It has been a violin fest in the Boston area. The previous night, audiences were regaled by violin wizardry of the Lalgudi family. However, on Sunday April 27th, it was the turn of the Mysore brothers – Nagaraj & Manjunath who have carved a niche for themselves in the world of Carnatic music. They were accompanied by Sreemushnam Raja Rao on the Mridangam. They were hosted by MITHAS as part of their Spring Concert Series. The concert was held at the WONG Auditorium, in Cambridge.

1. Varnam (Sarasuda) – Saaveri (Venkatrama Iyer)
2. Vatapi Ganapatim – Hamsadwani (Muthuswami Dikshitar)
3. Orajupuju - Kannada Gowlai (Thyagaraja)
4. Ranjani niranjani- Ranjani (r-Manjunath, s) (GNB)
5. Akhilandeswari - Dwijawantl (r - Nagaraj) + Thani Avartanam (Muthuswami Dikshitar)
6. Raagam Thanam Pallavi - Harikamboji
7. Narayana - Shuddha Dhanyasi {Purandaradasa)
8. Chinanchiri Kiliye - Raagamaalika (Subramania Bharathi)
9. Bhajan (Vishweshwara) - Sindhu Bhairavi (Swati Tirunal)
10. Thillana- Mohana Kalyani (Lalgudi Jayaraman)
11. Mangalam

The concert started off with a traditional Varnam in the Raagam Saaveri in Adi Taalam. This was followed by the evergreen Vatapi Ganapatim Bhajeham in the Raagam Hamsadwani. Both Nagaraj and Manjunath regaled the audience with their swaram rendition. Nagaraj then outlined a brief sketch of the Raagam Kannada Gowlai and followed it with the famous Thyagaraja Composition – Orajupuju. The Raagam next chosen was Ranjani and Manjunath held the audience captive with his rendition of the Raagam. This was followed by the GNB krithi – Ranjani Niranjani.

The main piece of the concert was in the Raagam Dwijawantl. Nagaraj brought the nuances of the Raagam in his rendition. Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s famous krithi Akhilandeswari was the piece chosen to follow the Raagam. One point to note here was the effective accompaniment of Shri Raja Rao for this song. One could tell that he was reproducing the song on the mridangam. He was very effective in the use of his “Thoppi” or left side in adding luster to the concert. The song was followed with swarams and a exciting Thani that drew quite of the audience to cheer.

Following a brief intermission, Harikamboji was the piece for the Raagam Thanam Pallavi. It was an interesting and different choice. This author felt that the Raagam and Thanam rendition for this raagam was rather hurried. The Pallavi was set to Khanda Jathi Triputa Talam and was followed by a host of Raagamaalika swarams – Chandrakauns by Manjunath and Revathi by Nagaraj were the pick of the raagamalika swarams.

They then concluded the concert by playing a few popular pieces. The two brothers are technically perfect on the instrument and play with utmost sincerity and dedication to their art. Raja Rao provided the perfect foil to the two brothers. Overall a very enjoyable evening.

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