Sriranjani Santhanagopalan brought out the myriad shades of Ritigowla in her alapana

Recognising opportunities amidst challenges is an art in itself, and Sriranjani Santhanagopalan demonstrated her adeptness in it. Sriranjani’s rendition transformed the composer’s anguish into a feast of melody with many facets coming together — the tempo, rich bhava through a tapestry of sangatis, Kamalakiran playing a perfect foil in the lower octave, and Sai Giridhar and Guruprasad’s support. Another short raga alapana, this time Yamuna Kalyani, preluded ‘Nandagopala mukunda’ in which Dikshitar calls upon Krishna through his divine attributes. ‘Nijamarmamulanu’ by Tyagaraja and kalpanaswaras at the charanam opening ‘Sruthi saastra purana’ were zestfully rendered, and a leisurely ‘Parvati ninnu ne’ by Syama Sastri restored the balance. ‘Kasturi tilakam’, a well-known shloka from Krishna Karnamrutam, leading to a Swati Tirunal bhajan ‘Aaj aaye syaam mohan’ in Suddh Sarang, Kalki’s ‘Poonkuyil koovum’ in Kapi, and a thillana by M. Balamuralikrishna in Ahirbhairav lent variety to the concluding section.