Abhishek Raghuram @ Gayana Samaja, Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira Annual Festival , 15 Jan 2020

Vocal : Abhishek Raghuram

Violin : Vittal Ramamurthy

Mrudangam : N C Bharadwaj

Gnjira : G Guruprasanna

List:

01 tyAgarAja gurum AshrayE – kEdAram – rUpakam – M D R ( S )

02 budhamAshrayAi satatam – nATakurinji – mishra jhumpa – Dikshitar

03 ennaDO rakSincitE – saurAStram – Adi – Thyagaraja ( O )

04 nI bhajana gAna – nAyaki – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A-vocal,S )

05 suguNamulE – cakravAkam – rUpakam – Thyagaraja ( O,S )

06 durmArga carAdhamulanu – ranjani – rUpakam – Thyagaraja ( A )

07 rAkA shashivadana – takka – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A-vocal )

08 nijamuga nI mahimulu – sahAna – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A,Nx2, S,T )

neraval @ ‘bhajana sEyu maNi palikiri dAni’

and @ ‘buddhiyanu talli nI viSaya viTulaku’

09 sItAnAyaka shrtajana pOSaka – rItigauLa – mishrachAp – Thyagaraja

10 balamu kulamu – sAvEri – Adi – Thyagaraja

11 gItArthtHamu – suruTTi – Adi x 2 – Thyagaraja

12 nI nAma rUpamulaku – saurAStram – Adi – Thyagaraja

On the ‘Thyagaraja Aradhana Day’, you cant give a better tribute to the Vaggeyakara, than what was offered by Abhishek, yesterday at the Gayana Samaja.

He was in an exploratory mood yesterday.  Despite stretching my limits, at many times, I thought he gave a splendid concert.  Started off with MDRs salutations to the Guru – an apt way on this specific day  followed by the ‘vAra kriti’ of Dikshitar. The rest was all the way of Thyagaraja. Many of the shorter alapanas were done only by him, starting with nAyaki.  First major ‘break out’ happened with the chakravakam swaras, some brilliant takes and a tremendous karvai to finish. Percussion duo, lead by Bharadwaj, reproduced the same in his ‘theermanam’ to conclude. I loved that.

Ranjani alapana ( and the kriti) was done in a changed shruti and sounded very different. Nice little alapana of Takka was also interesting, but difficult to decipher ( beyond a janya of Mayamalavagaula ) while it was sung.

The evening belong to the grand sahana. Very loooooong alapana, stretching in every possible way, many a times beyond the ‘comforts’ of my sahana imagination, but again bringing out some of the beautiful sahana phrases that I am familar with. Which is why, I repeated it as an exploratory mood of the artist. I was expecting a Giripai to come. Very surprised with the choice of the kriti, listening for the first time in a concert.  Detailed neraval at two places, at the anupallavi and the first line of charanam’ one after the other, both superbly done. Fabulous swara prasthana too. N C Bharadwaj and Guruprasanna were on sublime form. The Tani Avartanam was very very good.

 

 

 

Abhishek Raghuram @ Gayana Samaja, 50th Annual Music Festival ,13 Oct 2019

Vocal : Abhishek Raghuram

Violin : H N Bhaskar

Mrudangam :  Patri Satishkumar

Ganjira : G Guruprasanna

List

01 sUryamUrtE namOstutE – saurAStram – chaturashra dhruvam – Dikshitar

02 shrI mahAgaNapatim bhajEham – aThANa – Adi – Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar ( A )

03 brOcEvArevarE raghupatE – shrIranjani – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A,S )

04 shrI tuLasammA – dEvagAndhAri – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A )

05 ADamODi galadE rAmayya – cArukEshi – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A,S,T )

06 ardhanArIshvaram ArAdhayAmi – kumudakriya – rUpakam – Dikshitar ( A )

07 RTP – shankarAbharaNam – mishra jhumpa , 2 kaLai, 2 aksharam atheeta eDuppu

pallavi line ‘ chakkani sAmiki manci samayamu rA, nEDu ‘

swaras in chaturashra tripuTa, no rAgamAlika swaras

… The End …

Very interesting concert in many aspect.  6 brilliant alapanas for the 6 kritis presented, each of them had a unique take. No neraval, for any compositions ( well, there was the pallavi ). And an abrupt end after the pallavi ( not that I have any issue with that).

