Review of Nisha Rajagopal's concert on April 24th

Posted by Asha Bhakthavatsalam

Nisha Rajagopal, a popular young vocalist in the field of Carnatic Music from Chennai, commenced her musical training with her mother, Smt. Vasundhra Rajagopal, currently training with Sangeetha Kala Acharya Shri P. S. Narayanaswamy.
2009 Thyagaraja Utsavam at Houston started wtih Nisha's  enjoyable concert. The best part in Nisha’s kutcheri  at Houston was  her natural expression in the alapana, neraval and kalpana swaras. Her Keeravani was enjoyable had a  class  of  depth in conceiving the raga swarupa.
She started her concert with :
1.  Thodi varnam Era naa pai  in adi thalam of Patnam Subramania Iyer.  She went on to sing
2 .Ninnada, arare Thyagaraja's composition in ragam Kannada set to Adi thalam.
3. Kalyani ragama alapana, Biranavaralicchi a composition of Shyama Shastri in tishra nadai adi thalam and followed by neraval and kalpana swaram.
4. Suruti ragam alapana, Sree Venkat a girishama lokaye a composition of Muthuswami Deeksithar.
5. Azhaga azhaga azha endru , a composition of  Ambujam Krishna in Suddha Dhanyasi set to Khanda chapu thalam.
6. Keeravani ragam alapana, Kaligiyuntegada a vilamaba kala krithi of Thyagaraja set to adi thalam was followed by detailed neraval and kalpana swaram.
7. Naanoru vilayattu bommaya in Navarasa Kannada set to adi thalam a composition of Papanasam sivan.
8. Kandena Govindana a Purandaradasa's composition in ragam Chandrakouns.
9. Thillana in poornachandrika.

Her accompanists Mysore Srikanth Venkatraman and Trivandrum Balaji supported her well. Balaji's Tani was short and sweet. The team work was applauded by Artistic Director Trichy Sankaran and the artists received a standing ovation.