Amrita Murali with RK Sriramkumar (violin) and K Arun Prakash (mridangam). , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Soon after presenting a lech-dem on ‘The changing nature of raga in compositional forms’ at the Music Academy, Amrita Murali offered a soulful performance for Nada Iambam in the memory of Smt. and Mr. V. Ananthanarayanan. In the vocal section, three inspiring Niravalas in ‘Padayugu Madilo Dalachi’, ‘Parula Nutimpagane’ and ‘Madana Ripu Sati’ marked Ananda Bhairavi, his Shyama Shastri kriti in ‘Marivere’ (Mishra Chapu) was melodically slow.
In the elaborate alpanas of Thodi and Kalyani, Amrita brought out their musical structure and essence by adding attractive patterns. The work he chose for Thodi was ‘Sri Subramanyo Maam Rakshatu’ written by Dikshitar on the deity at Tiruchendur. In this work, which is in the first inflection, there is mention of Navaviras who helped Subramaniam during the war. Dikshitar also mentions Patra Vibhuti – sacred ash distributed on a leafThe cheese tree. Pallavi’s vocal delivery combined her musicianship and technical proficiency well.
Amrita presented Tyagaraja’s ‘Sive Pahimama Ambike’ in Kalyani. This work is a praise of Thiruvaiyar’s Dharmasamvardhini. The extensive Niraval and vocals were in ‘Kaverajottara Thera Vasini’ (Anupallavi).
Amrita was accompanied by her guru and violinist RK Sriramkumar at the concert. His ability to easily weave a web of attraction in any raga was revealed in Alpana and Swarprastar. He is also a musician and Amrita presented one of his compositions ‘Nidamum Un Padam’ in the melodious Jaymanohari on Meenakshi in Madurai.
The understated richness of mridangam scholar Arun Prakash was an asset for the singer. His technical expertise and creativity came through in his taunts.
Amrita started her concert with ‘Tyagaraja Palayasumam’ with Samashti Charanam, the meditative piece from Dikshitar’s Tyagaraja Abhivyakti works in the eighth (Sambhadan I) Abhikti. Kalpanaswar was in ‘Shri Guruguha Pujita’. Another Dikshit kriti he presented was ‘Chetha Sri Balakrishnam’ (Roopakam) in Dwijavanti, a raga that brings out devotion and karuna rasa in literature. Amrita’s interest towards spontaneity and perfection came to the fore in this presentation.
Amrita presented Tyagaraja’s ‘Haridasulu Vedale’ in Yamuna Kalyani with impressive modulation. After Virutham, ‘Shanku Chakra Gadha Panim’ in Kapi and Behag, he presented Kamaleesa Dasa’s ‘Kandu Dhanyadeno Sri Udupi Krishnana’ in Behag.
Amrita chose to render some verses of Thiruvaruttapa from Vallalar’s ‘Mahadev Malai’ as Virutham in Ragamalika, creating an atmosphere of spiritual peace.
published – January 11, 2025 04:07 PM IST
