Even before the curtain went up, one could hear Sudha Ragunathan humming Ritigowla and Behag and giving instructions in soft tones into the mike. Sudha's concert was once again a statement of her signature style. Her voice is in fine form. By adding some exotic sangatis and extensions, Sudha presented a complete concert.
Notwithstanding the last hour item, she excelled in her thesis on Brindavana Saranga for the Ragam Tanam Pallavi. The raga shimmered in every phrase that she stretched effortlessly. The tanam and pallavi moved in quick succession and were set in misra jati triputa.
The pallavi ‘Brindavana Lolane Malane Balane' was given the necessary treatment of trikalam and ragamalika swara within a short time.
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Earlier, Sudha presented many traditional phrases of Sankarabharanam, which were espoused by her ingenious approach.
Her resplendent sancharas in the upper registers travelled with ease; this elaborate prefix ended on the famous ‘Saroja Dala Netri.'
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The niraval and swaras on ‘Sama Gana Vinodhini' were sung in distinctive Sudha style with panchamam as the focal note.
However, bhava, without which a kriti of Syama Sastri or Dikshitar falls flat, was missing.
She chose Ritigowla for elucidation in the early part of her concert. That was followed by Subbaraya Sastri's ‘Janani Ninnuvina.'
Her exemplary manodharma made her choose the line ‘Suvasini Taamasamu' for swaraprastara. The Ritigowla raga expose had many tricky motifs interlinked with a few long winding karvais.
The other pieces she chose included ‘Jalajaksha,' Hamsadhwani varnam, ‘Pranamamyaham' (the swarakalpana on ‘Siddhi Vinayakam'), Dikshitar's ‘Sarasa Dala Nayana' in Khamas and ‘Maa Ramanan' in Hindolam. M.R. Gopinath might be a regular accompanist to Sudha, but his responses on the violin were almost self-effacing and brief for reasons best known to him.
Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan and R. Raman on the mridangam and the morsing were active partners throughout.