The new normal may not be so bad after all. Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath’s virtual concert for this sabha proved that. The online concert could accommodate at least three times more rasikas than the physical hall would have.
If a dreamy Lalitha and a perfect Thodi were the highlights of the recital, the entire concert felt like an edge-of-the-seat thriller, not dragging even for a moment.
After an all-encompassing alapana in Thodi, Aishwarya presented ‘Gajavadana Sammodhitha,’ a beautiful kriti by Kumara Ettendra, popularised by Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, her guru’s guru. It has a lilting chittaiswara. She rendered kalpanaswaras in the pallavi. On the violin, R. Raghul provided fitting responses during the raga delineation as well as in the swaraprasthara. The laya duo, Delhi Sairam (mridangam) and Anirudh Athreya (kanjira), offered a powerful thani with some lovely phrases in a rare misra kuraippu with khanda variations. Through the concert, the four were in complete synchrony.
For online listeners, the absence of applause would have been better than the canned applause that was added as in TV series and match telecasts.
Ragas well-explored
After an extensive alapana in Lalitha, Aishwarya took up Syama Sastri’s ‘Nannu Brovu Lalitha’ (Misra Chapu). The niraval at ‘Ninnuvina Evarunnaru’ was well-essayed by the young vocalist, although there was no kalpanaswara. Equally laudable was Raghul’s violin accompaniment, especially his meditative segment earlier.
The high point of the concert was undoubtedly Ghanam Krishna Iyer’s elegant Padam in Atana, ‘Thiruvottriyur Thyagarajan’ (Rupakam). Aishwarya sang this at Raghul’s request.
The concert had begun with Tyagaraja’s ‘Lokavana Chathura’ (Begada, Adi), perhaps as a tribute to Aishwarya’s guru, P.S. Narayanaswamy. After an elegant niraval at ‘Sripathe Varada,’ she went on to offer swaras at the pallavi.
In Manji, a rare type of Janya raga, she offered Dikshitar’s ‘Ramachandrena samrakshithoham’ (Rupakam). The raga evoked both bhakti and karuna rasas.
If ‘Ekkalatthilum Maravene’ (Ramaswami Sivan - Nattaikurunji - Rupakam) had an unhurried charm, Swati Tirunal’s ‘Gopanandana Vararipu’ in Bhooshavali was brisk and vibrant.
Aishwarya wound up the concert with Dharmapuri Subbaraya Iyer’s javali ‘Marubari Talanenura’ in Khamas and the Chenjurutti tillana of Veena Seshanna.
