Review appearred in The Hindu dated 26 Dec 2006.

BRAHMA GANA SABHA, Chennai. Music Season concert review
The Hindu dated 26 Dec 2006

Supple and soothing

G.S. Rajan abstained from shrill notes and extravagant excursions for kalpanaswaras. by G. SWAMINATHAN

A heavy weight like Khambodi was provided less space to make room for a vivacious Nattakurinji in G.S. Rajan's flute recital at the noon session of Brahma Gana Sabha. Khambodi's lesser importance in the alapana had been substantiated in the composition side as `Maragatha Valleem Manasa Smarami' was played with the mandatory `sowkya' timing.

Nattakurinji has a special lilt in its melody and Rajan's bamboo was able to travel and encompass all the notes of this raga and bring forth the best possible combinations in the form of vinyasa to herald the most beautiful Swati Tirunal kriti, `Mamavasatha Varade'.

Two important qualities of Rajan's flute were his abstinence from shrill notes and extravagant kalpanaswara excursions. The long flute is invariably used for creating notes of mantra or anumantra sthayi. But Rajan could coax the notes of madhyama and tara segments also quite effectively with the lengthy instrument through his expertise. His playing was almost soft, not allowing stridency at any level. The music came in a supple and soothing manner.

Fillers like `Jaya Jaya Padmanaba' in Manirangu and `Daya Payonithe' in Jaganmohini came before the main Nattakurinji while `Jagadodharana' in Kapi came as the concluding item with a brief outline of Kapi. Srinivasan followed Rajan on the violin in the right measure. Trivandrum Vaidyanathan kept the rhythmic part of the concert intact. Young Udipi Srikanth looked almost jobless till he entered the tani. The percussion duo provided a satisfactory show in the same.