Shri Narayan Rangaraj (narayan of rasikas.org) is a Professor of Industrial Engg. and Operations Research at IIT-Bombay. He performed at the residence of an ardent rasika of Carnatic Music at Mumbai on the morning of 11th December (IST). Now people who know that I have moved to the US might be wondering how I attended this concert to be writing about it! Thanks to the cooperation of the hosts of the concert (who are my Mama and Mami) I got to "oversee" the concert in the literal sense of the term through skype! So I listened to the concert late at night from the US!
My bales and pranaams to technology for making this possible!
A disciple of AS Panchapakesa Iyer, Alamelu Mani and PN Krishnamurthy, Shri Narayan is well known among serious music lovers in Mumbai as not only a practitioner of traditional and aesthetic Carnatic music but also an enthusiastic rasika. That we got him to perform at our forum was indeed our good fortune! Narayan has, at some point or other been a mentor to most of us young musicians in Mumbai. I for example have greatly benefited from our music sessions at Shri Narayan's place. Shri Narayan's rAga AlApana essays are very educative and complete and give new insights into the rAgam.
The Mumbai Carnatic Music Forum, under the aegis of which the concert was held has been started by young musicians in Mumbai to build a strong, knowledgeable rasika community in Mumbai and also to enhance sharing and active and regular musical interaction with each other. We have successfully completed 12 chamber concerts now and are spearheading towards our anniversary in Jan!
Now to the theme and list. Narayan's theme was "Allied Ragas". He sang pairs allied ragams, some with detailed manodharmam, some without. He sang a Dikshitar kriti for one ragam and a Tyagaraja kriti for the other. He ended the concert with pAlincu kAmAkshi.
1. suguNamulE - chakravAkam
2. sUryamUrtE - sowrashtram
3. ranganAyakam (started from anupallavi) - nAyaki - R
4. tappaganE - shuddha bangALa - R,S
5. sarasa sAma dAna - kApi nArAyaNi - R(short sketch)
6. shrI rAmam - nArAyaNagowLa - R, S @ kusha lava tAtam
7. paralOka - mandAri
8. rAmanAtham - pantuvarALi (or kAmavardhini, if you will) - N, S @ kAmita phala, tani
9. ninnanavalasinadEmi - kalyANi - R
10. akshaya linga vibhO - shankarAbharaNam
11. pAlincu kAmAkshi
The choice of rAga pairs speaks volumes of Shri Narayan's vidwat and practice. Singing these rAgams back to back is no mean task. There were absolutely no glitches while moving from nAyaki to shuddha bangALa or from kApi nArayni to nArAyaNa gowLa.
I sat through till rAmanAtham. Just as I was praising technology, the internet connection at the hosts' end decided to give way and I had to sign out.
The highlights of the concert were the AlApanas for nAyaki, shuddha bangALa and nArAyaNa gowLa. The nArAyaNagowLa was especially so good that I was humming it throughout the night even after I had signed out and I am still humming while I write about it after about 12 hours! Ah! what a delight it was! Wish I could hear the kalyANi kriti. I have heard only Nedunuri's recording.
I must also congratulate Smriti Sunderrajan for providing excellent violin support. As difficult a task as it must have been for the experienced vocalist, I am sure it must have been even more challenging for this youngster. But she did a brilliant job of not confusing between the raagams and supported Shri Narayan wonderfully.
Rohit Prasad played well on the Mridangam thorughout. However, I missed the tani unfortunately! I am sure it must have been exciting!
Last but not the least, the hosts did a wonderful job and with elders' blessings, we hope this forum and its activities continue for a long time in the future.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Abhishek Raghuram @ SSVT Maryland on Nov 5 2011
Vocal- Abhishek Raghuram
Violin - Vittal Ramamurthy
Mridangam - Trivandrum Balaji
I had mixed feelings a few months ago, before coming to the US to study. New country, new place and all. Would I be able to pursue music? Listen to concerts? All my questions were answered, thanks to the presence of some friends and relatives nearby and the Siva Vishnu Temple! The temple is a great one and conducts programs regularly. They are celebrating "Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri Day" this weekend and there have been performances by local kids throughout the two days.
Yesterday Abhishek gave a fabulous concert here. You know what is "awesome" when you listen to Abhishek! There was a GNB in my Grandpa's generation, a TNS in my father's: there is Abhishek in mine. No, I am not simply using superlative adjectives for this vidvAn like others. I have my misgivings with his music too. But the positives outnumber the negatives by a very large margin! So why unnecessarily crib about what I didn't like? I believe in taking home the best that one has to offer and appreciate it whole heartedly. And Abhishek's mind-blowing creativity throws you off your feet and makes you think, "So what if the N2 in thodi was not so classical " or "So what if most of the ragams were scalar" or "So what if some phrases did not sound Carnatic at all." I believe in traditional classicism and innovation within strictly Carnatic boundaries. But with ABhishek, all my boundaries get expanded to this one big realm called "Music" where I am mesmerized by the fantastic creativity and I am stunned with astonishment!
