Malladi Brothers @ Gayana Samaja , Spring Festival 06 Feb 2011

Vocal :  Malladi Brothers ( Sriam Prasad & Ravikumar)

Violin : M A Sundareswaran

Mrudangam : Neyveli Narayanan

Ghatam : B S  Ramanujam

Organised by : Sri Rama Lalita Kala Mandira

Songlist :

01   sarasijanAbha ( varNam ) – kAmbOji – Swathi Thirunal

02   SlOkam ( gajAnanam bhUtagaNAdi ) – kalyANi

gaNapatE mahAmatE – kalyANi – Dikshitar

03   nI chittamu -  dhanyAsi – Thyagaraja ( A )

04   kalAvati kamalAsana yuvati  – yAgapriya ( kalAvati )  – Dikshitar ( A, S )

05   lakshaNamulu gaLa srIrAmuniki – sudha sAvEri – Thyagaraja

06   naDachi naDachi – kharaharapriya – Thyagaraja  ( A, N, S, T)

neraval & swara @ ‘ puDamisuta sahAyuDai chelangE‘

07   kanDEnA gOvindana – mAND – Purandara Dasa ( O )

08   kamala nayana jagadIshwara – vAgadISwari – Swathi Thirunal

09   brahma kaDigina pAdamu – mukhAri – Annamacharya

10   viruttam ( rAmuDu ghOra pAtaka virAmuDu) – khamAs

ninnuko vichEtana ?? – khamAs – bhadrachala Ramadas

11   mAdhava mAmava – nIlAmbari – Narayana Theerthar

12  SlOkam ( sarvamangaLa mAngalyE ) – madhyamAvati

Malladi brothers concert yesterday at Gayana Samaja will be remembered for the outstanding alapana for yAgapriya. The duo started brilliantly with the kAmbOji varnam, there was no settling in time required as the voice ( of both) were very good from the beginning. Quickly moving on to kalyani ( I liked the slokam before the kriti)  with a Dikshitar kriti, adding some good rounds of swara singing. Badari’s request for dhanyAsi came next with a rather short, but effective alapana. The kriti, I am familiar with their guru’s version, came in as a surprise instead of sangIta gnAnamu or nIna lOchana ( on a second thought, I should have guessed).

The  real beauty came next in the form of yAgapriya alapana. Will the crowd scratching their head trying to identify the raga ( we failed and gave up), Ravikumar explored the depth of the raga fantastically. So was the violin  by Sundareswaran, in his time for returning the favour.  Dikshitar krithi ( raga called kalavathi in Dikshitar nomenclature) ‘kalAvati kamalasana’ was done very well, with some god kalpana swaras.

Main kharaharapriya alapana was long and very detailed, meticulously build up by Sriram. Ravikumar joined towards the end ( I am not a great fan of this method) alternating the phrases. Sundareswaran was apt in his turn , however his playing for the kriti Nadachi Nadachi, wasn’t all that impressive. He made amends during neraval and swara singing, which I thought was shorter by the usual standard.

Neyveli Narayanan and B S Ramanujam were superb through out the evening and they also did a good tani avartanam. There was no Pallavi as they had to travel to Bhadrachalam, for the birth anniversary celebrations of Bhadrachala Ramadas ( as announced – and Sriram promised a 4 hr concert in his next program here). Post main had a chain of kritihs, including that of Annamacharya dna bhadrachala Ramadas. Fantastic yAgapriya and very good kharaharapriya made it a god concert to conclude the week long festivities.

