That is what we experiencd yesterday in Neyveli Santanagopalan's concert at Seshadripuram Rama Seva Samithi. The concert started with Viribhoni varnam. This was followed by Mayamalawagowla (Maayaatheetha swaroopini), Chaaya Tarangini (Krupa Judachu), Poorvi Kalyani (Gnaanamosagaraada), Saama (Annapoorne), Aanandabhairavi (Mariveregathikkaveramma), and Kalyani (Aethaavunara). After a brief interruption (about which I write below), he sang some nice thukkadas — karpagame, Thungaatheera, saarasamukhi… On the whole, it was a wonderful concert and very pleasant and relaxing.
The only not-so-nice part of the concert was the interruption to garland the artists, at which time, one of the organisers read out an obviously prepared speech, which was jarring in my opinion and spoilt the nice ambience created by the artist. I think it is time that we stopped these 'mukhastuthi' (as it is called) and get on with the music — the applause at the end of the songs and the exclamations from the audience during the singing is sufficient. And, probably, the artists should be garlanded at the beginning and be left to themselves and their music for the next few hours.