Apologies for these lofty words. I know that there has been a parallel thread on how reviewers use "hi-fi" language but when you listen to high-quality music, at times even the simple mind is forced to weave out poetic epithets and descriptions (Did I really write that May be Abhishek's music has instigated some creative writing in me! )
The list:
sarasuda - saveri varnam
nAda tanumanisham
mEru samAna - R,N,S @ gaLamuna
mA ramanan R,S @ mA ramaNan
tatva meruga taramA R,S @ tatva
shrI krishnam bhaja - RNST @ pankajAsanAdi
A song in rAgam sAma, composed by Shri Kumaresh (of the Ganesh Kumaresh duo)
A bhajan in sanskrit in sindhu bhairavi
A mangalam in yadukula kambodi
Before the concert, the organizers requested the audience to move out for 30 minutes for the artists to set up the mike system. It did not help much as, in spite of this, Abhishek's volume was a little low throughout the concert -> may also be because he kept moving away from the mike. But that did not affect the quality of the music or the experience of the audience. The concert actually started from "mEru samAna". Amazing round of swarams at gaLAmuna. I did not enjoy the AlApana though. It was too light for my taste.
The hindolam AlApana was sublime. He sang it in madhyama shruti - maybe that added to the effect. He used the scalar nature of the ragam to great effect. Swarams were again brilliant. His AlApana for garudadhwani had very interesting patterns. The kriti rendition and the swarams reminded one of TRS's popular rendition that was floating in Facebook some time back. But Abhishek added a lot of his creativity and brought out superb laya-intricate patterns.
The piece de resistance was of course the todi Alapana and swarams. Someone prompted Abhishek to sing todi and shrI krishnam bhaja. Thankfully the request came early, else, knowing Abhishek, he would have gone on and on!
The last swaram was fully in khanda nadai - I haven't heard a better rendition of khanda nadai. His grandfather's brilliance shone brightly here. I have heard some recordings of Palghat Raghu Sir's khanda nadai and have been awestruck with the intricacies and the intelligent sollus and korvais. Though Abhishek's korvai was a simple one, I thoroughly enjoyed that fact that he sang khanda nadai without explicitly "disclosing the nadai" That is exactly the brilliance of his Grandpa!
Vittal Sir's support was enthusiastic. Trivandrum Balaji was his usual best, displaying his intellectual prowess that he has imbibed from Raghu Sir.
The best part of Abhishek's concert is his stage presence. When he sings something complicate, he gives this "Yes I did it!" smile (something like this - :) ) and not the "See, I can do this" grin (something like this - ]:) ). In the end, I have just one more adjective for Abhishek -"electrifying"! After the concert, I told my aunt, "naan appiDiyE bhramicchu poi irukkEn!"
--Gokul--
Violin - Vittal Ramamurthy
Mridangam - Trivandrum Balaji
I had mixed feelings a few months ago, before coming to the US to study. New country, new place and all. Would I be able to pursue music? Listen to concerts? All my questions were answered, thanks to the presence of some friends and relatives nearby and the Siva Vishnu Temple! The temple is a great one and conducts programs regularly. They are celebrating "Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri Day" this weekend and there have been performances by local kids throughout the two days.
Yesterday Abhishek gave a fabulous concert here. You know what is "awesome" when you listen to Abhishek! There was a GNB in my Grandpa's generation, a TNS in my father's: there is Abhishek in mine. No, I am not simply using superlative adjectives for this vidvAn like others. I have my misgivings with his music too. But the positives outnumber the negatives by a very large margin! So why unnecessarily crib about what I didn't like? I believe in taking home the best that one has to offer and appreciate it whole heartedly. And Abhishek's mind-blowing creativity throws you off your feet and makes you think, "So what if the N2 in thodi was not so classical " or "So what if most of the ragams were scalar" or "So what if some phrases did not sound Carnatic at all." I believe in traditional classicism and innovation within strictly Carnatic boundaries. But with ABhishek, all my boundaries get expanded to this one big realm called "Music" where I am mesmerized by the fantastic creativity and I am stunned with astonishment!
Apologies for these lofty words. I know that there has been a parallel thread on how reviewers use "hi-fi" language but when you listen to high-quality music, at times even the simple mind is forced to weave out poetic epithets and descriptions (Did I really write that May be Abhishek's music has instigated some creative writing in me! )
The list:
sarasuda - saveri varnam
nAda tanumanisham
mEru samAna - R,N,S @ gaLamuna
mA ramanan R,S @ mA ramaNan
tatva meruga taramA R,S @ tatva
shrI krishnam bhaja - RNST @ pankajAsanAdi
A song in rAgam sAma, composed by Shri Kumaresh (of the Ganesh Kumaresh duo)
A bhajan in sanskrit in sindhu bhairavi
A mangalam in yadukula kambodi
Before the concert, the organizers requested the audience to move out for 30 minutes for the artists to set up the mike system. It did not help much as, in spite of this, Abhishek's volume was a little low throughout the concert -> may also be because he kept moving away from the mike. But that did not affect the quality of the music or the experience of the audience. The concert actually started from "mEru samAna". Amazing round of swarams at gaLAmuna. I did not enjoy the AlApana though. It was too light for my taste.