 

Sanjay Subrahmanyan , Spring Festival , Gayana Samaja 04 Feb 2011

Vocal : Sanjay Subrahmanyan

Violin : Nagai Muralidharan

Mrudangam : Srimushnam Raja Rao

Ghatam : Giridhar Udupa

Song list:

01  ninnE kOri ( varNam ) – kAnaDa – Thiruvottiyur Thyagayya

02  kanchadalAya dAkshi – kamalA manOhari – Dikshitar

03  hari hari hariyani smaraNa jEsitE – saraswathi -  Walajpet Venkataramana Bhagavathar( A,S )

04  sAmOdam chintayAmi – Sudha dhanyAsi – Swathi Thirunal ( A,N,S)

neraval & swara  @ ‘ Syanantura nagari shObhAyamAna dEham’

05  dIna rakshaka ninnu – Ahiri -   Ponnayya Pillai ??  ( A )

06  nanda gOpAla mukunda – yamunA kalyANi – Dikshitar ( A,S,T )

07  haridAsulu vEDalE – yamunA kalyANi – Thyagaraja

08  RTP – kAmbOji – tisra triputa

pallavi line ‘ Erana sAmi pagavAri bOdhincherO ‘

rAgamalika swaras in ‘Ananda bhairavi, hamsAnandi , bauLi, nAtakurinji, sAvEri , hamsadhwani , simhEndra madhyamam , mOhanam, _______i, hindOLam, varALi, surutti

09 dAsara nindisa bEDa – rAgESrI – Purandara Dasa

10  tumbam nErkayil – dEsh – Bharatidasan

11  viruttam ( jAnAdi rAma ) – nIlAmbari

uyyAla lUgavayya -nIlAmbari – Thyagaraja

12 manamE kaNamum maravAthE – bhImplAs – Papanasam Sivan

13  mangaLam – saurAshtram – Thyagaraja

Fantastic concert yesterday by Sanjay and team, at the Rama Lalita Kala Mandira concert at Gayana Samaja. Yamunakalyani as main, an outstanding palavi in kAmbOji, beautifully executed sudha dhanyasi kriti, an Ahiri alapana… there are many to talk about.  Seldom we get to hear five raga alapana in any concert. The accompaniment mainitaining the high standard supporting the main artist.

The concert started bit low with the varnam and kamala manohari kriti not making any impact. I was expecting a round of swara for kanchadalaya dakshi. He quickly moved on to the first alapana of the day. Alapana and the swara was ok. The concert really moved a notch up with the Sudha dhanyasi alapana and neraval.  Neraval was very good, however the swara singing was short. Ahiri alapana was a surprise and very nice, however the violin return did not have all the beauty of the raga. Deena Rakshaka was new to me, and is pretty good. I was wondering if this is going to be the main. Sanjay closed the kriti without neraval or swara.

The real surprise was the main. Yamunakalyani was presented in very slow tempo and the alapana was fabulous. Mixing the carnatic and hindustani style presenting the raga in its all grandeur , to the enthusiastic response from the crowd. Nagai Murali in his return did justice to the vocalist.  Jampupathe was in the offing, however, he choose another Dikshitar kriti, rendering the kriti in the slow tempo with Nagai Murali following him brilliantly. The swara that followed also stuck to the same tempo , fabulously executed. I was hoping for a second speed swara singing, but he indicated to Srimushnam for tani avartanam.

Tani avartanam was superb, though occasionally giridhar Udupa went overboard. Through out the concert, both Raja Rao and Udupa were playing very well. Sanjay immediately took up another yamunakalyani kriti, this time a thyagaraja composition, which is set to a faster speed, and completed with a faster round of swara singing, making amends ot my earlier disappointment. On second thought, I think this was a good idea.

Pallavi was outstanding. Two phased Kamboji alapana was top class, so was the return by Nagai Murali. Tanam as usual was brilliant, by both the artists. Unusual pallavi line ( must have been taken from some other kriti) set to tisra triputa. Ragamalika swaras came in a flurry, switching from one to another. Sanjay requested to increase the volume during the kamboji alapana. The decibel lever were so high from this point on often making it unbearable. I am not sure what made him to request for the increase in volume.

Post pallavi kritis included his usual rAgesri, desh and bhimplas. The neelambari viruttan and Uyyala concluded the concert before the mangalam. One concert to remember for yamunakalyani, Ahiri and the brilliant Kamboji pallavi.

