tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33771167845695943502024-03-14T05:45:55.120+05:30VRVD MUSIKINGS - musings on Carnatic music and its kingsMusings on Carnatic music and the kings and queens of this style of musicVRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-70971912335109342282023-01-07T15:46:00.002+05:302023-01-07T15:46:52.915+05:30Graha bedham, Harmony, Avadhaana pallavi<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">On 6th January, 2023, we were blessed to attend a Carnatic vocal concert by <b>Kanchana sisters (Vidushi Shriranjani and Vidushi Shruthiranjani)</b> accompanied by <b>Vidwan Mathur Srinidhi</b> on violin, <b>Vidwan B C Manjunath</b> on the mridangam, and <b>Vidwan Sunaad Anoor</b> on the kanjira. The concert was arranged by Anubhooti on their 10th anniversary of promoting Indian arts and music at MES College auditorium, in Malleshwaram.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">A Carnatic music concert on a Friday evening is indeed a unique gift in the non-season / non-festival times. <u>Thank God for this Friday</u> - thank the artistes for a wonderful evening they gave us all.<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4qBy0aFN6jwZhFura9GthAtA8B0u2P3oXgynEf8a3p3sehmOsWJJasEzrL-1mXVYiwtn-zaDhY0BTZfb7URoJf5CFc00RKrfy7vXobdHANs2EjBYZ2SlGmJgr8qQUDPxmTQw1FaKEbVMjxU2tHVpEtealJkrYbGv3p-F7Z_aeUJ1TR3RAHx-GzwFRoA/s1200/D2023-01-06_194107.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4qBy0aFN6jwZhFura9GthAtA8B0u2P3oXgynEf8a3p3sehmOsWJJasEzrL-1mXVYiwtn-zaDhY0BTZfb7URoJf5CFc00RKrfy7vXobdHANs2EjBYZ2SlGmJgr8qQUDPxmTQw1FaKEbVMjxU2tHVpEtealJkrYbGv3p-F7Z_aeUJ1TR3RAHx-GzwFRoA/w400-h225/D2023-01-06_194107.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The sisters began the concert with a brief AlApanai of <u>brndAvana sArangA</u> followed by a short shlOkam. They then presented a varnam composed in this rAgam by their father <u>Vid. Kanchana Subbarathnam</u>, and lyrics by their mother and guru <u>Vid. Rohini Subbarathnam</u>, set to Adi tALam. The second song for the day was <u>Swathi Tirunal kriti dEva dEva kalayAmi tE in the rAgam mAyAmALavagowLa</u>. After a very brief AlApanai in <u>AHiri</u>, Kanchana sisters took up a very elaborate and vilambit rendition of the 9th navAvarna kriti of Muthuswami Dikshitar, <u>shrI kamalAmba jayati</u>. This was rendered in unhurried manner, sticking to their patantaram and the really moved the audience. They nearly got a standing ovation for this song - such was the appreciation.<br /><br />Another brief AlApanai in <u>nAgasvarAvaLi </u>was followed by<u> shrI shankara guruvaram</u>, a composition of Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer set to rUpaka tALam. The exposition of manOdharma of the sisters, one could say, started with this and audience were left ecstatic in this and all subsequent songs. After couple of rounds of kalpana swarams, Vid Shruthiranjani switched to <u>Hamsadhvani </u>using <u>graha bedham of nAgasvarAvaLi</u>, ably supported by Vidwan Srinidhi on violin. Shriranjani continued to sing swarams in nAgasvarAvaLi on her turn and Shruthiranjani sang Hamsadhvani for rest of the kalpana swarams. And the final joint rendition was in same swara sthanas, but different swarams of S G M P D S (nAgasvarAvaLi) and S R G P N S (Hamsadhvani). The adherence to shruthi and sadhana were obvious during the perfect rendition.<br /><br /><u>Latangi </u>was taken as a main rAgam for exploration. A thorough dilineation was done, though I think plans had been shortened a bit due to the sound system problems before the concert started (more on that in the end). The song <u>marivEre dikkevvaru</u> composed by Patnam Subramanya Iyer was sung with full verve and ably supported by Vidwan Srinidhi as well as the percussionists. The sound system was indeed quite balanced in spite of initial troubles, which made it a wonderful concert.<br /><br />A rAgam tAnam pallavi was taken up immediately - an intervening faster song may have been skipped, I guess. Shruthiranjani began with the first cycle of AlApanai in <u>mOHanam</u>, which was followed by violinist Vidwan Srinidhi's AlApanai. On her turn Shriranjani continued with a short shlOkam first, and then lead on to the tAnam cycle. After regular tAnam portions by each artiste, the sisters sang the final portion of the tAnam in <u>Harmony mode</u>. Though I was not able to figure out the technical basis of this harmony, i.e., whether Shruthiranjani was singing lower octave (Sa-sa), or whether it was a Sa-Pa or Sa-Ma correlation, the perfect rendition sticking to absolutely matching shruthi was simply delectable.<br /><br />The sisters then announced that they will be singing an<b> avadhaana pallavi </b>(pallavi that needs focus / attention), which they are well known for. On the right hand they played out <u>Adi tALam in 2-kalai</u>, while with same tempo, they tapped out <u>rUpaka tALam (1-kalai) followed by jhampa tALam (1-kalai)</u>. As one can see from the image here, for illustration purpose, the 16 aksharas in Adi tALam and the 6 (catusra rUpakam) + 10 (misra jhampa) aksharas coincide. Well, that was not enough variation, for this particular pallavi, which was the well known line "<b>rA rA rAjIva lOcana rAmA; nannu brOcutaku</b>".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPSLfRm47PhHjdG65lvC9EW8Sp0bq5Deu9UcaBxj129j6ogRa7-qe_q8NiAWNg0Q3CtJ9rF565VJCHJrZi2u5dlIWVqXns1i_snHnCq5n_n9iO7IA6RNhpAjOirkMaKAdBWBk8xMVG2cE_7MQsQQmUxvPN98DzwIbH_K6QGr4EVUHYx3BxgXdgxZsoQ/s846/Avadhana_Talas_2023_0106_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="846" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPSLfRm47PhHjdG65lvC9EW8Sp0bq5Deu9UcaBxj129j6ogRa7-qe_q8NiAWNg0Q3CtJ9rF565VJCHJrZi2u5dlIWVqXns1i_snHnCq5n_n9iO7IA6RNhpAjOirkMaKAdBWBk8xMVG2cE_7MQsQQmUxvPN98DzwIbH_K6QGr4EVUHYx3BxgXdgxZsoQ/w640-h176/Avadhana_Talas_2023_0106_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>The <u>eduppu was atIta in the Adi tALam</u> (1/2 beat before samam), while it was the <u>anudrutham in the left hand, in the jhampa tALam</u>. The ardi coincided at the drutam of Adi tALam on the right, while it was the laghu of jhampa tALam on left. Once again, the illustration may help readers understand the technicality. The writer is simply able to parrot out these details as they were clearly explained by the Kanchana sisters. The images to add confusion is probably useful, so that each of you can have your own Ahaa moments when clarity emerges out of my obfuscation attempts.<br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXdPrpQ1UGGKZmc0yXCDyBQ_MVCr6dLsTMINOT3WHrJLEqd651NiVf-CA8EggZiVrQsq8YXR9D2SMY8OBRucQj1Kp4CeR8jYr7XKIhoei7Ipc1jdFVS4yH-l-sewTfacWGunY0XE3fouZ7yuwraRMrNzGn-ECJ1wqgGJcEjr-PrkK0TcGXJPUp-9sFnQ/s920/Avadhana_Talas_2023_0106_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="920" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXdPrpQ1UGGKZmc0yXCDyBQ_MVCr6dLsTMINOT3WHrJLEqd651NiVf-CA8EggZiVrQsq8YXR9D2SMY8OBRucQj1Kp4CeR8jYr7XKIhoei7Ipc1jdFVS4yH-l-sewTfacWGunY0XE3fouZ7yuwraRMrNzGn-ECJ1wqgGJcEjr-PrkK0TcGXJPUp-9sFnQ/w640-h208/Avadhana_Talas_2023_0106_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>The sisters showed their vidwat in this aspect by covering trikAlam while putting the dual tALams, as well as kalpana swarams in the same. They also sang kalpana swarams in rAgamAlikA, namely, <u>gAgEyabhUshani </u>(by Shriranjani), <u>ranjani </u>(by Shruthiranjani), <u>bhUpALam </u>(by Srinidhi) and <u>maduvanti </u>(by Shriranjani), follwed by Shruthiranjani covering the rAgams in reverse order too. Once again the concentration and dedication to ensure the shruthi alignment as well as kanakkus of the swarams were perfect, which made it a treat for the ears. Not to be outdone, <u>Vidwans Manjunath and Sanaad</u>, showed their prowess in playing the laya vinyAsam in both the tALa combinations. This was also very much appreciated by another stalwart who was present in the audience, <u>mridanga Vidwan Arjun Kumar</u>. At the end of the avadhaana pallavi we wondered how it could have been even better if only they had been able to start on time.<br /><br />Followed by the announcements and words of appreciation from organizers, the team completed the concert by singing <u>niri niri gamagarisa in pUrvi</u>, composed by Subbarama Bhagavatar, and Purandaradasa's <u>bhAghyadha lakshmi bArammA</u>, in <u>madhyamAvati</u>. Innovations and manOdharma while sticking to the traditional Carnatic music were to the fore. With this concert, we learnt that we don't have to try things outside the ocean of Carnatic music, in order to show novelty or differences from the norm. Kudos to them and would love to attend more concerts from these artistes.<br /><br />Regarding the sound system, there were some issues with microphone, then the speaker, then the monitor speaker, followed by feedback noises, etc. This took almost 25 minutes to set right, which luckily did not leave any blemish in minds of the artistes or the audience, as soon as the concert started. It is likely that audience was unfortunate to have had a shorter treat of this excellent team, as they may have trimmed a song and shortened a bit of the AlApanais / kalpana swarams.<p></p>VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-78349630297710740882022-12-21T19:28:00.001+05:302022-12-22T06:37:08.576+05:30nIyE tunai bhairavi and mukhAri nI maHima<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am happy to share the concert notes of two wonderful concerts that I attended in past couple of days. The first of those, an evening concert by Vidushi Sumithra Vasudev and team, at the Music Academy, Chennai, on 19th December 2022, was one dripping with traditional renditions and a serene music presentation. The second one I attended, another evening concert on the next day by Vidwan Palghat Ramprasad and team at the same venue, was another brilliant musical treat for all those who were fortunate to attend.<br /><br /><b>Vidushi Sumithra Vasudev</b> was accompanied by <b>Vidushi Padma Shankar</b> on the violin, <b>Vidwan B Ganapathyraman</b> on the mridangam, and <b>Vidushi Bhagyalakshmi M Krishna</b> on the mohrsing. The songs presented were the following</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">* Hasti vadanAya namastubhyam - navarOj - misra Ekam - Muthuswami Dikshitar<br />* kOrina varamOsagumayyA - rAmapriyA - rUpakam - Patnam Subramanya Iyer<br />* ma ramaNan umA ramaNan - HindOLam - rUpakam - Papanasam Sivan<br />* kurai Edu enakkini - nATTakurinji - misra cApu - Ambujam Krishna<br />* palukavemi nA deyvamA - pUrnacandrikA - Adi - Thyagaraja<br />* rAgam tAnam pallavi - bhairavi - jhampa tALam (2-kalai)<br />(pallavi - bhairavi bhArgavi bhArati dEvi nIyE tunai; rAgamAlikA in sAlagabhairavi, vasantabhairavi, sindhubhairavi)<br />* orutti maganAy pirandu - beHAg - Adi - Andal</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5vZPeOmhn2MiPwLaVQIsMioDQWGCbVWba3qQQnFIKUOy7I0J0SvJ06Y_hNFmHebbZaifbuO0H-Rwae2n2zq33Qd8L2EVC4HMYJoMvRp19D6PlEDvvNfvbpohSCRNMLYSZjCgFE0Zi8Grvq0rC443V8AZOd7QYpXOXbZkdnLT4xNelj8gKlqyoUipnw/s1200/20221219_194126.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="1200" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5vZPeOmhn2MiPwLaVQIsMioDQWGCbVWba3qQQnFIKUOy7I0J0SvJ06Y_hNFmHebbZaifbuO0H-Rwae2n2zq33Qd8L2EVC4HMYJoMvRp19D6PlEDvvNfvbpohSCRNMLYSZjCgFE0Zi8Grvq0rC443V8AZOd7QYpXOXbZkdnLT4xNelj8gKlqyoUipnw/w400-h291/20221219_194126.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I started late for the venue, but was lucky to find traffic a little less than expected. Though I missed the first song (likely a varnam), I was a bit suprirsed / shocked to find parking inside the complex itself. The song in navarOj was setting the tranquil scape for the entire evening. It was rendered in a serene vilambit kAlam with precision - kudos. Then vidushi Sumithra took up a detail exploration of rAmapriyA rAgam, followed by a suitable AlApanai by vidushi Padma. Patnam Subramanya Iyer's kOrina varamOsagumayyA was the composition recited in detail. After a brisk version of mA ramaNan umA ramaNan in HindOLam, the vidushi took up a detail AlApanai of nATTakurinji. Both vidushis' AlApanais were followed by Ambujam Krishna's composition kurai Edu enakkini, set to misra cApu tALam. The team gave a complete coverage of the rAgam as well as the song, in line with it being the main choice of the day.</span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">nIyE tunai <span style="color: #6aa84f;">bhairavi</span></span></span></h2><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">A medium tempo rendition of the pUrnacandrikA kriti palukavEmi nA deyvamA was then followed by the grand bhairavi rAgam tAnam pallavi. Vidushi Sumithra had planned the songs and the pallavi very well to give appropriate importance, as well as to stick to the schedule. The pallavi line 'bhairavi bhArgavi bhArati dEvi... nIyE tunai' was sung in jhampa tALam (2-kalai) with eduppu on 1st beat after samam (onnu taLLi). The rAga dEvatais were definitely standing with the team, as she called out nIyE tunai, in this majestic rendition. She rendered the pallavi in 3 other -bhairavi rAgams, namely sAlagabhairavi, vasantabhairavi, and sindhubhairavi. She then covered the mandatory variations of the pallavi in different nadais, followed by the kalpana swarams.<br /><br />Laya vidwan Ganapathyraman and vidushi Bhagyalakshmi provided excellent percussion support throughout the concert. Probably they were left with a few minutes less for their laya vinyAsam exposition after the pallavi, yet made their knowledge, imagination, and skills known to the audience. Vidushi Sumithra then closed the concert by singing the Andal tiruppAvai, orutti maganAy pirandu set in rAgam beHAg, followed by the tradition mangaLam. As I walked out refreshed with a wonderful evening of soft music steeped in tradition, the cool weather outside added to the satisfaction.<br /><br />However, there was one small blemish for the evening - on the part of rasikAs. When 80% of season ticket holders do not turn up (my guess / opinion), it is indeed sad for multiple reasons. It being Monday, there may be valid reasons for some, but not expected from such a high number! I wonder what changes in the ticketing, scheduling, and any other processes, would help change this in future.<br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAolXPDYnPu8tfKXddVGHjACYo_Ysroz4_HeoqEHnbhVAoRk-eXh6nuqsecHa-dd0tFGvmuFIgHNgql7lBkdYk3ZwKTne_ibGOehoRuCPWslIeNv-nPhndOpF-AGp00RFSwvb6GoJdORUdf4T70Lyr6r7hX69JQT97OycGuxSKAa_57rjJnDqPA4gpbw/s556/D2022-12-20-Concert%20notes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="556" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAolXPDYnPu8tfKXddVGHjACYo_Ysroz4_HeoqEHnbhVAoRk-eXh6nuqsecHa-dd0tFGvmuFIgHNgql7lBkdYk3ZwKTne_ibGOehoRuCPWslIeNv-nPhndOpF-AGp00RFSwvb6GoJdORUdf4T70Lyr6r7hX69JQT97OycGuxSKAa_57rjJnDqPA4gpbw/w400-h245/D2022-12-20-Concert%20notes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />On the next evening, <b>Vidwan Palghat R Ramprasad</b> was accompanied by <b>Vidwan M R Gopinath</b> on the violin, <b>Vidwan J Vaidyanathan</b> on the mridangam, and <b>Vidwan S V Ramani</b> on the ghatam. The songs chosen for the concert were:</span><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">* rAju veDala jUtAmurAre - tODi - rUpakam - Thyagaraja<br />* shrI mAtrubhUtam - kannaDA - misra Ekam - Muthuswami Dikshitar<br />* mA ramaNan umA ramaNan - HindOLam - rUpakam - Papanasam Sivan<br />* sharanara surabhOja - pUrvikalyANi (my guess) - Adi - Kamaleshadasa<br />* Emani nE nI maHima - mukhAri - Adi - Subbaraya Shastri<br />* HaridAsulu veDale - yamunA kalyANi - Thyagaraja<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEithTeYchk0X6QR8UJ7fpsY8MIFY1bXfHD1WZDQBF6VuacxisAv5XZsQcBsrZGWN98JLKo4CT7QELlJ3XavOyYFX7_hWRGLvls3hpEDI1IvKuTpFkO1mAnfDs8S2lygmLd-G9Gv7Z2Gw87w5pwLHCkDbIlTqSjE3YOt3U4tcUUCSHW-2wEq_L03_ZXjDQ/s1200/20221220_211054.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1073" data-original-width="1200" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEithTeYchk0X6QR8UJ7fpsY8MIFY1bXfHD1WZDQBF6VuacxisAv5XZsQcBsrZGWN98JLKo4CT7QELlJ3XavOyYFX7_hWRGLvls3hpEDI1IvKuTpFkO1mAnfDs8S2lygmLd-G9Gv7Z2Gw87w5pwLHCkDbIlTqSjE3YOt3U4tcUUCSHW-2wEq_L03_ZXjDQ/s320/20221220_211054.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">For this Tuesday concert, on 20th December, I started earlier to the venue. However, the people in the city decided to turn out in more numbers on the roads (and in the concert venue too, though not in line with my expectation for Vidwan Ramprasad and team). I was late and ended up meeting a friend in the canteen. It was supposed to happen before the concert, but met only as the first song had been completed. Valet parking could not help much, the delay of 10 to 15 minutes having happened by the time I entered the academy complex in the car. We nibbled on a "Sardar vadai" (whatever that may be - Punjabi or Gujarati or just a fancy name) and coffee, as we heard strains of a wonderful tODi and rAju veDala through the speaker setup in the canteen. After catching up on the history missed out in 3 years, in just a few minutes, we headed out to our seating areas. We kept in touch on WhatsApp - as good as being seated next to each other, as the conversations continued about the kritis, rAgams, rendition, etc - minus the sounds of talking sitting next to each other - as the team completed the tODi kriti.<br /><br />Vidwan Ramprasad gave a very short glimpse of kannaDA before taking up the Muthuswami Dikshitar kriti shrI mAtrubhUtam. Then he took up a detail AlApanai of HindOLam. As I was wondering whether it will be sAmaja varagamanA, rAmanukku mannan, or other wonderful kritis in this rAgam, he took up mA ramaNan umA ramaNan. Though it was 2 out of 2 for me in 2 days, of the same song, the presentation details were different. While on the previous day it was a simple full rendition of the song between two main songs, on this day it was a very detail handling of HindOLam. The kalpana swarams also poured out showing his imagination as well as his expert knowledge of the laya aspects, which is not surprising considering his lineage from one of the stalwarts of laya.<br /><br />After a brief AlApanai of pUrvikalyANi (my guess), he sang the rarely rendered kriti sharanara surabhOja, a composition of Kamaleshadasa. A search of the internet sites could not confirm the rAgam, nor was there info of the rAgam it is usually sung in. So, I will stick to assuming pUrvikalyANi, unless an expert corrects me.</span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">mukhAri</span> nI maHima</span></span></h2><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Vidwan Ramprasad then took a very detail exploration of mukhAri. It was bhava laden AlApanai with elaborate manOdharma coming to the fore. The relaxed and slow build-up and completion of AlApanai, were clear signals that it would be the most important rendition for the evening. Vidwan Gopinath on the violin played a good follow-up to the AlApanai as he had settled down into the groove by then. As the kriti Emani nE nI maHima unfolded we got a complete package of the Vidwan's control, vidwat, alignment to shruti, involved singing, appreciation of the laya vidwans' sensitive & superb accompaniment (J Vaidyanathan and S V Ramani), etc. The goddess of mukhAri was completely displayed in all detail in the AlApanai, kriti, neraval, and kalpana swarams. A wonderful laya vinyAsam rounded off the evening, as we were quite close to the close of the concert schedule. Vidwan Ramprasad then sang a rare Thyagaraja composition set to yamunA kalyANi, 'HaridAsulu veDale', before closing with the traditional mangaLam sung at a leisurely pace.<br /><br />The rasikas are indeed fortunate to listen to such soothing music on both days. The fact that the bhairavi pallavi keeps running in the mind and the mukhAri elaboration pops into the head unannounced, are enough proof for me that the artistes were able to keep my undistracted attention on their music & soak my mind in that experience.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>Special thanks to very good balance of the sound systems and settings</u>, which many a times has been found wanting in many venues in the past, including Music Academy. In my opinion, it is nothing wrong in restating that the sensitive music was made more enjoyable by the acoustics and sound systems.<br /><br /><b>PS</b>: <b>This post is by a human</b>, and not a bot, and the human is <u>not bought</u> either.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Disclaimer</b>: If anyone thinks the above is artificial intelligence, it may be true about my music knowledge - but AI/ML not involved in the writing, facts, or opinions.</span></p>VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-28198857762719208062019-12-30T22:43:00.000+05:302019-12-30T22:43:09.062+05:30Serene concert of Vidwan Girijashankar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Saturday, 28th December, 2019, we had the pleasure of attending a nice concert of <b>Vidwan Girijashankar Sundaresan</b> accompanied by <b>Vidwan Pappu Gyandev</b> on the violin and <b>Vidwan Sudhindra</b> on the mridangam. Chennai Fine Arts hosted this concert at Shastri Hall, Mylapore. All the artists were ready, including a complete sound check done, by 10 minutes before 3 PM! The artists as well as the audience were having an awkward wait, before Girijashankar requested the organizers at 5 minutes to 3 PM, whether they could begin the concert. The organizer was kind enough to permit saying "<i>Though the regular audience would be walking in, expecting the start of concert at 3, let those who are already present have the pleasure of listening to one extra song</i>."</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Girijashankar Sundaresan, Pappu Gyandev and Sudhindra</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With vigour, Girijashankar began with the Adi tALam kalyANi varnam, <u>vanajAkshirO</u>. This was rendered in a brisk pace, Pappu and Sudhindra playing softly and warming up to the concert. At this point I would like to point out that the audio was set optimally for the hall - not too loud, unlike some sabhas and organizations set things up, now-a-days! I also noticed that it was all controlled from a Pad device - looks like they have got the right audio folks, unlike some old sabhas still sticking to their old associations and technology! :-( OK enough of the deviation from the topic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Girijashankar & Pappu gave a short AlApanai of Anandabhairavi before they sang the Shri Shyama Sastri kriti <u>pAHishri girijAsutE</u> set to rUpaka tALam. The next song was also a good surprise, which is not heard much of late in the first part of concerts - rAgam naLinakAnti. After a different structured AlApanai in this rAgam (to me it seemed more weightage was given to avarOHanam also, without losing the beautiful colour of naLinakAnti), Girijashankar took up Thanjavur Shri Sankara Iyer kriti, <u>natajanapAlini naLinakAnti</u>. It has been ages since I heard this and it was refreshing presentation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The big elaboration for the afternoon was in mAyAmALavagowLa, which was again taken up from a different part of the scale. Both Girijashankar and Pappu gave an elaborate essay, followed by <u>vidulaku mrokkEdA</u>, the composition of Saint Thyagaraja. Neraval and Kalpanaswarams were rendered with ease by both, and Girijashankar used his nice voice well. Sudhindra then presented a very detail laya vinyAsam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Girijashankar closed the concert with the husEni kriti of Arunachala Kavirayar, <u>eppaDi manam tunindadO</u> and the <u>beHAg tillAnA</u> of Lalgudi Shri G Jayaraman, in a flourish. Concerts of hour and 15 minutes are difficult to plan for - and we could understand the team's intent to take an extra 5 minutes, by starting early. Hope organizers give at minimum an hour and half for concerts. It was satisfying afternoon spent with the music & the good audio settings in Shastri Hall.</span></div>
VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-79646230275402005472019-12-23T09:03:00.000+05:302019-12-26T21:23:16.932+05:30Musiri Chamber - Divine Nagaswaram Concert of Desur Selvarathinam and party<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Usually I do not write the notes on concerts that are webcast live, especially, if it will be available online for a while for everyone to enjoy for themselves. No 3rd party commentary (mine) is required for the rasikas who view such concerts. However, in this case, I would like to bring the outstanding concert to the notice of the rasikas who may miss this one. Here are the simple concert notes, while the rest is available for you t<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">o enjoy direct from YouTube.</span></div>
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Kanchi Kamakshi Temple <b>Vidwans Desur Selvarathinam</b> along with his sons <b>Shri Shanmugasundaram</b> (dressed in red) and <b>Shri Sethuraman</b> (sitting on right hand side of Shri Selvarathinam, in white) performed on Sunday morning, 22 December 2019, from 10 AM, along with <b>Vidwan Velliambakkam Palanivel</b> (blue shirt) and <b>Vidwan Pondichery Saravanan</b> (olive green shirt).</div>
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Simply put this was a divine concert with amazing shruthi alignment of all 3 Nagaswaram vidwans, very well supported by the Thavil vidwans. In the words of a parama rasika of Carnatic Music, especially Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar kritis, <u>the Musiri house was converted into a temple by their music</u>. In conclusion - don't miss watching /listening to this - if you don't have time, do so in parts. Full stop.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Triple Nagaswaram - Desur Selvarathinam and Party</td></tr>
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siddhi vinAyakam sEvEHam - mOHanakalyANi - Adi - Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavatar</div>
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rItigowLai - janani ninnuvinA - misra cApu - Subbaraya Shastri</div>
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Arabhi - sAdincenE O manasA - Adi - Thyagaraja</div>
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lalitA - HiranmayIm lakshmIm sadA bhajAmi - rUpakam - Muthuswami Dikshitar</div>
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shuddha sAvEri - dArini telusu konTi - Adi - Thyagaraja</div>
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karunincuTaku idi samayamayyA - sindhumandAri - Adi - Patnam Subramania Iyer</div>
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shanmukhapriyA - ekAmrEsha nAyakim - Adi - Muthuswami Dikshitar</div>
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shrI cakrarAja simHAsanEshvari - rAgamAlikai (cencuruTTi, punnAgavarALi, nAdanAmakriyA, sindhubhairavi) - Adi - Agastiyar</div>
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beHAg <strike>kriti</strike> jAvaLi</div>
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kApi - pazhani ninRa - rUpakam - Periyasami Thooran</div>
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eppaDi pADinarO - karnATaka dEvagAndhAri - Adi - Shuddhananda Bharathi</div>
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bAgeshrI kriti</div>
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tiruppugazh in HamsAnandi</div>
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mangaLam</div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;">Repeating the conclusion - Don't miss.</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> PS: When you go to Kanchi Kamakshi temple hope you get time to listen to them in the divine settings.</span><br />
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YouTube channel name - Musiri Chamber<br />
URL for this concert - <a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FI3HR6rBrpz8%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1hLdseJzKO_qpS9EDT0PcMRnZWdZOVHwubbCHz6gKGPbp10qzYdHqJwH0&h=AT2J-vxZEz45tAn92_dTPnbqAxyYIq5G0Vd_hLkHzD9SUqfSiLOvOoooYef0iSRvZqn6QLsbUseXSHUADaf6cN6DRW7cFG_Z2fDfyWBgr7dne3MpP3NSS3hEp-5b2VXOAg-TSmLfgh4MiMJTBOQFk7IBbpRncCKKrI6LV_swGN6f" rel="noopener nofollow" style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/I3HR6rBrpz8</a><br />
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<b>PS:</b> Thanks to <u>clarification by Shri Sethuraman</u>, son of Shri Desur Selvarathinam, item number <b>9 is a jAvaLi</b> - nirupama svAmi ninnu - beHAg - rUpakam - Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar. Also, item <b>number 12</b> is jaya jAnaki ramana - bAgeshrI - kanDa cApu - Badhrachala Ramadasar.</div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-46941850784617309672019-12-23T06:47:00.000+05:302019-12-23T06:47:12.146+05:30MMS2019-03 - Melodious soulful music - Vidwan Saketharaman at MFAC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vidwan Saketharaman gave us a thorough musical treat on 20 December, 2019, at Mylapore Fine Arts Club (TAG-MFAC Auditorium). He was accompanied by Vidwan Nagai Muralidharan on violin (from whom he is continuing his learning now), Vidwan Trichy Harikumar on Mridangam and Vidwan K V Gopalakrishnan on the kanjira. As this is the first concert I am attending in this season at TAG-MFAC, I was happy to note the pleasing backdrop colour choice. Also, in this concert the audio seemed to have been set well by the engineers and artists, and volume was also set to reasonable medium level, instead of usual blaring speakers. This added to the serene quality of the two and half hours of brilliant exposition by the stalwarts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Saketharaman began the concert with the nATTa kriti 'rE rE mAnasa bhajarE' composed by Shri Cheyyur Chengalvaraya Sastri, set to rUpaka tALam. This set the mood for the entire evening. If that was not enough to indicate, he quickly moved on to Thiruppavai portion 'Azhi mazhai kaNNA' in varALi rAgam (we won't mind the rain, more rain and rain again anytime in Chennai - so bring it on please).</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Saketharaman and Team - AlApanai in progress</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The first elaboration for the evening was khamAs. Though some may consider this as a lightish rAgam, both Saketharaman and Muralidharan brought out the various possibilities of this rAgam, especially with guidance of Dikshitar kritis. The Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar kriti 'santAna gOpAlakrishNam upAsmaHE' was sung in leisurely manner. These choices and those to come were all contributing to the tone for this concert. Another detail presentation of AlApanai followed, in the rAgam yadukula kAmbhOji. When Saketharaman had completed a good essay, Muralidharan took off and showed a few extra facets in his compact rendition. The Shri Subbaraya Sastri kriti in misra cApu tALam, 'ninnu sEvinci' was sung & played with aplomb.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At this time I have to mention that Harikumar and KVG played quite softly all through the concert, especially for khamAs and yadukula kAmbhOji kritis, beautifully aligning with the choices of songs as well as the mood of the concert. The volume for the percussions were also a tad lower than for vocal and violin - this also helped. Maybe many sabhas and auditoriums can learn from this setting. It was really soothing for the ears and the artists made it soothing for the soul. Saketharaman announced that he had learnt this kriti from Muralidharan - no wonder both worked in tandem to present this superb composition. A medium paced 'rAkA sashivadanA' in rAgam takka was presented next, after which he announced the rAgam and sang the ArOHanam-avarOHanam. Possibly he saw a few quizzical looks, which augurs well too, in the sense that not many are searching the internet on their mobile, but trying to figure on their own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then came the main item for the evening in bhairavi. After the first phrase, he seemed to be motivated into a higher level, that the gloves were off... eh, I mean he took off his spectacles. Maybe he wanted everything to just flow freely. Manodharma unfettered! This was followed by sari evvarammA of Shri Shyama Sastri in kanDa jAti jhampa tALam. The neraval and kalpanaswarams were followed by a brilliant tani avartanam by Harikumar and KVG, where lot of nuanced korvais were played (though I don't understand much), as thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed by all the 4 artists! The two also ensured that after 2 exchanges, they did not go into regular kuraippu exchanges, but played the closing laya vinyAsam together, before Saketharaman continued with repeat of caranam 1, followed by the svara sAHityam in two speeds. A complete rendition of bhairavi and combined with laya vinyAsam - total satisfaction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of course, this is not enough for us, right? Clock said we had 50 minutes to go - giving lot of comfort that a rAgam-tAnam-pallavi is definitely in store for us. He presented a short sArangA composition 'kaNmaNiyE shollaDi' of Shri Mazhavai Chidambara Bharati, before the spectacles came off again (to stay off till end of concert). The ghana rAgam Arabhi was chosen for the rAgam-tAnam-pallavi, the entire AlApanai for which was presented in one stretch. The tAnam was presented in four parts - after the first part in Arabhi, Saketharaman chose kANaDa and shubhapantuvarALi for the next two parts, before returning to Arabhi to close it. The pallavi was set to tisra jAti jhampa tALam in kanDa nadai - ArabhimAnam vaittAdarippAr angayarkanni. They made it look so simple! After singing in different gaits, Saketharaman started the kalpana swarams in rItigowLa, sUryA, and bAgEshri, before the final set in Arabhi. With all these variations & detail presentation, he still managed to finish it leaving time for couple of tukkaDAs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The rAgamAlikai 'kaNNanai kANbadeppO' in HamsAnandi, nATTakurinji, shuddha dhanyAsi and AbhOgi was followed by the paras tillAnA before the mangaLam. Melodious music, good setting of acoustics, free flowing manOdharma, all 4 stalwarts - everything contributed to a very happy evening! Look forward to listening to them for many more years to come.</span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-87525717053317924512019-12-22T07:41:00.000+05:302019-12-22T07:41:17.076+05:30MMS2019-02 - Trivandrum Dr. G Baby Sreeram at Music Academy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We had the pleasure of enjoying a well planned concert of Dr. Baby at the Music Academy, on 19 December 2019. She was accompanied by Vidushi Padma Shankar on the violin, Vidwan Nellai A Balaji on the Mridangam and Malaikottai R M Deenadayalu on the Moharsing. The morning concert began on the dot at 9 AM, as we sat listening from the canteen - yeah, we were a bit late & had to listen to the first two compositions from there. The clarity was muffled by the pedestal fans and general chatter - so could not identify the kalyANi varnam (probably the aTa tALam varnam) and a popular shrIranjani kriti (the caranam was clearer but hands were busy stuffing the mouth; instead of noting the lyrics on pad / mobile).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We were comfortably seated in the back rows when Baby presented a serene version of the sowrAshTram based kriti 'shrI ranganAtuDE', of Thiru Ponnaiah Pillai. The first detail exposition for the concert was danyAsi, where Baby's delineation was dripping with bhAvAm and followed well by Padma. The kriti 'shOdippadenna nyAyamA' composed by Shri Neelakanta Sivan was sung in detail with neraval and kaplanaswarams to give justice to this choice. Then, after a brief AlApanai in kaNNaDA, Baby sang the rarely heard (at least for me) Saint Thyagaraja kriti 'sAkEta nikEtana'.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Dr Baby Sreeram and Team in progress</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ShanmukhapriyA was taken up as the main rAgam for the morning, with a different start off point than I have heard so far. From this and other details displayed in pallavi of the day, it was clear that Baby had planned novelty while sticking to the patantaram and melody of music. After her detail essay, Padma presented a compact version of the rAgam too, followed by the kriti 'mAmava karuNayA', a Maharaja Swathi Tirunal composition set to misra cApu tALam. Neraval and kalpanaswarams were compact too, and then we realized that the laya vinyAsam was going to follow, though it was just about 10:30 AM (1:30 hours into the concert). Both Balaji and Deenadayalu gave a good detail vinyAsam in the misra cApu tALam, with some interesting starting and landing points, as they were not on the samam. In my opinion, it takes quite a bit of practice and vidwath to be able to do that. Looking at the time utilized judiciously by the team, we were sure the next item would be a rAgam-tAnam-pallavi (45 minutes to go in the time allotted).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Baby took up sAvEri rAgam for the pallavi, the rAgam covered in one single stretch. The tAnam was sung & played well by Baby & Padma respectively in alternate phases initially and ending in an complementary sequence. Baby announced that it is a simple pallavi and hence not going to explain - an Adi tALam pallavi in kanDa naDai, which went 'enakkoru varam nI aruL shabEshA, vEriDam Edum illai abhaya'. As the pUrvAngam ended with shabEshA, in one avartanam she highlighted the name of the rAgam by ending instead at "shabE'shA vEri'". After the tri-kAlam presentation she directly moved to rAgamAlikai presentation of the pallavi and kalpanaswarams in each of the following rAgams. The first choice was 'varamu' (shuddha HindOLam), which again she highlighted a bit in one cycle at 'enakkoru varamu'. The other rAgams in sequence were Anandabhairavi, varALi, kAmbhOji and HamsAnandi. Following this she presented the kalpanaswarams in sAveri and then all the rAgamAlikai swarams (one avartanam each) in reverse order. By the end of the rAgam-tAnam-pallavi rasikAs would have definitely understood the nuanced presentation that had been planned and executed. Kudos to Baby & Padma for including this comfortably in the two-and-half-hour concert.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After a short viruttam in HindOLam and rEvati, Baby sang 'ariyAdadEnO umadarumai' in rEvati (kanDa cApu tALam) - could not find the composer in my limited searches. Maybe a composition of her own (or her husband Palakkad Sreeram?). And it closed exactly on the dot, as the clock literally flipped to 11:30 AM.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A scan of the audience showed lot of artists, young-and-old, junior-and-top-grade, etc. From this and a few other indicators (the booklet of all concerts in Chennai showing at least 50+ per day), we are assured that some journalists (writing in prominent newspapers) are either in a cocoon, blind, in denial, or have an agenda of promoting some specific group(s), when they say that Carnatic music's flag is being held high only by the efforts of the specific group(s).</span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-21896452032999730722019-12-21T20:33:00.000+05:302019-12-23T06:47:41.019+05:30MMS2019-01 - Veenai Vidwan Ramana Balachandran at CMI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Veenai Vidwan Ramana Balachandran at CMI</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On Wednesday, 18 December, 2019, at Chennai Mathematical Institute, Ramana performed a Veenai recital along with Vidwan Arvind Ranganathan on the Mridangam. This was a pleasant concert in the Auditorium with good acoustics. He began the evening's proceedings with Saint Thyagaraja kriti 'ninnE bhajana' in nATTa rAgam, after a brief AlApanai. This was followed by a good AlApanai in bhairavi before presenting Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar's panca bhUta stala kriti 'cintaya mA kanda mUlakandam', on the pritvi lingam in Kanchipuram.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">AlApanai in full flow</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After the detail bhairavi came aTu kArAdani in the rAgam manOranjani, another composition of Saint Thyagaraja. The fourth rAgam played was nATTakurinji, in brief, before the song 'vazhi maraittirukkudE' of Shri Gopalakrishna Bharathi was rendered. In each of the four compositions, Ramana sang the pallavi, anupallavi & caranam in brief, before playing all the sangatis, as seems to be his style of recital.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The detail presentation of the evening was kalyANi. Ramana was in his elements and explored this heavyweight rAgam in full detail, immersed in the rAgam and thoroughly enjoyed it, as did we. The Maharaja Swathi Tirunal kriti, 'pankaja lOcana' set to misra cApu tALam was the song chosen for the evening. After the song, the kalpanaswarams were played in alternate manner, whereby the mridangist played the korvai after each veenai exposition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Next came a short interlude of the bindu mAlini kriti of Saint Thyagaraja, 'enta muddO', before he announced a short rAgam tAnam pallavi in brindAvani. He revelled in presenting the rAgam and tAnam in this rAgam, before singing a few Avartanams of the pallavi - 'gurunAtA aruNa gurunAtA ramaNA karuNA saccidAnanda' set to Eka tALam in misra naDai (if identification of tALam is wrong, mistake is mine). The pallavi was played in three kAlams as well as a few technical variations (as a layman, don't know much of that). This was followed by detail kalpanaswarams and the laya vinyAsam by Arvind. Arvind took his time to demonstrate the various gatis and kAlapramAnams over full 10 minutes & showed his prowess.