‘Young in age, yet highly mature music.' That is what the brilliant Charukesi of Amrutha Venkatesh conveyed. The raga elucidation brought out a few rare and sweet sancharas. She rendered the kriti, Maharaja Swati Tirunal's all-time favourite, ‘Krupaya Palaya Sowre' in an unhurried Misra chapu, bringing out its pristine beauty. Her music conveyed what the Sanskrit composition intended to.
Amrutha followed it up with Saint Tyagaraja's ‘Maarubalga Kunna Vemira' in an electrifying Sriranjani. In the Anupallavi, ‘Jaara chora,' the sangatis were out of the ordinary and easy on the ear. The musical irony was that her Charukesi had ragavistara, but no swaras: her Sriranjani didn't have delineation, but had a liberal offering of swaras!
Then came a leisurely and expansive exposition of Purvikalyani for Nilakanta Sivan's masterpiece, ‘Anandanatamaduvar Thillai' in Rupakam. Niraval was at the usual ‘Paathimathijyothi' and the concluding korvai in the swaras reflected the cosmic dance of the Lord of Chidambaram. The thani by young Arjun Ganesh was as brilliant as his kadukkan (ear rings)!
The tisra nadai he presented was a rhythmic beauty.
Karaikkal Venkatasubramaniam on the violin presented the melody of both Charukesi and Purvikalyani with aesthetic clarity. In the support he gave to the vocalist and in kalpanaswaras he proved his high standard.
His late arrival was the only element of disharmony. In the opening Sri raga varnam, the main artist had to be accompanied on the violin by Kovai Chandran, who had played for the earlier artist. Of course Venkatasubramaniam did apologise for his late arrival.
The varnam was followed by a beautifully sketched ‘Gajavadana Mampahi,' of M.D. Ramanathan. The chittaswaram commencing with the jati ‘Thaakitajam' was lilting. The sangatis at ‘Sakala Vighna Vaarana' were varied and apt.
Dikshitar's Chenjurutti kriti, ‘Gajambanaayako,' and the Jayadevar Ashtapadi, ‘Mamiyam Chalitha' in Suddha Sarang enriched the concert. Amrutha Venkatesh concluded her performance with the Purandaradasa devaranama, ‘Thamburu Meettithava' and there was a manual thambura, a rarity these days.
Total self-confidence and dedication marked the 3 p.m. concert.
(ramakrishnan.h@gmail.com)
