The evening of Valentine's Day bursts into mesmeric melodies

Those who were at The Music Academy on Tuesday evening celebrated Valentine's Day with music, listening to an interesting potpourri of songs at ‘Strains of love', organised by The Hindu, in association with Nathella Jewellery and P.Orr & Sons.

Singers Andrea and Haricharan, and composer Anirudh treated the audience to a variety of compositions, spanning different eras, genres and moods.

Haricharan presented a delightful medley of songs covering the last few decades, the series of SPB hits being the highlight. Whether it was ‘Sundari kannal oru sedhi…' or ‘Pothi vacha malliga mottu…', both quintessential Ilayaraja numbers, the songs reminded listeners of SPB's inimitable singing. Haricharan's singing was like a true admirer's with evident reverence and sincerity.

As he sang A.R. Rahman's unconventional ‘Mannippaaya…' or the evergreen ‘Kadhalsadugudu', he had the younger members in the audience screaming in excitement. Haricharan also presented popular songs of other composers, including Yuvan Shankar Raja and G.V.Prakash. Whether it was fast-paced numbers, melodies or the occasional Hindi songs he presented, Haricharan's renditions pointed to his versatility and evolving individual style.

Andrea brought in variety to the show, covering different genres. Interestingly, she juxtaposed S.Janaki's scintillating ‘Kannan vandu padugindran…', another Raja gem, with the popular jazz number ‘My funny valentine'. Her voice trained in the Western idiom gave ‘Kannan vandu…' a different flavour. ‘Waka Waka' gave additional pep and pace to the evening.

Another surprise from Andrea's playlist was her rendition of A.R.Rahman's ‘Aromale…'. Her rendition was enhanced by the brilliant support she got from the two guitarists – Aalaap Raju and Joshua Mark Raj. Leon James on the drums and Georaj Stanley Vikram who were on the additional percussion were lively.

Anirudh, who instantly struck a chord with the audience, gave a nice finish to the evening, with select songs from the film ‘Moondru' that he presented with singer Ajeesh.

There was no way he would be allowed to wind up without ‘Kolaveri'. Enthusiastic members in the audience went up to the stage and joined him in song and dance.