A short concert by their stature and standards; but a treat on Ugadi day! Hyderabad Sisters Lalita and Haripriya took the select audience on a heavenly musical trip with their pure style of rendition iced with emotional appeal.
Classicist approach
Theirs is a classicist approach that does not leave the audience dry! The grammar is intact — no compromise on that, the absolute adherence to sruti, the clarity of diction and above all the import of raga bhava flowing across every single syllable of the kriti they choose to present.
The auspicious Hamsadhwani ( Varavallabha Ramana... ), a GNB composition made for an apt beginning. The duo vested this beautifully crafted kriti with optimum swarakalpana which proved to be the tip of the iceberg. Neekela dayaradu… followed in Sarasangi, sans embellishments yet delightfully sweet.
Then came the famous Thyagaraja kriti in Saramati where the sisters decided to begin with the anupallavi before taking up Mokshamu galade. Extensive sangathis at ‘veena vadana…' laced this rich lyric and the improvisations between the sisters was just a vestige of what was to follow in this one hour concert. Together they rained ambrosia as they made their way to the Amrutavarshini, prefacing it with their individual alapana.
Lalitha led with her steady tonal quality that rose to scale the heights of this divine raga and as she trailed off, Haripriya rose to hold it up there and vest it with her own creativity.
The alapana truly set the mood for the audience who waited with bated breath to tune in to the lyric. Just as Dinakar gave an equally brilliant follow, they launched into the beatific Tripurasundari naa pai daya unchumu… , where we were able to feel the plea for grace of the goddess, in their soothing rendition. The neraval at apara dayanidhi neeve ani nammi… was not just an exercise in technicality or creativity; it defined the exhaustive import of the sahitya (lyric). The swarakalpana by both alternately was a show of verdant virtuosity.
Uplifting raga bhava
The swara configurations fell into a coherent pattern uplifting the raga bhava. The improvisation between them was like the spoken language of communicating in music with a deep understanding of the spiritual connotations.
The tani avarthanam by Jayabhaskar was pronounced as was the novel-looking ghatam by P.V. Ramanamurthy, both of whom displayed a contest that was a pleasure to watch. The one-hour recital wrapped up with Akati vela… an Annamacharya keertana and the rhythmic tillana which rose to exalting heights in their hands. The concert was part of the launch of music archives at the University of Hyderabad premises by Madras Music Academy.
