Mahathi began the third day of Ragapriya’s anniversary celebrations with the taru varnam in kamaas, “Mathe”. She then sang the Sanskrit verses of Swati Tirunal in mayamalavagoulai beginning with “Devadeva” in duritha kala.
She also sang a variety of kalpana swaras to make a fuller presentation of the raga. A short alapana by the singer in sucharita and a matching interpretation by Mysore Srikanth on the violin was followed by the rarely sung, “Velum Mayilume” by Koteeswara Iyer.
“Thamadam thagadayya” in Mohanakalyani by Lalgudi Gopala Iyer aided the singer to keep up the fast pace she had set with the previous songs. P. Satish Kumar on the mrudangam and K.V. Gopalakrishnan on the kanjira matched it with a variety of beats. The main song the Tyagaraja kriti “Swararagasudha” was preceded by some vigorous alapana in Sankarabharanam by Mahati aided by the melodic tones of the violin and an upbeat tani by the percussionists.
The final songs were mostly in Tamil: “Vennilavum vanum”, “Anandam en solvene”, “Engal kanmani” and “Unnai Saranadaindhen”, the last one being in spirit with the Gowri vratham.
These songs, popularised by the veterans like M.S Subbulakshmi and Radha, took the listeners down memory lane and provided moments of nostalgia.
The mrudangist produced a number of exciting beats to the rhythmic lyrics of “Gopigopala”. On the whole, the concert was an energetic and stimulating presentation.
Rajalakshmi Padmanabhan