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ramana then closed the concert by playing a kriti in saHAnA before the traditional 'mangaLam' and 'aruNAcala shiva' bhajan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are many rasikAs who really appreciate Ramana's vocal rendition of portions of each song, before completing all the different sangatis on the veenai. The composition is then identified for the rasikAs and we can appreciate more. He has a very good voice and control too, to really do a great job in singing. However, in my opinion, the singing of anupallavi / caranam(s) are small check-dams in the smooth flow of the river. Somehow the mood of the kriti seems to get disturbed a bit by the switch to vocal 2 or 3 times for each composition. I would like to get more people's opinion on this aspect of the veenai recital.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Overall a nice conert in a superb auditorium with excellent acoustics, with bhairavi, kalyANi and brindAvani played very well and in detail.</span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-68015997593319752052019-11-03T10:47:00.000+05:302019-11-03T10:49:46.445+05:304 Concerts during Navaratri at Malleshwaram<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As part of <u>Jagadguru Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal's Avatara Mahotsav</u> held in <b>Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Shankara Matam</b>, Malleshwaram, every year, 10 concerts were held during the Navatri period this year. Following up on the earlier posts covering other concerts, here are the notes of the remaining 4.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The concerts on 6th to 9th days of the Mahotsav featured excellent concerts of <b>Smt Gayatri Venkatraghavan</b> (Friday, 4th Oct), <b>Vidwans Mysore brothers</b> (Saturday, 5th Oct), <b>Shri Abhishek Raghuram</b> (Sunday, 6th Oct) and on Saraswati Poojai evening <b>Shri Rajesh Vaidya</b> (Monday, 7th Oct). Each of these concerts had a unique touch. While the artists in the first two of these concerts asked the audience to suggest the compositions to be rendered, right at the beginning of the concert, the next two concerts seemed like predominantly artist choice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Smt Gayatri Venkatraghavan</b> began the concert with shlokam in rAgams yamunA kalyANi and nATa, before taking up the nATa kriti <u>pAHimAm shrI rAjarajEshvari</u> set to tisra gati Adi tALam a composition of Shri Shyama Sastri. She then took up Shri Uthukkadu Venkatasubbayyar's <u>navAvarna kriti in kalyANi</u>, <u>vAcasiyadi</u>. A brief AlApanai of kamalAmanOHari by her and Shri C N Chandrasekar was followed by <u>kancadalAyadAkshi</u> composed by Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar. Another of his lilting compositions followed, <u>amba nIlayatAkshi</u> set to nIlAmbari rAgam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>tAyE tripura sunDari</u> composed by Shri Periyasami Thooran, set to shuddha sAvEri rAgam was followed by an elaborate presentation of bhairavi. The main composition for the day was <u>janani mAmava</u>, which was followed by a compact laya vinyAsam by Delhi Sairam. His accompaniment throughout the evening was in step with the prayerful mood of the concert. Then there was a flurry of small kritis, per the requests from various rasikas in the audience. <u>nAn oru viLayATTu bommaiyA</u> in navarasakannaDa, <u>kanakashaila viHAri</u> in punnAgavarALi, a tirupugazh on Maha Periyava (<u>vEdam nAnginai kaTRu kodutta</u>) in cencuruTTi followed by <u>tUmani mADattu</u> in HamIr kalyANi were soulful renditions. The concert was closed by brisk rendition of tiruppugazh <u>agaramum Agi</u> in sindhubhairavi and <u>karpagamE</u> in madhyamAvati.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The following day, on the <u>birthday of Shri Mysore Manjunath</u>, the concert of the <b>Mysore brothers Shri Nagaraj and Shri Manjunath</b> was held at the matam. They were accompanied by Shri Thiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam on mridangam and Shri Sundar Kumar on the kanjira. In this concert, they presented the compositions in leisurely manner and gave elaborate treatment for each AlApanai and rendition. We thoroughly enjoyed the 4 pieces played on the day. The concert began with a very sedate Anandabhairavi AlApanai followed by <u>marivErE</u>, a composition of Shri Shyama Sastri. vAcaspati was the second rAgam played by the brothers, and the composition chosen was <u>parAtparA paramEshvarA</u>. The third song of the evening was Maharaja Swathi Tirunal kriti, <u>sArasAksha</u>, after detail delineation of pantuvarALi.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As per audience request, a <u>rAgam tAnam pallavi in beHAg</u> was played by the Mysore brothers, with the pallavi line being <u>dEvi shrI tripura sundari kAmAkshi</u>, set to Adi tAlam. Very traditional touches were played, as well as some Hindustani style sangatis. This was followed by rAgamAlika swarams in kAnaDA, sAvEri, Arabhi, which led on to a flourish of nAgaswaram-concert-like tandem rAgamAlika swarams for 1 avartanam or 1/2 avartanam in a myriad of rAgams. This type of tandem rAgamAlika swarams I have not heard from other instrumentalists, except the nAgaswaram. <i><b>Rasikas may kindly comment</b></i> on whether this type of playing rAgamAlika is a regular feature from the Mysore brothers, or others in instrumental concerts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On 6th October, it was an overflowing hall for <b>Shri Abhishek Raghuram's</b> concert, accompanied by Shri Vittal Ramamurthy (violin), Shri Thiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam (mridangam) and Shri Alathur Rajaganesh (kanjira). The concert started with a sedate shankarAbharanam AlApanai followed by somber rendition of <u>svara rAga sudhA</u>. The second song rendered was <u>sUryamUrtE</u> on the Sunday evening, the navagraHa kriti in sowrAshTram composed by Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar. With a brief and crisp AlApanai in jayantasEna, Shri Abhishek took up <u>vinatAsuta vAHana</u>, a composition of Saint Thyagaraja.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shri Abhishek then sang a brief kIravANi followed by the Appar tEvAram '<u>vAnanai mathi sUDiya</u>' (Thiruvannamalai kshetram), starting off from the second half of the verse. The next song chosen was <u>jAlandara supItastitE</u>, in valaci rAgam, a composition of Shri Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavatar, which was sung from the anupallavi after a brief AlApanai.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The first major elaboration of AlApanai was reserved for dEvagAndhAri. After both the artists had completed the AlApanai, Shri Abhishek took another minute to explore a few phrases in the upper octave as though he felt he had missed it in the initial AlApanai. He took up from the anupallavi of <u>shAradE vINA vAdana</u>, that is, at <u>nArada jananI catur nAyaki</u>, a composition of Shri Papanasam Sivan. This was followed by an excellent laya vinyAsam by Shri Bhaktavatsalam and Shri Rajaganesh, where the mridangist even goaded the other to complete some interesting korvais. At the ending korvai of one exchange Shri Rajaganesh's closure indicated a start of next pattern. Catching the pattern, Shri Bhaktavatsalam asked him to complete it, even if it seemed to extend beyond the usual exchanges.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Following this major item, Shri Abhishek sang two kritis of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar. A soulful and slow presentation of <u>rEnukAdEvi samrakshitOHam</u> in kannaDa bangALa and <u>bruHadIsvarO rakshatu mAm</u> in gAnasAmavarALi (gAnamUrti). These seemed to indicate that we may have a second major song to follow. He sang a short AlApanai in Anandabhairavi, and then rendered <u>nanganallUr ezhundaruL sarva mangaLE rAjarajEshvari</u>, <i>beginning with the caranam 'un perumaiyonDrum ariyEn'</i>, a composition of Shri Papanasam Sivan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As time seemed to be running out, as it was already 9:10 PM or so (with most concerts ending between 9:10 and 9:30), the artist decided to take up an elaborate AlApanai of kalyANi. So, the lack of tukkadas seemed to rightly indicate that there was more to the concert. And what a kalyANi it was. Both Shri Abhishek and Shri Ramamurthy gave full justice to this majestic rAgam without any glance at the clock. Shri Pallavi Gopala Iyer's <u>nIdu carana pankajamulE</u> was the second elaborate composition of the evening. With the neraval and kalpana svarams, it was a full hour rendition of this piece. Shri Abhishek however indicated to the accompanists half-way through, that this would be the last item for the day. If Shri Rajaganesh did not have to rush to catch a bus / train, there may have been a second laya vinyAsam, as per Shri Abhishek's initial indications. The percussion artists closed the item with a very short kuraippu, following which the mangaLam was sung, well beyond 10 PM! A superb treat for all the rasikas, many of whom stood through a major portion of the concert!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Saraswati poojai evening was graced by a vINai concert, quite appropriate offering to the Goddess of Learning. <b>Shri Rajesh Vaidya</b> was accompanied by percussionists Shri Mohana Ram on mridangam, Shri Praveen Narayanan on the tabla and Shri Sai Hari on the ghatam. This concert was a typical fast paced offering from Shri Rajesh Vaidya, with many of the regular compositions suited for the instrument. He began with obeisance to all Periyavas with <u>endarO maHAnubhAvulu</u>, followed by brisk renditions of <u>nIdaya rAdhA</u> in vasantabhairavi and <u>telisi rAma</u> in pUrnacandrikA. Then came the first AlApanai of amrutavarshini followed by Shri Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavatar's <u>sudhAmayI sudhAnidE</u>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He then alternated the brisk <u>manavyAlakim</u> in naLinakAnti, a slow simHendra madhyamam kriti <u>kAmAkshi kAmakOTi</u> (of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar), and a fast <u>raghuvamsha sudhA</u> in kadanakutUHalam. He next announced he would render a rAgam tAnam pallavi, and the rAgam chosen was pantuvarALi. A brilliant and elaborate rendition, with some gimmicks of playing long sangatis with single hand included, was followed by the pallavi on Mahaperiyava Jagadguru Chandrashekara Swamigal - '<u>aruL tarum jagadguru candrashEkarA anusham dinattil avadaritta</u>' in Adi tALam. Elaborate kalpanaswarams and a boisterous laya vinyasam by the three percussionists rounded off this RTP. The laya vinyasam also included Shri Rajesh Vaidya's participation with some appropriate strumming at the end of korvais.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The concert rolled forward with several instrumental favorites, like ratipatipriya composition <u>jagatjanani</u> of Shri Ghanam Krishna Iyer, <u>bArO krishnayyA</u> of Shri Purandaradasa in rAgamAlika, <u>bhO shambhO</u> of Guru Dayanand Saraswati in rEvati, <u>venkatAcala nilayam</u> in sindhubhairavi and <u>krishnA nI bEganE</u> in yamunA kalyANi. Shri Rajesh Vaidya rounded off the concert with the wonderful <u>maitrIm bhajata</u>, poem of Mahaperiyava Jagadguru Chandrashekara Swamigal, continuing onto <u>veda chanting phrases</u> and concluding with <u>candrashEkarA IshA</u> in sindhubhairavi.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have only two concerns about the two instrumental concerts. The addition of technology to provide different effects, with second output directly from the instrument, amplification, etc., were a bit intrusive in this smaller hall. Those may work out to be excellent presentations in bigger auditoriums which have good acoustics. However, these could have been appropriately adjusted for this simple hall of the matam. At times, the sound engineer could not perfectly adjust the artist-provided additional equipment to work along with regular equipment. Loudness, some interferences, etc., caused unnecessary interruptions, which can be avoided.</span></div>
VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-85743980335589229122019-10-23T20:45:00.000+05:302019-11-10T20:44:16.380+05:30gItam 'varavINA mrdu pANi' as first elaboration of concert<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On 8th October, 2019, <span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-weight: 600;">Vidwan Sikkil Gurucharan</span> concluded the <span class="_4yxr" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">85th Avatara Mahotsava, of Jagadguru Jayendra Saraswati, at Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Shankara Matam in Malleshwaran</span> with an excellent concert. He was accompanied by <span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-weight: 600;">Vidwan C N Chandrasekhar</span> on the violin and <span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-weight: 600;">Vidwan Sumesh Narayanan</span> on the Mridangam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Vidwan Gurucharan wished everyone on the occasion of Vijayadashami and mentioned that since he was singing last in the series, most ragams and songs may have been explored already. He was in a difficult position and would do the best possible. He definitely excelled in that effort and </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">we were treated to a very melodious concert with many intricacies included too</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He began the concert with a very short AlApanai as introduction to </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">nirOshTA rAgam </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">before he announced that he will take up </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shri Tanjavur S Kalyanaraman's varnam in the rAgam</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> that begins with 'kannin maNiyE'. The beauty of this rAgam and the various cittaswarams rendered added to the good beginning of the concert. He then took up the </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">durgA pancaratnam</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, composed by </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jagadguru Shri Chandrasekhara Saraswati</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, which is well known from Srimathi M S Subbulakshmi's renditions. This is set to </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">karnAtaka shuddha sAvEri</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> rAgam (S R1 M1 P D1 S, a janya of kanakAngi the first mELakartA), and sung in kaNDa cApu tALam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For the first elaboration of the evening (I am not a fan of terms like sub-main), Vidwan Gurucharan took up </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">mOHanam</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. The AlApanai was quite thorough and Shri Chandrasekhar also played a good follow-up in this rAgam. Then came the surprise of detail rendition of the </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">mOHanam gItam</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">varavINA mrdu pANi</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. He rendered in a kriti style, with extended sangatis of each line and all the gamakams allowed in mOHanam. If one did not know that this is a gItam, they would have mistaken it for a kriti. He included neraval at the starting line itself and followed by kalpanaswarams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After the rendition he mentioned that his gurus have always asked him and fellow students to sing gItams on Vijayadashami day as part of their start to the next year of learning. He also encouraged the many young children in the hall to keep practicing the basics regularly. Finally, he also mentioned that this was the </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">first time he was rendering the nirOshTA varnam and the mOHanam gItam in a concert</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Next he sang </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">parvatarAja kumAri</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> in </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">shrIranjani</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> composed by </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. This medium tempo song led us to the second exploration of the evening. </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">nAsikAbhUshani</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> was the chosen rAgam for presentation and Vidwan Gurucharan sang beautifully. Vidwan Chandrasekhar also followed-up with his AlApanai in this rAgam nicely. The extended step by step rendition made us think it would be the main piece for the evening. </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">mAravairi ramaNi</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, a composition of </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Saint Thyagaraja</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, was taken up and they did full justice to the song. Vidwan Sumesh Narayanan provided very soft and appropriate support along with the mood set by the two artists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The main rAgam for the day was </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">tODi</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> which, he had been informed by the organizer in the matam, was not presented in elaborate form by anyone earlier in the 9 concerts of the festival. It was a melodious and brilliant AlApanai by both the artists. Included in the AlApanai by Vidwan Gurucharan was a rendition of </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">akArams without the shadjam and pancamam</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, leading to the </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">mOHanam scale</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, with the tonic note set to ri of tODi, for a couple of minutes, before dramatically introducing the shadjam again to bring us back to the world of tODi. They presented </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ninnE namminAnu sadA</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> of </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shri Shyama Sastri</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, set to misra cApu tALam. The neraval at kAmAkshi kancadaLAya tAkshi was beautiful followed by kalpanaswarams and the </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">thorough laya vinyAsam of Vidwan Sumesh</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. Rain was pouring heavily by this time, as though the goddess was very pleased with their music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In contrast to many concerts, where experiments lead to phases of loudness overtaking the musicality, this was one of the few concerts where melody and softness of music were the only focus. The sound engineer had also set the speaker settings at a nice medium level (I hear many artists are to blame for requesting loud settings in many places; and in some cases each artist in the team asking for their mic output to be increased, like a competition).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Vidwan Gurucharan concluded the concert with two songs - first a </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">rAgamAlika composed by Shri N S Chidambaram</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, in which the names of the rAgams appear, and the </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">shrI rAgam kamalAmba navAvarnam</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span><span class="_4yxo" style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">shrI kamalAmbikE </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">with the mangaLam. The rAgams in the rAgamAlika are jaganmOHini, Anandabhairavi, sunAdavinOdini, kIravANi, kalyANi, nAyaki, ranjani and dEvagAndhAri.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now, what happened to the other 9 concerts? Well, I had earlier posted brief notes about 3 of the first 4 concerts. I will followup this post with notes on the 4 other concerts of 4th-7th October, in the coming days.</span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-69565395986736392492019-10-23T20:34:00.000+05:302019-12-16T05:14:36.604+05:30Laya Vinyasam treat - Guru Karaikudi Mani and Vidwan Giridhar Udupa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On 3rd October, Guruvaaram, at Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Shankara Matam, we were given a special treat of <b><span class="_4yxr" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">laya vinyAsam by Guru Karaikudi Mani on Mridangam and Vidwan Giridhar Udupa on the Ghatam</span>.