F rom ‘Sarojanabha’, Swati Tirunal’s varnam, in Chakravaham, Adi tala to the last piece, Ragamalika swaras in the RTP in Madhyamavati, Adi, the concert of the Bombay Sisters, Saroja and Lalita, was a picture of classicism. It was held at at The Music Academy.
Their voices stood the test of two and a half hours of singing.
To the advantage of having two voices to produce power for the effort, were added the commendable support of Usha Rajagopalan’s violin, K.R. Ganesh’s mridangam and Madipakkam Murali’s ghatam.
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After this the raga taken up was Ritigowla, the composer Tyagaraja and the piece, the soulful kriti, ‘Chera Raavade’, sung with melodious ease, an assurance of peaceful listening.
The kalpanaswaras flowed smoothly and charmed the listeners. Neelakanta Sivan’s kriti in Tamil, ‘Karunai Seivaye’ came for soothing treatment in raga Sahana, Rupakam.
Syama Sastri’s ‘Ninnuvina’ in Misra Chapu was introduced by Saroja with an elaborate alapana of raga Purvikalyani.
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Various sancharas of the raga imaginatively woven together, touched the heart. The niraval and kalpanaswaras exchanged between the sisters and the violin beautifully bowed by Usha added to the richness.
Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s rarely heard kriti, ‘Sarasvati’ in raga Chaya-Tarangini followed as a short interlude before RTP in Madhyamavati. Raga alapana was taken up by Lalita.
The pallavi was in simple Adi tala, with the customary ragamalika swaras.
The tani avartanam stressed softness and pattern building which drew repeated applause from the audience for sheer aural beauty.