In most afternoon concerts, the audience was only a handful which included the parents or relatives of the artists. It was heartening to see the presence of some accompanying artists among the audience for Shantala Subramaniam’s flute concert.
Her leisurely delineation of the beautiful Andolika and its raga alapana was followed by ‘Ragasudha Rasa,’ the Tyagaraja kriti played well with kalpanaswara at ‘Sadasivamayamaku’ which included quite a number of chowka kala passages also.
The violinist B.U. Ganesh’s short essay of the raga as well as his replies to the swaras were interesting.
Earlier Shantala commenced her recital with Navaragamalika varnam, the charanam and swaras also played in tisram, followed by Ramaswamy Sivan’s ‘Nikela Dayaradu’ in Sarasangi with kalpanaswaras.
The essence of Kanada was showcased in a minuscule alapana followed by ‘Mamavasada Janani’ of Swati Tirunal. The kalpanaswaras that followed were fantastic with different patterns and combinations each time, including tisra nadai, which, with able support from the accompanists, was enjoyable. Mysore Vasudevachar’s ‘Ninne Nammitinayya’ was handled well preceded by an elaborate version of the raga. The kalpanaswaras at ‘Pannagendra Sayana’ again with different ending each time, saw an enjoyable dialogue between the flute and the violin.
Sai Giridhar on the mridangam and N. Guruprasad on the ghatam not only gave excellent support throughout, but presented an enjoyable thani also. Shantala concluded with Jeer’s ‘Dasaratha Sutha’ in Jonpuri and ‘Nadupai Balikeru’ in Madhyamavati.
