S. Sowmya @ MFAC Hall, Chennai

Venue: Mylapore Fine Arts Club (MFAC) Hall, Musiri Subramanya Iyer Road, Mylapore, Chennai

Date: 10th Nov2006

Organizer: Mylapore Arts Academy

Vocal: Smt. S. Sowmya

Violin: Sri Pakkala Ramdas

Mridangam: Sri Neyveli Narayanan

I entered the hall when shambhO mahAdEvA was being sung. Here is the partial song list:

* shambhO mahAdEvA – pantuvarALi – rUpakam – thyAgarAja (A?NS)

* kshINamai – mukhAri – Adi – thyAgarAja (AS)

* varuvAr azhaithu vADi – bEgaDa – misra chApu – rAmalinga aDigaL

*  srI kAmAkshi katAkshi – vasantA – Adi – subbarAya sAstri (A)

* orajUpuchu – kannaDagOwLa – Adi – thyAgarAja

* srI kAntImatim – hEmavati – Adi – muthuswAmi dIkshitar (ANST)

* jagajjananI – ratipatipriyA – Adi – ghanam krishna iyer

* krIDati vanamAli – sindhubhairavi – Adi – sadAsiva brahmEndra (A)

* pArengum pArtalum – kalyANi – Adi – ghanam krishna iyer

* enakkum unakkum isainda poruttam – chenchuruTTi – rUpakam – rAmalinga aDigaL (?)

* pavamAna (mangaLam) – sOwrAshtram – Adi – thyAgarAja

(Key: A=alapana, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram, T=taniavartanam)

The concert had many positives. Smt. Sowmya’s voice was in a very good shape and she sang very well. The amplification was probably the best so far and the number of listeners probably the highest in this concert series at the MFAC. The Carnatica Bharat Sangeet Utsav 2006, which attracted huge crowds, ended at Narada Gana Sabha a day before and this might have been one reason for the good turnout for this concert.

The main piece for the day, the hEmavati composition, was sung beautifully. Neraval was done with the line “shuka shaunakAdi sadArAdhitAm shudha tAmraparNI taTastitAm“. Sri Neyveli Narayanan played superbly almost playing whatever Smt Sowmya sang in the neraval in the hEmavati song exactly on his mridangam. The fact that he has played for Smt. Sowmya many times in the past must have certainly been an aiding factor. Sri Pakkala Ramdas lent good support on the violin.

The taniavartanam included the chatusra and kanDa nadais. The initial part of the taniavartanam in chatusra nadai was almost an exact replica of one of the many ways Sri Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman starts playing his taniavartanams in adi talam.