A fabulous shankarabharanam pallavi. Outstanding alapana done in 2 stages. Very very detailed and elaborate. Some breath taking phrases. Many oooh, moments. Tanam was almost entirely done by Bhaskar, and how beautifully.  He played with such a brilliance, won over the entire audience, going by the response.  Interesting pallavi line. I read elsewhere ( D Balakrishna’s lec-dem on rare pallavis) that this was popularised ( and probably composed) by Veena Seshanna (originally in thODi). This followed by some swara fireworks concluded with some rapid speed sarvalaghu. Interestingly, he switched to Adi talam for swaras, not sure why ? This definitely was the high point of the concert.

The atana alapana was also top class. Interestingly, in a slower pace and with some unusual phrases. I expected a few rounds of swaras after the Wodeyar’s composition, but he did not venture there. There was some impressive take around the ‘madhyamakala’ sahitya, with some speed variations.

Shriranjani kriti ( heard him sing this before ) was in predictable lines. A short alapana, no violin return, swaras around ‘raghupate brochevarevaru’, ‘ninnuvina’ and srIrAma etc. Pretty good. The early rounds of alapana was a bit confusing, though.

Devagandhari alapana was also big. The alapana in most part was rather technical/ cerebral feeling, except the last quarter where he came back to the melodic, moving devagandhari phrases. Tulasamma was started with a few rounds at mA iNTa. Hoped for a neraval here as he was singing the kriti with some elan.

Charukeshi alapana had a hindustani feeling through out. Despite that, I thought it was beautifully done. For some reason, I was reminded of Balamuralikrishna here. The question was between Kripaya palaya or Adamodi galade. Modi was chosen. No neraval again and very complicated, intricate swara prasthana begun, keeping every one on their toes. The exercise continued till the end and he requested Patri to continue the tani avartanam. Percussion duo, already charged up by now, presented another complex tani avartanam.

Kumudakriya again. We had Ramakrishnan Murthy singing this at PES last week. I understand, kumudakriya is one of Abhishek’s forte, and he did conform to that notion. Good alapana, and since it came after the main ( or after the tani avartanam), I thought we are likely to have a special pallavi here. But he started the kriti at anupallavi and as an after thought, stopped and asked Bhaskar to play ( which was denied to him for both shrIranjani and chArukEshi).

and then the shankarabharanam happened..

 

Abhishek Raghuram @ Samyoga2019, Annual Festival of Ranjani Fine Arts 09-Feb-2019

Vocal : Abhishek Raghuram

Violin : Akkarai Subhalakshmi

Mrudangam : Patri Satishkumar

List:

01 inta mOdi (varNam) – sAranga – Adi – Thiruvottiyur Thyagayya ( O )

02 brOcEvArevvarE – shrI ranjani – Adi – Thyagaraja ( short Sketch, S )

03 jAnakI ramaNa – shuddha sImantini – Adi – Thyagaraja ( short Sketch, S )

04 shrI mAtrbhUtam – kannaDa – MishrachAp – Dikshitar ( A,S,T )

05 sumasAyaka – kApi – Roopakam – Swathi Thirunal ( A )

06 nannu brOcuTaku – thODi – Adi – Subbaraya Shasthri ( A )

07 tatvameruga taramA – garuDadhvani – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A,S )

08 murugA murugA enrAl – sAvEri – Mishra chap –  Periyasamy Thooran

09 suruTTi alapana

patiki hArati rE – suruTTi – Adi – Thyagaraja

10 nI nAma rUpamulaku – saurAStram – Adi – Thyagaraja

;——————-

*The downpour outside was paralleled with a downpour of musical swaras today.  Sriranjani and kannada swaras that was sung today has to be experienced. No words to describe.  If I am not mistaken, the kannada swaras were sung in 3 speeds.

*Sriranjani swaras had more interesting points, especially the way he prefixed raghupatE, ninnu vinA, srIrAma, sakala lOka nAyaka before ‘brOcEvarevvarE’ at different repeats. It was brilliant.

*First half, until kannaDa, there were no detailed alapana. KannaDa alapana was fabulous. Very typical of his style, which probably is a bit off-putting to some. Surprisingly, after some swashbuckling swaras, he asked PAtri to play the tani avartanam.

*He sang alapana ( fairly in detail way) for every thing that followed, including a teasing surutti  (for patiki harati rE).

* Sumasayaka, was sung like a varnam, with swara sahityam after chittaswaras, with some of his expressive twists and stretches.

*Garudadhwani alapana was also a novelty and the express-speed swaras.

*A very soulful sAvEri, among the forceful ( bit riotous, often) others, stood out.

*Both Akkari Subhalakshmi and Patri Satishkumar were excellent.

*I see a change in pattern in his singing, of late. Eager to see how it evolve. I like his concerts and his ability to inspire awe in me as a listener. It was no different,yesterday.

