Pristine and peppy
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Shobha Ramesh thrilled the audience with her impeccable presentation at New Delhi's India International Centre.
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DELIGHTFUL Shobha Ramesh who performed in New Delhi the other day.
Pat Conroy, the famous American writer, once said, "Without music, life is a journey through a desert." Shobha Ramesh's concert at the India International Centre this past week was a reminder of these very true words, coming as it did as a much-needed respite to Delhiites in the stiflingly humid weather.
She began her concert with a varnam in Kedaragowla raga that gave a brisk start to the programme. She then took up Dikshitar's "Siddhi Vinayakam" set to Shanmukha Priya raga, followed by Mazhavai Chidambara Bharati's "Maa Mayura" in Bilahari raga.
Tyagaraja's "Paralokabhaya" in raga Mandari, in which the composer pleads with Lord Rama to free him from the fear of the nether world, was a heartfelt rendition. Mysore Maharaja Jayacamaraja Wodeyaar's "Chintayami Jagadamba" in Hindolam set to Mishra Jhampa tala had the audience truly enthralled.
Shobha, a graded artiste with All India Radio, took up Papanasam Sivan's "Kamakshi Gowri" in Saveri raga as the centrepiece of the recital. Her impressive alap, the solo interlude by violinist KLN Sastri and the tani avartanam on the mridangam by Premkumar all added up to a satisfying whole. The neraval and the swaraprastaras were impeccable.
Shobha's skill in improvising swara passages in a range of octaves, always finishing smoothly on the beat and taking up the sahitya phrase without a hitch, was certainly a tribute to her gurus, including Sangeetha Kalanidhi D.K. Jayaraman and Raghavachari, one of the Hyderabad brothers, under whom she had advanced training.
Shobha, who grew up in Mumbai and had her initial training under her mother Janaki Ramachandran and later under Palghat T.S. Anantharaman, brought a cosmopolitan touch to her concert with the presentation of an abhang by Tukaram set to Hamsadhwani raga. This was followed by the timeless Ranjani ragamalika. The tillana in Desh raga was a true exposition of rhythm.
The forte of the recital was that the artiste, rather than taking up a studious and dry technical approach to the ragas, tuned the listeners' mind to each musical mode by reminding them of the specific nuances through her brief alaps before plunging into the song. She maintained the liveliness of the concert till the very end. A true feast for the ears and soul alike.
RAJESHWARI IYER
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