The hindolam AlApana was sublime. He sang it in madhyama shruti - maybe that added to the effect. He used the scalar nature of the ragam to great effect. Swarams were again brilliant. His AlApana for garudadhwani had very interesting patterns. The kriti rendition and the swarams reminded one of TRS's popular rendition that was floating in Facebook some time back. But Abhishek added a lot of his creativity and brought out superb laya-intricate patterns.
The piece de resistance was of course the todi Alapana and swarams. Someone prompted Abhishek to sing todi and shrI krishnam bhaja. Thankfully the request came early, else, knowing Abhishek, he would have gone on and on!
The last swaram was fully in khanda nadai - I haven't heard a better rendition of khanda nadai. His grandfather's brilliance shone brightly here. I have heard some recordings of Palghat Raghu Sir's khanda nadai and have been awestruck with the intricacies and the intelligent sollus and korvais. Though Abhishek's korvai was a simple one, I thoroughly enjoyed that fact that he sang khanda nadai without explicitly "disclosing the nadai" That is exactly the brilliance of his Grandpa!
Vittal Sir's support was enthusiastic. Trivandrum Balaji was his usual best, displaying his intellectual prowess that he has imbibed from Raghu Sir.
The best part of Abhishek's concert is his stage presence. When he sings something complicate, he gives this "Yes I did it!" smile (something like this - :) ) and not the "See, I can do this" grin (something like this - ]:) ). In the end, I have just one more adjective for Abhishek -"electrifying"! After the concert, I told my aunt, "naan appiDiyE bhramicchu poi irukkEn!"
--Gokul--
Sunday, July 24, 2011
B Govind @ Vashi on 24th July 2011
Govind is a disciple of Shri Vamanan, P N Krishnamurthy and Radha Namboodiri. A strict adherer to classicism and music minus frills, Govind presented a soulful concert today morning. It was a thoroughly enjoyable affair with NY Easwaran and Tejasvi Sundarrajan providing the perfect support on the Mridangam and Violin respectively.
This concert was the seventh in the chamber music series that has been spearheaded by youngsters in Mumbai to keep alive rich classical music and enhance interaction amongst each other.
The theme of the concert was "Rare compositions of Tyagaraja"; but like Govind and I were discussing later, his choice of compositions were more like "Compositions of Tyagaraja that one has heard of but seldom heard!"
Following was the list:
1.) sudhAmAdhurya - sindhurAmakriya - rUpakam
2.) mApAla - asAvEri - Adi (R)
3.) rAma nI vAdu - kalyani- Adi (tisra naDai) (RNS @ nA manasuna)
4.) shrI mAnini - pUrNashaDjam- Adi
5.) narasimha - bilahari - misra chApu (R)
6.) rAmAbhi rAma - dhanyAsi - Adi
7.) naDaci - kharaharapriya - Adi (RST @ puDami)
8.) ennADu jUtunO - kalAvati
9.) centanE - kuntala varALi
The kalavati and the kuntala varali pieces were new to me. My pick of the day was rAma nI vAdu; the extensive treatment was indeed delightful. As I have mentioned in a previous review of Govind's concert, his voice has a unique tonal quality and this made songs like shrI mAnini and mApAla electrifying. The short asAvEri AlApana reflected Govind's vidwat.
Every composition was presented very well. The pAThAntarams of all the kritis were pure and devoid of any unnecessary frills. The manodharmam was in right measure. Easwaran's strokes reminded one of his Guru's Guru - Shri Palghat Raghu. Tejasvi's replies on the violin were apt and to the point. An enjoyable treat for this Tyagarajadasa by another!
--Gokul--
This concert was the seventh in the chamber music series that has been spearheaded by youngsters in Mumbai to keep alive rich classical music and enhance interaction amongst each other.
The theme of the concert was "Rare compositions of Tyagaraja"; but like Govind and I were discussing later, his choice of compositions were more like "Compositions of Tyagaraja that one has heard of but seldom heard!"
Following was the list:
1.) sudhAmAdhurya - sindhurAmakriya - rUpakam
2.) mApAla - asAvEri - Adi (R)
3.) rAma nI vAdu - kalyani- Adi (tisra naDai) (RNS @ nA manasuna)
4.) shrI mAnini - pUrNashaDjam- Adi
5.) narasimha - bilahari - misra chApu (R)
6.) rAmAbhi rAma - dhanyAsi - Adi
7.) naDaci - kharaharapriya - Adi (RST @ puDami)
8.) ennADu jUtunO - kalAvati
9.) centanE - kuntala varALi
The kalavati and the kuntala varali pieces were new to me. My pick of the day was rAma nI vAdu; the extensive treatment was indeed delightful. As I have mentioned in a previous review of Govind's concert, his voice has a unique tonal quality and this made songs like shrI mAnini and mApAla electrifying. The short asAvEri AlApana reflected Govind's vidwat.
