Yet again, her vast repertoire made the difference. Attend any concert by Aruna Sairam, and rest assured she will enthral you with a mix of known and rare compositions.
Easily, she’s one of the most versatile singers today, and she proved exactly that during her performance at the opening evening of the three-day ‘Mumbai For Chennai’ concert series on Saturday.
The event was organised by The Hindu group to raise funds for Chennai’s flood victims, and cheques worth Rs 15 lakh were handed over to Aruna Subramaniam of Bhoomika Trust, which is helping the affected. Held at G5A in Mahalaxmi, the series is being presented by Yes Bank and powered by Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.
Mukund Padmanabhan, Editor, Business Line , welcomed Sairam and appreciated her enthusiasm and readiness for the show. Needless to say, the singer stole every moment.
The theme was the abhang; the devotional poetry form sung in praise of the deity Vitthala. Sairam didn’t restrict herself to popular Marathi compositions. She also rendered pieces to explain the historical influence of Maharashtrian culture on Carnatic music. And she also forayed into Bengali, Gujarati and Kannada devotional songs.
Perfect accompaniment
The natural acoustic environment of the show enhanced its appeal, and perfect accompaniment was provided by violinist M Rajeev, flautist Paras Nath, mridangam player Sai Giridhar and tabla exponent Mandar Puranik. After the Ganesh shloka ‘Vakratunda Mahakaya’, Sairam sang Vishnudasa’s ‘Namo Ganaraaya Mangalmurti’, setting in the spiritual mood.
Next was Eknath’s exuberant ‘Maajhe Maaher Pandhari’ and Tukaram’s poignant ‘Rajas Sukumar’, both popularised by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Just when one expected more well-known Marathi abhangs, the mood was altered, as Sairam branched off in to ‘Thodaya Mangalam’, a multiple-melody set of songs welcoming God with auspiciousness. In the composition she sang, she explained how that particular mridangam style played by Sai Giridhar was rooted in Maharashtrian rhythms.
Next, she explained the similarity between the Thondaradipodi Aazhwar composition ‘Pachai mamalai pol meni’ and Tukaram’s famous abhang ‘Savale Sundar Roop Manohar’. The latter had exquisite Carnatic sargams and even a percussion ‘thani avarthanam’ section.
From the South, Sairam moved on to the Bengali composition ‘Jaago Tumi Jaago’, a prayer to Goddess Durga, and then returned to Maharashtra with Bhanudas’s ‘Vrindavani Venu Vaaje’ before travelling to Gujarat with a Saurashtrian version of Narsinh Mehta’s ‘Vaishnava Janato’.
Purandaradasa’s evergreen ‘Bhagyada Lakshmi Baarama’ got a marvellous response, and so did the viruttham and thillana written by Oothukadu Venkadasubbiyer, and sung to tight rhythm accompaniment.
Before launching into the final number, Sairam joked she would end with a Marathi abhang, because that was what the concert started off as. She concluded with the Mohan Pai-popularised ‘Pandharichya Raaya Tula Drushta Laagli’, with the audience chanting along ‘Vitthal Vitthal’.
Besides the varied content and sheer musical quality, one impressive factor was that Sairam explained each composition, arousing everyone’s interest. With both style and substance, it was a treat for those present.
The author is a freelance music writer