Mumbai-based Dharini Veeraraghavan, claimed her rightful place in Chennai’s crowded concert season. The recipient of the 2016 The Hindu Sa Re Ga Ma M.S. Subbulakshmi award was invited to perform at four sabhas this year.
Dharini, disciple of Radha Namboodiri, engaged the audience with a highly cultivated voice and amazing self-confidence for 90 minutes. Thanjavur Sankara Iyer’s varnam, ‘Malmarugan murugan’ was a lovely opener in raga Hindolam. Puliyur Doraiswami Iyer’s ‘Sarasiruhasana priye,’ was near perfect, in terms of diction and the artiste’s ability to handle the salient aspects of the scale – raga Nattai.
The two main compositions of the afternoon were ‘Marivere’ and ‘Nee samanamevaru,’ in the ragas Latangi and Kharaharapriya respectively. The richness of the sancharam and improvisation in these kritis were noteworthy. Dikshitar’s ‘Harihara putram,’ and ‘Sarade karunanidhe,’ of the pontiff of Sringeri were the other pieces.
M.S. Ananthasree on the violin and K. Sriram on the mridangam provided excellent accompaniment.