Several features stood out in Saashwathi Prabhu’s concert. Her adherence to grammar, tidy planning, and a voice that had power, without being strident.
Singing to the accompaniment of H. V. Raghuram (violin), B. Sivaraman (mridangam) and N. Sundar (tabla, an unusual choice), she began with the Sanskrit lines ‘Guru-r-Brahma, Guru-r-Vishnu:...,’ followed by Lalgudi Jayaraman’s varnam in Nalinakanti, adi. The tempo was well-maintained through the swaras and sruti. She also ended with a homage to her guru with ‘Sri Jagadeeshwari’ in Ahir Bhairav after the thani avarthanam.
Her alapana in Mayamalavagowla, preceding her presentation of Thanjavur Ponniah Pillai's composition, ‘Mayatheetha swaroopini’ in rupakam, was elaborated leisurely. Matching the low key at which this kriti begins, Saashwathi allotted adequate time for manthra sthayi sancharas. It was refreshing to enjoy this range, developed patiently and in depth.
In an equally solemn mood, Raghuram followed suit with his interpretation, making up a total of 15 minutes between the two. This raga came as a fitting follow-up to Narayana Tirtha’s ‘Jaya jaya swamin,’ Nattai, adi. A brisk piece that succeeded the varnam.
‘Sri Venkata gireesam’, Surutti, adi, which followed Nattai, was delivered with emphasis on the raga lakshana. During some parts of the song, one felt that Sivaraman’s playing did not quite match the singer’s rendition. Alapana in Thodi came as a welcome surprise, in which the singer displayed her penchant for low-key rendering. Commencing with NDP-MPMGMD-GMDMGRS..., the singer plunged into profound sancharas, and long karvais when she ascended the higher notes. At one point, this listener fancied a momentary sruti-bedha shift into Kalyani, anchored at ‘R’ as ‘S’. The low-key elaboration was warranted by the song selection — Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Sri Krishnam bhaja manasa satatam’ — in a majestic, slow-paced, adi. She opted for manodharma swaras at ‘Sankha-Chakra.’
The 12-minute thani avarthanam was in the style of keerthanam. Here too, Sivaraman and Sundar had an excellent partnership. Some of the sollu clusters had a similarity to the thavil mode of formation, which made them appealing. Sunder took advantage of the soft, plaintive tones that the left hand can generate on the tabla, to add an aesthetic quality. The concert drew to a close with a rendering of Paramacharya's ‘Maithreem bhajatha’ before the mangalam. The long pauses between successive numbers were somewhat tedious.
