Abu Dhabi: RAGAMALIKA Group Musical presented a memorable classical Concert

By Fenella Andrade
Bellevision Media Network

Abu Dhabi, 14 Apr 2014; Ragamalika Abu Dhabi organized a classical musical concert at the Sudanese Club last weekend.  Thursday evening saw a beeline of Carnatic music rasikas to the Sudanese Club. The evening started with a delightful rendition of DasaKritis by the group of young women led by Smt. Shalini Kumar and Smt. DivyaBhavani Shankar of Abu dhabi Kannada Sanga who sang in unison with excellent accompaniments.

 

The StreeTaalTarang, an all women ensemble headed by Smt. SukkanyaRamgopal was next. While Smt. Sukkanya played the ghatamcentre stage, she was beautifully accompanied by Smt. Soumya Ramachandran on the violin, Smt. RanjaniVenkatesh on the Mrudangam, Smt. Bhagyalakshmi M. Krishna on the Morsing and Smt. Sumana Chandrasekhar on vocal.

 

              

 

The concert started with the vibrant Navaragamalikavarnam followed by the NaataiKriti “SreeMahaganapathe” composed by MayavaramViswanathaSastri. The next piece was a GhataTarangam composition called Anandam in RagamKuntalavaraali which is the signature tune of the StreeTaalTarang. This brought out the skill of the artists in full force. Smt. Ranjani and Smt. Bhagyalakshmi gave a brisk start to the piece. This aspect was so different about the StreeTaalTarang where the upapakkavadya artists are given equal importance. Playing a raga on the earthen pot is no mean task. Smt. Sukkanya’s nimble fingers worked magic on the pots ,created a gala atmosphere and left the rasikas awed with her master display of speed and creativity.

 

The ragamKuntalavaraali’s delightful nuances were clearly brought out by her wonderful playing. The Sankeernachapu piece in ragamRevati was lovely. As a prelude, she played on the ghatam while the ragaalapana was going on. This, she said was similar to what her guru SreeVikkuVinayakaram did.

 

Being the Jayanthi of Sri MuthuswamiDikshitar, the famous composition “Annapoorne” in ragamSyama was rendered. This was followed by yet another GhataTarangam Composition called “Waves” in ragamVaramu. It was fascinating for listeners to see the ease with Smt. Sukkanya played on the ghatam so Nonchalantly. The name Waves suited this presentation aptly because of the ebb and flow of the music

 

 

The concert was a success because of the tremendous Team work displayed by the “PanchaVidhushis” whose deft playing captivated the audience. Smt. Soumya’s violin added a lot of beauty to the grand show. Smt. Sumana gave excellent vocal support. Smt. Bhagyalakshmi has mastered the special way of playing the Morsing inspired by her father Sree. Bheemachar. With her ready smile and twinkling eyes the way she effortlessly handled this difficult instrument was a sight to see. Smt. Ranjani who hails from Bellary famous for its gold mines played a tani which was worth its weight in gold. The energy which this team displayed much after 10 pm showed the sincerity of the artists and left a lasting impression on the rasikas.

 

Friday morning saw a huge crowd to listen to PancharathnaKritis rendered by students of Smt. Sreedevi Anil Kumar. Master.AbhijithAnilkumar’s vocal recital was very impressive.

 

 This was followed by the vocal concert of Kumari. SriranjaniSanthanagopalan accompanied by Sree. Trivandrum Sampath on the Violin, Sree.Delhi Sairam on the Mrudangam and Sree.AnirudhAthreya on thekanjira.

 

From the word go, her concert reflected the years of rigorous training she has received from her father Sree. Santhanagopalan. She started with the Saverivarnam and followed it with the very popular Hamsadwanikriti “VaatapiGanapatim”. This often heard composition coming from Sriranjani sounded different and was energy packed.

 

The music extravaganza was well matched by the variety of food offered to the rasikas by the Sangeeta Vegetarian Restaurant . What more do rasikas want!

 

Team Ragamalika and PradoshamSree. Kumar deserve standing ovation for organizing yet another music extravaganza so beautifully! 

 

The musical concert was attened by large number of music lovers and all the artists were felicitated with floral bouquets and traditional shawls.