Geeta Sundaresan of Muscat offered a laudable performance. It was one of those dependable ones, in which you could count on an acceptable collection of songs, with deliberate, unhurried treatment.
She appeared quite comfortable in vakra sancharas in her alapana of Varamu, leading to the song ‘Tunai Purindarul, Taruna Madhava,’ Desadi, of Papanasam Sivan. A pretty phase was the exchange of kalpanaswaras between Geeta and violinist K.J. Dileep with Kiran Vangipuram (from the U.S.) keeping perfect beat on the mridangam with imaginative anticipation. The delineation of Kalyani was centred mostly on the middle and higher octaves.
Dileep contributed with his smooth playing. But for an occasional stretch, at slow niraval at ‘Mamata Vandanayutha’ of Tyagaraja's 'Nidhichaala Ssukhama’ in Misra chapu, the concert proceeded actively at the faster pace and in kalpanaswaras, with the violin echoing all the patterns of the singer faithfully.
The four-minute tani was a neat, uncomplicated affair, yet Kiran made it pleasant and attractive with his competent handling of the percussion. The Revati piece ‘Janani, janani’ ushered the closing phase of the 100-minute feature. It was followed by an inspired rendering of the Meera bhajan ‘Pyare Darasana,’ with deserved solemnity.
With ‘Mangalam Bhavathu Te/ Jaya Bharata Janani’ (Yaman, tisram) the concert ended on a patriotic note.
