Possessed of a natural shrillness, Subhiksha Rangarajan's voice held appeal as she set her concert at a lively pace with ‘Raghupate Rama,’ (Tyagaraja, Sahana, Roopakam). Her voice had power and was pleasant with an aesthetic proportion of briga. The neraval at ‘Nirupama Naradageya’ , and the kalpanaswaras were richly painted with the hue of Sahana.
Both Arun Ramamurthi playing the violin and Akshay Ananthapadmanabhan handling the mridangam, added their bit and enhanced the quality at all stages of the concert.
In the Varali alapana, there was a measured flow over the whole range. Ease, skill and practice were evident in the sangatis, brigas and aptly positioned karvais. Subhiksha rested her alapana at panchama. A discerning listener would anticipate a song that followed to begin with ‘pa’, and was rewarded with Tiruppavai, 'Aazhi Mazhai Kanna.’ The potential of the lyric was demonstrated fully with neraval at the anupallavi ‘Maaya Ulakinil.’ It was slow, without frenzy, with Akshay coming in with some pleasant phrases, testifying to his keen musical sense. There were some delectable briga-studded passages in Syama Sastry's ‘Ninnuvina Marikalabagati’ in Ritigowla.
With about a three-quarter of an hour left, the artist showcased Sankarabharanam, in all its majesty and serenity. Subhiksha developed the raga at various anchor points, scattering brigas unostentatiously, without permitting them to dominate the scene.
Arun presented his version imaginatively with commendable deftness of the fingers. The succeeding 15 minutes were taken up by a totally delightful exposition of Dikshitar's ‘Akshayalinga Vibho’ in misra chapu. There was a brief exchange of kalpanaswaras between the voice and the violin at ‘Badari Vana.’
Akshay made good use of both right and left sides of his instrument in his tani. His abrupt changes of gati were as enjoyable as they were unexpected. The concert was brought to a close with a profound viruttam in Hamsanandi and Sindhubhairavi, using a composition of Narayana Tirtha from Krishna Leela Tarangini. A concert that lingered on in the mind!
