The 13th of April brought a Karnatak vocal concert from young Vidu. Spoorthi Rao at Alammana Choultry in Srirampet. She was accompanied by talented violinist Vid. H.N. Bhaskar on violin, senior mridangist  Vid. K.V. Prasad on mridanga and Vid. Shamith Gowda from Mysuru on ghata.

Young vocalist Spoorthi has won the hearts of music lovers with her bewitching voice with exceptional vocal abilities. She opened the concert with Lalgudi Jayaraman’s jatiswara in Behag set to Adi Tala. A short but grand sketch of Vasanta leading onto ‘Kanden kanden seetheyai’ by Arunachala Kavi’s ‘Ramanataka Keertana,’ was a rarely heard composition. Considering that many of the compositions that Vasanta offers are rendered energetically (‘Seetamma Mayamma’, ‘RAmachandram bhAvayAmi’, ‘MAlmurugA shanmuga’), Spoorthi’s rendition of this composition was splendid and very lively too but was too speedy.

There was no doubt in the authenticity of her attempt but a singer of her smartness can afford to exercise restraint. The same is to be said about ‘Bhajana Seya rAda’ by Mysore Vasudevachar in Dharmavati, which was also rendered in a racy style especially the charana part which was too speedy. The only composition rendered in a calm, soothing manner was ‘Sompaina manasutO’ by Sri Tyagaraja in Ahiri from ‘Prahlada Bhakti Vijaya.’ Though this was a simple rendition with no tags attached- no alapana or no kalpanaswaras, it was highly enjoyable for the solace that it brought after the racy previous composition. ‘Nee KEla nAyeda’by Poochi sreenivasa Iyengar in Devamanohari was sung at lightning speed —                             so fast that the vocalist herself found it stressful.

Ragalapana of both Brindavana Saranga and Dharmavathi were commendable for the way they were built methodically focusing on beautiful phrases, proving Spoorthi’s skill as an expert vocalist with unbelievable brigas and pretty sancharas. ‘Sri Tyagaraja’s ‘KamalAptakula kalashabdhi chandra’, an adorable composition in Brindavana Saranga was elaborated with a classy swara kalpanaswaras with equally intellectual replies from  Bhaskar, who was encouraging the young girl throughout                          the concert.

The post tani part brought ‘RAmanai bhajittAl’ in Mand, a Kabir bhajan ‘Ram gOvind hare bhajOre bhayya’ in Shivaranjani, ‘HarE man tum gOvinda’ another bhajan again in Brindavana saranga, ‘Kanakadasa’s ‘Baro Krishnayya’ on request and ‘Pavanaja StutipAtra’ in Kuranji by Tyagaraja. Spoorthi concluded the concert with the mangalam ‘RAmachandrAya janaka’ of BMK fame.

Senior mridangist K.V. Prasad was very supportive and showed his appreciation for the young vocalist’s singing and enhanced the concert with his seasoned playing. His taniyavartanam with Shamith Gowda won immense applause from the audience.

Spoorthi’s penchant for speed for a youngster is understandable. She has several things going right for her — good voice (which only needs to be worked on lower notes), great imagination and intelligence. Hopefully five or ten years from now, her concert experience will gradually bring more maturity in her music.

—Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan