ANOTHER STAR IN THE MAKING - NISHA RAJAGOPAL
Nisha Rajagopal, who is a disciple of T R Subramanian, gave a vocal concert at Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha on the 29th of December 2000. Ambika Prasad accompanied her on the violin and K V Gopalakrishnan on the mridangam. She choose 'Siddhivinayakam Seveham' in the raga Mohanakalyani, a kriti by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar as her opening piece. The chittaswaram was very good she presented it well too.
Next was the 19th melakarta, a vivadi raga, Jhankaradhwani. A vivadi raga, even though
not conducive for elaboration, gives a different and pleasant atmosphere for a concert. She
rendered the Tyagaraja kriti 'Phanipati sayee patumam'. The successive raga
was Begada, in which she rendered an elaborate raga alapana confidently. It is
notable that she was able to sing fluently in the higher octaves. A Swati
Tirunal's kriti, 'Karuna kara Madhava' set to Roopaka tala was sung. She rendered kalpanaswaras for
the pallavi.
Kharaharapriya, the main raga of the concert, was rendered spontaneously, except that there were few
slips during the raga alapana. Tyagaraja's 'Pakkala nilabadi', set to
Misra Chapu was chosen for elaboration. The neraval and kalpanaswaras at the
charanam, were gracefully rendered. The concert came to an end a kriti of
Tyagaraja in Jhunjooti, set to Roopaka tala.
AUDIENCE VIEWS:
R Gangadharan: She has a very good voice and musical knowledge. She deserves
three-hours concert in
prime slot.
A Lakshmanan: She has a fluent voice. Her handling of kritis, alapanas and neraval deserves
better recognition.
Subramanian: Highly commendable. Very heartening to note that youngsters like Nisha are
keeping Carnatic music alive. My blessings to her.