</b> I haven't heard a better laya vinyAsam live, where both the artists not only played intricate patterns, but also were completely in synchronization on all the long korvais that they played together. Whether it was superb anticipation of Vidwan Udupa to the Guru's playing or whether it is his knowledge and vidwat over period of time to know what the Guru would play, only the artists or experts can enlighten us. In most concerts, we have the followers trying to anticipate / guess the main laya vidwan, which leads to either gaps during unsure steps, or alternate korvai being played in parallel. Here, it was not the case at all. In each round of exchange, both the vidwans joined in last few avartanams and played the exact korvai in total syncronization. The final joint exposition by both ,over many minutes, was perfect & complete as a team! No difference in korvais. Amazing. <span class="_4yxr" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">I wonder if anyone would have a recording, so others can enjoy this treat too!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Coming back to the complete series of concerts, this laya vinyAsam was included in the Carnatic vocal concert of </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><b>Vidwan Kunnakudi M Balamuralikrishna, accompanied by Vidwan H N Bhaskar on the Violin</b></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">. This was a very good concert, as can be expected from such stalwarts. Earlier, </span><u>Guru Karaikudi Mani was honoured by the Matam on occasion of Anusha nakshatram and guruvaaram, beginning his 75th year</u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">. Coincidentally, this matam in Malleshwaram was begun in the 75th year of Jagadguru Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal, now celebrating his avatara's 85th year in this mahotsav.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmCa1R8EI0J5zhwOy0hvG7VpFq_hIHZlIHzEcBi_LcWdUjAGqGwRxrkjSDt6sUVP_npT0VV3SXiWChSysYaEgNpPBXRS07iusjRQ6P3lzUTqFjVbx8SrjrRrAfIl2UXpudbraPRsNEwyp/s1600/20191003_185113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmCa1R8EI0J5zhwOy0hvG7VpFq_hIHZlIHzEcBi_LcWdUjAGqGwRxrkjSDt6sUVP_npT0VV3SXiWChSysYaEgNpPBXRS07iusjRQ6P3lzUTqFjVbx8SrjrRrAfIl2UXpudbraPRsNEwyp/s200/20191003_185113.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: normal;">After felicitation of Guru Karaikudi Mani, he recounted some memorable interactions with Maha Periyava... Including how HIS touch of his injured hand, with multiple plates and screws, became better quickly and within a month he started playing again... and he is still playing with all the plates and screws in his hand.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Vidwan K M BMK made a <u>nice choice of compositions, each from a different composer</u>. Beginning with <i>viribOni</i> in bhairavi, he chose gowLa kriti on <i>maHagaNapati</i> by Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar. A brief AlApanai in asAveri followed by <i>shrI kAnci nAyikE</i> by Annaswami Shastri was the third item for the day. A viruttam-like rendition of a Purandara Dasa lyric in Purvikalyani was followed by another kriti of same composer <i>mAnava janma doDDadu</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; white-space: pre-wrap;">A brisk </span><i>sarasa sAma dhAna</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in kApi narAyani was followed by the main for the day in madhyamAvati. Being navarathri mahotsav, </span><i>pAlimcu kAmAkshi</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Shyama Sastri was the main. As mentioned before, the laya vinyAsam that followed was a treat I have never felt in ANY concert - ever. The last two items were a kriti in HamIr kalyANi of Kamalesha vittala folowed by the brindAvani tillAnA of Dr. M Balamuralikrishna. A complete veritable feast from the stalwarts.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">On the previous day, the 2nd October, Wednesday, another good concert was held, rendered by </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Vidushi Sangeetha Sivakumar</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> accompanied by </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Vidwan RK Shriram Kumar on violin, Vidwan Sivaraman on Mridangam and Vidwan Guruprasanna on kanjira</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">. Beginning with </span><i>vidulaku mrokkeda</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">, a Saint Thyagaraja kriti in mAyAmALavagowLa, she gave a brief AlApanai in jayantasEna followed by </span><i>vinatasuta vAHana</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">. The third song was prefaced by a good AlApanai from both, in bEgaDA, </span><i>shankari nIvE</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> being the appropriate kriti for the day.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLRS3WBjMe3U9wXvNpZKYmrSi0qQgXwrBLxYBC3ydKuDWTpHiInQ-tKV32RpvhrwX4GDLMSavYDva3yu1f2m86-xsHNlM737h9-mT9WPHNUJ_N8-aKdyaFjWjQBoxKWVAvsVsjo-zv0dHV/s1600/20191002_190422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1000" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLRS3WBjMe3U9wXvNpZKYmrSi0qQgXwrBLxYBC3ydKuDWTpHiInQ-tKV32RpvhrwX4GDLMSavYDva3yu1f2m86-xsHNlM737h9-mT9WPHNUJ_N8-aKdyaFjWjQBoxKWVAvsVsjo-zv0dHV/s400/20191002_190422.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Then a brief </span><i>dEvi brova samayamidE</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> in cintAmani was followed by very detail presentation of pUrvi kalyANi. </span><i>mInAkshi mEmudam dEHi</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> was sung in detail with usual neraval and kalpanaswarams, followed by the laya vinyAsam. The last three items for the day were </span><i>pUnkuyil kUvum</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> of Kalki Krishnamurthi in kApi, </span><i>innudaya bAradE</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> in kalyAnavasantam (prefaced by viruttam in HindOlam, saHAnA and kalyAnavasantam) and an abhang, </span><i>dhAva vibhO karunAkara mAdhava</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">, in yamunAkalyANi. The audience were suddenly left in lurch as she indicated the concert had ended.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Everyone was confused and people dispersed without any claps, leave alone an ovation. That was a bit odd, especially as the good concert seemed to end unappreciated. She has a booming voice and resonated in the hall. Hope the modified structure of such concert is explained to the audience for everyone's better understanding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The 2nd concert of the series held earlier on 30th September, was by </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Vidushis Akkarai sisters Subhalakshmi and Swarnalatha</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">. This concert had a very meditative tone, both in terms of choice of kritis as well as the renditions. It seemed very appropriate for a presentation at the matam's hall with Ambal's sannidi. They began the concert with tODi svarajati of Shyama Sastri, </span><i>rAvE Himagiri kumAri</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">. That set the pace and the mood for the entire concert. </span><i>sItammA mAyamma</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> in vasantA was the next song presented, followed by a very detail AlApanai of naganandini. </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Vidushi H M Smitha</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> also presented a crisp version of the AlApanai. This AlApanai was followed by a </span><i>composition of Akkarai Swarnalatha in naganandini</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">, the lyrics of which I am not sure of - so I am not mentioning here. </span><span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Vidwans Jayachandra Rao (mridangam) and Lakshminarayanan (mohrsing)</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> played very well within the same mood of the concert with apt accompaniment.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_E5vw2uSGMrD2n9fp9EgbLPv6ITB_0ar-AOM2CTluLcmXKz_tAu_h3pllyC832uGyX0hDAr8Czt2pGHDvqyzg_PeOItJdrHeZr0K-pHZHakcMBguqtT8anV_iHKJ9kWzgiZI5o7wFkwL/s1600/20190930_185956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="1000" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_E5vw2uSGMrD2n9fp9EgbLPv6ITB_0ar-AOM2CTluLcmXKz_tAu_h3pllyC832uGyX0hDAr8Czt2pGHDvqyzg_PeOItJdrHeZr0K-pHZHakcMBguqtT8anV_iHKJ9kWzgiZI5o7wFkwL/s400/20190930_185956.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The sisters surprised us by singing </span></span><i>HiranmayIm</i><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> in lalitA (as they had sung vasantA as second item). The main rAgam chosen was kalyANi, the AlApanai of which was followed by a viruttam (vandE mAtaram ambikAm) before taking up </span></span><i>kamalAmbAm bhajarE</i><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. Another new composition we heard was one of their grandfather (<u>Suchindram Shri S P Sivasubramaniam bhagavatar</u>) <i>kalai amudam</i>, in rAgam nIlamani. Then came <i>pAlaya vEnkata ramanA</i> in a north Indian rAgam, probably related to shubhapantuvarALi. This was set by Hyderabad sisters, they announced. They completed the concert by singing <i>karpagamE</i> in madhyamAvati followed by mangaLam.</span></span></span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-21412504000014134342019-02-18T15:59:00.000+05:302019-02-18T15:59:49.931+05:30Excellent concert of Vidwan Sunil Gargyan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Anna Nagar Music Circle Trust</i></b> hosted <b>Vidwan Sunil Gargyan</b> for the February concert, accompanied by veteran violinist <b>Vidwan V V Ravi</b>, <b>Vidwan Trivandrum V Balaji</b> on Mridangam and <b>Vidwan V Sivaramakrishnan</b> on the kanjira. It was heartening to see the hall was nearly full on Sunday evening (17 February).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Vidwan Sunil began the concert with the <a href="https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8315" target="_blank">navarAgamAlikA varnam</a> 'valaci vaci'. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The second item was in rAgam ShanmuKapriyA, which he outlined briefly in a short AlApanai, before rendition of '<a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c5994.shtml" target="_blank">siddhi vinAyakam</a>' of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar, in rUpaka tALam, at a fast pace. It was in a very fast clip, wherein he and Vidwan Ravi presented well, though a slower rendition can allow to bring out more beauty in this composition and the rAgam. The kalpana swarams rendered by both of them were breathtaking, as it was in the same high speed.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Picture courtesy : Secretary Srikanth Krishnamurthy</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Vidwan Sunil chose to give a good AlApanai of saHAnA to start the third song for the day. Both he and Vidwan Ravi brought out the melodious rAgam very well before the rendition of Shri Gopalakrishna Bharathi's lyrics '</span><a href="https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19410" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank">tillai ambalatAnai</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">'. After the song, Vidwan Sunil announced that the composition was set to saHAnA by Vidwan Sanjay Subrahmanyan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fourth rAgam began with a brilliant AlApanai of pUrna shadjam. The elaborate AlApanai by him and Shri Ravi were excellent and brought out the full facet of this rAgam. Even though there are some swara sancArAs similar to allied rAgams, there was no doubt left that he was singing pUrna shadjam only by using its own unique phrases. '<a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c2528.shtml" target="_blank">lAvanya rAmA</a>', a composition of Shri Thyagaraja set to rUpaka tALam, was the kriti that was sung. Following it, a brisk rendition of a rare malayamArutam kriti <a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c1363.shtml" target="_blank">danuDevvuDO dAsharatE</a> was presented followed by a vilambita kAlam '<a href="http://sangeethasampradarshini.blogspot.com/2011/05/05-chetah-shri-balakrishnam-epitome-of.html" target="_blank">cEtah shri bAlakrishnam</a>' in dwijAvanti of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The rAgam varALi was chosen for exploration. Vidwan Sunil presented it well and Vidwan Ravi followed it with a compact AlApanai showing his prowess on the violin. The song that was sung, '<a href="http://guru-guha.blogspot.com/2008/04/dikshitar-kriti-mamava-meenakshi-raga.html" target="_blank">mAmava mInAkshi</a>' is a composition of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar set to mishra Eka tALam. A brisk '<a href="http://www.karnatik.com/c3455.shtml" target="_blank">idi nyAyamA shrI rAmacandrA</a>' in rAgam mALavi, composed by Shri Patnam Subramanya Iyer was the interlude before the grand main item for the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A very elaborate presentation of kApi AlApanai was a treat for all of us. The ease with which he covered the tri-stAyis and full throated singing without holding back was thoroughly enjoyed by us. Vidwan Ravi followed up with a shorter and crisp kApi. We hoped it would be '<a href="http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.com/2007/07/thyagaraja-kriti-intha-saukhyamani-raga.html" target="_blank">inta sowkhya maninE</a>' and it was indeed this composition of Shri Thyagaraja. The last time I heard it as a main song of the concert was in the 90s! Loved this treat which rounded off a nice choice of kritis. Excellent neraval at 'swara rAga laya' was sung, followed by kalpana swarams too. The tani avartanam that followed was very elaborate and nuanced too. Vidwan Balaji showed so many variations on the mridangam, while Vidwan Sivaramakrishnan chose to present some lightning strokes, which for me were unbelievable. To be able to roll them out with one hand, while other percussion instruments have two hands to bring out the similar sol was breathtaking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The tukkaDa section of the concert included <a href="https://karnatik.com/c8741.shtml" target="_blank">vandu kEtpAr illayO</a>, a rAgamAlikA set to HindOLam, aTAnA and bilaHari, a composition of Shri Oothukkadu Venkatasubbaiyar (I believe; Vidwan Sunil announced as Smt. Ambujam Krishna; experts can help here) and khaMAs rAga viruttam followed by <a href="https://karnatik.com/c9379.shtml" target="_blank">karpUram nArumO</a> in kanda cApu tALam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was one of the satisfying concerts and evening well spent for us. We could see that Vidwan Sunil has a bright future ahead.</span></div>
VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-25504700924618524322019-01-05T21:11:00.000+05:302019-01-05T21:11:16.005+05:30December Music Season 2018 - Tidbits - Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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(Few hits, but a lot more misses in this part)<span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vidushi Gayatri Girish</span></td></tr>
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The season brings not only music, but our enjoyment of others’ behaviour in social encounters as well. Or suffer a sting, if we falter in sticking to the high expectations of the rasika fraternity these events.</div>
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<span class="_4yxo" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;">Let me start with a heartening thing </span>that we noticed. <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">6 or 8 or 10 year olds sitting on the dais, taking notes and more importantly keeping the tALam impeccably</span> throughout the concert indicates that we can be assured a continued lineage of interest in Carnatic Music. The music will be handed down and carried forward with interest generation after generation, I am sure. See below picture from Shri Abhishek Raghuram's concert at Narada Gana Sabha. Someone had posted on FB, of a boy playing a phantom Mridangam, in the Music Academy, while seated behind the Mridangist.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vidwan Sruthi Sagar Flute, Vidwan Abhishek Raghuram Vocal and Vidwam Anantha R Krishnan mridangam</span></td></tr>
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<span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">The joyful season it is in Chennai</span>. It is the time to dress up in choice attire, just like we do for an important function in the immediate family. Deck ourselves in neatly creased dresses, jewellery to match, other accoutrements that synchronize, etc. Having said this, I <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">unfortunately</span> did not notice anything significant to report. Somehow eyes and the brain of the beholder did not behold properly.</div>
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One of things I loved is that many artists attended others' concerts. Wait. Or was it always the norm - and only now I am able to identify a few artists in the crowd? Having attended very few concerts in first 15 years of this century, maybe I cannot come to conclusion - <span class="_4yxr" style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: underline;">I would like to know the inputs from our fellow rasikas on this aspect</span>.</div>
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Why not <span class="_4yxo" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;">some change to attend some dramas</span>, we thought. Dramas and dances are also on the cards for December season. We enjoyed a sparsely attended <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">3ji</span> of <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">Shri Y G Mahendran</span>, and decently attended <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">Crazy Premier League</span> of <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">Shri Crazy Mohan</span>. The former probably does not see patronage due to a political stance being taken in this political-comedy. As the actor himself announces, comedy in politics and politics in comedy. The ideas as well as the comedy are good and we enjoyed <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">(3ji)</span>. CPL was obviously a block-buster. However it makes us think about patronage to dramas. Isn't it cheaper to watch comedy dramas and even historic / fiction based dramas, rather than watch Television serials for free. Through TV people learn all the bad things about relationships, or get into depression with negativity, finally ending up paying hefty charges to <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">A or C Hospital</span>, don't they?</div>
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<span class="_4yxo" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;">Official photographers</span> and those with special permissions move around the concert hall, auditorium or sabhas to catch some outstanding freezes in time of the performers. It is only a minor irritant if they decide to do so conspicuously instead of by stealth. But here was an official photographer who decided to <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">use the flash in all his clicks at the concert</span>. In my opinion, it is a major disturbance to not only the rasikas, but also all the performers. I wonder whether he got a good set of choice words in his ear. I cannot know the results, if such an event occurred, as I did not go to that sabha again this season. I hope the artists can give their views as well. A regular reader of this series <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">should be able to see a click of the photographer</span> in one of the previous posts!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vidwan Yazhpanam Balamurugan</td></tr>
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<span class="_4yxo" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;">Chamber concerts</span> are definitely in a different league in terms of ambience. During the music season, there is added advantage of a slightly sparser crowd. We can have a seat with lot more freedom, relaxation (less cramped postures), and adds to intimacy with the music & the performance. Here is a click from a <span class="_4yxo" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;">mesmerising smile of the co-performer</span> (nagaswaram) of Yazhpanam Shri Balamurugan at Musiri Chamber, that I felt like including here. He played very well along with the maestro to lift the concert on that day (and earlier day at Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium).</div>
