Under the auspices of Sri Guruguha Gana Saba, Srirangam, vocal concerts were held at Srirangam, Tiruchi recently. Aishwarya Shankar began her concert with a composition by Kolkata Indira Natesan, ‘Mahaganapate,’ in Hamsadhwani. It was followed by Tyagaraja’s ‘Seethapate’ (Khamas). Her sub main was ‘Sri Satyanarayanam’ after giving a detailed account of Subhapantuvarali ragam. She also displayed the importance of bhakti bhavam in the process. Her line-up included ‘Sadinchane,’ the Arabhi Pancharatna kriti of Tyagaraja and Sri Gopala Krishna Bharati’s ‘Sivakamasundari’ in Jaganmohini. Aishwarya took up Khambodi, as her main and with an elaborate raga alapana, she brought out the beauty of the raga in the kriti ‘O Rangasayee,’ the Srirangam Pancharatnam by Tyagaraja. Harish Sundar (mridangam) provided adequate support. The concert concluded with a thillana in Hamsanandi composed by Srimushnam Raja Rao. She was accompanied by Govindarajan on the violin.
The second concert was presented by Vasanthi Ramesh . She rendered kirtanas of popular composers. Commencing with Purandaradasa’s composition ‘Smaranaonde’ (Malayamarudam) Vasanthi brought out the crisp kalpanaswara. Her alapana in Dhanyasi ragam for a rare Muthuswami Dikshitar kriti ‘Sri Ranganathaya’ went down well with the audience. Tyagaraja’s ‘Sattaleni Dinamu’ (Naganandini) was followed by Papanasam Sivan’s ‘Samikki Sari Evvare’ after elaborating the raga Kedara Gowla, which was her sub main.
Vasanthi Ramesh could easily handle Arabhi ragam in ‘Paalimpa Ravadela’ of Pallavi Seshayyar. She rendered an elaborate raga alapana for Kalyani, her main, bringing out the raga’s beauty in Tyagaraja’s ‘Etavunara.’ Vasanthi then rendered a Paasuram of Tirumangai azhwar, ‘Kudadisai’ in ragamalika. Other songs included Ambujam Krishna’s composition ‘Solliththan Theriyuma’ and a song on Sri Raghavendra in Yamunakalyani ragam. She was accompanied by Harish Prasad on the mridangam and Ramapriya on the violin.
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