Youngsters took centre stage at a music fete organised at Mahaganapathy Temple, Thiruvambady, near Thrissur. Bharath Sunder’s concert saw the artiste’s command and control over the various aspects of the system. The Sreeraga varnam was followed by an obeisance to Lord Ganesha through the Dikshitar piece, ‘Vallabha Nayakasya’ in Begada, which incorporated both chittaswaram and manodharma swaram. ‘Brocheva’ in Kamas was rendered at a pace that suited the ragabhava. He embellished the piece by rendering chittaswaram in thisra and chathurasra modes.
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A soothing Sahana followed the rarely heard Papanasam Sivan song ‘Chithamirangatha’. A fast–paced ‘Bandureethi’ (Hamsanadam) with brisk swara passages was followed by an erudite display of Thodi. He traversed the contours of the raga thereby portraying a neat structure and tagged the kriti ‘Sree Krishnambhajamanasa sathatham’ along with niraval and swara passages.
Viju S. Anand handled the violin well and provided excellent support. Nanjil Arul (mridangam) and Vazhappally Krishnakumar (ghatam) enhanced the concert with their captivating rhythmic strokes.
Aiswarya Vidya Reghunath presented an energising and enterprising concert on the last day of the fete. After the initial varnam (vallachi - navaraaga maalika) and ‘Vallabha nayakasya’ in Begada, she presented a nice sketch of the raga Dhanyasi for the kriti ‘Meenalochani brova’.
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The swara passages woven by her, especially in the higher octaves for this kriti, were enchanting. Dwijavanthi was revealed at a leisurely pace. ‘Chethasri’, the Dikshitar piece, followed in apt tempo. A speedy ‘Nenarunchinanu’ in Malavi hinted the immediate arrival of the main piece of the concert. Keeravani was taken for detailed alapana, judiciously juxtaposing the akaarams intermittently. The mood of the kriti was brought out as she rendered the kriti ‘Kaligiyuntegatha’ of saint Tyagaraja. The diction and purity she maintained while negotiating the niraval for the line ‘Bhaguga sreeraghu’ was worth mentioning. The swara passages crafted for this piece shed light on her creative skill as she beautified it with jhandaprayogas. She effortlessly glided from one raga to another while rendering the ragamalika sloka saayamkale which comprised Poorvikalyani, Sahana, Anandabhairavi and Neelambari.
N. Sampath on the violin gave tremendous support and his solo bowing of the ragas Keeravani and Dhanyasi were superb. Poongad Sanoj (mridangam) and Vellattanjoor Sreejith (ghatam) effectively handled the percussion department. Concerts by Mahadevan Sankaranarayanan and Aravind Bhargav (mandolin) were also featured in the series.