Spoorthi Rao impresses with her voice, but she should adopt a restrained approach in her acting

Spoorthi Rao singing at Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Vidya Bharati in Mylapore on Tuesday… Photo: Srinath M/The Hindu | Photo Courtesy: Srinath M

Spoorthi Rao easily won the hearts of the audience with her rich and melodious voice covering all the octaves till Tara Pancham. Spoorthi started his concert with Varnam composed by TR Subramaniam on Aadi Taal at Hamir Kalyani. , a composition by TR Subramaniam which was well presented. After this, a short electrifying alapan of Nattai and Dikshitar’s composition ‘Pavanatmagachha’ was presented. The voices were a bit too loud, which sometimes led to lapses in swarasthanam.

Ranjani, a raga that can melt a stone with its emotional touch when presented with balance of communication, had a similar issue. The lower middle steady connections, which are the basic heart of Raga Alapana for Ranjani, were finished within a few minutes and moving on to Tara Shadjam opened the way for Briga Sangatis and connections. These were dealt with in such captivating detail that it stole the essence of the raga in the alapana. The composition chosen was Tyagaraja’s ‘Durmargachar’. After completing the composition, the artist decided to take up the line in Anupallavi’s ‘Dharmatik Dhan Dhanyamu’ for Niraval. The composition, being set in Rupaka Talam, one expected some movement in Niraval. However, the speed, especially when it decided to build a Raga Bhavan at Niraval with Briga communication during Niraval, was inappropriate. This was not the desired effect of Ranjani as a raga.

The artist decided not to sing the notes for this composition after the 15-minute interval, another surprise – or, perhaps, he had nothing left to present after the exhibition. After Ranjani, Tyagaraja’s fast composition ‘Vararagalaya’ was presented in Chenchukamboji in Adi Taal. It would have been better if a Vilamba composition was inserted between these two ragas, which would have made the latter composition more meaningful before coming to the main item.

Karaharpriya was the main part of the musical programme. The raga alapana, which began with some shades of Kurinji, was introduced in detail in all three sthairas, with an unusual accompaniment infused in the Tara sthairaa. The artist showed his ability by going up to Tara Pancham and touching Dhaivatam before coming back to Shadjam. The artist took ‘Pakala Nilabadi’ in Mishra Chapu and presented it in an effective manner. He chose the Charanam line ‘Manasuna’ for the elaborate Niraval. Briga Sanchar made another entry which earned him huge applause from the audience.

V. Deepika was accompanied by Spoorthi Rao on violin, Hariharan on Mridangam and Ram Shiva on Kanjira. , Photo Courtesy: Srinath M

The notes were presented with good design in the second movement KurappuThis is followed by another cascade of notes, notably touching the Pancham in Tara Sthiri, before a complex muthappu At the end. It was handled well. However, the ratio between Niraval and Kalpanaswaras needs to be maintained in any composition to give balance to a musical programme.

There was good support from violinist V. Deepika throughout the concert. Hariharan’s mridangam, though a little forceful at times, provided an excellent accompaniment to Ram Shiva on kanjira for the Mishra Chapu taal in Karaharpriya. The concert ended abruptly with no time for a short devotional song.

Spoorthi presented a well-rehearsed concert with brilliant touches from Karaharpriya. However, attention to achieving a moment of peace between phrases in a busy Raga Alapana, a clear understanding of how much quantity is good for a Niraval and a sense of the proportion of the Niraval to Kalpanaswara ratio will add much more value to his concerto.