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<span class="_4yxo" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;">Reading newspapers</span> in some obscure corners of the auditorium is likely okay. The earlier report mentioned one person being admonished as he was reading it noisily in the second row of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. That was outclassed by this person in the first row of the Music Academy. He was reading a tabloid type newspaper - maybe a Mylapore Times or a T Nagar Talk. I wonder how it affects the musicians. Just because it is a free concert, can we do this in the <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">front row, at the "Kailash" of Carnatic music</span>?</div>
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Random question, triggered by the snow white top of Kailash. <span class="_4yxo" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;">Shouldn't the rasikas of Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan dress up in white on 1st January</span>?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYxXACfH-4_DTwlg97kfbFV49tal5dCRzumHMEue31gHtANDFWHgPZZ9QwAUt8IO4wyNK8TrmUrLYr04eNQjcN5Y25YtfAKoGv4MZUwGAyvjl_uAk_8E3rWdSoiur7cz2BvRlMox5gHvs/s1600/020181222_184058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="800" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYxXACfH-4_DTwlg97kfbFV49tal5dCRzumHMEue31gHtANDFWHgPZZ9QwAUt8IO4wyNK8TrmUrLYr04eNQjcN5Y25YtfAKoGv4MZUwGAyvjl_uAk_8E3rWdSoiur7cz2BvRlMox5gHvs/s400/020181222_184058.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vani Mahal concert of Vidwan Sanjay Subrahmanyan</span></td></tr>
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With respect to <span class="_4yxo" style="font-weight: 600;">canteens</span>, which is the main topic for many, I did not sample much, nor have the expertise to provide reviews on that aspect. I may not notice even if someone missed adding salt to the sambhar at times. Snacks at Sivagami Pethachi auditorium and Mylapore Fine Arts club were the ones sampled. For the first time in my life added a lunch at a sabha canteen - this one at the Music Academy - enjoyed the banana leaf lunch of Pattappas! <span class="_4yxp" style="font-style: italic;">I plan to hold on to the promises by dear friends for the filter kapi</span> - but likely will happen only in <span class="_4yxo" style="font-weight: 600;">December 2019</span> - see you then.</div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-15488083405597407772019-01-01T10:38:00.000+05:302019-01-01T10:38:20.379+05:30Two concert notes for the seventh report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is the seventh note, and probably the last, for the 2018 music season. I will cover two concerts in this report.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On Thursday, 27th December, we were excited to attend the concert of <b>Shri Abhishek Raghuram</b>, accompanied by <b>Shri J B Sruthi Sagar</b> on the flute and <b>Shri Anantha R Krishnan</b> on the mridangam, at <b>Narada Gana Sabha</b>. The next day we attended the concert of <b>Vidushi Aishwarya Shankar</b> with added intention of sampling the "leaf lunch" of Pattappas, at <b>the Music Academy</b>.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vidwans Sruthi Sagar, Abhishek Raghuram, and Anantha R Krishnan (L to R)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Shri Abhishek started the evening with a sedate AlApanai of Hamsadhvani. The flute accompaniment suits as much as a violin accompaniment would, in my opinion, and Shri Sruthi Sagar played a nice follow-up. '<a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c2521.shtml" target="_blank">vandEHam jagat vallabham</a>' was the kriti chosen, which was followed by kalpanaswarams. He then chose saHAnA as the next rAgam for elaboration. With the relaxed items one after the other, we were wondering whether he was cautious after his throat infection 2 weeks earlier in the Kerala temple, where he cut short his concert after the first varnam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shri Abhishek sang <a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c2369.shtml" target="_blank">Ee vasudhA</a> following his AlApanai and it was rendered full of bhava. Moving phrases, lilting sangatis and can one doubt the scope of saHAnA in those aspects! The team thoroughly enjoyed the presentation, oblivious of the audience - competing with each other for small twists in korvais and sangatis which surprise one-another bringing out individual excellence! The appreciation of one another by the beaming smiles, raised eye-brows, etc., are really worth watching - we are not only audience but spectators in this concert.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then the plane took off with pantuvarALi as the third piece for the evening. With this we were treated to Shri Abhishek in his regular full flow. A very long elaborate AlApanai he sang, which included to slow unfurling and the fast brigas at the end as well. Shri Sruthi Sagar then played a beautiful follow-up including show of his fingering skills at the conclusion. '<a href="https://karnatik.com/c5876.shtml" target="_blank">rAmanAtham bhajEHam</a>' was the composition for this main item of the evening, kAshiramakriya rAgam as per composer Muthuswami Dikshitar's nomenclature. kAmavardhani / pantuvarALi are the names given to this rAgam - or they have all become synonymous now, if there was nuanced differences earlier.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This was followed by extended neraval and innovative kalpanaswarams. The sets of kalpanaswarams ended with different portions of the composition. Both the neraval and kalpanaswarams brought out the camaraderie of the 3 artists, each goading the other to higher levels of manodharma. This was followed by usual brilliance of Shri Anantha in his tani avartanam. With just this 3rd piece we found about 2 hours of the concert were over. The main had taken up about 1:20 hours or one and a half hours, and we did not notice - drenched in the excellent music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A brief AlApanai in bhairavi was followed by a superb '<a href="https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5826" target="_blank">ela rADAyane kAmini</a>', rendered at a brisk pace. The melody is still ringing in my ear. We were hoping the next one would be a rAgam tAnam pallavi, but a gentleman came and requested Shri Abhishek giving two options. We could only hear that "I will sing candracUDa itself". He launched into a soulful darbArikAnaDA followed by a melodious <a href="https://karnatik.com/c4706.shtml" target="_blank">candracUDa</a>. Though we have heard him sing this before, everytime he manages to move us by the rendition. And then suddenly the mangaLam was sung. Oh my - only 2:15 minutes? This was a bit disappointing - maybe the 7 PM slot is for 2 hours or extended by 2:15 only, at Narada Gana Sabha - we don't know. We obviously want more - and this team deserves more time to present a full concert.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The hall was nearly full, but it was a bit disappointing to note that the first two rows was just half-full. This, I think, is because a single ticket is issued for both the 4 PM and 7 PM concerts. There are a few rasikas who like only the one or the other, and hence the some seats stay empty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another interesting aspect is that relatives of Shri Lalgudi G Jayaraman had monopolised the evening at Narada Gana Sabha. 4 PM concert was by Shri Ganesh and Shri Kumaresh. 6:45 PM concert in the NGS mini-hall was a Shri G J R Krishnan for Charsur, in the Samskritam series. Isn't it also a dilemma for the family members to choose between these concerts? At least Smt Jayanthi Kumaresh avoided the dilemma by playing a concert in distant Guwahati the same evening, and not be tugged by conflict of schedule at NGS.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxLyupK-XWQK-tck082TvXoJ7qIp0X71YxEkeHxynMJORok-GTu17TzKlctSlw5kD8BofFwJU17AicAq2ghJ7MWM1uSZO6XGGEjDt2yQ7dzPmE2RlK-FNL5Ijm3ac7pJNtypTySpyIrZq/s1600/20181228_114340.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="1000" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxLyupK-XWQK-tck082TvXoJ7qIp0X71YxEkeHxynMJORok-GTu17TzKlctSlw5kD8BofFwJU17AicAq2ghJ7MWM1uSZO6XGGEjDt2yQ7dzPmE2RlK-FNL5Ijm3ac7pJNtypTySpyIrZq/s400/20181228_114340.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Vidwan B S Prashanth, Vidushi Aishwarya Shankar, Vidwan G Badrinath (L to R)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The next day, we decided to attend the 11:45 AM concert of <b>Vidushi Aishwarya Shankar</b> at <b>the Music Academy</b>. <b>Chidambaram Shri G Badrinath</b> played the violin and <b>Shri B S Prashanth</b> played the mridangam. After singing a short shlokam in kalyANi, Vidushi Aishwarya began the concert with the kEdAragowLa varnam, <a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c3026.shtml" target="_blank">sAmi dhaya jUDa</a>. A very relaxed <a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c1827.shtml" target="_blank">shrI varalakshmI</a> in shrI rAgam was the second song. Vidushi Aishwarya chose latAngi rAgam for the first major item of the afternoon. A very nice AlApanai was followed by Shri Badrinath's crisp essay of the same. <a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c4012.shtml" target="_blank">marivere dikkevvaru</a> was rendered including kalpanaswarams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then, after a quick indication of dEvagAndhAri, she took up <a href="https://karnatik.com/c2572.shtml" target="_blank">nA moralagimpavE</a> of Saint Thyagaraja - rarely heard song, I think and first time I am hearinng this. A brisk '<a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c1581.shtml" target="_blank">kumaran tAl panindE</a>' of Shri Papanasam Sivan in yadukula kAmbhoji followed this, setting the stage for the main song of the afternoon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">tODi was the rAgam chosen and suddenly it struck me that I had not listened to any other tODi elaboration in the entire season. Seems like this season the artists have chosen a bigger variety to expand horizons for the rasikas by bringing out more compositions from as many sources as possible. A very good AlApanai was presented in unhurried manner, but towards the end it seemed to come to a close quickly without the usual faster pace akArams. We then noticed that she was trying to manage the time properly as it was only a 1 and half hour concert. Hence the slightly abrupt descent and closure of AlApanai. Shri Badrinath presented a short version as well before Vidushi Aishwarya presented <a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c1152.shtml" target="_blank">Amba nadu vinnapavini</a> of Pallavi Gopala Iyer, followed by neraval and kalpanaswarams. Shri B S Prashanth played a spirited tani avartanam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Vidushi Aishwarya then closed the concert with viruttam in dEsh and jOnpuri, followed by Purandara Dasa's 'Hari citta satya' in jOnpuri (usually rendered in pUrvi kalyANi). This was a good concert within the time constraints of 1 and half hours. The fulfilling concert was then followed by filling stomach - the 2nd treat for the day was the 'paet pooja' of Pattappas meals served in banana leaf, like a 'kalyAna sAppADu'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wish all rasikas a very Happy New Year, and hope 2019 is great for all, along with more melodious, musical accompaniments.</span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-11818009037050823182018-12-27T10:04:00.000+05:302018-12-27T10:04:34.911+05:30Anahita and Apoorva exhibit skills in short and crisp Music Academy concert<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Accompanists: Vidushi Apoorva Krishna on violin and Shri Rohit Prasad on mridangam</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We went to the Music Academy a bit early for the 11:45 AM concert of Vidushis Anahita and Apoorva. Entering at around 11:15 AM into the morning concert of veteran flutist Shri B V Balasai, we felt we had missed a chance to attend his concert too, if only we had come at 9 AM. He was playing the pallavi in hEmavati, which was followed by kalpana swarams in the same rAgam, kIravANi and amrutavarshini. Hope it rains a bit it Chennai, as we still have a deficit of more than 50% in rainfall for the quarter ending 31 December, 2018. Shri Balasai then played <a href="https://www.karnatik.com/c1485.shtml" target="_blank">vEnkatAcala nilayam</a> in sindhubhairavi and a small piece in HamsAnandi, closing on the dot at 11:30 AM.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Veteran Flutist Shri B V Balasai</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was a bit disappointing to see that the hall was less than half full. However, it could be the standard modus operandi of rasikas moving to the canteen to appreciate the food, before the second serving of music at 11:45 AM. By the time the 2nd bell rang at 11:45 AM, the hall was nearly full. As the curtains opened to pink highlight of the backdrop to the sides, we also saw pink included in the attire of the ladies and the mridangam cover.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Moving on to the music, Vidushis Anahita and Apoorva began the proceedings with a brisk-paced composition of Oothukkadu Venkata kavi (Subbaiah Iyer says Wikipedia). God only knows which is the right spelling for this poet's name, with U / Oo, tt or th, and the name itself kept separate or combined as Subbaiyer, etc. '<a href="https://karnatik.com/c8734.shtml" target="_blank">vandaduvum pOnaduvum</a>' set to bilaHari rAgam was sung well and set the tone for the crisp concert. The kalpanaswarams rendered in this rAgam were nice and short too. Shri Rohit Prasad played quite softly and aptly for this duo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kumari Apoorva then took up a detail AlApanA of shubhapantuvarALi. Vidushi Apoorva Krishna on the violin presented a delightful follow-up to the exploration by the vocalist on this first major item of the concert. A composition of Harikesanallur Shri Muthaiah Bhagavatar '<a href="https://karnatik.com/c2026.shtml" target="_blank">manOnmani mandaHAsini</a>' was presented in a quick tempo, with an elaborate neraval at 'sanakAdi muni vinuta' by both the vocalists and the violinist. The neraval in the upper stAyi by Kumari Anahita was full throated and with shuddha shruti sangatis which made it a treat. In fact she was able to demonstrate this in other songs throughout the concert filling our hearts with superb music. I have to reiterate that mridangam accompaniment was really superb because it was quite apt, throughout the kutcheri. The nAdam of the mridangam was great.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kumari Anahita then took up a brief AlApanA of dEvagAndhAri and rendered a shlOkam following the AlApanA. This was a nice change of pace after the two quick-tempo songs. They took up Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar's <a href="http://www.carnatica.net/lyrics/kshitijaramanam.htm" target="_blank">kshitija ramanam cintayE</a> right after the shlOkam. Andal's tiruppAvai '<a href="http://sriandalsthiruppavai.blogspot.com/2009/10/11-katruk-karavai.html" target="_blank">kaRRu karavai</a>' was the short piece that came next sung in mukhAri, I think. As per lists on the internet, this has been sung in HusEni, saHAnA or vasantA by artists. If it was indeed rendered in HusEni, then it is my shortcoming in not being able to differentiate between mukhAri and HusEni rather than the singers' presentation.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anahita and Apoorva in full flow, along with Apoorva Krishna and Rohit Prasad</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The main for the kutcheri was kalyANi, which was initially taken up by Kumari Apoorva and then completed by Kumari Anahita. Once again the elaboration was impeccable, with the upper stAyi singing of Kumari Anahita taking the cake. Vidushi Apoorva Krishna played a detailed version in response and also repeated some nice phrases, which were sung by the duo. Saint Thyagaraja's <a href="https://karnatik.com/c2400.shtml" target="_blank">karu vElpulu nIku sari</a> was sung in medium tempo - first time I am hearing this composition. They presented wonderful kalpanaswarams in variety of korvais, in turns, before a very nice tani avartanam by Shri Rohit Prasad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The final song was <a href="https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1461" target="_blank">parulanna mATa</a> in kApi, a jAvaLi composition of Dharmapuri Subbaraya Iyer, set to rUpaka tALam. I am hearing this after a long time and am reminded of an article that I read in The Hindu about two decades ago. If I am not mistaken, as per that article, this composition is originally set to a tALam of 17 beats, but is being sung in rUpakam (an extension of a phrase by a beat makes it a nice 18, which would be tisra-nadai rUpakam). Musicians / rasikas who know more about this may kindly share the specific information, and if I am mistaking some other composition for parulanna mATa, kindly correct me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was a gratifying concert where-in other than the shubhapantuvarALi and kApi pieces, I heard all the others for the first time. Looking forward to these artists to be promoted to next levels and getting more time for performance of full-fledged kutcheris.</span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-947148691569716012018-12-24T08:52:00.000+05:302018-12-24T09:56:01.614+05:30Excellent concert of Vidwan Prasanna Venkatraman in MFAC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">21 December, 2019, Friday</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Accompanied by Vidushi H M Smitha on violin, Shri Manoj Siva on mridangam and Shri B S Purushothaman on kanjira</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Having heard quite a bit about this artist, who is currently mentored by Sangitha Kalanidhi Sanjay Subrahmanyan, we decided to attend his concert at the Mylapore Fine Arts Club, TAG Auditorium. Shri Prasanna Venkatraman started the concert with a nice warmup rendition of the darbAr varnam, calamEla, a composition of Shri Thiruvottiyur Thyagayya. Shri Prasanna's voice was well settled right from the word go. He then took up the Shri Gopalakrishna Bharathi composition sivalOka nAtanai in mAyAmALavagowLa. He unfurled his vidwat in the neraval at 'arpa sugattai' and followed it up with very good kalpana swarams. Vidushi H M Smitha accompanied very well in both the neraval and kalpana swarams.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBOyUx0Hpo2QIE-zHFmgNDmBPOwlbni68st5hO_tbWAEza2zgNoFY96r-XP56nDkiAiZNxAfhl4cMfl-cRPL4hEfcgVYLombiBZp9rENbFF8a_4A_GqwJaAq8Xrsd924RyodNvAbTNTLH/s1600/20181221_160521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="1024" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBOyUx0Hpo2QIE-zHFmgNDmBPOwlbni68st5hO_tbWAEza2zgNoFY96r-XP56nDkiAiZNxAfhl4cMfl-cRPL4hEfcgVYLombiBZp9rENbFF8a_4A_GqwJaAq8Xrsd924RyodNvAbTNTLH/s400/20181221_160521.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Prasanna Venkatraman and team in full flow</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The first rAgam taken for detail exploration was udayaravicandrikA a.k.a. shuddha dhanyAsi (as known in the current trend). Shri Prasanna gave a very good sketch of the rAgam followed by Vidushi Smitha's nice follow-up. Saint Thyagaraja's statement of the eternal truth - '<i>How much ever one has learnt, whatever places one has visited and seen; every single man among them is still a slave to the one wearing bangles</i>' - was the composition sung in this rAgam. Yes, it is enta nErcinA that was sung, followed by very brisk kalpana swarams. One tidbit about the translated version of this song in thamizh - Dr. M Balamuralikrishna has presented about 1</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2 Saint Thyagaraja kritis in 2 CD set. This song's lines in that set, (enta nErcinA) in thamizh as sung by the Maestro are - <i>ettanai kaRRALum ettanai kaNDAlum; attanai AnROrum aRangin adimayE</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">kalAvati kamalAsana yuvati of Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar was the next item that Shri Prasanna sang, which we thought would be the filler before the main song. However, he sang another fast paced composition, vararAgalaya of Saint Thyagaraja in cenjukAmbhOji following the kalAvati song. Shri Prasanna took up mukhAri for the main fare of the evening. It was very well elaborated in a steady build up. He has a style of his own, but at one or two points, there was a bit of influence of Shri Sanjay's mannerism and some phrases. Vidushi Smitha also presented a melodious mukhAri after which kArubAru of Saint Thyagaraja was rendered in a relaxed speed. The kalpanaswarams in mukhAri were also well covered before a superb tani avarthanam. Both the stalwarts Shri Manoj Siva and Shri Purushothaman enjoyed the exchange, which was a nice treat to watch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shri Prasanna immediately took up a rAgam tAnam pallavi exposition in mOHanam. It is quite difficult to pack all these into two hours and fifteen minutes and hence the AlApanA was a nice crisp one from both him and the violinist. The tAnam was also a nice show of his voice and skill, followed by the pallavi 'kanaka sabEshA jagadIshA nataNa prakAshA' set to Kandajati Triputa Talam in tisra naDai. He sang kalpanaswarams in HindOLam, nATTakurinji and bEHag.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The final song rendered was composition of Kanakadasa 'bArO krishnayyA' in a rAgamAlikA beginning with mAnD rAgam. A flawless concert we enjoyed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If one were to point out any shortcoming, we can say that there was not enough neraval on the mOHanam pallavi. Maybe that could not be fit into the short time, but in my opinion neraval can be given priority over rAgamAlikA kalpanaswarams. Shri T N Seshagopalan, in <a href="https://youtu.be/WEIyFr2xivM?t=1720" target="_blank">his lecture demonstration on Pallavis at the Pallavi Darbar of 2018</a>, had mentioned that the most important part of a good rAgam tAnam pallavi is the extended neraval on the pallavi. I agree with this thought, and hence hope that all artists give more weightage to the neraval. They can trim other parts of RTP when their is paucity of time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shri Prasanna Venkatraman has a very good voice and superb control over it. We will definitely show our patronage to his concerts as it is very much worth enjoying his good music.</span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-57690264559402527762018-12-23T16:48:00.002+05:302018-12-23T16:48:59.557+05:30Ashwath Narayanan sings to full house at Raga Sudha Hall<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Accompanied by Vidwan S Varadarajan on Violin, Maestro T V Gopalakrishnan on Mridangam and Shri Alathur T Rajaganesh on Kanjira</div>
