The young actors are talented, put on a good performance, constantly hone their musical skills, and have enough confidence to keep the audience’s attention for more than two hours. And this is no small feat.
Madurai Sisters, N. Subashree and N. Jayashree performed for the 25th Music Festival of Mylapore Kala Akademi at Ragasudha Hall. He was accompanied by Subhashree Sivaramakrishna (Violin), V. Balaji (Mridangam) and Sunil Kumar (Kanjira). The sisters’ repertoire and ability to produce unstoppable music is commendable.
The evening began with a Kanad Raga Varnam in Do Gaati which set the pace of the concert. The pair’s next ‘Maha Ganapathim’ (Nattai, Muthuswamy Dikshitar) was decorated with swaraprastara flowers for added interest.
A valaji raga sketch made by the sisters for a pleasant evening, while the violinist added his own version with sharp phrases depicting the beauty of the raga. The ‘Padme Thunai’ (Valaji, Papanasam Sivan) was sung before the ‘Tulsidala Moolache’ (Mayamalavagoula, Tyagaraja) was introduced. Singers chose Niraval in ‘Sarseeruha Punnaga Champak Patal Kurvaka’ in the Charanam line. They could have done well by enhancing their presentation skills.
Vibrant Mayamma
The mood changed with ‘Mayamma Nannu Brovvamma’ (Natakuranji, Syama Shastri). An excellent choice for artists to showcase their skills. This work has a beautiful vocals, and is a favorite of the Syama Shastri family. Musicians belonging to this lineage, including Subbaraya Sastri and Annasamy Sastri, excelled in enhancing compositions with beautiful Chittaswaram or sometimes vocals.
The work originally flowed into the next intense rendition of ‘Nannu Brova Ni’ (Abhogi, Tyagaraja).
The sisters then launched Kalyani’s Raag Essay, in which they take turns highlighting its intricacies and beauty to a great extent. The violinist gave a beautiful rendition of the raga. Nijadas Varada (Kalyani, Patnam Subramaniam Iyer) watched the sisters warm up to Niraval/Swaram in ‘Bhujagadhipa Sayana’, after which percussionists Balaji and Sunil Kumar came up with a well rounded Tani Avataranam.
The concluding pieces were ‘Varum Varum Deva Vadivel Muruga’ in Ragamalika, a Nachiyar Thirumozhi ‘Karpooram Narumo’, a Thillana and a Mangalam composed by Syama Sastri.
The author is a trained Carnatic musician.