Bombay Sisters @ Sastri Hall, Chennai

Venue: Sastri Hall, Luz, Mylapore, Chennai Date: 10th Oct 2006 Organizer: Balaganamrutham and Karnataka College of Percussion Vocal: Bombay Sisters - Smt. C. Saroja and Smt. C. Lalita Violin: Smt. Usha Rajagopalan Mridangam: Sri K.R. Ganesh Ghatam: Sri Madippakkam Murali List of songs:

• brOchEvA - kamAs - Adi - mysore vAsudEvAchAr
• hanumanta dEva - pUrvikalyANi - Adi - purandaradAsa (ANS)
• manavyALa - naLinakAnti - Adi - thyAgarAjA
• rAma rAma sri - kIravANi - misra chApu - bhadrAchala rAmadAs (AS - main)
• rAma krishna gOvinda - brindAvana sArangA - Adi - bhadrAchala rAmadAs
• pArvai onrE - suruttI - Adi - UthukkAdu venkata subbaiyer
• pavamAna (mangaLam) - sOwrAshtram - Adi - thyAgarAjA

The concert was supposed to start at 6:30PM and when I entered the hall at 6:35PM, the song brOchevA's anupallavi was going on. So I am not sure whether a varnam was sung before that. The pick of the evening certainly was the pUrvikalyANi rAga AlApanA and the rendition of the song hanumanta dEva with total dedication. The neraval was also beautifully done progressing step by step. The sisters have a voice that is going strong even at this age of theirs. Both of them sang with a lot of involvement. The amplification was a bit too loud for every artist on stage. The pronounced effect of the loudness could also have been because of the small size of the hall. Discounting the loudness factor, all the three accompanying artists played well.