Ranjani Hebbar, Nada Inbam

Ranjani Hebbar - Shertalai Sivakumar - B Ganapatiraman

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall
20 May 09. 6 pm

Era nApai - tODi - Adi - PSI
rAga sudhA rasa - AndhOLikA - Adi - T (short sketch, S)
shankari samkuru - sAvEri - tisra Adi - SS (RNS)
padavini sadbaktiyu - sALagabhairavi - Adi - T (S)
EtAvunarA - kalyANi - Adi - T (RNS)
tani
sAntAkAram bhujagasayanam - slokam in bAgEsrI
sAgara sayana vibhO - bAgEsrI - Adi - MDR

It was a very impressive concert by the young and upcoming vocalist. She has a good voice and shows great energy and stage presence. Her kriti renditions are very weighty and has the right azhuttam. Her manOdarmam is quite matured and has very good flavour of the rAgams.

The svarams of AndhOLika reminded me of MLV at some parts. The AlApanais of both sAvEri and kalyANI were very elaborate and done in a very chaste fashion. They were both unorthodox in they were started and eventually built up, and yet had all essential and classical phrases carefully interwoven to make them colourful and enjoyable. The kriti renditions were very good. The neraval and svarams for all the pieces (as mentioned in the post) were done in a very matured fashion.

The violinst was good in parts. He gave some good replies to the main artist. His sAvEri AlApanai was a tad too short. The mrudangist was very good and played with very good anticipation. His accompanying for all kritis and each sangati was very matching. The tani was very nice also.

I had to leave after the bAgEsrI piece.

Sathur Sisters, Shyama Sastri Day, Music Academy

Sathur Sisters - Padma Shanker - T Shyam Sundar

Shyama Sastri Day
Music Academy, Mini Hall
21 May 09. 6:30 pm

pAhimAm rAjarAjEsvari - nATTai - tisra Adi (short sketch)
himAcalatanaya - Anandabhairavi - rUpakam (S)
mAyammA - nATTaikuranji - Adi
shankari shamkuru - sAvEri - tisra Adi (RS)
brOvavammA - mAnji - misra cApu
trilOka mAtA - paras - Adi
talli ninnu - kalyANi - cApu (RNS)
tani
kanaka saila - punnAgavarALi - Adi
karuNajUDu - srI rAgam - Adi

It was a very good concert. The sisters presented a very neat and classy recital giving enough gait to the compositions of the great composer. Beginning with the nATTai kriti, they aptly followed it up with the Anandabhairavi piece. A rAgam that the composer has used extensively, was presented well with a nice round of svarams. The nATTaikuranji kriti was rendered in a faster tempo in 1 kaLai, against the 2 kaLai version that i have heard before. It was very good.

The elaboration of sAvEri by Smt. Bhuvana was very good. She touched all the classical phrases and did a full round AlApanai. The popular kriti was rendered with all the caraNams with an elaborate round of svarams at 'shyAmakrishNa sOdari'. The mAnji and paras pieces were both rendered with lots of bhavam.

For the main course, Smt. Lalita elaborated kalyANi in a very classical fashion. It was very weighty AlApanai and the kriti was rendered with all its grandeur. The neraval and svarams at 'shyAmakrishNa paripAlini janani' were all very elegantly handled and left a lasting impact on the audience. The punnAgavarALi and srI rAgam pieces were rendered very well also.

The violinst was very good and lived up to the main artist all thro' the concert. Her replies were matching and her support for the concert was overall very good. The mridangist played well and gave a very good rhythmic support to the concert. His tani was good also.

Overall, the concert was a very fulfilling one. The Sisters gave a truly classical concert with a good measure of kalpitam and manOdarmam parts. Their kriti renditions, with multiple caraNams for some pieces, needs to be mentioned specially. The creative parts were very good and inspiring too. The accompanists were very good. Earlier in the evening, the concert started with a short introduction of the composer and the artists by Smt. Malathi Rangaswamy of the Academy.

Amritha Murali, Karpagam Gardens

Amritha Murali - L Ramakrishnan - Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar

Karpagam Gardens
18 May 09. 7 pm

sadA pAla rUpApi - slOkam from subrahmaNya bhUjangam in nATTai
namO namO raghukula nAyakA - nATTai - rUpakam - A
entarA nItanaku - harikAmbhOji - Adi - T (NS)
rAmanAtam bhajEham - kAsirAmakriyA - tisra Ekam (2) - MD (RNS)
vazhi maraittirukkudE - nATTaikuranji - Adi - GKB
kanna tanRi nApai - dEvamanOhari - Adi - T
sari evarammA - bhairavi - kaNDa jhampa - SS (RS) tani
sAgara sayana vibhO - bhAgEsrI - Adi - MDR
vizhikku tuNai - viruttam in sindhubhairavi
tillAnA - sindhubhairavi - Adi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a very good concert. Kum. Amritha did a very job in giving a fantastic concert. All the songs were rendered with a lot of gait and the manOdarmam was outstanding. The AlApanai of pantuvarALi was quite elaborate and was a fitting prelude for the majestic Dikshitar piece. The neraval & svarams at the madhyama kAlam of the anupallavi were done in a very elegant fashion and was very moving. Earlier the neraval & svarams for the harikAmbhOji piece, at 'sEshuDu sivuniki' was very good and filled with rAga bhAvam too. The main course bhairavi was truly classical. It was very enjoyable and Kum. Amritha carefully incorporated all the bench-mark phrases of the grand ragam and built it up in a very matured fashion eventually culminating in the Shyama Sastri masterpiece. The kriti renditions of the nATTaikuranji and bhAgEsrI pieces need a special mention for the azhuttam with which they were rendered and the emotions they created. In Sri L Ramakrishnan was a perfect accompanist on the fiddle. His accompanying the songs was perfect and his replies to manodarmam parts were totally matching. The mridangist, Sri Sivakumar was extraordinary. He played with amazing anticipation and accompanied all the songs with great care and it was in tandem through out the concert including the played a crisp tani that he played.

G Madhavan, Music Circle

G Madhavan - Usha Rajagopalan - Trivandrum Vaidhyanathan

Music Circle, Raga Sudha Hall
9 May 09. 6 pm

sarasuDa ninnE - sAvEri - Adi - KVI
siddhi vinAyakam - cAmaram - rUpakam - MD (S)
ElarA krishNA - kAmbhOji - rUpakam - T
ambavANi nannu - kIravANi - Adi - HMB (RNS)
kunitta puruvamum - viruttam in kEdAragauLa
innamum oru daram - kEdAragauLa - Adi - GKB
marukkuLAviya - pUrvikalyANi - vilOma catusra rUpakam (tisra naDai) - Thiruppugazh (RNS)
parama purusha - vasantA - Adi - ST
ninnE nammi nAnu - tODi - misra cApu - SS (RNST)
smarasundarAnguni - paras - Adi - DS
endaiyum tAyum - rAgamAlikA - Adi - Bharatiyar
vA vA vA murugayyA - sindhubhairavi - Adi (short sketch)
Eru mayil Eri - rAgamAlikA - tisra Adi - Thiruppugazh
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a good concert. The kriti renditions were good and the manodarma parts were well done too. The handling of kritis was very elegant and the elaborations of the main piece were all very good. The accompanists were very good and did a wonderful job in providing able support for the concert.