Vocal Recital : O.S.Thiagarajan

B.U. Ganesh Prasad, violin
Poongulam Subramaniam, mridangam

Date :Saturday, April 8th

Kirsch Auditorium ., Stata Center, MIT

Performance by a senior vocalist like O.S Thiagarajan sets great expectation. When the silken notes of Shri Thiagarajan’s swarams and alapanai’s filled the Krish auditorium in MIT, it is fair to say that he met and often exceeded the expectations. Combining his classicism with Bhakti (devotion) Thiagarajan succeeded in transporting the audience to another world.   He was accompanied by B.U.Ganesh on the violin and Poongulam Subramanium on the Mridangam.

He made a brisk start with Kamas Alapanai followed by Tyagaraj’s Sujana Jeevana set to Rupaka Thalam.  Since the concert was close to Rama Navami, OST presented many compositions of the great devotee of Lord Rama , the great composer Saint Tyagaraga .

The second presentation was an alapanai of Panthuvarali raga  followed by the  Sundharathara Deham. The words of the song are lovely and his rendition was marvelous. The nerevel and kalpana swaram at   Raagadhi Samhara , was constructed with utmost care not to overshadow the beauty of the  song.

Yevarooraa in Mohanam came next . Raga alapana of mohanam was neat and the krithi rendition  was full of bhava as it was composed.   Cheraravadhemi ra  in Reethi Gowlai was rendered beautifully , bringing out the essence of Reethigowla in the various phrases.

A beautiful presentation of Lekanaa Ninnu in Asaaveri and Nidhichaala Sukhamaa in Kalyani followed. He them proceeded to present Bantureethi Kolu in Hamsanadham. He sang this Krithi at a super speed without compromising the clarity of sangathis. It was breathtaking..

The highlight of the concert was a  Ragam Thanam Pallavi in Karaharapriya. Tanam was sung with a lot of rhythmic phrases. Raama Nee samaanamevaru was the pallavi chosen. The swaras were brilliant with a lot of nuances. 

In the concluding portion he presented Vaarija Nayanani in Kedaragowla, Challare Raamaa in Aahiri and Laali yugave in Neelambari. The accompanists did a wonderful job to provide the right support. The audience experienced three and a half hours of sheer delight and it left them craving for more.

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