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(9 December, 2018)</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We can fathom that Shri Ashwath Narayanan is an accomplished artist by the crowd that assembled at Raga Sudha Hall on the Sunday evening. Many rasikas were standing outside and peeping through the windows to see if they could find an empty seat. The better indication about the entire team is that about dozen other musicians were attending the concert, among whom could identify Shri Bharath Sundar, Smt K Gayatri, Shri Aditya Narayanan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The concert began with a brisk rendering of the kalyANi rAga varnam "vanajAkshi". He then followed it up with a brisk rendition of "shiva kAmasundari" in jaganmOHini, which was also at a good pace. The vidwans were in good flow and were enjoying each other's music as well as the small innovative sangatis or subtle plays at different points of the song. Shri Ashwath Narayanan included a nice set of kalpanaswarams before the first big item. Shri TVG showed his knowledge of the compositions as well as decades of polishing of the skills by giving such a subtle accompaniment appropriate to each kriti. Shri Alathur T Rajaganesh played a subdued role and sometimes had to be goaded by the Maestro to play further and play more.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Ashwath Narayanan and team, in full flow</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Shri AN took up aTAnA for a very good AlApanA. Given that this rAgam cannot be easily fit into any structure but has a beautiful swaroopam drawn by the many compositions in it, this was a commendable AlApanA. Vidwan Varadarajan stuck to his role of playing an appropriate AlApanA in length, but brought out all the beauty of aTAnA within the time that a violinist is expected to play compared to the main artist. Ela ni dayarAdu was the song chosen, with the standard start at the anupallavi 'bAlakanakamaya'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the three faster paced songs, it was time to slow down and relax with cEtashri bAlakrishnam in dvijAvanti. The short AlApanA prior to it by Shri AN was followed by a crisp and beautiful one by Shri SV. The composition was sung with lot of bhava, which was appreciated by the Maestro TVG as well. The next song was kaDaikkaN vaittennai ALammA in bEgaDA. This was also rendered in a relaxed fashion before a fast paced paramapurusham Hrdaya bhAvayatam. I had not heard this one before and was wondering that it was not really paras rAgam which was the closest I could associate with. The lyrics revealed that this is in lalitapancamam rAgam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Eagerly looking forward to the main song for the evening, we were treated to the regal shankarAbharanam. Shri AN's AlApanA was very elaborate and enjoyed by Shri TVG too. Shri SV's version was again kept within a shorter timeframe but brought out the full scope of the rAgam, showing his tremendous knowledge and experience. swara rAga sudhA was the chosen kriti which was presented well, including an extended neraval at kamalanupai. Then followed a free flow of kalpanaswarams. The tani avartanam was excellent with a nice exchange between the mridangam and kanjira. Nuances from the enormous experience were played and there was good response too from Shri Rajaganesh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shri Ashwath Narayanan made everyone relax with viruttam in kApi, sindhu bhairavi, beHAg and bAgEshri rounding it up with a nice rendition of Shri M D Ramanathan's sAgara Shayana vibhO. Shri TVG again appreciated this very much, as, if I am not mistaken, he is a contemporary to Shri MDR. The concert was closed with the pUrnacandrikA rAgam tillAnA and mangaLam. The Maestro placed his hand on Shri Ashwath Narayanan and blessed him at the end of the concert during the applause.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Though a few members in the audience left at varied times, the hall was back-filled by those waiting outside and listening - this happened over the entire duration of the concert. Overall a very good concert.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, have to mention that there were a couple of slips in tara stAyi by Shri Ashwath Narayanan in aTAnA AlApanA, shankarAbharanam AlApanA and in kalpanaswarams of the same. This was a bit uncharacteristic of him. We could say an influence "tad bit" on the percussionists too, as they also missed one of their korvais each (Maestro TVG and Shri ATR) during the tani avartanam. Shri SV however was flawless in his bowing and sangatis throughout. Let us blame this on some superstition, like the artists leaving home during RahukAlam on a Sunday or some such <span class="_47e3 _5mfr" style="line-height: 0; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle;" title="wink emoticon"><img alt="" class="img" height="16" role="presentation" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t57/1/16/1f609.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: -3px;" width="16" /></span> - because to my knowledge it was uncharacteristic of them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These small blips did not affect the mood and quality of the concert at all. We can always enjoy this rising star, in my opinion.</span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-89991152296117758812018-12-21T13:44:00.000+05:302018-12-21T13:44:17.877+05:30December 2018 Music season - Tidbits - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tidbits mid-season from here and there</span></span></div>
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(plus hits and bites on many everywhere)</div>
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<span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">Part 1 of . . .</span></div>
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<span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">December season</span> has the musical highs, as well as the accompanying fun, awkward moments and woes. Here are some of them to chew on, <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">mid-season</span>.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A picture from the previous season - 30 December, 2017 - winners of best concert of the season</span></td></tr>
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<span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">Why is it that some folks wear those overpowering perfumes</span> and land up in a tightly packed small hall, which is already warmed up by the excited bodies in spite of the A/Cs going full blast? Boy o boy, was it a hit on everyone's nostrils and for some it struck the brain and probably nearly made them faint. Please folks, can you take it a little easy on the perfume in such places. Maybe you can try it in huge auditoriums, like <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">NGS / MA</span>, but please don't in the <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">Raga Sudha Hall</span>! You have some weddings too, like at <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">Antila</span>, that can present you with the right opportunity to overpower everyone within 3 floors of you.</div>
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<span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">Hindustani methods are mostly followed in every thani avartanam</span>. That is my opinion. What do I mean by that, am sure you ask! Well, the presentation of the percussionists starts at a leisurely place, in vilambita kaalam and possibly a 2-kalai chowka taalam. However, as the different exchanges move forward, the <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">taalam speeds up</span> and soon the beats are closer placed. At the end of the kuraippus and korvai one can see the vast difference in the taalam as the singer / instrument player has to switch back to his/her 2-kalai chowka taalam in vilambita kaalam to finish the presentation of the item. It is very obvious at this time, though the earlier change of speeding up is very gradual and less noticeable. If we were to have an electronic taalam keeper, one will find that at times the taalam is at 1.5 times the speed - or they finish 1.5 avartanams near the end of the tani avartanam compared for every avartanam used during the start of the piece.</div>
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Now is that something to complain about - <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">probably not</span>. However I wonder whether the percussionists can do even more variations in more complex nadais, if the taalam were kept at the slow speed. It could give more scope to the mridangam, kanjira, ghatam and morsing players, if one were to keep the slow pace throughout. More complicated korvais and many more variations could probably be played with ease, don't you think in the vilambita kaalam?</div>
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It was not rare to see <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">people reading magazines and newspapers</span> in the decades ago, while enjoying the music. Though magazines were less of a problem, newspapers were a nuisance - noisy to open, flip, fold, etc. Now-a-days, of course it goes without saying, <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">many are on their mobile phones</span> to either post their opinions (minority) or keep checking news, social media, etc. (majority) It was interesting to see one gentleman in the 2nd row of a hall (already mentioned in that particular concert's notes) happily reading a newspaper. Probably he was doing it noisily, as a VIP from the first row had to step up to him and admonish him (after which the reader folded, and after a few minutes was out of the hall, probably bored without parallel activities). Though the mobile phone usage by others has not been bothering me much it has indeed made me wonder <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">which gets priority in our brains - music or the masala</span>? Your views please!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO79gcb47IZl4iRxNhN3YLOIIRqGHLeh4bfybiVfETJJd_LfEk_gjN5iPNw35wNyaAP9r_mk8EHxaQO28EQMb6jKD6FcPncXoMN2wo9BD0WhUNKcRAbf7cRH8sCXW4lwyPVc5MmDP3XB09/s1600/20171230_200535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="600" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO79gcb47IZl4iRxNhN3YLOIIRqGHLeh4bfybiVfETJJd_LfEk_gjN5iPNw35wNyaAP9r_mk8EHxaQO28EQMb6jKD6FcPncXoMN2wo9BD0WhUNKcRAbf7cRH8sCXW4lwyPVc5MmDP3XB09/s400/20171230_200535.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you identify the star on the dais, other than the violinist Shri B U Ganesh Prasad?</td></tr>
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When we complain about the audience, it is OK, but couple of folks took the cake and ate it too, when doing <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">on the dais - disturbing the concert</span>. They ate it because they were the percussionists in the concert, when they decided to start chatting during the AlApana of the main artist. They kept at it for "longer than it can be ignored" duration and disturbed the main artist so much. The artist had to break off the AlApana and a stare at the mridangist had to set the '<span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">concert ethics</span>' right! I did not expect the lack of professionalism on the part of experienced percussionists (was this AlApana of a top artist so disinteresting). Ooh la la. If they were my friends I would have let it rip at them after the concert. However, I am just a lay rasika who should not poke nose into giving top artists some advice.</div>
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Back to the audience - <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">we seriously really need to control our movements </span>and respect the fellow rasikas. Sabhas need to do something to stop movements in the middle of songs. Like the volunteers in tennis matches, who stop movements in-and-out of the stadium except during the breaks between games, we need the sabhas to enforce the rule of in-and-out only during the gaps between songs. It is really annoying when the interruptions are frequent, especially in the "free concerts"... okay, okay... since it is free for me, I should bear with it? Oh wait. It is free for them too - does that mean they are going to run amok and trouble all rasikas? Hmmm... You decide folks.</div>
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Yes, yes, it is well known that <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">people should switch off their mobile phones</span> or put them on silent mode. But wait, we don't announce that anymore. That means, there are many who don't do it anymore. Every concert I hear a dozen or two interruptions by the mobile phone. Now, there are going to be one or two people who genuinely forget to switch off or switch to silent mode. An announcement before every concert should likely reduce these interruptions to one or two (by old person or two whose problem(s) we have to be sympathetic to). So, <span class="_4yxo" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;">please organizers, continue to announce before every concert</span> - it may really help (along with chaperones at the gates for the control of flow of people).</div>
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Back to sound advice. Or rather just observation of solace for the experts who are fighting every day with the equipment. If Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan itself has problems with the sound, at times, where we are supposed to have one of the best sound systems if not "the" best in Chennai, then what can we say about other sabhas, halls and kalyana mandapams. During the concert of Shri Abhishek Raghuram there was a hum heard, but I believe only on the dais, probably from the monitors (lucky for the rasikas in the seats). In the concerts of two vidushis Gayatris (K and V, latter after the first), there was feedback heard and at times for the rasikas too. However, this time it seemed to have been reduced if not eliminated after a while and multiple attempts - just tells us so much about the complexity of creating a <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">re'sound'ing success</span>.</div>
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OK, <span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">I will sign-off with a confession </span>until the next hit-or-miss comments on everything but music. Except for a concert in Arkay CC, where I waited for a particular song to complete before entering, the few times I have been late to a concert, I have entered in the middle of the presentation wonly. We are like that wonly, when seats are likely to be gone in any delay of a few seconds. But I do try to avoid in case seating is not likely to be a problem and I happen to be late. Leaving mid-way is usually not a problem, as I leave only between songs or when the artists are re-tuning their instruments.</div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-61994082127822539832018-12-08T19:54:00.002+05:302018-12-08T19:54:45.075+05:30Shertalai Shri Ranganatha Sharma's brilliant concert constrained by time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Not enough time to showcase voice, skills and knowledge</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">at <i>Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan </i>on <i>4 December, 2018</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Allotment of just an hour and 15 minutes (or 1:20) for some top artists is very restrictive. <b>Shertalai Shri K N Ranganatha Sharma</b>'s concert today at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was one such, which was supposed to begin at 5 PM and end before the following 6:30 PM concert. On top of it, we had veteran maestros accompanying him like <b>Mridangist Shri K V Prasad</b> and <b>Ghatam Shri Vaikom Gopalakrishnan</b>. This time constraint we can avoid in some way, if possible - by providing at least a half-hour extra to make it at least a 2 hour concert.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shri Ranganatha Sharma began the concert with a relaxed <b>dEva dEva kalayA</b> in <b>mAyAmALavagowLa </b>by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal set to rUpaka tALam. He sang short set of kalpanaswarams before concluding this piece. Then he presented a brief and crisp AlApanA of <b>janaranjani</b>. Expected the kriti on <b>Lord Ganapathi</b> as per structure of the 2nd song being in praise of Him. '<b>gaNapatE suguna nidE</b>' of Harikeshanallur Shri Muthaiah Bhagavatar was presented as expected, including the chitta swarams.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">4 December, 2018 - at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Another brief AlApanA in </span><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">dEvagAndhAri </b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">was followed by </span><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">shrI tulasammA</b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> of Saint Thyagaraja. With these three songs presented in relaxed manner, we were next expecting main presentation of the evening. Shri Ranganatha Sharma's style seems to start the main </span><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">AlApanA in teasing manner</b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> (only my own opinion), where lay rasikas come to conclusion of one rAgam, before the full structure is unfurled. Today the AlApanA started with the uttarAngam sounding like vAcaspati. Only after a few phrases, with a slow descent to the shuddha rishabham he gave the picture of </span><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">rAmapriyA </b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(</span><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">ramA manOHari </b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">as per Dikshitar school). He then launched into a very good AlApanA with standard structure of exploring the same.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I say this about <b>his teasing manner</b>, because in an earlier concert about a week ago, at <b>Raga Sudha Hall</b>, for <b>Parivadini </b>(you can read review by <i>Shri Balasubramanian Gurumurthi</i>), he started presenting the uttarAngam like kalyANi. Only when he descended to the shatsruti rishabham (R3) did we know that it was <b>kOsalam </b>- and it was a <i>brilliant kOsalam on that day</i>. Today, however, due to time constraints, it was a <i>bit shorter presentation of rAmapriyA</i>. The violinist also presented his version of AlApanA with skill and softness within the scope presented by the vocalist (please help in identifying the violinist). With both these rAgams, kOsalam on other day and today's rAmapriyA, I am convinced Shri Ranganatha Sharma needs better recognition and more time - it will be for the benefit of all rasikAs for sure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having heard 3 different composers in first three songs, I was hoping for a Dikshitar song. He presented <b>mAtanga shrI rajarajeshwari</b> very well followed by extended kalpana swarams. Set to rUpaka tALam I was wondering if the tani avartanam may not be included in this part, even though the 1 hour mark was reached. Indeed that was the case and gave ambiguous feeling. Expectations of another main song while also wondering whether he will not be able to do justice to that song, due to paucity of time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shri Ranganatha Sharma then sang Saint Thyagaraja's composition in <b>kalAvati</b>, '<b>ennaDu jUtunO inakula tilaka</b>' in brisk manner before taking up AlApanA in <b>mOHanam</b>. I am sure he is capable of a full-fledged presentation of this important pentatonic scale. He sang a good AlApanA though not elaborate enough to satisfy our thirst. Again the violinist played his interpretation in short and crisp fashion, before the song <b>mOHanarAmA</b>. This song included neraval and kalpanaswarams befitting a main song, followed by the tani avartanam. It was good to see that none stirred from seat at tani avartanam, even though it was already about 6:30 PM (time for next concert). Shri K V Prasad and Shri Vaikom Gopalakrishnan played a <b>very good unhurried tani avartanam</b> showing their knowledge and skills well - and it ended near 6:40 PM.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shri Ranganatha Sharma then rounded off the concert with a brief sketch of <b>beHAg </b>followed by <b>sAramaina</b>. This was a very good concert, with a superb voice booming in the hall over the wonderful music system. The volume of the other 3 accompanying artists could have been set a bit higher, to make it a nice even concert. These sounded a bit subdued, compared to his voice, which was not fully recognized by audio team, even though there were a few indications from the dais for adjustments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shri Ranganatha Sharma has been<b> added to my list of favorite artists</b> especially after these two concerts I have enjoyed in span of a dozen days.</span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-35967482714443000452018-11-28T20:17:00.000+05:302018-11-28T20:17:17.607+05:30Overwhelmed by a Chamber music type concert by Prince Rama Varma<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan main hall</div>
