Lively concert

FEATURED BY the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Information Centre in T. Nagar as the inaugural concert in its Navarathri Music Festival, Sudha Raghunathan endeared herself to her admirers as a skilful singer. The vocalist's rendition of the initial pieces, "Vanajaksha" (varnam in Behag) and Jaya Janaki Kantha (Nattai) was smart in lively musical forms. Sudha's prelude raga sketch for the piece, Ikanaina (Pushpalathika), was enjoyable and revealed her appreciation of its distinctive scaler charm.

Following a delightful raga depiction, the singer executed the piece, Parandhamavathi neatly. The piece was completed with a few catchy swara statements. Sudha's diction of the pieces, "Ambaniyirangayenil" (Atana) and "Mamavathusri" (Hindolam) reflected her grasp of their entrancing classical contents.

Sankarabharanam was the recital's major raga. The vocalist's description was sufficiently resourceful. "Mahalakshmi" was rendered exuding the raga's fragrance.

Pakala Ramadoss accompanied the recital subtly on the violin. His sketch of Sankarabharanam was pleasant. Neyveli Skanda Subramaniam (mridangam) and R. Raman (morsing) extended interesting percussion support.

The Navarathri music festival of the organisation was inaugurated by Mrs. Sulochana Pattabhiraman at a function held earlier.

Refreshing

Raji Gopalakrishnan's recital for Sravanam was replete with refreshing ingredients. Her exposition of "Raghuvara" (Panthuvarali) and "Sri Mathrubhootham" in Kannada was classically powerful.

The vocalist's endeavour to impart depth to her description of Mukhari "deserves praise. She concluded this phase with a hearty delineation of the piece, Sivakamasundari (Papanasam Sivan). Raji Gopalakrishnan's graceful development of Thodi was followed by a moving portrayal of the piece, "Gathi niye enru" which drew the audience admiration.

M. A. Krishnaswamy (violin), Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam) and T. D. Balu (Ghatam) offered good support to the vocalist.

Exhilarating

With perfect alignment to the sruti, E. Gayathri presented an exhilarating veena recital. The artiste's rendition of "Nivalla" (Kapi) and Sarasija (Nagagandhari) was sweet in meticulously planned musical versions.

Sankarabharanam was depicted in its classical stature. Madirimangalam S. Swaminathan (mridangam) and Coimbatore S. V. Viswanathan (ghatam) lent lively rhythmic support.

- R.V.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Entertainment
Previous : In praise of a master weaver
Next     : Enriched by experience