Vasundhra Rajagopal chose kritis not frequently heard and for that reason, her concert was appealing. Her Subhapantuvarali and the Mysore Vasudevachar’s kriti ‘Paripahimam Dasarathae’ was quite moving because of the wistful tenor of the raga but at the same time engaging due to the slightly faster tempo adopted by her. The lengthy karvais and appealing akaras adorned her raga depiction. Phrase ‘Ragasudha’ went for an imaginative swara attachment.
Another moving and sedate composition was Subbaraya Sastri’s kriti in Sriragam ‘Vanajasana Vinuta’ with chittaswara and sahitya which bore the composers’ characteristic stamp.
Though Bhairavai and Tyagaraja’s familiar ‘Upacharamulanu’ turned out to be the main because of positioning, the other two renditions were more significant.
The Bhairavi alapana and the kriti rendition were impeccable, which made Vasundhra’s experience evident. Without niraval she moved to swarakalpana on ‘Kapata Nataka’ and rounded off quickly.
The opening items were ‘Sarasooda,’ Saveri varnam and Malayamarutham raga introduction for ‘Karpaga Manohara’ of Sivan with an addition of swift rolling swaraprastara in ‘Thandaiyum Nee.’
H.M. Smita on the violin was quite competent and provided support within the prescribed limits.
R. Sankaranarayanan extended perfect percussion padding on mridangam.