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<a href="https://vrvdmusikings.blogspot.com/2018/11/sowkhya-sangeetham-shri-vijay-siva-at.html">If Sunday we witnessed "sowkhya sangeetham"</a>, then on Tuesday, at the same venue, we all witnessed "sowkhyam-er" sangeetham. I have a feeling that it probably is the "sowkhyam-est", but don't want to rush into such extreme judgement, lest Carnatic music itself and some stalwarts prove me wrong yet again. We had a wonderful feeling of attending a chamber concert from <b>Prince Rama Varma</b>, accompanied by <b>Avaneeswaram Shri S R Vinu</b> on violin and <b>Shri B Harikumar</b> on the Mridangam. Soft, melodious and soulful music was presented over the 2 hours in the evening concert.</div>
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Prince Rama Varma started with the <b>bhairavi varnam 'viribOni'</b>. He presented the pallavi, anupallavi and muktAyi swarams in three kAlas before proceeding to the charanam '<b>cirunav</b>' in the brisk pace. The softness was also followed by Shri S R Vinu in his presentation as well as Shri Harikumar's accompaniment. As probably many know, Shri Harikumar can be goaded to play exhuberantly when required for a different team and different presentation. In this concert he gave apt touches through out.</div>
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The next song presented was '<b>vAtApi gaNapatim</b>' in Hamsadhvani. Continuing in a medium tempo and soulful rendition, Prince Rama Varma started expressing facially and with actions, at certain points in the kriti to add colour to the concert. Making a '<b>ogre</b>' like face, while singing '<b>bhUtAdi</b>' and using a mandra stayi phrase showed us that he would be adding such postures and actions at key points to express the meaning of the lines as well. He sang very good kalpana swarams after the caranams and presented many variations with pauses, jumping octaves, etc., which reminded us and indicated the influence of his <b>guru Dr. M Balamuralikrishna</b>.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A view from our seats on 27 November, 2018</span></td></tr>
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After just a few seconds of indication of pantuvarALi, he started with 'rAma bhakti' as part of the rendition of '<b>aparAma bhakti</b>'. After a very involved and bhakti filled rendition of the kriti, he launched into kalpana swarams. During the kalpana swarams in <b>pantuvarALi</b>, suddenly he seemed to stumble upon '<b>niri niri gama gari sa</b>'. With a 1000 watt bulb of a smile on getting this swaram phrase, and thrill of a child discovering an unexpected gift, he repeated it in the fashion of the <b>pUrvi tillAnA</b> which begins with these swarams. As most of you know, pUrvi is the Hindustani equivalent of pantuvarALi.</div>
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The end of kalpanaswarams was a very interesting stretch of 3-4 minutes in various nadais and also some with nice pauses, single swarams and dwelling on a single swaram, etc. This included a descent step by step all the way to the <b>adhara shadjam</b>, without any hesitation, and dwelling on each note in mandara stAyi - pa.... ma.... ga.... ri.... then finally sa - without any problem with maintaining the sruti at that bass! Of course, there was spontaneous applause for him presenting this series of swarams. This part reminded us of the bass of <b>Shri M D Ramanathan</b> who loved to sing the bass and with impeccable sruti alignment. The interesting part was that Shri S R Vinu then presented a nearly identical kalpana swaram follow-up including the descent and extension of each swaram in the mandra stAyi. Incredible to remember the structure of the 3-4 minutes of that manodharma and repeat it nicely! The kalpana swarams also had so much of Dr. Balamuralikrishna's styles incorporated. We can say that <i>Dr. Balamuralikrishna continues to live and perform among us in the form of Prince Rama Varma</i>.</div>
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Next Prince Rama Varma presented the <b>HindOLam </b>composition of <i>Dr. M Balamuralikrishna</i> '<b>gAna rasikE</b>'. This composition is replete with swaraksharams and is indeed wonderful to hear. It was a compact presentation of the song after which he announced that it was his guru's composition, even though it was obvious for us that inclusion of 'muraLi' as well as the style of the composition, including swaraksharams, can only be <i>His composition</i>.</div>
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<b>shankarAbharanam </b>was chosen as the main piece for the day. The earlier four songs were rendered without an AlApanA. The irresistable, slow, melodious lineation of this weighty rAgam was superb. It was a very good classical elaboration of the rAgam, followed by Shri S R Vinu's reply in similar manner - nuanced, unhurried and melodious. By the way, just as the AlApanA was unfolding, a VIP from middle of first row stood up, walked to the rightmost seat of second row and admonished the person. Then we noticed that this gentleman in second row, though well out of view of all audience, was busy reading the newspaper, likely in noisy manner, which seemed to disturb the VIP. There were other interesting things that happened, which we will cover at end of this report.</div>
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Prince Rama Varma's <b>diction</b>, splitting of lyrics in right way to emphasize the meanings, etc., are really to be learnt from by students. Again, Dr. M BMK's influence can be seen very much in this aspect. Amazing diction.</div>
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Before beginning the main piece, Prince Rama Varma explained that this piece would be that of his <b>'mAnasIga' guru Shri M D Ramanathan</b>. He talked briefly about the two gurus' personalities - outgoing one of Dr. M Balamuralikrishna and an inward looking one of Shri MDR. He also mentioned that it could be seen in how Dr M BMK used to highlight and enjoy singing his mudra "<b>Murali</b>", or even the word "Murali" in others' compositions. Meanwhile one could figure out a song composed and rendered by Shri MDR through his 'swallowing' the mudra '<b>varada dAsa</b>' (as though being a bit embarrassed to sing the same) as his own composition. Prince Rama Varma also highlighted that the piece, janani natajana pAlini, included the phrase '<b>Adi varada dAsa</b>' meaning 'first of Tiger Varadachariar's disciples'. He mentioned that Shri MDR had written the compositions in Thamizh, Malayalam, Sanskrit and Telugu in the respective scripts only, in the many notebooks!</div>
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The song, neraval and kalpanaswarams were excellent and fit both for the grandeur of the rAgam as well as the choice of it being the main item. Again, at various points of the song, he showed the facial expressions and actions fitting to the lyrics - can say like a dancer would express the meaning using <b>abhinayA</b>! The main item included a tani avartanam by Shri Harikumar, which was kept in line with the tone of the concert - polished and soft, presenting all the combinations. Of course, towards the end of it, the exhuberance did creep in with the exhilaration of the finish, but that is bound to happen in a tani avartanam. Surprisingly not many left the concert at the beginning of the tani avartanam (around 8 PM). Of course, some Mylapore mamis and mamas had to leave at their respective timings of 7:30, 7:40 and 7:45. Many have their own schedules or they have even older relatives to take care of at home (as per the explanations they give to their friends who showed questioning faces or raised eyebrows).</div>
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Next, Prince Rama Varma pointed to Shri Harikumar, as he started with "Hari", in singing Maharaja Swati Tirunal's rAgamAlika composition '<b>japata japata Hari</b>'. <span style="background-color: transparent;">The rAgamAlikA is in rAgams mAnD, nIlamani, beHAg and sindhubhairavi. <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj32cfWRUbM">An upload in YouTube is available</a>.</b></span> He also announced to the audience, who he may have noticed were in a dilemma whether to leave, that he would only take about 15 minutes and finish by 8:30 PM and they need not worry about the delay in dinner.</div>
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It was very nice of him to explain the next medley of a 'siddar pADal' - '<b>nandavanattil OrAnDi</b>', its meaning, its inner-meaning and that he would include the maguDi also in the medley. He started by singing the tune as swarams first before singing the pADal, and then presented in second tempo too. Smoothly he switched to the magudi notes before he finished with a flourish. Coming back to the full lyrics - 'nandavattil OrAnDi; avan nAlAru mAsamAy kuyavanai vEnDi; koNDu vandAn oru thONDi; adai kUttADi tUttADi pOTTuDaittAnDi' - is quite obvious from the normal view. He explained a soul prays to the potter & that nAlAru = 4 + 6 = 10 months, a soul waits for the body (a pot) and then the person proceeds to waste his/her life before breaking the pot (leaving the body). <b>The story of life in just few lines</b>!</div>
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The final part of the presentation was <i>Shri T V Gopalakrishnan's</i> <b>tillAnA in beHAg</b>. Prince Rama Varma thanked everyone stating that it was nice to perform in front of a beautiful audience and that he was performing only once more on 15th December at Arkay Convention Centre, for the Chennai season. <b>I am surprised and sad to hear that he is not performing a few more times in this December Season</b>. I do not know the schedule of the Prince, or the dynamics of our sabhas - but it is definitely a loss for Chennai if more of his concerts are not included for us. The youngsters can learn lot from his concerts, a lot about his guru Dr. M Balamuralikrishna and his repertoire, his 'mAnasIga' guru Shri MD Ramanathan's style and repertoire, etc., from this stalwart. <u>Hope the sabha fraternity, organizers, sponsors and the various donors look into the possibility of getting Prince Rama Varma to perform more concerts here</u>.</div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Prince Rama Varma is an accomplished Vainika also. The first Musiri Chamber Concert that I attended was that of his Veena recital in June 2014. Such a simple and unassuming gentleman, with ever smiling face.</span></div>
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Switching gears, it is indeed annoying to note that a simple etiquette of switching off mobile phones or turning on silent-mode is not being done by MANY people. Invariably, we have a dozen or more interruptions of the cell-phone rings. Luckily, it did not reach the ears of the people on the dais - however it is annoying for others nearby. Then there are some who want to take their phone calls (when in silent-mode) and walk across disturbing others in their row, go out any which time, and return any which time!</div>
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When a boy of 15 or 17 does it 3 or 4 times within 25 minutes, I wonder whether he is in touch with Shri Ambani or Shri Modi or even the big Shri Don Trump (not in this concert but on earlier day - wanted to ra(n)t in this report).</div>
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Some elders in the audience acknowledged the Prince's statement of the "beautiful audience", by loudly saying "see how he talks; did any one of the other artists so far say this about the audience; he has the good thoughts to express it to us; it is the thought that counts"! (etc)</div>
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In the past few concerts, I was wondering that all the <i>neighbours' activities can disturb me less, if I closed my eyes and listened</i>. It worked in brief spells in earlier concerts. <i>I am glad that I did not do it for this concert - because then I would have missed all the abhinaya of Prince Rama Varma</i>, which was a nice added dimension to the Carnatic concert. It was also great to feel the presence of Dr. M Balamuralikrishna in our midst indeed in the form of Prince Rama Varma's presentation.</div>
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<i>DO NOT MISS if you get a chance to see the video of this concert</i> - you will enjoy - the smile and abhinaya will stay with you for long time.</div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-54462058068914180042018-11-28T19:50:00.000+05:302018-11-28T20:21:20.554+05:30Sowkhya Sangeetham - Shri Vijay Siva at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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(and mish-mash report)</div>
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<b>Shri Vijay Siva</b> never disappoints in providing a serene and exhilarating concert. It was one such on the Sunday morning (<b>25 Nov 2018</b>), where he was accompanied by the talented youngsters <b>Shri L Ramakrishnan</b> on violin, <b>Shri Palghat Harinarayanan</b> on Mridangam and <b>Shri Sunil Kumar</b> on Kanjira. I am sorry that I don't know the names of Shri Vijay Siva's two disciples who provided vocal support, as well as played the tambura.</div>
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Shri Vijay Siva did not include any gimmickery, just like any of his trademark concerts, while presenting an excellent compact traditional 2 hour carnatic concert. After a brief shlokam he began the concert with <b>vandEHam jagat vallabham</b> in Hamsadhvani. It set a brisk pace to the start with a few kalpana swarams also in the rendition.</div>
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<b>HimAcala tanayE</b> in Anandabhairavi was presented next. The soft rendering was soothing and set the stage for the rest of the sowkhya sangeetham. When he chose an <b>AlApanA in sArangA</b> next, I was anticipating the panca-bhUta kriti arunAcala nAdam. However, the phrases presented in the AlApana did not seem to indicate it - I wondered if it would be nIvADa nE gAna or enta bhAgyamu. It was a pleasant surprise to hear a rarely sung Thyagaraja kriti <b>Emi dOva balkuma</b>. This rendition included kalpana swarams in a relaxed gait.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A click from a different concert in 2017</span></td></tr>
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<u>Taking a diversion in this report</u>, Shri Vijay Siva, unlike most musicians, does not give any gap between songs (unless accompanists need to fine-tune their instruments). Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyam also does not give more than those 3 to 5 seconds between songs, before commencing the next. This reminded me of comments on a lecture demonstration of the previous day (Saturday), where Shri Sriram Parasuram was talking of Nagaswaram Maestro T N Rajarathnam Pillai (at Raga Sudha Hall, as part of Parivadini series). In his opinion, the format of the thavil interludes in the AlApana of Nagaswaram not only gives a breather to the artists to recharge lungs, but also helps him/her make a fresh start on the AlApana. This format, suggested Shri Sriram, could also be followed in vocal concerts, to provide vocalist with a brief rest for him/her to provide an elaborate exploration of the rAgam. Only in the case of rAgam and tAnam before the pallavi, this "exchange" pattern is followed allowing for elaboration in this manner. It could be extended to other main AlApana and sub-main (as seems to be the current term) AlApana also.</div>
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<u>Coming back to the concert</u>, Shri Vijay Siva then started with just ta-nun-na (mandra stAyi ni-pa-sa??) to indicate, in just half-a-second, that the next rAgam would be <b>kEdAram</b>. Just brilliant to sing that quite unique and short phrase in the right manner. The knowledge, vidwat and experience comes out in such nuances. Again, I was hoping that he will take a panca-bhUta kriti - and he did not disappoint. His AlApana had indicated clearly that it was <b>Ananda naTana prakAsham</b> that was going to follow. kEdAram was presented in elaborate manner and the serene rendition of the Dikshitar kriti followed. As was expected, there was nice neraval at <b>sangIta vAdya vinOda tAnDava</b>, followed by kalpana swarams in brisk tempo.</div>
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The next item was a short vasantA rAgam song composed by Shri Papanasam Siva "<b>mA dayai nidhiyenum</b>". Then came the magnum opus in <b>kharaHarapriyA</b>.</div>
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We can say that the AlApana covered the entire scope of the rAgam. He presented most of it in a full throated manner and near the end, he switched to the gentle lilting soft vocalisation to give the <u>"konjal" face of kharaHarapriyA</u>. It was very moving indeed. Shri Ramakrishnan presented a good and compact version of this rAgam. In the end, Shri Vijay Siva sang some characteristic phrases from <b>cakkani rAjA</b> in the AlApanA, giving clear indication that the composition will be the one to follow. This composition was given the full treatment, including the expected neraval at kanTiki sundara. The kalpanaswarams also covered the entire facet of the rAgam followed by a brilliant tani avartanam. Shri Harinarayanan and Shri Sunil kumar thrilled the audience as well as the artists with their exchange.</div>
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<u>Coming back to the lecture demonstration</u>, Shri Sriram (on Saturday) had mentioned that some stalwarts (primarily Thanjavur Shri S Kalayanaraman?) had suggested that AlApanA of the vocalist can be for one rAgam, which need not be followed by an elaboration by violinist. Also, before another composition in the concert, the violinist can start and present the rAga AlApanA, while the vocalist follows it by the kriti. This seemed like a very good suggestion indeed. It is also interesting that if this is followed by some "non-conformist" in current decade, along with other radical ideas, there seems to be a knee-jerk reaction of dissent from rasikas.</div>
