Vocal: Vid. AbhishekRaghuram
Violin: Vid HMSmitha
Mridanga: Vid. KishoreRamesh
Khanjira Vid. SunaadAnoor
Venue : Odukattur / Janmashtami Celebrations
Song List:
01 sarasUDa ninnE kOri sAvEri Adhi kotthavAsal venkatarAma iyer
02 ninnuvinA marigalada ritigaula rUpaka syAmA shAstri (O)
04 sArasAkSha paripAlaya kAmavarDhini ChApu swAthi thirunAL (A, N, S,T)
05 viruttum
06 KaNDu kaNDu nI enna sahAna purandara dAsa
07 bhAgyAda lakshmi bAramma mAND Adi purandara dAsa
08 sukhi evvarO rAma nAma kAnada Adhi tyAgarAja
09 viruttum
10 akshaya linga vibhO svayambhO shankarAbharaNa mCApu m.dhIkshitar
Abhishek Raghuram at Odukathur — A Concert of Musical Depth and Quiet Brilliance
Some concerts impress you. Some concerts excite you. And then there are those rare concerts where, somewhere along the way, one simply stops analysing and becomes completely absorbed in the music. The concert by Abhishek Raghuram, accompanied by H. M. Smitha on violin, Kishore Ramesh on mridangam and Sunaad Anoor on Khanajira, was very much in the last category. It was an evening of remarkable musical imagination, exquisite raga bhava and an unusually compelling conversation between the four musicians.
For me, this was a 10/10 listening experience.
The programme itself was beautifully put together. There was no attempt to make the concert a parade of predictable choices. Instead, it travelled through Saveri, Ritigaula, Pantuvarali, Karnataka Devagandhari, Kannada Gandhara, Sahana, Mand, Kanada and finally Sankarabharana, with viruttams and bhajans creating natural bridges between the classical and devotional dimensions of the evening. The repertoire revealed a musician who is clearly comfortable inhabiting both the grammar and the expressive possibilities of Carnatic music.
The concert began with “Sarasuda Ninne Kori” in Saveri, composed by Kothavasal Venkatarama Iyer and set to Adi tala. Saveri is an interesting choice to open a concert: unmistakably classical, deeply rooted and capable of immediately bringing the listener into the Carnatic soundscape. The varnam made for a purposeful beginning, establishing the tonal and rhythmic foundation before the concert moved into a very different emotional territory.
The second item, Syama Sastri's “Ninnuvina Marigalada” in Ritigaula, set to Rupaka tala, brought with it an altogether different mood. Ritigaula has that fascinating ability to sound simultaneously intimate and majestic. It is a raga where the emotional character is often conveyed through the shape and weight of individual phrases rather than through overt musical drama. The choice of Syama Sastri here was particularly satisfying, and the composition provided a beautiful counterpoint to the opening Saveri.
Then came the first major raga exploration of the evening: Pantuvarali alapana, followed by Swati Tirunal's “Sarasaksha Paripalaya” in Kamavardhini, set to Chapu tala. The Pantuvarali/Kamavardhini combination opened up a much more expansive and intense musical space. This is music that does not merely decorate the raga; it asks the listener to enter it.
The alapana was an important turning point in the concert. After the structured opening pieces, the music now acquired greater freedom. Pantuvarali, with its inherent intensity and almost incandescent quality, is particularly suited to a vocalist with Abhishek's expansive musical personality. What followed in “Sarasaksha Paripalaya” gave the raga a compositional framework while retaining the sense of openness created by the alapana.
The tani avartanam followed, bringing the rhythmic spotlight onto Kishore Ramesh and Sunaad Anoor. The mridangam and Khanjira combination added a fascinating layer to the concert. The percussion was not simply functioning as an accompaniment to the vocalist; it became another voice in the larger musical conversation. The presence of both instruments allowed the rhythmic texture to acquire additional colour and dimension.
The concert then took a particularly interesting turn with a viruttam, leading into Purandara Dasa's “Kandu Kandu Nee Enna” in Sahana.
This was one of the most aesthetically pleasing transitions of the evening. Sahana is a raga of extraordinary emotional delicacy. It does not need flamboyance to make an impact. Its appeal lies in its tenderness, poignancy and ability to suggest a great deal through apparently simple melodic movement. Purandara Dasa's devotional poetry sits beautifully within this framework. The combination created an intimate atmosphere, almost as though the concert had temporarily stepped away from the formal concert stage and entered the world of personal devotion.