Every composition was presented very well. The pAThAntarams of all the kritis were pure and devoid of any unnecessary frills. The manodharmam was in right measure. Easwaran's strokes reminded one of his Guru's Guru - Shri Palghat Raghu. Tejasvi's replies on the violin were apt and to the point. An enjoyable treat for this Tyagarajadasa by another!
--Gokul--
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Veena recital by Vidyanandi @ Mumbai on 26-06-2011
Among the different bANis of playing the Veena, the Tanjore bANi is famous for its gAyaki style. What you play on the vINA is what you sing. Great exponents like Veena Dhanammal, Shri KS Narayanaswami, Kalpakkam Swaminathan, etc. were exponents of this style. (Although some people are of the opinion that Shri KSN belongs to a "Travancore style" of playing, my Guru, Smt Kalyani Sharma, a disciple of Shri KSN once personally clarified from him that he is an exponent of the Tanjore style.)
Vidyanandi is a star disciple of Smt Mangalam Muthuswami, a great vINA exponent of the Tanjore style and an eminent teacher at Mumbai. Her technique of playing is the definition of soothing, her calm and mature approach to music throughout the 2 hr concert was indeed striking! After the demise of Smt. Mangalam, Vidya continues to learn from Shri Vamanan from Mumbai, who teaches her vocally and she translates his instruction onto the vINA!
Being an ardent devotee and follower of vINA based music and especially the Tanjore style, Vidyanandi's concert was one memorable one that will remain in my mind forever. The choice of kritis, the perfection, and the unhurried approach all contributed to making my day today. And the fact that this experience had to happen at my own place added to its value. This concert was held as part of the chamber music concert series that youngsters here have started. Vidyanandi chose Muthuswami Dikshitar's kritis for the presentation. Dikshitar himself was a vaiNika-gAyaka (so what an apt choice of theme!) and Vidyanandi brought out the ethos of His kritis and embellished them with beautiful and highly aesthetic manodharmam. Following were the kritis presented this morning:
1. vallabha nAyakasya - bEgaDa- rUpakam - R,S @ vallabha
2. kamalAmbA - Ananda bhairavi - misra chApu - R sketch
3. AnandAmrtAkarShiNi - amrutavarshini - Adi - S @ AnandAmrutAkarShiNi
4. sArasa daLa nayana- khamAs - chatushra jampa (I thought this is tisra Triputa, but it was rendered in chatusra jhampa)
5. mAmava mInAkshi - varALi - misra chapu - RNS @ syAmE
6. ranganAyakam - nAyaki - Adi
7. brhadIshwarAya - shankarabharanam - Adi - RNST with tAnam.
8. akhilAnDeshwarI - dwijAvanti - Adi
9. vIra hanumatE - kAnaDa - rUpakam
10. tAnam in madhyamAvati on my request!
My pick of the day was ranganAyakam! What an uplifting rendition! brhadIshwaraya was of course excellently rendered; the tAnam was again very pleasing. But ranganAyakam was the most beautiful! The version of kamalAmbA was a bit new, with some nice G3 prayogams in the charanam which I have heard only Vishwa sing.
Karthik Srinivasan on the Mridangam supported Vidyanandi unobtrusively with the right amount of silence and decibel levels. The 2 hr aesthetically-rich concert transported me to different level altogether. I do not remember having heard a kutcheri in the recent times that I was completely satisfied with, in all respects so this concert will be in my mind for a long long time.
-- Gokul--
Vidyanandi is a star disciple of Smt Mangalam Muthuswami, a great vINA exponent of the Tanjore style and an eminent teacher at Mumbai. Her technique of playing is the definition of soothing, her calm and mature approach to music throughout the 2 hr concert was indeed striking! After the demise of Smt. Mangalam, Vidya continues to learn from Shri Vamanan from Mumbai, who teaches her vocally and she translates his instruction onto the vINA!
Being an ardent devotee and follower of vINA based music and especially the Tanjore style, Vidyanandi's concert was one memorable one that will remain in my mind forever. The choice of kritis, the perfection, and the unhurried approach all contributed to making my day today. And the fact that this experience had to happen at my own place added to its value. This concert was held as part of the chamber music concert series that youngsters here have started. Vidyanandi chose Muthuswami Dikshitar's kritis for the presentation. Dikshitar himself was a vaiNika-gAyaka (so what an apt choice of theme!) and Vidyanandi brought out the ethos of His kritis and embellished them with beautiful and highly aesthetic manodharmam. Following were the kritis presented this morning:
1. vallabha nAyakasya - bEgaDa- rUpakam - R,S @ vallabha
2. kamalAmbA - Ananda bhairavi - misra chApu - R sketch
3. AnandAmrtAkarShiNi - amrutavarshini - Adi - S @ AnandAmrutAkarShiNi
4. sArasa daLa nayana- khamAs - chatushra jampa (I thought this is tisra Triputa, but it was rendered in chatusra jhampa)
5. mAmava mInAkshi - varALi - misra chapu - RNS @ syAmE
6. ranganAyakam - nAyaki - Adi
7. brhadIshwarAya - shankarabharanam - Adi - RNST with tAnam.
