Concert by Vid. S. Shankar & Party

A special concert in memory of Sri Abhiruchi Nagaraj was organised by Ananya on May 15 at Ananya Sabhangana.
Senior vidwan S Shankar led the concert accompanied by Vid B Raghuram on violin, Vid. N Vasudev on mridanga, Vid. Bhargava Halambi on khanjari and vid. Eeshwar on vocal support.

The concert began with Bhairavi aTa tALa varNa Viriboni followed by gajavadana mAm pAhi, Hamsadhwani composition of yesteryear stalwart M D Ramanathan.

A brisk version of shaila sute, vasanta kriti of Mysore Vasudevachar was presented followed by nAdupai (madhyamavati) with a brief AlApana and swara prastAra. He then rendered brOva bArama (Bahudari), enthA puNyave gOpi (Sahana) with a chaste AlApana, and satatamu ninne , a rare composition of BK Padmanabha Rao in shivakAmbhOji.

The main piece of the concert was Kalyani kriti nijadAsa varada of Patnam Subramania Iyer with a fitting rAga AlApana, neraval and kalpana swara embellished by a very good thani Avartana. The concert came to a close with his signature presentation of manavE mantrAlya (kriti of Padmacharan in shuddh sArang) and GNB’s thillAna in hamsAnandi.
It was a top class concert and was well enjoyed by audience till the last song.

By Pavan Rangachar