For singing together both need to match precise with sangathis, voices and also the format of singing. Being not a sister-sister duo or a brother-brother duo it was indeed a surprising male-female combination on the vocals.

Srikanth, the son of the great vidwan Leelavathi Gopalakrishnan, sang at his comfortable scale to match the pitch by Bhavadhaarini, disciple of D K Pattammal. It is really a difficult task but they managed very skillfully.

'Katradhu Tamizh' Ram's next Diwali in Suburbs Rajini Still In A Dilemma! அஜீத் பேட்டி? ராம் இயக்கத்தில் சேரன்? கமல் பாராட்டிய டைட்டில்்

A thematic presentation of selected Tyagaraja kritis was organised by S G S Sabha at Habibulla Road, T Nagar, on January 22, 2007. Violinist V L Kumar is said to have organised this unique presentation.

Beginning with a brisk 'Sriganapathini' in Sowrashtram, the duo sang a brisk 'Dudugu' - the goula raga Pancharatnam. Giving importance to lyrics, only the charana sahithyams were sung. It was indeed amazing to hear a duo male-female matching sangathi for sangathi precisely.

The other kritis, Kapinarayani 'Sarasa Saama Daana', Harikambodhi 'Enthara Nee, Kannadagoula, 'Orajoopu Joochedi' were sung together in effective emphasis in the sahithyams; not killing the meaning or bhaavam must be appreciated.

Bhavadhaarini's solos were 'Sri Raama Padhama' in Amrutha Vaahini followed by 'Entha Ninne Varninthunu' in Mukhari. In these kritis, Thyagaraja explains the magnanimity of Sri Rama to his devotees - Ahalya and Sabhari and how lucky these devotees were. The charanam lines 'Kanulaara Sevinchi' in Mukhari were beautifully delineated by Bhavadhaarini.

The beautiful 'Ksheera Saagara' in Devagandhari really won the right applause from the audience for the spirit and valour brought out.

Srikanth excelled in his rendition of Vasantha Bhairavi 'Nee Daya Raadha' and impressed the audience with his rendition of 'Ennaalu' in Shubhapanthuvarali. The raga essays of Subhapanthuvarali by Bhavadhaarini was really praiseworthy with all beautific passages and essential mood of the raga; the raga was shared by Srikanth in the later half and it came out more successful when Bhavadhaarini closely followed an octave lesser and made it a wholesome feast.

Srikanth's voice seemed to flow like a perrennial river throughout the concert. The voice culture of both the artistes is something many Carnatic vocalists of today lack.

The meaning of every song was read aloud in English and Tamil by two children who failed sadly in their pronounciations.

V L Kumar, who compered the show, introduced Karthick who sang 'Mari Mari Ninne' a kriti which was composed by Tyagaraja in raga Kambodhi. Karthick seemed to suffer from a bad throat that he choked at times to bring out the best. The same kriti was changed by Illayaraja into raga Natabhairavi for the film 'Sindhu Bhairavi'.

The accompanists of the evening were Sri Vidya on the veena, Subbarao on the ghatam, Melakaveri Thyagarajan on the violin and Sundar on the mridangam. N Sundar is a well-known tabla and morsing artiste and is a part of the 'Heart Beat' ensemble of Ghatam Karthick.

The end pieces 'Karunaajaladhe' and 'Nee Naama' were sung by the duo in unison. It will be thrilling to listen to such unusual combinations on a regular basis - concerts - rather than only thematic presentations!

Srinivasa Gopalan