 

Cherthala Ranganatha Sharma , Gayana Samaja 11 July 2010

Vocal : Cherthala K N Ranganatha Sharma

Violin : Charulatha Ramanujam

Mrudangam : A V Anand

Ganjira : Guruprasanna

Song list:

01 pranatOsmi dEvam vinAyakam – nAtta – Tulaseevanam  ( S )

02 shAradE vINA vAdana vishAradE – dEvagAndhAri – Papanasam Sivan

03 sharaNam vijaya saraswati – vijaya saraswati – Muthaiah Bhagavathar ( S )

04 kAmAkshi ambA – bEgaDa – Shyama Shastri  ( A,N,S )

      neraval & swara @ ‘ shyAma krishNa sOdari sukha sAmbhavi ninnE kOrina.? ‘

05 smaranE ondE sAladE – malayamArutam – Purandara Dasa

06 ninnu vinA gati gAna – kalyANi – Subbaraya Shastry ( A,S )

07 bhAgAyanayyA – chandrajyOthi – Thyagaraja

08 shrI kAmakOTi pIThasthitE – sAvEri – Mysore Sadashiva Rao ( A,N,S,T )

        neraval & Swara @ ‘ kadamba vana nilayE ambA kanchalOchani’

09 bhaja bhaja mAnasa – sindhubhairavi -  Swathi Thirunal

10 SlOkam ( shiva shaktya yuktO) – madhyamAvathi -  ( from Saundarya lahari??)

11 mangaLam – saurAshtram -Thyagaraja

Sri Ranganatha Sharma presented a beautiful concert today evening at the Gayana Samaja, excptionally supported by Charulatha Ramanujam.  One look at the song list can be a good indication of how well the concert was prepared. The team executed them in fantastically well.

The take of the day for me was a fantastic sAvEri alapana. The initial phrases itself was so captivating. A rarely heard krithi ( for me , at least), of Mysore Sadashiva Rao was a welcome change. The neraval and seara was good too. Earlier, Begada and Kalyani was taken up for detailing.  Begada krithi had some fantastic set of swara singing. Kalyani Alapana was long and detailed , with the krithi followed by some good set of swara singing.

Charulatha Ramanujam was amazing in her support. She followed  the main singer exceptionally well, and her return alapana for Kalyani and Saveri were excellent. Percussion handled by vetaran Anand and Guruprasanna did their part well.

The feedback speakers seems to have been in some trouble. Every one on the stage was requesting to increase the volume,  as a result the overal decibel level was a couple of notch higher in the auditorium. This was felt during the tani avartanam, bordering towards a noisy affair.

While the concert was very good, with such a variety of compsitions from different vaggeyakaras presented, I noticed that almost every krithi ( 100% ??) were set to Adi tala.  Not sure if this was deliberate or overlooked. Irrespective, the concert was very very good.

 

Saketharaman , Gayana Samaja 20 Sept 2009

Vocal : Saketharaman

Violin : Charulatha Ramanujam

Mrudangam : Tumkur Ravishankar

Ghatam : Tumkur SashiShankar

Songlist:

01 sAmi ninne (varNam) – Sri – Garbhapurivasar

02 jalAndhara – valachi – Muthaiah Bhagavathar ( O , N, S )

        neraval & swara @ ‘bhava rOganivAriNi bhaktajana paripAlini’

03 SivakAma sundari – mukhAri – Papanasam Sivan ( A )

04 yArE rangana yArE krishNana – hindOLam – Purandara Dasa ( S )

05 kamalAmbAm bhajarE – kalyANi – Muthuswami Dikshitar ( A,N,S,T )

     neraval & swara at pallavi line

06 RTP – saraswati – Tisra Ata

     pallavi line ‘ vANi saraswati aruL puriyavANi vINA pustakadhAriNi’

    ragamalika swara in dhanyAsi, hamIr kalyANi, sindhubhairavi

07 srI jagadISwari durga – Ahir bhairav – Lalgudi Jayaraman

08 thillAna ( tada dhim ta dhim dhiraNA ) – mAND – Langudi Jayaraman ?