8. akhilAnDeshwarI - dwijAvanti - Adi
9. vIra hanumatE - kAnaDa - rUpakam
10. tAnam in madhyamAvati on my request!
My pick of the day was ranganAyakam! What an uplifting rendition! brhadIshwaraya was of course excellently rendered; the tAnam was again very pleasing. But ranganAyakam was the most beautiful! The version of kamalAmbA was a bit new, with some nice G3 prayogams in the charanam which I have heard only Vishwa sing.
Karthik Srinivasan on the Mridangam supported Vidyanandi unobtrusively with the right amount of silence and decibel levels. The 2 hr aesthetically-rich concert transported me to different level altogether. I do not remember having heard a kutcheri in the recent times that I was completely satisfied with, in all respects so this concert will be in my mind for a long long time.
-- Gokul--
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Vimarshini Jairam @ Sion on 24th April 2011
Vimarshini Jairam - Vocal
Tejasvi Sunderrajan - Violin
Karthik Srinivasan - Mridangam
Theme - Songs on Lord Muruga
Vimarshini is a disciple of Smt. Radha Namboodiri and other senior vidvans of Mumbai. The concert was organized as part of the monthly chamber program series that has been started by a group of youngsters in Mumbai to promote the young talented musicians in Mumbai. The audience for this concert included senior vidushis like Sulochana Rajendran, Radha Nmaboodiri and also Smt. Vishalam, a violin vidushi (and disciple of Shri T S Krishnaswami who was the violin teacher of Ranjani - Gayatri). Vimarshini also learns the violin from the latter.
Vimarshini's concert mirrored her vidvat and her training under good teachers in a solid pAThAntaram. The best part of such chamber concerts is that the art form is given primary importance over anything else and if the audience is prepared to take the best, the artists give their best! The fact that the audience consists of knowledgeable musicians and practitioners is a big boost to the performers who do not have to bother about petty things that a regular concert artist has to consider. It is in such an ambience that I believe that real Carnatic music thrives.
The list of songs was as follows:
1. innamum sOdanai - sama - varnam - Adi - TRS
2. edayyA gati- chalanATTai - Adi - Koteeshwara Iyer
3. mayil vAhanA - mOhanam - Adi - RS @ pallavi
4. sharavaNa bhava -shanmukhapriyA - Adi - PS
5. sharavaNa bhava - madhyamAvati - Adi - PS - RNS @ pallavi line
6.kaikUDa vENumE- latAngi - khanDa cApu - Koteeshwara Iyer -S
7. srI sharavana bhava - sumanapriyA - rUpakam - Mutthiah Bhagavathar
8. murugA murugA - sAvEri - misra cApu - Periyasami Thooran - RNST - @ charanam line
9. Three tiruppugazhs in shudha dhanyasi, bahudari, surutti.
Most of the songs were new to me. The rAga Alapanas for madhyamAvati and sAveri were done in detail albeit with some restraint and had some nice "aha type" phrases. Vimarshini's soft voice and bhava laden rendering made listening to songs like sharavana bhava in madhyamavati and muruga in saveri fresh and delightful. Another very good thing about Vimarshini's recital was her clear diction -> this helped us enjoy the kritis even more. Overall, the manodharmam sections for both the madhyamavati and the saveri kriti had a lack of sarvalaghu patterns (but did not make the exercises sound dry); nevertheless the restrained exercises suited the ambience well.
Karthik gave able support on the mridangam, although he kept giving some surprises. Tejasvi's replies on the violin were good. His AlApanas were specifcally very well done and displayed his gnAnam!
Overall, the concert was memorable and the arrangements by the hosts excellent. Hope this series continues for a long time in Mumbai.
--Gokul--
Tejasvi Sunderrajan - Violin
Karthik Srinivasan - Mridangam
Theme - Songs on Lord Muruga
Vimarshini is a disciple of Smt. Radha Namboodiri and other senior vidvans of Mumbai. The concert was organized as part of the monthly chamber program series that has been started by a group of youngsters in Mumbai to promote the young talented musicians in Mumbai. The audience for this concert included senior vidushis like Sulochana Rajendran, Radha Nmaboodiri and also Smt. Vishalam, a violin vidushi (and disciple of Shri T S Krishnaswami who was the violin teacher of Ranjani - Gayatri). Vimarshini also learns the violin from the latter.
