Abstract Thoughts: Chandru's Blogs

Its that time of the year again - Carnatic music everywhere in Chennai. I get to visit Chennai only in the weekends and I am determined to go to at least a couple of concerts.

I could make it to Sudha Ragunathan's concert in Brahma Gana Sabha / Vani Mahal last week. Sudha, who is becoming one of my favorite these days, I guess is different from many other singers, in that she experiments quite a bit in the concerts making it interesting. These days she is considered to be a high class singer and she seems to understand that the bar is raised for her.

It was the typical upper middle class crowd, where mamis wear silk sarees, come in mid segment cars. Jayashree had got the most expensive of tickets for me and my dad and myself got seats pretty close to the dias.

Finally, let me talk about the concert. We, being a little late, entered the hall when she was singing Maha Ganapathim in Nattai and I was relieved that it must have been the first keerthanai. After a couple of thukadas, the concert gained momentum when she started the aalapana in Sahana. Mellifluous is probably the best word to describe the rendition. I was even more pleased when the keertana happened to be Vandanamu Ragu Nandhana.

The next best one was the Simhendra Madyamam. The elaborate aalapana included a shruti bedham to Raga Bowli, as she explained. The violinist Raghavendra Rao was no less in talent and he deserves to be mentioned.

Next biggie was the Ragam Thanam Pallavi in Hindolam where Sudha drove to other ragas while rendering the kalpana swaras.

The usual Brahmamukate followed it and the Katrinile Varum Geetham was up to the mark of the great M.S.s' rendition, one would agree. By the way, does anyone know if there is any other song in Savithri raga?

In all, it was a memorable evening and my dad was so enthralled that he kept talking about it even after we reached home, an hour later.

Labels: Carnatic, Chennai, Music, Sudha