 

 

Abhishek Raghuram @ Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha , 20 Oct 2018

Vocal : Abhishek Raghuram

Violin : H N Bhaskar

Mrudangam : Patri Satishkumar

01 inta mODi ( varNam ) – sAranga – Adi – Thiruvottiyur Thyagayya

02 lOkAvana caturA – bEgaDa – Adi x 2 – Thyagaraja ( A, S )

03 vara nArada nArAyaNa – vijayashrI – Adi x 2 – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S )

neraval & swara @ ‘prakaTambuga kIrti nosagene bhAvuka tyAgarAjanuta’

04 bAlAmbikAyAm param nahirE – kAnaDa – Adi – Dikshitar ( Raga Sketch, S )

05 lakSmaNamulu gala shrIrAmanuki – shuddha sAvEri – Adi – Thyagaraja ( S )

05b  tani Avartanam

06 brhadEshvarO rakSatumAm – gAnasAmavarALi (gAnamUrti) – Roopakam – Dikshitar ( A )

07 sVamikku sari evare – kEdAragauLa – mishrachAp – Papanasam Sivan (Raga sketch, N )

neraval @ ‘pArkkaDal adanil paLLi koNDavan pAril nandagOpAlanAi pirandu, pAl tayir veNNai tiruDi uNDavan’

08 murugA murugA enrAl  – sAvEri – mishra chAp – Periyasamo Thooran ( A,v )

viruttam ( en tAyum enakkaruL tanthaiyum)

09 candracUDa shiv shankara – darbAri kAnaDa – Adi – Purandara Dasa  ( A )

10 rAmajOgi maNDu – khamAs – Adi – Bhadrachala Ramadas

11 thillAna ( tananA  dhirana ) – khamAs – Adi – Lalgudi Jayaraman

12 mangaLam – saurAStram – Adi – Thyagaraja

What a concert ! Very unusual, very ‘atypical’, very un-like Abhishek.  There was no ‘main’, no elaborate 20plus minute of alapana, no looong neraval sequence. Take a look at the list again. It looks like he was in a mood to sing all those not often heard compositions. He was in a playful mood. Singing alapana in ‘ati mandrasthayi’ and suddenly leapfrogging to ati tArasthayi phrases.  Often indulging in intrinsic laya formulations during swara prasthana with ever inspiring Patri Satishkumar. Very cerebral affair for someone who prefer a more traditional approach to concert. I am not in anyway suggesting that it was all a cerebral exercise of music.

The start of the affair was with a very unique take on begada. The Alapana itself was refreshing and engaging. For a piece immediately after the varnam, it was rather long alapana. HNB had a more traditional take in his turn. I was expecting vallabha nayakasya as is the norm. But he picked lOkavana chatura. There was an elaborate kalpana swaras for begada. With Patri, it gives him limitless freedom to express his ideas during swara singing and it was evident through out the evening.

The early phases of the slow alapana resembled varAli, but it was clear that he is singing a closely associated ragam. Vara narada, clarified the absence of dhaivatam 🙂 . There was no violin return of alapana.  He sang few rounds of neraval with HNB at prakatambuga. Interesting. Not heard a neraval for this before. A few rounds of swaras to conclude an interesting selection.  Soon another short alapana of kAnaDa. This time it was another not regularly heard Dikshitar composition. Again some nice rounds of kalpana swaras.

Lakshanamulu gala was another surprise. Well, there are compositions beyond darini telusukonti. Less than a week ago, I heard Saketharaman singing tAyE tripurasundari. Swashbuckling kalpana swaras. Exhilarating affair. So much was the energy and excitement, Abhishek pondered for a sec and requested Patri to play tani avartanam, to the surprise of the percussionist and the listeners. Which, of course, was on another level.

A ganamurti alapana, mostly done at the higher octaves were very moving. This time another rare piece of Dikshitar ( ganasamavarali as it is known ) was taken, sung beautifully.  After a short sketch of kEdAragaula, he started at shyAma sundara jagan mOhana krishna , anupallavi of Papanasam Sivan’s composition, svamikku sari evare. He repeated, as in neraval, the long line ”pArkkaDal adanil paLLi koNDavan pAril nandagOpAlanAi pirandu, pAl tayir veNNai tiruDi uNDavan’ quite a while without a violin return. Again , very impressive.

When he started the saveri alapana, we all sat back anticipating the main. He started off at some very unusual place and after few phrases, stopped with a mischievous smile and  glint in his eye, murmured ‘you can guess the ragam’ or some thing to that effect. But the ‘known’ sAveri did not hide for too long.  This time, HN Bhaskar got his chane to play the aapana again ( after the bEgaDa). Since the alapana was short and stopped all of a sudden, I was thinking a two phase alapana as in the case of a Pallavi. But he had other plans and started a viruttam.  When he started ‘muruga muruga enral’, there was still hope for a traditional main with neraval and swaras. Again, we were denied.

