SOWMYA AT MUSIC ACADEMY - CONFIDENT DISPLAY
Her rendering of Tyagaraja's 'Kalalanerchina' in Deepakam at her concert in the Music Academy on 23rd December 2000, was marked by the ardent faith she has in her patanthara and training she received from her guru, the late S Ramanathan. The ubhaya-vakra raga with the scale, sgmpdps - sndnpmgrs, was handled very confidently, especially in the weaving of kalpanaswaras. She gave a judicious alapana of Bilahari, not frequently loaded with Kaisika Nishada. The tempo of 'Sribalasubramanya' was kept up and the neraval and kalpanaswaras that followed marked a class.
The development of the mighty raga, Todi was superb, full of intrinsic bhava. The execution of the swaras g m d n was blemishless. Sowmya then rendered a Ragam Tanam Pallavi in Atana. Although the raga has its limitations, she handled it with aplomb. The Pallavi revealed her standard and was taken through the usual stages of development, namely, trikalam, and the other creative aspects such as neraval and kalpanaswaras.
Dr. Narmada rose up to the occasion fairly well. Though she had a slip or two, which might have gone unnoticed by a commoner, she provides faithful accompaniment, never overstepping the bounds prescribed by the vocalist. The rich tone colour of her violin is enough source of strength to achieve overall success.
J Vaidyanathan on the mridangam, acquitted himself thoroughly well. His display consists of soft and decisive strokes. Mayavaram Somu just filled up the gaps. The tone of his Khanjira was found lacking in giving the required blend.
Posted on 26th December 2000