The next item, “Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma” in Mand, again by Purandara Dasa, continued the devotional thread. Mand brings an appealing lightness and folk-inflected charm, and the transition from Sahana to Mand was wonderfully natural. Here was another example of the programme's intelligent pacing: rather than sustaining one emotional intensity indefinitely, it allowed the mood to soften and brighten.
One could almost sense the concert changing colour with every major selection.
The next major item was Tyagaraja's “Sukhi Evvaro Rama Nama” in Kanada, set to Adi tala. Kanada is a raga that can be extraordinarily rewarding in the hands of an imaginative musician. It carries a certain depth and maturity, and Tyagaraja's composition gives it an especially appropriate devotional vehicle. The choice also brought the concert back from the lighter devotional Mand into a more substantial classical mood.
Another viruttam followed, providing yet another moment of freedom before the final major composition of the evening.
The concluding piece was Muthuswami Dikshitar's “Akshaya Linga Vibho Swayambho” in Sankarabharana, set to Misra Chapu. What an appropriate way to bring such a concert towards its conclusion. Sankarabharana is foundational, expansive and seemingly inexhaustible, yet Dikshitar's composition reveals its grandeur through a highly crafted classical architecture. After the succession of contrasting ragas earlier in the concert, returning to Sankarabharana at the end had a sense of arrival.
What I particularly enjoyed about the programme was the balance between discovery and familiarity. Saveri, Ritigaula and Sankarabharana are deeply familiar territories to the seasoned rasika, while Karnataka Devagandhari, Kannada Gandhara and the particular combinations in the programme offered opportunities for exploration. The devotional selections by Purandara Dasa and the viruttams provided further contrast.
And this is where Abhishek's musical personality becomes so engaging.
There is an extraordinary restlessness of musical imagination in his singing—not restlessness in the sense of impatience, but a sense that the music is continually searching for another possibility. This quality has been noted by rasikas over the years: his performances can carry tremendous energy and an abundance of ideas, sometimes creating an almost exhilarating sense of musical momentum.
Yet what makes this concert especially satisfying is that the imagination is being channelled through a repertoire that offers plenty of room for bhava, melodic nuance and repose.
The accompanists deserve equal appreciation. H. M. Smitha provided the violin voice with sensitivity and musical attentiveness, making the violin an integral part of the concert rather than a parallel performance. Kishore Ramesh on mridangam and Sunaad Anoor on Khanjira brought considerable rhythmic vitality to the proceedings. The ensemble clearly had the ingredients for the kind of spontaneous musical exchange that can elevate a concert beyond a sequence of individual performances.
What stayed with me most was the sense of musical continuity. The concert did not feel like eleven disconnected items. The varnam led into the kritis; the alapana opened larger melodic spaces; the tani created a rhythmic punctuation; the viruttams provided moments of contemplative freedom; and the Purandara Dasa compositions brought the devotional dimension into sharper focus. Even the final Sankarabharana felt like part of a larger journey.
There was also something wonderfully unpretentious about the overall repertoire. The concert did not appear to be constructed merely to showcase virtuosity. Of course, a musician of Abhishek's calibre possesses formidable technical resources, but technique here seemed to serve the larger purpose of musical expression. The best moments in a concert are not necessarily the ones that make the audience gasp; sometimes they are the ones that quietly make the listener lean forward.
This evening had many such moments.
It reminded me why live Carnatic music can be such an extraordinary experience. A recording can preserve notes, phrases and compositions, but a live concert captures something more elusive—the collective concentration of vocalist, violinist, percussionists and audience. A good concert creates its own atmosphere, and a great one makes that atmosphere difficult to leave behind.
This was, for me, a deeply immersive and richly rewarding concert. The music was vibrant without becoming merely demonstrative, contemplative without becoming languid, and traditional without becoming predictable. The repertoire allowed Abhishek Raghuram to move across a remarkable spectrum of Carnatic expression, while the accompaniment provided a strong and sensitive musical foundation.
The final Sankarabharana left the evening with a feeling of quiet completeness. One came away not with the sense that a concert had simply ended, but that a particularly rewarding musical journey had reached its natural destination.
Abhishek Raghuram, H. M. Smitha, Kishore Ramesh and Sunaad Anoor gave us an evening where melody, rhythm, poetry and devotion came together with exceptional coherence.
For a rasika, there is little more one can ask for.
10/10. A memorable concert. A truly absorbing listening experience.
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