I went to T.M.Krishna’s first concert of the season at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan yesterday. Here is the list of songs that he sang:

1. Varnam – Kedaragowlai
2. Seshachalanayakam – Varali
3. Dorakuna – Bilahari
4. Vinaraadana – Devagandhari
5. Nadachi Nadachi – Karaharapriya
6. Sevikka Vendum Ayya – Andolika
7. Pacchai Maamalaipol (viruttam)
Janaki Ramana – Kapi
8. Talalenura – Kamas
9. Manasa Sancharare – Sama
10. Mangalam – Sowrashtram

Accompaniments:
Guru Karaikudi R.Mani – Mridangam
Ramanujacharyulu – Violin
V.Suresh – Ghatam

The more I listen to him sing, the more I seem to like his singing! He sang the Bilahari alapana followed by the kriti Dorakuna and then the swarams for the same so excellently that I thought this would be the best piece of the concert. But, the Nadachi kriti in Karaharapriya that soon followed proved me wrong. ‘Sevikka vendum ayya’, which he sang after someone in the audience asked him to was also superb.
The audience gave the longest applause for the tani avartanam that I have ever seen! In the end, TMK requested the audience to be seated while he sang Mangalam. They left only after he finished singing it. It reminded me of TMK’s request to the audience in a concert at Music Academy during the last season when he asked the audience not to leave in the midst of a song or during the tani avartnam. They gave respect to his words and as soon as every song got over, one could see a large group of people getting up and leaving!