Boston had the unique opportunity of hosting one of the brightest stars of Carnatic music (South Indian Classical music) – Shri O. S. Thyagarajan. Shri O. S. Thyagarajan having had his training under stalwarts such as Shri G. V. Subramanyam, Padmashri Lalgudi Jayaraman & Shri T. M. Thyagarajan, is known for his strict adherence to Shruthi and classical rendering of krithis composed by the great masters.

The concert held in Boston on November 23, 2003, was a case in point of how many gems that have been composed by the Trinity of music. Shri Thyagarajan’s selections were exemplary and he rendered some really delectable krithis in his inimitable style. He was accompanied very ably by Shri Delhi Sunder Rajan on the violin & Neyvelli Narayanan on the mridangam. This concert was the concluding concert of Shri Thyagarajan’s U.S. tour of 2003.

The main highlights of this concert were the raagam renditions in Sriranjani, Malahari, Kuntalavarali & Suruti. Malahari / Kannada Bangala is not an often heard raagam in kutcheris and OST’s rendition of the raagam and the Dikshitar gem was impeccable.

Geetharathamu in the raagam Suruti was the main piece. The thani avarthanam (percussion solo) following the kirthanam was crisp with Shri Narayanan weaving intricate laya patterns. Delhi Sunder Rajan’s violin accompaniment was as always, excellent, matching O.S.T. in his every move. The only thing lacking in the concert was the absence of the “Neraval” in any of the items presented by Shri O.S.T. Overall, it was a very memorable concert, with excellent support from the accompanying artistes.

It was also a bitter sweet evening for Boston music Rasikas. The familiar face of Venkat taking meticulous care of the mike arrangements will no longer be there. Venkat and family are moving to California. We will miss Venkat sorely, and would like to take this opportunity to wish him and his family the very best in his new endeavor.

|