Gayathri Girish @ Nadasurabhi 15th Oct 2023

Vocal : Vid. Gayathri Girish

Violin : Charulatha Ramanujam

Mrudangam : Tumkur Ravishankar

Ganjira : Vyasa Vittala

List

01 shrI rAjamAtangi ( varNam) – Udayaravichandrika – Adi – Muthaiah Bhagavathar

02 karuNA nidhiyE tAyE – bauLi – mishrachAp – Papanasam Sivan (S )

03 pAhi jagadjanani – hamsAnandi – Adi – Swathi Thirunal ( A , S )

shruthibhEdam to hindOLam

04 sArasadala nayanE – sAramati – Ad – Muthaiah Bhagavathar

05 mAnamu kAvalenu – sahAna – rUpakam – Muthaiah Bhagavathar ( A, S )

06 bhajaswa shrI tripura sundari – nAtHanAmakriya – Adi – Oothukadu Venkata Kavi

07 pAlincu kAmAkshI – madhyamAvati – Adi – Shyama Shastry ( A,N,S,T )

neraval& swara @kAntamagu pEru poNDitivi kAruNya mUrthi

08 nanrE varugilum(viruttam) – sindhu bhairavi

tEDi unnai sharaNa AdindEn – sindhu bhairavi -Adi – Subramanya Bharathi

09 shrI mAdhava vAsudEva – behAg – Adi – Papanasam Sivan

10 nI nAma rUpamulaku ( mangaLam ) – saurAStram – Adi – Thyagaraja

 

Cherthala Ranganatha Sharma @ Nadasurabhi Cultural Association 23rd July 2023

Vocal : Cherthala Ranganatha Sharma

Vocal Support : Mrs Mohana Sharma

Violin : R Raghul

Mrudangam : N C Bharadwaj

Morsing : Bhagyalakshmi Krishna

List:

01 chalamEla (varNam ) – shankarAbharaNam – aTa – Swathi Thirunal

02 lambOdarAya namastE – varALi – khaNDachAp – Dikshitar ( A )

03 shAradE vInA vAdana vishAradE – dEvagAndhAri – Adi – Papanasam Sivan ( A )

04 ninnu vinA gamari – pUrvikalyAni – mishra chAp – Shyamashastry ( A,N,S )

neraval @ ‘nannu brOcuTaku cinta dIrci vEgamE’

05 varasikhi vAhana – supradIpam – Adi – Thyagaraja

06 tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam – Ananda bhairavi – rUpakam – Dikshitar ( O )

07 sharaNam vijaya saraswati mAyE – vijaya saraswati – Adi – Muthaiah Bhagavathar ( S )

08 shankarAchAryAm – shankarAbharaNam – Adi – Subbarama Dikshitar ( A,N,S,T )

neraval & swara @ ‘ parama jnAna lata-Ala vAlam’

09 sAgara shayana vibhO – bhAgEshrI – Adi – M D Ramanathan ( O )

10 thillAna ( taka dhIm tadhIm nAdru dhIm tadhOm) – dEsh – Adi – Lalgudi Jayaraman

11 shLOkam ( mangaLam kOsalEndrAya ) – dEsh

 

TVS Mahadevan @ Nadasurabhi 19th March 2023

Vocal : TVS Mahadevan

Violin : Mathur Srinidhi

Mrudangam : H S Sudheendra

Morsing : B Rajashekhar

01 karuNai seyvAi gajarAjamukha – hamsadhwani – Adi – Papanasam Sivan ( S )

02 kA vA vA – varALi – Adi – Papanasam Sivan ( S )

03 smarajanaka shubha carita – behAg – mishra chAp – Swathi Thirunal ( O, S )

04 sakala graha bala nInE – aTHANa – khaNDachAp – Purandara Dasa

05 nI daya rAdA – vasantabhairavi – rUpakam – Thyagaraja ( A, S )

06 ambikAyA abhayAmbikAya – kEdAram – Adi – MD ( S )

07 endukku dayarAdurA – thODi – mishrachAp – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S )

neraval @ ‘tyAgarAja vinuta tAraka carita ‘

08 sahasrakara maNDitE – vAcaspati – Adi – Muthaiah Bhagavatar ( A,S )

09 nagumO nU galanEni – AbhEri – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A, S, T )

10 heccarikagA rA rA – yadukula kAmbOji – jhumpa – Thyagaraja

11 shLOkam ( kAmapratipantHi kAmini kAmEshwari ) – madhyamAvati

vinAyakuni valenu brOvavE – madhyamAvati – Adi – Thyagaraja

12 gOvinda gOvinda ati Ananda – hamsavinOdini ? – Adi – Purandara Dasa

13 thillAna ( dhIm dhIm tanana dhiraNa dhiraNa ) – brindAvana sAranga – Adi – TVS

14 iraivalam ??? – suruTTi – Adi – ? ( couldn’t decipher the words )

15 mangaLam – saurAStram/suruTTi – Thyagaraja

 

Bangalore S Shankar @ Essae Music Foundation , 18th Dec 2022

Violin : Avaneeswaram S R Vinu

Mrudangam : TR Sundaresan

Ganjira : A S N Swamy

List

01 ninnu kOriyunnAnurA ( varNam) – mukhAri – Adi – Mysore Vasudevachar

02 vinAyaka ninnuvinA brOcuTaku – hamsadhwani – Adi – E V Ramakrishna Bhagavathar ( A,N,S )

neraval & Swaras @ ‘parama krpA sAgarA varasuguNA

03 shrI venkaTesham bhajAmi satatam – kalyANavasantam – rUpakam – Ambi Dikshitar ( A )

04 heccariga rArA – yadukula kAmbOji – khaNDa chAp – Thyagaraja

05 shrI venkaTesham vAram cintayAmi – thODi – rUpakam – Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar (A,N,S)

neraval & Swaras @ mArajanakam mAdhava nAmakam

06 venkaTa shaila vihAra – hamIr kalyANi – Adi – Dikshitar

07 sAmOdam cintayAMi – shuddha dhanyAsi – mishra chAp – Swathi Thirunal ( O,N,S )

neraval & Swaras @ ‘ syAnandura nagari shObhAyamAna gEham’

08 sharaNu shAradE vANi – karNaranjani ? – khaNDa chAp – His Own Composition ?

