Music lovers and connoisseurs on Sunday evening took a break from their routine life and gathered for O S Thyagarajan's concert which was organised by Vagadeeshwari Kala Kendra at Our School.
O S Thyagarajan started the concert with the composition Guruleka Etuvanti in Gowri Manohari Raga, by Saint Tyagaraja.
A composition which is in the praise of Guru, gave a pleasant start.
In this composition, Saint Thyagaraja advocates that all worldly attachments are considered ill as per Hindu philosophy.
The melodious rendition of the composition carried the right emotions and left the audience craving for more.
The artiste then chose to sing one of the most beautiful and rare ragas in Carnatic classical music, Manoranjani.
The song Atukarada, another composition by Saint Tyagaraja captivated the audience.
Manoranjani as the name suggests brought relaxation to the mind of the listeners.
The rendition of the composition by Thyagarajan elevated the audience to a state of trance.
Later, with a brief introduction to Poorvikalyani raga, the artiste rendered the composition Padmavathi Ramana.
As he rendered the composition, the joy, freshness and a new found feeling among the assembled audience was seemingly visible.
Each note in the raga was sung with great magnitude.
His capacity to sustain notes, experiments with various permutations and combinations while presenting swara prasthara was worth noticing.
Some musicians consider Kapi Raga, as a difficult raga to render as there is not much scope for elaboration of the raga.
But the artiste rendered the raga with great ease and induced the mixed moods of devotion, pathos and sadness among the listeners.
However, the highlight of the concert was the Shankarabharanam raga.
Thyagarajan chose to render Ethuda Neela in this raga, for the elaborate raga alapana, niraval and kalpanaswarams.
The mellifluous and smooth rendition of the raga and the composition captivated the audience's attention.
As he started rendering the Kalpanaswarams, the audience displayed their wide appreciation for this raga.
Thani avarthnams by H S Sudhindra on Mridangam and Giridhar Udupa on Ghatam was an added attraction.
Both artistes perfectly complemented each other and were successful in bringing out the melody and rhythm in the percussion instruments.
On the other hand, S Yashasvi who accompanied Thyagarajan on violin carefully followed each note.
The artiste also ensured the smooth flow of his creativity and the depth in his rendition.
His versatility and excellence added a new dimension to the ragas presented.