CHICAGO: Priya sisters – Shanmukha Priya and Hari Priya – gave a stellar performance to a packed hall at Sama Rathi auditorium HTGC Lemont, on the occasion of Rama Navmi. The concert was jointly sponsored by the Hindu Temple, RR International and Raja Veena Foundation.
The event started off by an introduction by Usha Pariti, the chair for the temple’s fine arts committee and a short welcoming speech by the temple president Tilak Marwaha. Later Supriya Rao introduced the artists to the audience. The concert came to a conclusion with a vote of thanks by Bhima Reddy, the temple’s vice-president. All the artists were honored with silk shawls.
“Saami ninne nammi naa pai”, a stately Adi Tala varnam in Pantuvarali marked the beginning of the evening, sung in two speeds. A brisk “Gananaayakam” in Poornashadjam followed suit with quick kalpanaswaras in the pattern of ‘gmnns-npmgrs’, which is characteristic of the raga. A moving “Marugelara” in Jayanthashri later, the sisters took up Purvikalyani for a detailed delineation of the raga.
Despite minor audio issues and voice not cooperating at times, the sisters gave a wonderful treatment to Thyagaraja’s krithi “Gyana Mosaga Radha”. Kalpanaswaras seemed to flow effortlessly for the aptly chosen line “paripurna nishkalanka” from the charanam.
There were some delightful moments during the Anupallavi and Charanam when Violin Parur M A Krishnaswamy and Mridangam Neyveli Skandasubramanian added embellishment and color through scholarly phrases and enjoyable rhythm. Taking daivatham as the landing point for the swaras in Purvikalyani, was different from the usual and Mridangam accompanying some of the sarvalaghu phrases added sweetness to the delivery.
Arunachala Kavi’s Arivaar Yaar Unnai in Mukhaari set to Mishra Chaapu taalam was steeped in devotion. The central attraction of the evening was the portrayal of Madhyamavathi – the transition from Mukhari to Madhyamavathi could have been clearer at the start of the raga. However Haripriya did more than compensate with excellent traditional ‘pidis’ and pleasing ‘brigas’.
Violin M A Krishnaswami at this point rendered a bhavam-soaked Madhyamavathi with flourishes on all the three octaves – the lower octave (mandra shthayi) prayogas were especially deep and elegant. Very aptly chosen for Rama Navami, was Thyagaraja’s krithi “Rama Katha Sudharasa Paanamu”.
The song extols the greatness and healing power of Rama’s story, the underlying emotion being ‘Bhakti’. It did seem like the sisters had this in mind when they chose the lines “Bhama mani janaki saumitri” for Neraval. The pace for the krithi was in tune with the deep devotional meandering during Neraval: a gradual progression to the madhyama kala swaras made for a delectable experience.
The sisters chose Bindumalini for Ragam Tanam Pallavi which was a wonderful exercise in creativity and deliberation.
After the enjoyable tani avarthanam, the sisters concluded the evening with some of their popular devotional numbers and Sai Bhajans. The concert was very well attended on a Friday evening despite the inclement weather.
Raghu Baddi