09 raghuvarA nannu – pantuvarALi – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S,T )

neraval & Swaras @ ‘manasuna nIki maruLu konnAnu

10 shLOkam ( sapta prakAra madhyE ) – kEdAragauLa, sAvEri , kApi, bhAgEshrI

sAgara shayana vibhO – bhAgEshrI – Adi – M D Ramachandran

11 tirupati girivAsa shrInivAsa – yamunAkalyANi – Adi – ?

12 mArajanaka chaturAnana (mangaLam) – sindhu bhairavi – Adi – ??

An absolutely stunning concert by Vid Shankar and the team. His music has the quality that is traditional, yet a freshness that is uniquely attractive. Be it his class in singing neravals ( there will be 3-4 in a concert) or the clarity of diction, or the way he brings out the musical essence of the composition and raga, or the selection of compositions – I like his presentation and concerts immensely.

Some of the high points were the Mukhari varnam, kalyanavasantam alapana ( especially by Vinu) , almost all the neravals, the thodi alapana ( goosebump moments with that fabulous start – musiri’s alapana for endu dAginAdO like) , pantuvarali alapana of Vinu and the beautiful ragamalika shlokam preceding sAgara shayana vibho.

Personally that thOdi was the piece de resistance. The alapana stood out. I’ve heard him sing this before, but this alapana was special ( too many tch tch or gasping in awe sounds all around me ). The swaras singing ‘ sA,ri ga,mArajanakam’ etc were really brilliant. Vinu’s pantuvarALi alapana also caused similar response from the audience. He was awesome in his turn.

Sundaresan and ASN Swamy played a two stage tani avartanam, splendidly. Arguably the best I’ve seen of ASN Swamy play.

Fabulous concert by the team, well organised by PRakash and Family under their Essae Music Foundation banner.

 

Malladi Brothers @ Nadasurabhi Annual Festival , 20 Nov 2022

Vocal : Vid. Malladi Brothers

Violin : Vittalarangan

Mrudangam : H S Sudhindra

Ghatam : G Omkar Rao

List

01 E paNikO janmincitani – asAvEri – Adi – Thyagaraja ( O , S )

02 gattigANu nannu – bEgaDa – Adi – Thyagaraja ( O )

03 mrudubhASana naTa vibhISaNa – mAruvadhanyAsi – Adi – Thyagaraja

04 ranganAyakam – nAyaki – Adi – Dikshitar ( A, S )

05 kAyArOhaNEsham bhajarE – karNATaka dEvagAndhAri – rUpakam – Dikshitar ( N,S )

neraval @ nIlAyadAkSi manOllAsa kAraNam

06 mari mari vacunA – kAmbOji – Adi – Mysore Vasudevachar ( A,N,S,T )

neraval &swarams @ rAmunI mahima nEnEmani pogaduDu

07 RTP – bhairavi – khaNDa tripuTa , khaNDa naDai , samam eDuppu ?

pallavi line : nIlasharIra bAlagOpAla pAlayAshumAm ; gAnalOla karuNAlavAla

ragamalika swaras in bhairavi, pUrvi kalyANi? , mOhanam, kApi, nATakurinji

08 madhukara vrtti – chenchurutti – Adi – Purandara Dasa

09 thillAna – pahADi – Adi – Lalgudi Jayaraman

10 shLOkam ( manOjapam mArutatulyavEgam ) – kalyANi

andarilOna ekkudu hanumanthuDu ? – kalyANi – Annamacharya

11 shLOkam ( shrIyay kAntAya ) – suruTTi

Very interesting selection of kritis, not often heard these days. Asaveri is a favourite for mine and I do request artist to take it up to a better treatment, with no much luck. As you can see most of the initial pieces were of a different trip. Nayaki alapana by Ravikumar, first for the evening, was very very good, slow melodious phrases as the raga and the composition demanded. Leisurely elaborated, evoking those ‘aha’ moments as it progressed. Kriti started a bit ‘loud’, if I may say so, not entirely in line with the mood the alapana created. Swarams were also in the first speed. Kayarohanesham was also a pleasant surprise, with a short neraval at neelayadakshi.

Kamboji alapana, by Sriram Prasad , was mostly sung in the lower/middle octaves. Fairly elaborate, typical kamboji phrases. Vittalarangan, in his turn, brought some nice takes to the fore. He was enhancing the vocalists alapana with his impressive follow and highlights. It was , yet again, mari mari vacuna of Mysore Vasudevachar, which I predicted when the alapana started. As much as I like this composition, I would love to listen to them singing other kamboji compositions. There was detailed neraval and swaram singing before a fine tani avartanam by Sudhindra and Omkar.

They started the pallavi well past 8:30. Alapana was really good. By the time, they got into the tanam, the ‘time pressure’ was evident. They had ‘rushed through’ or cut short the tanam, or it would have been 3 super tanams in a 3 days. Pallavi in khanda triputa in khanda nadai was with trikalam and ragamalika swarams. Concert concluded with a dasar pada, annamayya keerthana on Hanuman and pahadi thillana, just enough time for me to rush back for the first match of the Worldcup.