by Dr. SurySekar (ks.sekar@mgt.gatech.edu)
Sri T.V. Sankara narayanan (TVS), one of the leading vocalists of carnatic music, was featured in a concert sponsored by The Carnatic Music Association of Georgia (CAMAGA) and The Hindu Temple of Atlanta, on Sunday, 6th September, 1998, at the Hindu Temple of Atlanta. He was accompanied on the violin by Sri Delhi P. Sundararajan, and on the mridangam by Sri Srimushnam Raja Rao.
The items he sang were (krithi-ragam-taalam-composer):
I thought TVS once again came through with a high-quality concert marked by excellent alignment with sruthi, a sarvalaghu pattern of swara singing that was very pleasing to the ear, obvious involvement and enthusiasm. I continue to be impressed by TVS' ability to produce amazing sangathis seemingly with total ease. I could see that the audience was enjoying every bit of his swara singing. My favorite, however, was his neraval with "Kaalinil Chilambu Konja" in the Todi piece. I thought he brought forth the beauty of Todi splendidly here, and left me savoring it by not singing swaras after that. For the viruttam, he chose a composition by Atlanta's Dr. Venkateswaran, and sang it with great involvement. TVS is also one of the few carnatic vocalists who, in my opinion, are confident enough about their vocal chords to hardly fuss about the mike settings.
In my opinion, Shri Sundararajan provided competent Violin support. Shri RajaRao on the mridangam demonstrated a soft touch and alignment with TVS' style of singing. Our laya expert, Dr. Ram Sriram pointed out that Sri Raja Rao's transition in and out of trisram in the tani avarthanam was superb.On the whole, I can not sum up my impressions about this concert better than Smt. Dharma Thiruvaiyaaru, who thanked the artistes at the end of the program. She noted that we had wholesome music from an artiste who always comes through for the audience.