The third day music and dance festival of Sri shanmukhananda Sangeetha sabha
featured Ragam Sisters and Priya Sisters at Andhra Bhawan.
Ragam Sisters commenced their concert with a Varnam in Ragam Sree followed by
ragam Hamsadwani (Varana Mukha). After a sprite rendering Dikshidar kriti in
Suddha Dhanyasi ( Subramanyena Rakshitoham) the sisters took up Sriranjani raga
alapana which was well attempted and the kriti Sogasugamrudanga Thalamu with its
swara prastharas was very well handled with maturity. The sarvalagu in kalpana
swara was noteworthy. After the Kriti Nenenduvedakutura it was Mohanam-
Bhavanuta of Sri Tyagaraja with good raga alapana and niraval swaras. The main
piece of the evening was Bhairavi with a Tyagaraja kriti – Upacharamu jeseva
which is very rarely heard now a days. It was very well rendered and the way the
kriti was handled by sisters was well appreciable and very promising. Thereafter
the kritis of syama sastry Kanakasaila (Punnagavarali), Narayanathe namo namo
and a Ragamalika- Kuraiyondrumillai was well received by the audience. The
concert was concluded with Lalgudi Thillana in raga Revathi.
The accompaniments Ms. Lakshmi Venkataramani on the violin, Kumbakonam N.
Padhmanabhan on Mridangam and Sh.G. Ravichandran on Ghatam gave a good support.
In the second half of the festival it was Priya Sisters Nadabhushanam
Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya.
The concert started with a spiritly varnam in Abhogi raga followed by Varana
Mukha in Hamsadwani. Then the two rare krities ‘Ranganadude’ in Sourashtram and
Etavuna Nerchitiv O Rama in Yadukulakambhoji were render very well and well
received by the audience. The composition of Koteeswara Iyer ‘Arul Seyya Vendum’
in Rasikapriya excelled with the swara kalpana and handling of Vivadi mela raga
in a very matured way. Even the raga sunadavinodini – Devadi deva of Mysore
vasudevachariar was very well rendered and worth mentioning. The Navavarnam in
Sriragam gave a divine ambiance to the concert. The main raga – Thodi and the
Tyagaraja Kriti- Dasarathi was a good choice and excellently produced both in
the raga alapana and visthara swara prastharas. Here the bow trick of the
violinist Sh. Ragevendra Rao is worth mentioning which was of high class.
Thiruvaruru Sh. Vaidyanathan and Sh. Ravichandran on the mridangam and Ghatam
respectively gave a scintillating tani Avartanam. The sisters continued the
concert with a vrutam and rare tukdas which was a good change for the music
lovers of Delhi.
Both Ragam and Priya Sisters are promosing artists and well projected by Sree
Sanmukhananda Sangeetha sabha.
Author: Ms. Lakshmi