When he started the darbari kAnaDa alapana, the hope rekindled. It is rare to get a detailed darbari kanada alapana. I heard one of Madurai Somu and a pallavi ( must be Sanjay, but can’t be sure) before. Abhishek sang it fairly long ( 8-10 mins) followed by HNB about 5-6 mins. Liked it.

By now, it was sure that he was on a different plan for the evening and we might not have a traditional fair. He looked at the orgaisers for time and plans to wind down. Two khamas pieces, rAmajOgi manDu followed without any gap a thillana ( as though he wanted to extend it a bit) before he called it a day.

I am still getting reconciled to this concert. While experiencing it live, one couldn’t stop admiring his class. However, it did have the leftover of something missing. It wasn’t an Abhishek concert, one is used to attending.  But, looking at the list above, and the way he presented them, I think, it justify the choice of picking Abhishek over Ranganatha Sharma, who sang at my backyard.

 

Pravin Godkhindi and Abhishek Raghuram @ Samarasa2018, PES University 23-Sep-2018

Hindustani Flute : Pt Pravin Godkhindi

Supporting Flute : Shadaj Godkhindi

Tabla : Pt Ravindra Yavagal

Carnatic Vocal : Abhishek Raghuram

Violin :  Parur M S Ananthakrishnan

Ghatam : Vazhappilli Krishnakumar

Phase 1 – Hindustani  ( Pravin Godkhindi – Shadaj Godkhindi – Pt Ravindra Yavagal )

01  Raag  madhuvanti    for 1 hr

Phase 2 – Carnatic Vocal Concert  ( Abhishek – Ananthakrishnan-Ravindra Yavagal – Krishnakumar )   – 1 hr

01 girirAja sutA tanayA – bangALA – Adi – Thyagaraja

02 inta sowkhyamAni nE – kApi – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A )

03 bhAvayAmi raghurAmam – rAgamAlika – Roopakam – Swathi Thirunal ( A – sAveri, nAtakurinji and dhanyAsi in detail, rest in a sweeping take )

Phase 3 – Jugalbandi  for 1 hr

01 dIpALi (h) / mOhanam (c)  – Alap & tarAna/tAnam

02 tani Avartanam ( Adi )

03 bhairavi (h) / sindhubhairavi (c)  – chandrashEkharA eesha

This was supposed to be a 2 hr concert of Pt Pravin Godkhindi followed by 2 hour of Abhishek’s concert. The unavailability ( unavoidable circumstances, says Abhishek) of ArjunKumar, who had to accompany Abhishek for his concert made the whole program to undergo a dramatic change. The 2+2 hr concerts have been combined ( and split into 3 phases) into a 3 hr affair. On a positive side, one could watch Pt Ravindra Yavagal, accompanying for a carnatic concert.

The first part of Pt Pravin Godkhindi was fabulous. A sedate madhuvanti ( late afternoon raga) was very impressive. His son, young Shadaj joined in brilliantly. With my near zero knowledge, I restrain myself here from further describing the concert.

Abhishek and the team  replaced the Hindustani counterparts for the next session. He was in super form, albeit a short concert. A quick Bangala kriti followed by a captivating kApi alapana and inta sowkhyamani. There was no time for a violin return. But I expected him to sing a few rounds of swaras. Probably owing to the time availability, he quickly started sAvEri alapana. He glided mesmerisingly into nAtakurinji. That opened up the hint. Ananthakrishnan had his chance now for playing a quick return. Dhanyasi was again sang in detail and moved on to Mohanam. The rest of the alapana was done in a long single take before retracting back in the same sequence to sAvEri. All the characteristics takes expected from Abhishek was performed for the kriti. Some twists, some sudden takes, move up and down the sthAyi,  laya variations at the chittasvaras , different sangatis on return to ‘bhAvayAmi’. I hope, he takes this up in a much larger scope in one of his future concerts, where his imaginations are not constrained by time.

The third phase was not very attractive. It was mostly a mutual admiration club on the stage and was largely satisfying to their own excesses. It did have its own ‘aha’ moments, but by and large, it disappointed me. There was insistence by both the lead artists to Pt Yavagal to play the percussion solo. And they duo definitely won a lot of applause with their electrifying tani avartanam. There was a quick bhairavi/sindhuharavi piece to conclude, where Abhishek part of the kriti ‘chandrashEkharA Eesha’.

Both the individual concerts were super class, despite the short duration.