The concert of M. Lalitha and M. Nandini, the violin sisters, was an opportunity to hear vintage Tamizh isai.
The duo, presenting a concert of Tamil compositions, maintained a uniform tempo from the opening Gambhira Nattai ‘Ganapathiye’ to the concluding Thiruppugazh (‘Oru pozhudhum’) in Chakravaham. Their concert was also about time management.
Lalitha detailed Chalanatta with long phrases intertwined with lilting notes. The essence of the raga was effectively and impressively portrayed. Koteeswara Iyer’s ‘Edayya Gati’ was the chosen composition here. Later, Mohanam was unfolded skilfully by Nandini. It came with some aesthetically-structured passages.
Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Kapali’ was offered with extended swara sallies and the image of the raga was captured through them. Fortunately, the sisters did not come up with endless clusters of swaras.
They also played ‘Adikondar’ in Mayamalavagowla and ‘Sevikka vendum’ in Andolika (Muthu Thandavar), ‘Kaathaar kuzhaiyada’ of Manickavachagar in Anandabhairavi, ‘Sivakama sundari’ in Jaganmohini (Gopalakrishana Bharati) and ‘Bhuvaneswari’ in Gangeswari (by their mother Subhalakshmi Muthuswamy).
Why in the same concert, Gambhira Nattai - Chalanatta; and Mayamalavagowla and Jaganmohini, which have a lot of semblance? But the point is, they were well executed.
Sridharan Sankaran on the mridangam and Nanganallur Swaminathan on the ghatam provided commendable support and their tani avartanam was enjoyable as well.
