Carnatic vocalist Amritha Murali added a distinct style to her renditions

Amritha Murali's soulful performance at Naada Inbam showcased her musicianship and refined, distinct style.

Soon after presenting a lec-dem on ‘Raga’s changing nature across compositional forms’ at The Music Academy, Amritha Murali offered a soulful performance in memory of Smt and Shri V .Ananthanarayanan for Naada Inbam. Three stirring niravals at ‘Padayugamu madilo dalachi’, ‘Parula Nutimpagane’ and ‘Madana Ripu Sati’, all in the Swarasahitya portion, marked her exquisite treatment of the Syama Sastri kriti in Ananda Bhairavi, ‘Marivere’ (Misra Chapu) in a melodic slow pace. 

The elaborate alapanas of Thodi and Kalyani, saw Amritha bring out their musical structure and essence by interweaving charming patterns. The kriti she chose for Thodi was ‘Sri subramanyo maam rakshatu’ of  Dikshitar on the deity in Tiruchendur. In this kriti, which is in the first vibhakti,  there is a reference to the Navaveeras who assist Lord Subrahmanya in battle. Dikshitar has also mentioned Patra Vibhuti — holy ash distributed on a leaf of apanneer tree. In the swaraprastara at the pallavi, her musicianship and technical proficiency blended well.

In Kalyani, she rendered ‘Sive pahimam ambike’ by saint Tyagaraja. This kriti is in praise of Dharmasamvardhini of Tiruvayyar. Extensive niraval and swaras were at ‘Kaverajottara theera vasini’ (Anupallavi). 

In the concert, Amritha was accompanied by her guru, violin violin R.K. Shriramkumar. His ability to effortlessly weave a web of charm in any raga came to the fore in the alapanas and swaraprastaras. He is also a composer and Amritha rendered one of his compositions, ‘Nidhamum Un Padam’ on Madurai’s Meenakshi in a tuneful Jayamanohari. 

Mridangam vidwan Arun Prakash’s subdued richness was an asset to the vocalist. His technical expertise and creativity came through in his tani. He offered a wonderful thani, a blend of technical excellence and creativity. 

Amritha commenced her concert with ‘Tyagaraja palayasumam’ with a samashti charanam, the dhyana kriti of Dikshitar’s Tyagaraja Vibhakti kritis, in the eighth  (sambhodana prathama) vibhakti. The kalpanaswaras were at ‘Sri guruguha pujitha’. Another Dikshitar kriti that she presented was ‘Chetha sri balakrishnam’ (Rupakam) in Dwijavanti, a raga that brought out the sahitya’s bhakti and karuna rasas. Amritha’s spontaneity and penchant for perfection came through in this rendition.  Her spontaneity and urge for perfection were in command.

Amritha rendered Tyagaraja’s ‘Haridasulu vedale’ in Yamuna Kalyani with excellent modulation, and spontaneous subtleties. After a virutham, ‘Shanku chakra gadha paanim’ in Kapi and Behag, she rendered Kamalesa Dasa’s ‘Kandu dhanyanadeno sri udupi krishnana’ (in Behag).