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Shri Vijay Siva closed with <b>"tOdudaya cevi"</b> by Thirugnanasambandar, viruttam in nIlAmbarai, varALi and bhImplAs (or was it karnAta devagAndhAri), followed by <b>yAdava nI bA yadukula nandana</b> in that last rAgam and finishing with a kAvaDi cindu "<b>centamizh nEDennum pOdinilE</b>".</div>
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I wish that nature rained claps for this concert too, like <a href="https://vrvdmusikings.blogspot.com/2018/01/shri-vijay-siva-sukha-sangeetham-at.html">it happened on 31st December, 2017</a>, after his concert in West Mambalam - tippity-tap on the tin roof exactly during the mangalam, it was on that day. Chennai does need a lot of rain.</div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-66782421025657957802018-01-20T22:42:00.001+05:302018-01-20T22:42:17.951+05:30Shri Vijay Siva - Sukha sangeetham at Rasika Fine Arts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As the last line of the Mangalam was sung, a brief drizzle tippity-tapped on the tin-roof, as though the Gods were clapping for the "sukha" sangeetam of Shri Vijay Siva. It was louder than the claps from the happy spectators.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Enjoyed the superb concert accompanied by Smt. Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, Shri N C Bharadwaj and Shri Krishna, at J G Hindu Vidyalaya school. This concert was for Rasika Fine Arts on the evening of 29th December, 2017 - a nice Friday evening treat.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shri Vijay Siva, Smt Vijayalakshmi, Shri Bharadwaj and Shri Krishna</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Shri Vijay Siva opened with a short shlokam in Kalyani, followed by a mellow Sujana Jeevana in Kamas ragam. The sweet piece set the tone for the evening. He took up an elaborate alapani of Rishabhapriya next. The ragam's unique rasa was brought out well, as expected from a stalwart like him. Smt Vijayalakshmi played a compact follow-up. Thyagaraja's Mahima tagginchuko kovayya (kindly excuse mistakes in transliteration, if any) was the kriti that was presented, with brief neraval and detail kalpana swarams included.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Next he sang a slow and relaxing O Jagadamba in Anandabhairavi, a composition of Muthuswami Dikshitar. A short Shankarabharanam alapanai preceded Annai janaki vandale set to Misra chapu talam, Arunachala Kavi composition. With a quick tempo rendition of Paramukham enayya in Kharaharapriya (Papanasam Sivan composition), he set stage for the main song.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Saveri was taken up for the elaborate exploration, which was played well by Smt. Vijayalakshmi as well. Sri Rajagopala Bala, a Muthuswami Dikshitar krithi, was taken up. Full justice for the ragam was done with beautiful neraval and kalpana swarams, followed by a spirited tani avartanam between Shri Bharadwaj and Shri Krishna. Though the sound settings for the Mridangam was a constant trouble through entire concert for Shri N C Bharadwaj, the tani avartanam was in full flow. A separate post on "sound systems", "audio personnel", etc., will be posted later.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Standard pose during viruttams / Q&A</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A viruttam in sevaral ragams followed next, ending with Behag as the last ragam, followed by Oruthi maganaai pirandhu in Behag. A bhajan on Vittala, with the cymbals (1 mandatory bhajan per concert seems to be his style) in Pahaadi (I am guessing, as it sounded like Shri Lalgudi Jayaraman's tillana in that ragam - and exchange of glances, with Smt. Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi makes me think it is right) was the penultimate piece.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The thiruppugazh, Marukkulaviya malaranai kodiyade valartta, set to Purvi kalyani rounded off the concert (tisra nadai rupaka talam). As mentioned above, the mangalam was about to be completed, when the claps started from the audience. However, a sudden louder clapping came from the drizzle on temporary tin-roof of the open-air pandhal. It seemed like the Gods themselves were applauding the concert. We were mighty pleased, for sure.</span><br />
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-35937589682502655352015-04-05T21:45:00.000+05:302015-04-05T21:45:00.395+05:30C.Rajagopalachari’s introduction to Kavignar Kannadhasan's "Aezhu Swarangalukkul" - imagination<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">கற்பனை - திரு இராஜகோபாலாச்சாரி கவிஞர் கண்ணதாசனின் "ஏழு ஸ்வரங்களுக்குள்" பாடலுக்கு ஒரு அறிமுகம்</span></span></b></span><br />Shri Kavignar Kannadasan wrote a number of film songs sharing the learnings from his travails of life. He composed a number of songs to explain the lessons of life to reach the hearts of the common human. One of these songs is the famous "Aezhu Swarangalukkul".<br /><br />If the knoweldge gained in one's life does not get transformed into Bhakti, such knowledge is useless tinsel. If Shri Kannadasan who went through turmoils as a very staunch atheist sang in his later years songs to develop devotion, it is enough to show that experience, knowledge and devotion are all the same.<br /><br />Shri Kannadasan has packed into the "Aezhu Swarangalukkul" song: the substance of wordly life, and with help of Shri M S Viswanathan set it to melodious music.<br /><br /><span style="color: blue;"><b>ஏழு ஸ்வரங்களுக்குள் </b></span>(aezhu swarangalukkul)<br /><br />படம் - அபூர்வராகங்கள். FILM : ABOORVA RAAGANGAL. <br />இசை - எம்.எஸ்.விஸ்வநாதன். MUSIC : M. S. VISWANAATHAN. <br />பாடியவர் - வாணி ஜெயராம். SINGER : VAANI JEYARAM. <br />வரிகள் - கண்ணதாசன். LYRICS : KAVIGNAR KANNADHAASAN.<br />
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<b>பல்லவி: </b><span style="color: blue;">ஏழு ஸ்வரங்களுக்குள் எத்தனை பாடல்<br />இதயச் சுரங்கத்துள் எத்தனை கேள்வி<br />காணும் மனிதருக்குள் எத்தனை சலனம் - வெறும்<br />கற்பனை சந்தோஷத்தில் அவரது கவனம்<br />(ஏழு)</span><br />
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<b>Pallavi:</b><span style="color: blue;"></span>aezhu svarangalukkul eththanai paadal <br />idhayach churangaththul eththanai kaelvi<br />kaanum manidharukkul eththanai salanam - verum<br />karpanai sandhoashaththil avanadhu gavanam<br />(aezhu) </div>
<br /><span style="color: purple;">Meaning: How many songs in seven notes<br />How many questions in the tunnel that’s one’s heart?<br />How many disturbances in the people you see?<br />In empty imaginary pleasures lies his attention</span><br />
<br /><b>சரணங்கள்:</b><span style="color: blue;">(1) காலை எழுந்தவுடன் நாளைய கேள்வி<br />அது கையில் கிடைத்த பின்னும் துடிக்குது ஆவி<br />ஏனென்ற கேள்வி ஒன்றே என்றைக்கும் தங்கும் - மனித<br />இன்பதுன்பம் எதிலும் கேள்விதான் மிஞ்சும்<br /><br />மனித இன்பதுன்பம் எதிலும் கேள்விதான் மிஞ்சும்<br />(ஏழு)</span><br /><b>Charanams:</b>(1) <span style="color: blue;"></span>kaalai ezhundhavudan naalaiya kaelvi<br />adhu kaiyil kidaiththa pinnum thudikkudhu aavi<br />aenenra kaelvi onrae enraikkum thangum - manidha<br />inbathunbam edhilum kaelvidhaan minjum <br /><br />manidha inbathunbam edhilum kaelvidhaan minjum <br />(aezhu) <br /><br /><span style="color: purple;">Meaning: We wake up in the morning, with tomorrow's question<br />And even after we get it in our hands, the spirit beats <br />"Why?" is the question that stays on forever - in the human<br />joys and sorrows, any of them, only the question remains<br /></span><br /><span style="color: blue;">(2) எனக்காக நீ அழுதால் இயற்கையில் நடக்கும்<br />நீ எனக்காக உணவு உண்ண எப்படி நடக்கும்<br />நமக்கென்று பூமியிலே கடமைகள் உண்டு - அதை<br />நமக்காக நம் கையால் செய்வது நன்று<br /><br />அதை நமக்காக நம் கையால் செய்வது நன்று<br />(ஏழு)<br /></span>(2) enakkaaga nee azhudhaal iyarkaiyil nadakkum<br />nee enakkaaga unavu unna eppadi nadakkum<br />namakkenru bhoomiyilae kadamaigal undu - adhai<br />namakkaaga nam kaiyaal seyvadhu nanru<br /><br />adhai namakkaaga nam kaiyaal seyvadhu nanru<br />(aezhu) <br /><br /><span style="color: purple;">Meaning: You can cry on my behalf, it’s possible (in nature)<br />How can you eat for me?<br />We all have our duties to perform<br />It is best if we do them ourselves</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">(3) ஆரம்பத்தில் பிறப்பும் உன் கையில் இல்லை<br />இதில் அடுத்தடுத்த நடப்பும் உன் கையில் இல்லை<br />பாதை வகுத்த பின்பு பயந்தென்ன லாபம்<br />பாதை வகுத்த பின்பு பயந்தென்ன லாபம் - அதில்<br />பயணம் நடத்திவிடு மறைந்திடும் பாவம்<br /><br />அதில் பயணம் நடத்திவிடு மறைந்திடும் பாவம்<br />(ஏழு)</span><br />(3) aarambaththil pirappum un kaiyil illai <br />idhil aduththaduththa nadappum un kaiyil illai<br />paadhai vaguththa pinbu bayandhenna laabam <br />paadhai vaguththa pinbu bayandhenna laabam - adhil <br />payanam nadaththividu maraindhidum paavam <br /><br />adhil payanam nadaththividu maraindhidum paavam<br />(aezhu) <br /><br /><span style="color: purple;">Meaning: In the beginning, birth isn’t in your hands<br />Then one thing happens after another, that’s not in your hands either<br />Once you’ve decided on a path, what’s the point in getting scared<br />Walk that path and the sins will disappear<br />(Alternatelly, once the path has been paved, what is the point in getting scared<br />Walk the path and the karma will disappear)<br /></span><span style="color: blue;"><br />(4) நாளைப் பொழுது என்றும் நமக்கென வாழ்க<br />அதை நடத்த ஒருவனுண்டு கோயிலில் காண்க<br />வேளை பிறக்கும் என்று நம்பிக்கை கொள்க<br />வேளை பிறக்கும் என்று நம்பிக்கை கொள்க<br />எந்த வேதனையும் மாறும் மேகத்தைப் போல<br /><br />எந்த வேதனையும் மாறும் மேகத்தைப் போல<br />(ஏழு)</span><br />(4) naalaip pozhudhu enrum namakkena vaazhga<br />adhai nadaththa oruvanundu koayilil kaanga<br />vaelai pirakkum enru nambikkai kolga<br />vaelai pirakkum enru nambikkai kolga<br />endha vaedhanaiyum maarum maegaththaip poala<br /><br />endha vaedhanaiyum maarum maegaththaip poala<br />(aezhu)<br /><br /><span style="color: purple;">Meaning: There’s tomorrow, live in the belief that it’s for us,<br />There’s someone to guide it, find Him in the temple<br />Believe that your time will come<br />Because every sorrow is like the shifting clouds</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>By yet another parrot who wishes to share the same history<br /> of life's learnings again and again for the benefit of coming generations.<br /> Nothing original above, except a bit of that introduction part.</b></span></span></div>
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VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-50425153456873622432013-10-05T06:46:00.000+05:302013-10-05T06:46:28.905+05:30Effortless and Serene - Shri Seshagopalan's Gokulashtami Concert<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We had the good fortune of attending a very serene Carnatic music concert of Madurai Shri T N Seshagopalan at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha on 22nd September, 2013, as part of the 58th Gokulashtami Sangeetha Utsavam. This concert, which went on for more than 3 hours, was quite traditional and presented in a very calm manner. There was no strain seen during the entire performance. The accompanists, Shri M Chandrasekaran on the violin, Shri Srimushman V Raja Rao on the Mridangam and Shri Vaikom Gopalakrishnan on the Ghatam, enjoyed the music of Shri Seshagopalan and formed a perfect team along with his son T N S Krishna giving supporting vocals.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shri TNS Krishna giving vocal support to Shri T N Seshagopalan</td></tr>
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Shri Seshagopalan took some time to warm up with the first two songs. Reetigowla alapanai followed by the Varnam "Vanajaksha" was the first item, followed by Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar's "Shankachakra gadha pani" in ragam Purnachandrika. The next ragam for elaboration was Pantuvarali. Though Shri Seshagopalan brought out lot of manodharma into this, it was quite effortless. When we compare the youngsters, we could see and feel the knowledge and experience flow naturally from this stalwart. "Sarasaksha paripalaya" was the piece in this ragam, which was followed by a slow and sedate rendition of "Ranganayakim" in the ragam Nayaki.<br />
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A good picture of ragam Varamu (also called Shuddha Hindolam) was the next chosen musical scale, followed by a brisk rendition of "Thunaipurindharul." The main piece for the day was a majestic Bhairavi. Classicism was seen all through the concert and improvisations in Bhairavi within this framework was very much appreciated by the audience and accompanists. A detail rendition of "Balagopala" followed, with nice neraval and extensive kalpana swarams reserved for this main piece. The thani avarthanam was a little shorter than expected from the two experts Shri Raja Rao and Shri Gopalakrishnan.<br />
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The concert ended with two tail-end pieces. Beginning with a ragamalikai vrittam in Saveri, Begada, Shubhapantuvarali and Rageshree, Shri Seshagopalan sang Soordas' "Krishna nama rasana" (set to Rageshree ragam). The final piece was the thillana beginning with "Nathrudeem thanana thom" in Sindhu Bhairavi.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vrittam exposition in progress</td></tr>
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Shri Chandrasekaran provided excellent elaborations of Pantuvarali, Bhairavi and the ragamalika follow-up for the vrittam. Shri T N S Krishna also sang a brief part of Shubhapantuvarali which was well appreciated. Shri Chandrasekaran was enjoying the improvisations more and played a 2nd string role only, compared to the abilities he has displayed in many concerts in the past. He was appreciating the manodharma of Shri Seshagopalan and wanted him to continue his concert at times without the separate alapanais for the violinist. Shri Seshagopalan gracefully declined and waited until Shri Chandrasekaran played out his role as well.<br />
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Nayaki, Varamu - have head these from Shri Seshagopalan more than couple of times - probably his favorites and so not surprising... What was surprising was the missing composition(s) of Harikesanallur Shri Muthiah Bhagavatar's, whose guru-sishya parampara Shri Seshagopalan belongs to.<br />
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It was a very fulfilling evening of classical and traditional concert music, performed very effortlessly. We guess that the 3-hour concert is not dead yet, provided the artists are given the time. December season concerts are restricted to 2 and half hours and we hope that more 3-hour concerts in all the other 11 months are available for our enjoyment in future too.</div>
VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-61907117833086138062011-12-18T07:41:00.001+05:302013-09-15T07:07:42.531+05:30Ethereal Abhishek Raghuram<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sri Krishna Gana Sabha reverberated with Manodharmic music on 11th December, 2011. Master Abhishek Raghuram gave a Carnatic music vocal concert dripping with innovations in presentation. The interpretations of various ragams through aalapanais, neraval and swara prastharams were quite different and made the spectators enjoy, clap and even gasp at times.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abhishek Raghuram's vocal concert at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha on 11 December, 2011</td></tr>
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Abhishek was accompanied by Ms. Akkarai Subbulakshmi on the violin, Mr. R Krishnan on the Mridangam and Mr. G Guruprasanna on the Kanjira. The team really enjoyed performing and worked as a good team to enthrall the spectators.<br />
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Beginning with a short Kalyani Aalapani, Abhishek sang the varnam Vanajakshiro. This was a good warm up to the pieces that were going to follow. This was followed by a good elaboration of Chakravaham ragam, Subbulakshmi followed with a good aalapanai on the violin. The piece chosen for rendition was Gajananayutham in Adi talam composed by Mutthuswami Dikshitar. Abhishek then surprised everyone by taking the brisk Biraana Brova idhi for exploration, composed by Tarangampadi Panchanada Iyer. Following the Kalyani varnam with another song in Kalyani within half an hour was a surprise, but there must be some logic to this selection, which we did not understand. In this song he explored Kalyani well, especially with Neraval and swaram.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scintillating presentation of Dwijavanthi</td></tr>
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Dwijavanthi ragam was next, where Manodharma was brought to the fore in full force. The detail presentation of the ragam explored nuances that many in the audience had not heard. There was very good appreciation from them for the rendition of rare korvais, which showed Abhisheks extraordinary grasp of this moving ragam. This was followed by Muthuswami Dikshitar's Chetta Sri Balakrishnam Bajeham, set to Roopaka talam, presented in an elaborate fashion as well. Nuances of Dwijavanthi were explored very well again.<br />
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Deva Devam Baje by Sri Annamacharya was taken as the faster piece to follow Chettha Sri. The style of this composition was different from what we have heard from Srimathi M S Subbulakshmi's classical rendition in Hindolam. It was beautifully composed and it added to the reasons that one should make it a point to attend his concerts and get into a different world of music altogether.<br />
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The main piece chosen for the concert was in Bilahari. The ragam exploration by Abhishek was exquisite and elaborate. He did justice to this ragam by covering the aalapanai in good detail. His neraval and swara prastharams for this main piece, Sri Chamundeswari Palayamam composed by Mysore Vasudevacharya, were superb too. Having his laya training from his famous grandfather Palghat R Raghu, he gave variety of korvais in this song. The thani avarthanam that followed was relatively short compared to other concerts' main pieces, but well presented by Krishnan and Guruprasanna.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlvxN5p8U7KjWTE0ZCyZSBmpz0QENTpQPkndJpwYWk86wgw-yu2IsXyY_axNepuNtxkrDd2UDYlzw6WLymsxCdSiNBzFXeSmfwx2kcqYdzCIcXMuh737q0WFgOoR4PLugj4J0tU732PVF/s1600/Abhishek_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlvxN5p8U7KjWTE0ZCyZSBmpz0QENTpQPkndJpwYWk86wgw-yu2IsXyY_axNepuNtxkrDd2UDYlzw6WLymsxCdSiNBzFXeSmfwx2kcqYdzCIcXMuh737q0WFgOoR4PLugj4J0tU732PVF/s400/Abhishek_3.jpg" height="192" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Concert progressing at good pace</td></tr>
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As it was quite close to time for the next dance presentation at the hall, Abhishek sang a quick Thiruppugazh in Sindhu Bhairavi, before closing with the Mangalam.<br />
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Due to the manodharmic presentation, the accompanists were left to gape in awe & appreciation, and play a basic cycle at times. It does not mean that they were any less talented, but that Abhishek Raghuram has gone up to the next sphere. He can be considered to be in the same level as top artists in the current generation and hence had even been given a prime 4:30 PM spot in Sri Krishna Gana Sabha.<br />
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We look forward to many more scintillating performances from Abhishek in the tens of years to come.</div>
VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377116784569594350.post-69099370157751381402011-12-13T14:33:00.000+05:302011-12-13T14:33:02.067+05:30Musical Musings on Carnatic music kings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This blog is intended for musical musings on various concerts. I plan to blog about the realm of Carnatic musicians' performances in whichever sabhas I get to seem them at.<br />
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These are purely my personal opinions and not based on any objective view of performances nor do I claim any deep knowledge of all aspects of Carnatic music.<br />
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The intention would be to spread the news about great performances and give due credit to performers of this South Indian Classical music.</div>VRVD_LongFellowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896937304944512408noreply@blogger.com0