Amrutha Venkatesh’s concert in Kochi, held to celebrate Swati Tirunal Day, stood out for its immaculate artistry and splendid percussion support. The concert that opened with the Ata tala varnam in Kambhoji gave way to the Utsava Prabandha kriti ‘Pankajakshanam Rameshan’ in Todi raga, Roopaka tala.
Amrutha’s creativity came to the fore in the swaraprasthara and M. Rajeev, a disciple of violinist Kanyakumari, ably replicated the muktayis. Amrutha has a unique style of singing alaapana. This was displayed along with some amazing modulations and glides in her alapana of Arabhi.
The vocalist gave brief introductions to each of the Swati Tirunal compositions that she sang. She said that she was presenting ‘Pahi Parvata Nandini’ on the mother goddess as the concert fell on Mother’s Day. She sang swaras to the line ‘Vanchikrupalaya’.
Then came a series of rare compositions of the royal bard. ‘Haraswedam Kurumodam’ in Rasikapriya and ‘Kalayami Hrudinandana’ in Kannada were tagged on to the popular ‘Jaya jaya padmanabhanujesha’ in Manirang. In her round and full voice that resonated with melody, Amrutha presented ‘Ha ha naiva jane’ from the opera ‘Kuchelopakhyanam’.
The vocalist’s Kharaharapriya delineation had fullness in musical content, melodic and tonal variations. And just when one thought that she was repeating a phrase, the vocalist turned it and ably connected it to a new one, thereby enhancing the diversity. Amrutha took up ‘Sathatham thavaka’ one of the Navavidha Bhakti kritis of Swati Tirunal extolling the virtues of Padasevanam (serving the feet of the Lord).
Balakrishna Kamath, who provided wholesome support on the mridangam during the kriti, left his individual stamp during the niraval and, later, during the taniavarthanam.
Amrutha took up ‘Mama hrudi vasanisham’ for neraval in free style and explored the lower octave for long before singing the kalpanaswaras. The swaras in the first speed were truly out of the box and her creativity was evident in the second speed.
Balakrishna Kamath crossed even the third speed as rhythmic variations volleyed from his mridangam at lightning speed with thrilling variations during the taniavarthanam.
Manjoor Unnikrishnan supported on the ghatam. ‘Japat Japat Hari namam’ a ragamalika, ‘Taruni njan enthu cheyvu’ in Dwijavanthi and ‘Sankara Srigiri’ in Hamsanandi wound up a well planned and enlivening concert.
The programme was organised by Edappally Sangeeta Sadas.
