The highlight of Bhavana Iyer’s concert (Kartik Fine Arts) was the alapana of Pantuvarali; the haunting melody including all the nuances touched the emotional chord. The song to follow was Dikshitar’s ‘Visalakshi Vishvesi’ with niraval and swaras for ‘Kasiragnim…’ which gave the piece a rounded effect. The main raga Khambodi essay was as good and the song was ‘Mitribhagyame’ of Tyagaraja.
Bhavana’s akara strength was proved in the raga alapanas. The niraval and swaras were for the pallavi and the swara pattern was typical of the Semmangudi school to which Bhavana belongs.
The concert, held in Chennai, began with ‘Vallabhanayakasya’ in Begada, followed by ‘Jaya Jaya Padmanabha’ in Manirangu. The elaboration of Malayamarutham before the rare Ramanataka kriti ‘Hanumanae’ was pleasant and the composition was appealing.
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The final pieces were ‘Manipravala Padam’ (Swati Tirunal), ‘Theliviyalum’ in Punnagavarali and the Javali ‘Apathurku’ in Khamas.
Bhavana was supported on the violin by Dr. Harini Srivatsa and mridangam by Mannargudi Shreyas. While the percussion was passable, the violinist clearly has to work more to reach concert standard.