAmava satatam - jagan mOhini - Adi(2) - T
marivErE dikkevarayya rAmA - shanmukhapriyA - Adi - PSI (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
kulam tarum selvam tandiDum - Thiru mangaiyazhvar Pasuram - kAmbhOji, sAvEri, senchuruTTi, nIlAmbari
lAliyUgavE - nIlAmbari - tisra Ekam - T
tillAnA - khamAs - Adi - Ammasathiram Kannuswami Pillai
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T
svasti prajApya - madhyamAvati.

The concert began with a short sketch of rItigauLa and the varnam was rendered beautifully. The srIranjani kriti was rendered with a quick round of svarams. The AlApanai of mAyAmALavagauLa was very moving and the kriti was rendered with all its grandeur and with elaborate neraval and svarams at 'gaLamuna shObhillu kanaka bhUSaNamula' and it was very enjoyable.

The kannaDa gauLa kriti which came next was very inspiring and rendered in a moving fashion. The flavour of kannaDa gauLa as a slow ragam was completely portrayed and it was quite interesting to listen to the rAgam in a slow fashion in contrary to the fast paced renditions of popular kritis in the rAgam. The bEgaDa AlApanai was very beautifully elaborated. Some of the phrases were very inspiring and one particular glide all along the avarOhaNam just stole the show. The piece rendered was very beautiful.

To hear a nATTai piece in the middle of a concert, was quite a thing. It was nothing less than enjoyable. Next in line, was the Shyama Sastri kriti in AbhEri, which was rendered very nicely. The elaborate sahAnA AlApanai was very indicative of main piece. It was rendered very nicely, and the kriti, a rare piece, was rendered in a fashion which made one expect neraval and svarams. However, the jaganmOhini piece which came next was even more beautiful.

The main shanmukhapriyA AlApanai was very elaborate. Some of the sancarams were very leisurely rendered and made very enjoyable of the listener. I was personally expecting a pallavi. It was very surprising to hear marivErE as a main item of a concert. The neraval and svarams at 'sannutaanga shree venkaTesha neevu
nannu brOvakayunduta nyayamaa' were very elaborate and the korappu alternatively to the thArasthAyi and madhyasthAyi rishabam was very nice. The rAgamAlika pAsuram, the lali kriti and the tillAnA were all good also.

Smt Vedavalli gave a very classical concert. It was announced be to a 2 hour concert, however Smt Vedavalli sang for just beyond 3 hours and it as a very blissful experience to hear her sing, in what could arguably be one of the best Auditoria in the city. She was ably assisted by Smt Sumithra who shared some parts of the shanmukhapriyA and sahAnA AlApanais.

Smt Vijayalakshmi on the Violin was very good and gave fitting replies to the main artist. Sri Manoj Siva was very accomodative and played with amazing anticipation. The tani was good.