Gayathri Girish’s unique Tamil live performance

It was, certainly, a nice outing to attend a stay live performance, after a protracted hole of two years. Organised by Hamsadhwani on the Youth Hostel in Adyar, the acquainted atmosphere, the night breeze, and the not-so-crowded venue introduced again recollections of the pre-pandemic days and left one feeling refreshed.

Because the live performance was on the Tamil New Yr’s Day, vocalist Gayathri Girish had chosen Tamil compositions. The opening music was a lilting pada varnam by Papanasam Sivan in raga Nattakurinji, ‘Swami naan undhan adimai’. She introduced a brand new music, ‘Anbum amaidhiyum engum nilavida’, in raga Nattai, written by Shankar Venkatraman specifically for the event. A sketch of Madhyamavati segued into Oothukadu Venkatakavi’s widespread composition, ‘Adadhu asangadhu’.

Gayathri’s Purvikalyani raga essay was crisp, but it carried all of the signature phrases. Just a few rounds of swarakalpana had been added to the pallavi ultimately. Her rendition of a virutham ‘Angayarkanni kappu’, was an apt selection, because the day additionally marked the celebration of Madurai Meenakshi-Sundareswarar marriage ceremony. This was adopted by a music on Meenakshi kalyanam in raga Anandabhairavi. These had been excerpts from Paranjothi Munivar’s Thirumana Padalam, a piece of Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam. Then got here a poignant Thevaram by Appar, ‘Vaananai Mathi Soodiya’ in raga Kiravani, in reward of the Tiruvannamalai deity.

Stately Sankarabharanam

Raga Sankarabharanam was the piece de resistance of the night. The frilly treatise, by Gayathri, with phrases constructed up steadily, highlighted the stateliness of the raga. Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar’s ‘Manadirkisaindha manaalan,’ a not-so-frequently heard composition, was her selection right here. A well-structured niraval at ‘Amarar dinam panindhu archchikkum’, and the swara exchanges between the vocalist and violinist, M.R. Gopinath, had been elegant. A seasoned violinist, M.R. Gopinath’s repartees for the alapana, niraval, or swaras had been stuffed with poise and beauty. The colourful enjoying by B. Sivaraman and Prasanna Hariharan, on the mridangam and ghatam respectively, added momentum to the live performance. Their tani avartanam was a neatly-framed train.

The concluding session was filled with fairly a number of pleasing compositions — Bharatiyar’s widespread ‘Chinnanchiru kiliye’, together with all of the stanzas of the charanams as ragamalika, Guru Surajananda’s ‘Muruganin maru peyar’ in Behag, prefaced with a verse from Kandhar alankaram, Lalgudi Jayaraman’s thillana in Madhuvanti, and Arunagirinathar’s Thiruppugazh in Chandrakauns. ‘Vazhiya senthamizh’ introduced the live performance to an in depth.

The Chennai-based author opinions Classical music.