Vocal : Saralaya Sisters
Violin : Kalpana Kishore
Mrudangam : Anoor Vinod Shyam
Morsing : Lakshmi Nayarana
List :
01 shLOkam ( AchAryA pavanO) – nATa
namO namO raghukula nAyaka – nATa – Annamacharya ( S)
02 shObhillu saptaswara – jaganmOhini – Thyagaraja
03 eLA nI dayarADu – aThANa – Thyagaraja (O)
04 rAmachandram bhAvayAmi – vasanta – Dikshitar ( A,S)
05 bhAvayAmi raghurAmam – rAgamAlika – Swathi Thirunal
06 rAma nAma bhajisita – hindOLam – Gopala Dasa
07 parama pAvana rAmA – pUrvikalyANi – Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar ( A,N,S,T)
neraval & swara @ ‘kanakAmbaradhara karuNAnvita sura’
*I had to leave at this time
I had a bus to catch, travelling overnight. Planning to attend this was an after thought, to squeeze in an hour or two of listening, before rushing home and pack and leave. Inaugural concert of Sri Rama Seva Mandali ,Koramangala. I was pleasantly surprised to know that they have been conducting Ramanavami programs for the last 39 years.
Concert started 30 mins late, due to power unavailability. Every one including the artists waited patiently , entertaining ourselves with the game of ‘machar-catch’. A sparce crowd at this time, but filled as the concert began.
I had to leave as young Vinod Shyam started his tani avartanam. Hence, this is an incomplete report and my opinion is based on what I heard, while there. Firstly, artists seems to have been finding it difficult with no feedback speakers. That would have impacted their overall performance.
I found most of the kritis were presented on a faster tempo. Speed in general was the essence. Even the short vasanta alapana was super fast. Having said that, the main pUrvikalyANi was presented very well. The alapana, kriti , neraval and Swara ( looked like they cut short a bit) were done in a pleasing manner. I am expecting that the remaining of they concert would have been just as great if not better.
Other trivial observation was the selection of tala. One could name this as a thematic ‘rUpaka tALa kacheri’. If I remember correct, 5 of the first 6 kritis were set to roopakam. So much so that i started searching for roopakam compositions in purvikalyani while the alapana was going on. I could have mistaken and I am open to corrections…
One takes from this concert was the new violinist on stage. I was given to understand that she has returned from US and this is her first concert in Bangalore since. She did a good job and some of her play during pUrvikalyANi were delectable.
I am listening to ‘Rama nAma bhajisita’ for the first time. I heard, Smt. Seethalakshmi Venkateshan has set this dasar pada ( Gopala Dasa) to tune. Similarly, the opening nATa kriti too was one that is not often heard.
Note: This is prepared and written using my handheld device. No proof read done. Many mistakes can be found. I will edit and correct those on my return.
Brain Drain 