Melodious concert by vocalist Nandini in Madurai music festival

Vocalist N.J. Nandini presented a melodious concert at the 58th annual concerts organised by the Ragapriya (Chamber Music Club).

Accompanied by Adarsh Ajay Kumar on the violin, Kripal Sairam on the mruthangam and Vishnu Kammath on kanjira, she commenced with “sogasuga mridanga talamu” in Sri Ranjani by Thiagaraja, in which she maintained the  (yati) prosody, vishrama (pause) virati (concentration on almighty) very aptly.

Nandini then rendered “Enai nee maravade angayarkanni” (the presiding deity of Madurai Sri Meenakshi), by M.M. Dandapani Desikar in amrutavarsini. The pleading of Desikar not to forget him was very expressive and expansive.

She continued with a very good alapana, equally mirrored by the violinist, for “ brochevarevarura (who will save us )” by Mysore Vasudevacharya in khamas. The rendition witnessed the flow and flexible use of notes, elegance, and aesthetic beauty of the raga as well as the kriti.

Swati Tirunal’s heartfelt prayer for Lord Krishna’s eternal protection and grace through “gopalaka pahimam anisham” in bhoopaalam, reflected absolute devotion.

The vocalist unfolded Kalyani (the main raga), slowly moving across octaves to display its emotional depth. The instrumentalists also used spontaneous improvisation during neraval and swaram sections. The rendition of the kriti “Unnai allal “ by Papanasam Sivan came in for appreciation from the rasikas.

The melody elevated the poignant, pleading tone of the lyrics, by Papanasam Sivan. The percussion ensemble took center stage in the duet between the mridangist Kripal Sairam and Vishnu Kammath on the khanjira. It created a thrilling contrast of deep resonance and sharp, lightning-fast accents.

Final pieces included Subramanya Bharatiar’s, “vande mataram jaya jaya vande mataram” in hindustani behag and Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite Raghupathi Raghava Rajaram and concluded with “Karpagame kadaikkan” by Papanasam Sivan in Madyamavati.