At Narada Gana Sabha (Kartik Fine Arts) on 8th December

Accompanists:
Mysore Srikanth – Violin
Poongulam Subramaniam – Mridangam
Ghatam S.Karthick – Ghatam

Concert Duration: 2.5 hrs

List of Songs:
1. alakalalla – madhyamAvati – rUpakam – swarams at alakalalla
2. kA vA vA – varALi – Adi
3. kamalAmbA – Anandabhairavi – misra cApu – AlApana; swarams at kamalAmbA
4. sArasamukhi – gauDamalhAr – rUpakam – outline
5. kANa kaNN KODi – kAmbhOji – AlApana; neraval & swarams at adikAra nandi sEvaitanai kANa kaNN kODi vENDum
tani Avartanam
6. iRakkam varAmal – bEhAg – brief AlApana – swarams at pazhi ettanai
7. cinnaciRu kiLiyE – rAgamAlikA (calanATTai, hamIr kalyANi, kharaharapriyA, mukhAri, bEgaDA & bhUpALam)
8. sAgara Sayana vibhO – bhAgESrI – rAgA outline
9. nI nAma rUpamulaku – sowrASTram
10. Sriya kAntAya kalyANa – suruTTi

This was a concert which was fabulous right from the first song! I loved TMK’s rendition of alakalalla and the energetic fast-paced kalpana swarams for it. After a moving kA vA vA, the Anandabhairavi AlApana started. TMK sang it as per the sangIta sampradAya pradarshini. He said the prime difference between this Anandabhairavi and the usual one is that this one has a shuddha daivatam. The entire Anandabhairavi piece was excellent. I wouldn’t have enjoyed TMK’s rendition of kamalAmbA that much had he sung it in the usual Anandabhairavi, since the one in his ‘Anandabhairavi’ CD isn’t a favourite of mine.

The few seconds of gauDamalhAr rAgam which he sang before starting the song was pure bliss and so was the song rendition itself! The neraval at adikAra nandi sEvaitanai kANa kaNN kODi vENDum was superb. The bEhAg swarams at pazhi ettanai, which came as a surprise, were beautiful!

Mysore Srikanth’s violin wasn’t that great. I didn’t like his kAmbhOji AlApana. I liked Poongulam Subramaniam and Karthick’s accompaniment.