The gayaki style of playing the violin, characteristic of the Lalgudi bani, was on display at Shreya Devnath’s concert, as she held on to the aesthetics of the patanthara firmly. The varnam in Andolika, composed by maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman, made for a sprightly start. An emotive sketch of Rasali and ‘Aparadhamula’ of Tyagaraja also bore the Lalgudi stamp. The kalpanaswaras were a showcase of her creativity and dexterity.
Her extended bowing on madhyama and dhaivata in Khambodi, brought out the beauty of the raga. . She explored the contours of the raga by traversing smoothly across octaves. ‘Mahita Pravruddha’ (from the Lalgudi Pancharatnam) of Tyagaraja set in tisra triputa gave her ample opportunity to change the nadais in the swara segment.
Kumbakonam Swaminathan (mridangam) and Nerkunam Sankar (ganjira) provided admirable percussive support.
Lalgudi Jayaraman’s unique composition, ‘Then Madurai Vaazh Annaiye’ in Hamsarupini, a raga with swaras of Mohanam in the arohanam and Madhyamavati in the avarohanam, was a delightful flash between the two heavy presentations, ‘Inta Sowkhya’ in Kapi and the main kriti, ‘Kamalambam Bhajare’ in Kalyani. The brilliant delineation of Kalyani had the inimitable touch of the Lalgudi school but Shreya tried her best to bring out the different shades of the raga, with a few phrases around the nishada that reminded one of itsHindustani counterpart. A leisurely paced Adi talam in two kalais gavescope to display sowkhyam in different speeds.
Shreya offered Bharatiyar’s ‘Paarukkulle Nalla Nadu' in Jhonpuri as a tribute to the city's spirit after the recent deluge. The enjoyable tisra nadai in the tillana in Behag, again by Lalgudi Jayaraman, left the listeners elated.
