Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunath presenting her live performance for Naada Inbam, in December 2022.
| Picture Credit score: Particular Association
Increasing upon her opening kriti for twenty-four minutes, Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunath not solely demonstrated her mastery in dealing with Begada, however ushered in celebration round one in every of Carnatic’s hardest ragas. The alapana was deceptively brief, as Subbaraya Sastry’s ‘Sankari neeve’ started very quickly after the curtains went up at Naada Inbam. The artiste has a pure capability to pierce via loops, sharpening the important thing options of this spinoff of Sankarabharanam.
Percussionists Delhi Sairam (mridangam) and Anirudh Athreya (kanjira) made hay out of the medium-paced Roopaka-tala composition, whereas violinist Vittal Rangan strode elegantly alongside the expansive niraval at ‘Sri kanchi sadana.’ If neatness marked the end-charanam chittaswaras earlier, Aishwarya displayed her eminence within the imaginative kalpana phase. It was pretty lengthy, however by no means dragging: restrained forays made a grand rally. None sought to outplay the opposite, they solely strengthened Begada’s richness in a present of exemplary teamwork. (Depart apart the noisy inhalations at sure gaps — apparently she had a light chilly.)
The sleek swing of the ‘ma’ observe, whereas embellishing the swaraprastara, dropped unmistakable hints on the vocalist’s twin supply of aesthetics. The kaleidoscopic patterns had been typical of the Semmangudi bani, courtesy Aishwarya’s tutelage underneath Srinivasa Iyer’s disciples P.S. Narayanaswamy and Seethalakshmi Venkatesan. The younger singer’s tendency to rein in her voice whereas hitting the highest registers stems from her parallel allegiance to T. Brinda: the legend’s daughter Vegavahini Vijayaraghavan is one other guru of Aishwarya’s.
The kutcheri spanned 145 minutes, that includes simply seven gadgets. The resultant leisure no manner translated into laxity. Refreshing melodies, too, performed a job to this impact. The second piece, as an illustration, was in Jayamanohari — a peppy raga near the extra widespread Abhogi and Sriranjani, additionally Karaharapriya janyams.
Tyagaraja’s ‘Sri rama chitha’ was effectively rendered. Because the swaraprastara gained momentum, the notes started chasing Aishwarya.
Varali ensued. Vittal’s solo response glided by the tempo of the alapana by Aishwarya, who even explored the scope of adjusting decibels to reinforce bhava. ‘Karuna judavamma’ (Syama Sastri), which begins on a prime observe, was the selection. Mishra chapu made its maiden entry, working notably effectively throughout the anupallavi starting with Marakatangi.
Forward of the principle suite was a quick ‘Nijamarmamulanu’ in Umabharanam from the Harikamboji household. This kriti, too, carried a (crisp) swaraprastara that gurgled in distinction to the banking line (‘Kshema tyagarajanuta’) with its fancy slides.
Bhairavi occupied the centre stage. The vocalist’s stretching and rounding of the swaras added to the classicism of the dense raga up and down the alapana. The violinist reiterated his command over brigas and gamakas alike. Aishwarya negotiated Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Balagopala’ with poise, arcing throughout its bends and gifting vacillations to the long-drawn niraval (round ‘Manikya makuta’) within the run-up to swaras.
The tani avartanam was a 17-minute interface between two clever souls with mutual respect. Dharmapuri Subbarayar’s Khamas javali Marubari and a breezy four-tune Ragamalika had been the parting photographs earlier than the Bhadrachala Ramadas’ mangalam in Kurinji.