Vimarshini's concert mirrored her vidvat and her training under good teachers in a solid pAThAntaram. The best part of such chamber concerts is that the art form is given primary importance over anything else and if the audience is prepared to take the best, the artists give their best! The fact that the audience consists of knowledgeable musicians and practitioners is a big boost to the performers who do not have to bother about petty things that a regular concert artist has to consider. It is in such an ambience that I believe that real Carnatic music thrives.
The list of songs was as follows:
1. innamum sOdanai - sama - varnam - Adi - TRS
2. edayyA gati- chalanATTai - Adi - Koteeshwara Iyer
3. mayil vAhanA - mOhanam - Adi - RS @ pallavi
4. sharavaNa bhava -shanmukhapriyA - Adi - PS
5. sharavaNa bhava - madhyamAvati - Adi - PS - RNS @ pallavi line
6.kaikUDa vENumE- latAngi - khanDa cApu - Koteeshwara Iyer -S
7. srI sharavana bhava - sumanapriyA - rUpakam - Mutthiah Bhagavathar
8. murugA murugA - sAvEri - misra cApu - Periyasami Thooran - RNST - @ charanam line
9. Three tiruppugazhs in shudha dhanyasi, bahudari, surutti.
Most of the songs were new to me. The rAga Alapanas for madhyamAvati and sAveri were done in detail albeit with some restraint and had some nice "aha type" phrases. Vimarshini's soft voice and bhava laden rendering made listening to songs like sharavana bhava in madhyamavati and muruga in saveri fresh and delightful. Another very good thing about Vimarshini's recital was her clear diction -> this helped us enjoy the kritis even more. Overall, the manodharmam sections for both the madhyamavati and the saveri kriti had a lack of sarvalaghu patterns (but did not make the exercises sound dry); nevertheless the restrained exercises suited the ambience well.
Karthik gave able support on the mridangam, although he kept giving some surprises. Tejasvi's replies on the violin were good. His AlApanas were specifcally very well done and displayed his gnAnam!
Overall, the concert was memorable and the arrangements by the hosts excellent. Hope this series continues for a long time in Mumbai.
--Gokul--
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Abhishek Raghuram @ BRRS Mumbai on 3rd April 2011
Abhishek Raghuram's imagination and creativity brings to mind the genius of three people: TNS, BMK and Kalyanaraman. Yesterday's concert was an excellent display of gimmicks-based carnatic music (not in the wrong sense at all). Throughout yesterday's concert, Abhishek was "innovating" in the real sense of the term.
The opener shankarabharanam varnam was brisk; it was preceded by an almost 5-10 minutes of shruti alignment. I was hoping to hear rA rA mA iNTidAka or jAnaki ramaNa and Abhishek sang the former, do my delight. The kalpana swarams involved nice patterns and "poruttams". When he started the malayamArutam aalapana, I was delighted as, among scalar rAgams, that is a very beautiful rAgam. There were shades of Hindustani, but I have no problem with that! Somewhat difficult patterns like R-D, G-N, etc were executed with ease and charm; the influence of BMK on his music was quite evident here.
tAyE yashodA was rendered in pakka TNS style; he took a semi-slow kAlapramAnam and ornamented the kriti with catchy and bright links; like TNS does. The RTP that followed next was nothing short of brilliant. I would normally get annoyed if anyone sings kAnADa without the weight given to the gAndhAram. I remember frowning as soon as he began; but the gimmicks laden phrases and imagination brought many more AhAs than a possibly weighty kAnaDa would have! The tAnam once again had shades of HM, he increased speeds and used every syllable that a purist would say no-no to; nevertheless, his supreme imagination was what mattered to me here and not mere adherence to rules.
The pallavi line, was "sItApatE nApai nIkabhimAnamu lEda". As expected, he sang neraval in khamas, bringing out shades of brOcEva and sitApati. Then came gAnamUrti, kAntAmaNi and bahudAri in which he sang the word "sitApatE" of the pallavi line like famous Tyagaraja- kritis in these raagams.
This was one thing that did not sound new to me, having heard and read about Charumati Ramachandran's similar attempt elsewhere. Maybe GNB or Kalyanaraman or more probably BMK has done this before? I must accept however that it was an exciting delivery! Especially the quick transitions between rAgams and the super fast swarams, that came after the tani.
One tamizh kriti in sAranga came next - it went like - "kaN kalangudE". This was my pick of the concert! Although it sounded very "ghazalish", it was extremely well rendered with deep bhAvam. I could see Abhishek enjoy immensely while he rendered it!
The possibly disappointing part of the concert was the rendition of brovavamma in nIlAmbari. I felt that too much gimmicks in such kritis, is painful, especially if the listener knows the meanings of the lyrics. Thankfully, this was during the end of the concert.
Then one mami gave a chit for enna tavam seidanai; Im sure she must have written all the rest of tukkaDAs (do I need to name them). But he chose to sing only enna tavam and followed with a mangalam.