09 mangaLam – saurAshtram, madhyamAvathi – Thyagaraja

Saketharaman gave a very good concert yesterday at Gayana Samaja. As expected, Kalyani krithi of Muthuswami Dikshitar was taken up as main and it was splendind ( despite my non-preference to kalyani).  There was ample time for a pallavi and Saketharaman did not disappoint us. Saraswathi was the raga for Pallavi, and a first time for me.  Charulatha Ramanujam, who did a brilliant job through out, was outstanding in her retun for saraswati. The pallavi with tripalam, the ragamalika swaras were also very good.

Earlier, he started the concert with Sri raga varnam, followed with a superb valavhi krithi. The neraval and swara was very good. The detailed mukhari alapana was also pretty nice. Tumkur brothers was very good at the percussion. Ravishankar, especially, was superb. 

Now, the complaints.. Concert started at 5:15 and was wound up by 7:45. I guess, Saketharaman was in a hurry to catch a train or so. There was a kind of hurry through out. While , he did not speed up the krithi rendering, there was no gap whatso ever from one krithi to the next. The short pauses between pallavi and anupallavi or between charanam were also missing.  The pallavi ragamalika came to an abrupt end after he finished the sindhubhairavi swaras, without a violin reply or an adequate closure of the pallavi.  The post felicitation krithis before the mangalam was also done, for the sake of it. This could have been an outstanding concert, otherwise. Having said that, he was brilliant yesterday.

 

Gayathri Girish , Gayana Samaja 30 Aug, 2009

Vocal : Gayathri Girish

Violin : M S Govindaswamy

Mrudangam : B C Manjunath

Ganjira : Vyasa Vittala

Song list:

01 karuNimpa – sahAna -  Thiruvottiyur Thyagayya (  O )

02 srI mahAgaNapati – gauLA – Muthuswami Dikshitar  ( S )

03 palukavadEmira – dEvamanOhari – Mysore Vasudevacharya ( A,S )

04 Siva Siva Siva enarAdA -  pantuvarALi – Thyagaraja

05 chEtAsri bAlakrishNam – dwijAvanthi – Muthuswami Dikshitar

06 bhajarE rE chitta  – kalyANi – Muthuswami Dikshitar ( A,N,S,T )

     neraval @ ‘dEvIm  shakti bIjOdbhava mAtrkArNa sharIriNim’

07 tAmasambu sEyakanE nannu brOvarA – kAmbOji – Veena Seshanna

08 RTP – kIravANi – sankIrNa jAthi tripuTa  , 2 kaLai

    pallavi line ‘ parama dayAkara varasuguNa madaharaNa sItArAmachandra sharaNu sharaNu’

   tAnam , pallavi and swara in kIravAni. No ragamalika swaras.

09 vAnchatOnunA – karNaranjani – Harikeshanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar

10 tAmbUri mItti tava – sindhu bhairavi – Purandara Dasa

11 mangalam – saurAshtram – Thyagaraja

Gayathri Girish gave a good concert at Gayana Samaja, yesterday. Devamanohari alapana and the keeravani pallavi stood out in the concert. Pantuvarali and dijavanti fillers werent all that enjoyable, so was the kalyani alapana. Personally, I cant stand kalyani alapana beyond 2 mins.  However, the neraval and the elaborate swara were very good. Swara singing alone was aroud 12-15 mins. Keeravani was the savior of the day. The alapana was very good and so was the tAnam. Pallavi had trikalam in detail with some good support from the percussioninst. There was no ragamalika swaras, which would have given a worthy finish to the concert. 

The accompanying artists had provided ample support, but hardly giving us a ‘aha’ moment. Manjunath was better of the trio. I havent seen him before, but seems to be promising.