Concert and Aradhana

Last Friday, I was able to attend Aditya Prakash's concert at UCLA(organized by Spic-Macay). His accompanists were Shiva Ramamurthy on the violin and Nirmal Narayan on the mridangam. We reached half an hour late. Aditya sang well. Good alapanas and smooth change of speed in swaram singing. His Dwijavanthi alapana reminded me a little of Sahana ragam. Upon discussing with Teacher, I learnt that these ragams have similarities, being janyas of the same karta (Harikambhoji). The violinist was good. All three artistes showed a good command over music.
On Saturday, Sri Thyagaraja Aradhana and Other Composers' Day was celebrated at Malibu Temple. Some of my favourite songs like Gaanamurte and Nambikkettavar evarayya were sung. I was able to identify Nattakuranji ragam. I liked the rendition of Bhagyada Lakshmi baaramma. I listened to Manirangu ragam for the first time. The Ashtalakshmi song was long but a good display of teamwork. The singer of 'Maa Ramanan' could have sung the lines about 'thanjam endru.... anjel..' with more bhavam.