The lack of a manual tambura or a mike for the electronic tambura perhaps gave indications of lapses here and there especially when there were loud, off-note sounds coming out of nowhere! Later on I realised that that could have been because of a football match going on in the playground outside the hall!
Anantha R Krishnan gave very nice support on the Mridangam. His tani was spectacular and had many intelligent sollus and patterns. Mysore Srikanth gelled well. His kAnaDa aalapana had everything that Abhishek had left out (most note-worthily, the weight in the gAndhAram), so the overall effect was complete!
---Gokul---
The opener shankarabharanam varnam was brisk; it was preceded by an almost 5-10 minutes of shruti alignment. I was hoping to hear rA rA mA iNTidAka or jAnaki ramaNa and Abhishek sang the former, do my delight. The kalpana swarams involved nice patterns and "poruttams". When he started the malayamArutam aalapana, I was delighted as, among scalar rAgams, that is a very beautiful rAgam. There were shades of Hindustani, but I have no problem with that! Somewhat difficult patterns like R-D, G-N, etc were executed with ease and charm; the influence of BMK on his music was quite evident here.
tAyE yashodA was rendered in pakka TNS style; he took a semi-slow kAlapramAnam and ornamented the kriti with catchy and bright links; like TNS does. The RTP that followed next was nothing short of brilliant. I would normally get annoyed if anyone sings kAnADa without the weight given to the gAndhAram. I remember frowning as soon as he began; but the gimmicks laden phrases and imagination brought many more AhAs than a possibly weighty kAnaDa would have! The tAnam once again had shades of HM, he increased speeds and used every syllable that a purist would say no-no to; nevertheless, his supreme imagination was what mattered to me here and not mere adherence to rules.
The pallavi line, was "sItApatE nApai nIkabhimAnamu lEda". As expected, he sang neraval in khamas, bringing out shades of brOcEva and sitApati. Then came gAnamUrti, kAntAmaNi and bahudAri in which he sang the word "sitApatE" of the pallavi line like famous Tyagaraja- kritis in these raagams.
This was one thing that did not sound new to me, having heard and read about Charumati Ramachandran's similar attempt elsewhere. Maybe GNB or Kalyanaraman or more probably BMK has done this before? I must accept however that it was an exciting delivery! Especially the quick transitions between rAgams and the super fast swarams, that came after the tani.
One tamizh kriti in sAranga came next - it went like - "kaN kalangudE". This was my pick of the concert! Although it sounded very "ghazalish", it was extremely well rendered with deep bhAvam. I could see Abhishek enjoy immensely while he rendered it!
The possibly disappointing part of the concert was the rendition of brovavamma in nIlAmbari. I felt that too much gimmicks in such kritis, is painful, especially if the listener knows the meanings of the lyrics. Thankfully, this was during the end of the concert.
Then one mami gave a chit for enna tavam seidanai; Im sure she must have written all the rest of tukkaDAs (do I need to name them). But he chose to sing only enna tavam and followed with a mangalam.
The lack of a manual tambura or a mike for the electronic tambura perhaps gave indications of lapses here and there especially when there were loud, off-note sounds coming out of nowhere! Later on I realised that that could have been because of a football match going on in the playground outside the hall!
Anantha R Krishnan gave very nice support on the Mridangam. His tani was spectacular and had many intelligent sollus and patterns. Mysore Srikanth gelled well. His kAnaDa aalapana had everything that Abhishek had left out (most note-worthily, the weight in the gAndhAram), so the overall effect was complete!
---Gokul---
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Vignesh Ishwar-Shyama Shastri kritis@Thane on 20/02/2011
Vocal - Vignesh Ishwar
Violin - Smriti Sunderrajan
Mridangam - Rohit Prasad
Kanjira - Karthik Srinivasan
Vignesh presented an outstanding 2.5 hr chamber concert at Thane today morning. Vignesh is a disciple of Anatharama Bhagavathar of Mumbai and also Sri T.M.Krishna. The audience consisted of youngsters from Mumbai, all learners and serious practitioners of music.
The stellar list was as follows:
1. himAdri sutE - kalyANi - Adi -tisra naDai - N,S @ shyAma krishNa
2. kAmAkSI - yadukula kambodi - misra cApu - R (sketch)
3. mIna lOcana - dhanyAsi- misra cApu - R,N,S @ kAmapAlini
4. mAyammA - nATTaikkurunji - Adi
5. sari evvarammA - bhairavi - khaNDa jhampa -R,N,T @ parama pAvani
6. kanakashaila vihAriNi - punnAgavarALi- Adi
7. pAlincu kAmAkSI - madhyamAvati -Adi
Vignesh started off the concert with a brisk himAdri sutE; the neraval and kalpana swarams were done very well! Smriti's replies were also apt and to the point. After a lilting kAmAkSI, the dhanyasi alapana was done beautifully, bringing out the beauty of the raagam. Neraval and swarams at kAmapAlini were very well done!
mAyammA was rendered with deep emotion.The mature and the slow rendering brought out the bhAvam of the rAgams and the composers very well. The kAlapramanam was just perfect! I would be failing in my duty if I did not praise Rohit's vAdyam here!
sari evvarammA seems to be Vignesh's forte! I had missed his Academy concert (where he sang this) and he more than made up for it! The AlApana was extremely mature and soaked in bhAvam! Vignesh's neraval at parama pAvanI was brilliant! Im going to be humming this for a long long time now!
