Nithyashree Mahadevan began her concert at at the annual music festival of Ragapriya in Madurai on Monday with Annamacharya’s “Namo namo Ragukula” in Nattai and then sang Gopalakrishna Bharathi’s “Thandava darisanam” in Reetigoulai.
She presented Dikshithar’s “Soundararajam” in praise of Lord Soundararaja in Nagapattinam in raga Brindavanasaranga. This was done at a leisurely pace and it brought out the intrinsic nuances of the raga.
She then began with an alapana in Saveri along with violinist M. A. Krishnasamy, to request goddess “Sankari” for auspicious tidings, in the words of Syama Sastri. She sang a few choice phrases of Saveri to bring out the ragalakshana and speeded up the alapana. The swaras were dealt with in detail to the phrase “Shyama Krishna Sodhari.” This was followed by Sivan’s “Kumaran Thaz” in Yadukula Kamboji.
She elaborated on the deep notes of anthara sthayi as well as the higher notes to present the raga alapana and tanam for the pallavi beginning “Mayatheetha Swaroopini” which she sang in several ragas. The violinist played his part well through the proceedings.
I. Shivakumar on the mrudangam and Tiruchi S. Krishnasamy on the ghatam used the time provided for rhythmic presentations well and entertained the rasikas. Thukkadas included popular pieces such as “Thondru Nigazhnda”, “Varuvai Varuvai” and a tillana. The final day’s concert of Nithyasree was a testimony to her sustained popularity with the rasikas of Madurai.
Rajalakshmi Padmanabhan
