Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekaran- Veena on 15th Dec. 2013

Vidushi Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekar       Veena

Vidwan Anoor ananthakrishna Sharma    Mridangam

Vidwan M.Gururaj                                 Morsing

Concert Review:

The Singing Veena of Bhagyalakshmi at Nadasurabhi on 15th December 2013

One of the most challenging styles of playing the Veena is the Gayaki style. The music in this style of playing very closely resembles the human voice. We can actually listen to the sahitya itself. Vidushi Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekharan is an exponent in this style of playing and she truly demonstrated  her vidwat as well as proficiency in the instrument during the bhava filled two and a half hour recital at Nadasurabhi on Sunday, 15th December 2013.

Commencing her concert with an impressive Nayaki varnam , she went on to play a Ganesha Sthuthi in Bahudhari which included brief ragam and swaras as well. A short piece in raga saraswathi with apt sketches of raga and swara. She next took up the raga alapana of the raga Lalitha Panchamam and played the Swathi Tirunal kriti Parama purusham which also was embellished with swara prasthara. It came as a pleasant surprise for the audience, as it is normally used as a fast paced filler. An enchanting Huseni Tamil number by Achutadaasar was presented before delving deep into the main piece of the evening which was a Ragam Tanam Pallavi in Nattakurinji. All sections were elaborately dealt with. The ragamalika section of the taanam was simply mindboggling in its sweetness. the perfectly smooth transitions from one raga to another keeping the aesthetic appeal in tact was a work of a specialist. It was thoroughly enjoyable. The pallavi section too included another set of ragamalika in kalpana swaraprasthaara - shivaranjani, brindaavana saaranga, shubhapantuvaraaLi and revati. An excellent thani avarthanam by the two veteran masters of laya, Sri.Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma on mridangam and Sri.Gururaj on morsing followed the RTP

The post thani section had a lengthy string of thukkadas which had popular numbers and ragams, included sindhubhairavi, harivaraasanam.. Charanam Ayyappa, the MS speciality Bhajare yadunaatham, Tungaa teera viraajam..Raghavendra yathi, Karuna Jalathe and a few more.
 
Overall the concert provided a very pleasant listening experience to the packed hall. The audience stayed on till the very end of the performance.

Invitation:

Smt. Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekaran comes in the lineage of renowned carnatic musicians and is the grand daughter of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Mudikondan C.Venkatarama Iyer. Smt. Bhagyalakshmi is today one of the foremost exponents in the instrument. She has travelled all over India and abroad on concert tours. She is famous for providing pure undiluted classicism in her concerts while making the listening experience a pleasure due to her variety and virtuosity. Having trained in the instrument from the age of 12, she believes that one should learn the veena for at least 10 years and it is not like “fast food”!