My personal favorite of the concert was kanakashailavihAriNi. At my request, he ended with pAlincu kAmAkSI, most of the audience joined with him. That was like a crown on the top of the tribute to the great composer.
Except for some initial voice trouble and distraction, the whole concert was very memorable. Smriti's bhairavi Alapana was excellent and so was her dhanyasi. Her sharp piDis brought many AhAs from the musically sound audience.
Rohit's accompaniment was brilliant, especially to the slow kAmAkSI, mAyammA, sari evvarammA and kanakashaila. The tani was good; perhaps a little change to the routine Adi tAlam sollus to fit the structure of the khanda jAti jhampa tALam would have enhanced the performance. Karthik was sharp with his playing and played just at the right places, lifting the overall effect!
Vignesh is very hard working, gifted with a smooth but powerful voice and his music is very mature.
Violin - Smriti Sunderrajan
Mridangam - Rohit Prasad
Kanjira - Karthik Srinivasan
Vignesh presented an outstanding 2.5 hr chamber concert at Thane today morning. Vignesh is a disciple of Anatharama Bhagavathar of Mumbai and also Sri T.M.Krishna. The audience consisted of youngsters from Mumbai, all learners and serious practitioners of music.
The stellar list was as follows:
1. himAdri sutE - kalyANi - Adi -tisra naDai - N,S @ shyAma krishNa
2. kAmAkSI - yadukula kambodi - misra cApu - R (sketch)
3. mIna lOcana - dhanyAsi- misra cApu - R,N,S @ kAmapAlini
4. mAyammA - nATTaikkurunji - Adi
5. sari evvarammA - bhairavi - khaNDa jhampa -R,N,T @ parama pAvani
6. kanakashaila vihAriNi - punnAgavarALi- Adi
7. pAlincu kAmAkSI - madhyamAvati -Adi
Vignesh started off the concert with a brisk himAdri sutE; the neraval and kalpana swarams were done very well! Smriti's replies were also apt and to the point. After a lilting kAmAkSI, the dhanyasi alapana was done beautifully, bringing out the beauty of the raagam. Neraval and swarams at kAmapAlini were very well done!
mAyammA was rendered with deep emotion.The mature and the slow rendering brought out the bhAvam of the rAgams and the composers very well. The kAlapramanam was just perfect! I would be failing in my duty if I did not praise Rohit's vAdyam here!
sari evvarammA seems to be Vignesh's forte! I had missed his Academy concert (where he sang this) and he more than made up for it! The AlApana was extremely mature and soaked in bhAvam! Vignesh's neraval at parama pAvanI was brilliant! Im going to be humming this for a long long time now!
My personal favorite of the concert was kanakashailavihAriNi. At my request, he ended with pAlincu kAmAkSI, most of the audience joined with him. That was like a crown on the top of the tribute to the great composer.
Except for some initial voice trouble and distraction, the whole concert was very memorable. Smriti's bhairavi Alapana was excellent and so was her dhanyasi. Her sharp piDis brought many AhAs from the musically sound audience.
Rohit's accompaniment was brilliant, especially to the slow kAmAkSI, mAyammA, sari evvarammA and kanakashaila. The tani was good; perhaps a little change to the routine Adi tAlam sollus to fit the structure of the khanda jAti jhampa tALam would have enhanced the performance. Karthik was sharp with his playing and played just at the right places, lifting the overall effect!
Vignesh is very hard working, gifted with a smooth but powerful voice and his music is very mature.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
TNS Krishna @ Nadopasana, Dombivli, Mumbai on 6/2/2011
I am a big fan of TNS and his son.
The list up to 9:00 pm was as follows:
vandanamu -sahAna - Adi -T- R
shObillu- jaganmohini - rUpakam - T - S @ saptaswara
sAmajavara - hindOLam - Adi - T -R,N,S @ vEdashirO
gAnamUtE- gAnamUrti - Adi -T
sItAvara- dEvagAndhAri - Adi- T
alagallAla - madhyamAvati- T
vandanamu -sahAna - Adi -T- R
shObillu- jaganmohini - rUpakam - T - S @ saptaswara
sAmajavara - hindOLam - Adi - T -R,N,S @ vEdashirO
gAnamUtE- gAnamUrti - Adi -T
sItAvara- dEvagAndhAri - Adi- T
alagallAla - madhyamAvati- T
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