Amrutha Venkatesh at the Music Academy, was accompanied by Bombay R. Madhavan (Violin), S. J. Arjun Ganesh (Mridangam) and Payyanoor T. Govindaprasad (Morsing).

Amrutha Venkatesh began the concert with Intha Choukaseya in Kamavardhini and Brova Samayamide in Gouri Manohari. Kalpana swarams have always been one of her strengths, and the swaras in Gouri Manohari made it evident right from the start, with a fine mix of patterns and sarvalaghu phrases. She employed a lot of S-D phrases. The violin returns by Madhavan were equally engaging.

Muruga Muruga in Saveri was next. The audience responded with excited “ahas” as soon as she began the composition. While the rendition was appealing, the tempo felt a little too slow at places, and a few sangatis seemed unnecessary, the untouched structure of the song may have been better.

Rajaraja Radhite Nadanidhe in Niroshtha followed. It was interesting to note that even the lyrics adhered to the principle idea behind the raga, being composed in a way that avoided the use of labial sounds. It was a good rendition, with bright swaras, and Amrutha navigated this complex and unyielding raga with clarity.

The main raga of the evening was Natakurinji, and this proved to be one of the highlights of the concert. The alapana was brilliant, filled with mind-blowing sangatis and evocative phrases. Her fast brighas and akaarams were executed without disturbing the inherent softness of the raga. Voice modulation was excellent throughout. The sangatis around the mel shadjam and the concluding phrases that rounded off the alapana were especially memorable. Jagadisha mamava sada was taken up as the main piece. The neraval at Khaga vahana was outstanding. She explored the neraval extensively, particularly impressive for a raga that thrives on phrase-based expression. The mel kala neraval was blissful, and her presentation of different M–S approaches stood out. One phrase, smgmndnpdns, carried a slight hint of Khamas and could perhaps have been avoided, but it was interesting to observe nonetheless. The swara prasthara felt like another elaborate alapana, completing a top-to-bottom exploration of Natakurinji. Arjun Ganesh, who frequently accompanies Amrutha, displayed a deep understanding of her musical style. His playing was supportive and well-aligned with her musical ideas. The morsing accompaniment was equally tasteful, with a pleasing tonal quality. During the tani avartanam, Arjun’s ghumkis in the koraippu were a standout.

The RTP was in Sucharitra, the 67th Melakarta. She showcased various shades of the raga in a compact yet complete alapana, with subtle sangatis. The pallavi was composed in Sucharitra tala, as per K. C. Thyagaraja’s tala system, with a total count of 27, incorporates angas like gurus, dhruta shekhara viramams, and anudhrutams.

The pallavi sahitya, Chintayaami Santatam Sri Mudduswami Deekshitam Parama Pavitram Sucharitram, was taken from a composition by vidwan Balamuralikrishna on Muthuswami Dikshitar. This choice was inspired by Sangeeta Kalacharya Shyamala Venkatesan’s recent lec-dem on compositions about Dikshitar, held during the Academy’s academic sessions.

The ragamalika swaras were presented in Dwijavanti, Mayamalavagoula, and Hamsanadam. In Mayamalavagoula, she cleverly incorporated the phrase from Sree Nathadi, offering yet another subtle tribute to Dikshitar. She later rendered these ragas in reverse order. Adding further complexity, she experimented with three different talas during the swaram segment - Chatushra jati Roopakam in Sankeerna nadai, Sankeerna jati Jhampa tala, and Khanda jati Triputa in Tisra nadai.

She concluded the concert with a bright and lively Behag thillana. Overall, it was a concert that lingered in the mind long after it ended, with the Natakurunji segment clearly stealing the show.