A great bhairavi canvas - part II

MDR's vilambakAla rendition of the shyAmA sAstri magnum opus, amba kAmAkshi, is a masterpiece. From AlApana to kalpana svaram and most importantly, through eight wonderful caraNams in-between, MDR takes us through a spectacular journey of bhairavi. shyAmA sAstri composed the caraNams beautifully -- the first caraNam begins with sa, the second with ri, the third with ga, and so on until the last caraNam, which begins again with sa (but of the next octave). Such a composition allows MDR to explore the full range of bhairavi's nuances. As always, MDR pays attention to the words, e.g., dikkanusu, nammitini, sampadala niccEvippuDu, etc. are never split in ungainly ways. But this is only part of the story. The most striking feature is the depth of delivery -- MDR dwells and rests on each note, caressing note after note, allowing the listener to absorb their each individual resonant quality. In the seventh caraNam (that begins ni ri sa ri ni ri ni da pa) notice how beautifully MDR sings the svara sequence sa ri ga ma pa, sa ri ga ma pa da, ma pa ga ri ga ma~ -- the last ma~ (with brugA) being the most beautiful note of them all! When he next sings the corresponding sAhityam, he strikes this beautiful ma~ once again -- aparimita vaibhavamugala nIsmaraNa madilo~!! The entire rendition is full of this kind of brilliant detailing. MDR ends, typically, with some simple but striking kalpana svara phrases - check out, e.g., ni ni ni ni~ da pa da ni da pa da ma ma, ma ma ni da ni pa da ma!

A full forty minute track is not in the least bit blogosphere-friendly and I had to cut it down cruelly to half its length in the version below, retaining only three of the eight caraNams (first, seventh and eighth). I urge you to listen to it and if you do not enjoy it, I urge you to try again, perhaps more than once if needed, until (I hope) you eventually get it -- a bhairavi in all its glory, a masterful composition at the hands of the master practitioner of musical detail.