Anayampatti Ganeshan , Jalatarangam at ‘Veeneya Bedagu’ , Gayana Samaja 23 Feb 2019

Jalatarangam : Vid Anayampatti Ganeshan

Violin : Anayampatti G Venkata Subramanian

Mrudangam : Renuka Prasad

Khanjari : ASN Swamy

Ghatam : S N Narayanamurthy

List

01 vAtApi gaNapatim – hamsadhvani – Adi – Dikshitar ( A,S )

02 vinanA asakOni unnAnurA – pratApavarALi – Adi – Thyagaraja ( O,S  )

03 bhavanuta nA hrdayamu – mOhanam – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A,S,T )

04 bhAgyAda lakSmi bArammA – shrI – Adi – Purandaradasa

;—

*To begin with, congratulations to Vidvan Sri Anayampatti Ganeshan, recipient of this year’s Veena Seshanna Memorial National Award.

*At 87, he is as energetic and raring to go.  His enthusiasm was contagious.

*Short, 1hr concert, before the award ceremony. But, it was worth all the effort on a Saturday Morning.

*His skill and ability on handling the unique ‘instrument’, added with his knowledge as a vocalist and violinist, definitely added value to the playing. Despite the handicap ( of the device) the music stood out.

*Supporting artists were very good. His son, on violin, was exemplary. 15 mins tani avartanam for a 1 hr conert was , as they say, “a bit too much”.

*Sri Mysore V Subramanya spoke about the connection between Veena Seshanna and Jalatarangam and the ‘musical connection’ to Vid. Anayampatti Ganeshan, in his inimitable style ( witty anecdotes and historical references).  Sri Ganeshan’s father had learning under Seshanna ( albeit short) in music, thus making him a ‘guru’s guru’ of Sri Ganeshan.  Seshanna was proficient in 7 instruments including Jalatarangam, as explained by Sri Subramanya.

 

 

D Balakrishna with Vamshidhar ( Veena-Venu) at Nadasurabhi Annual Music Festival, 19 Oct 2018

Veena : D Balakrishna

Flute : Vamshidhar

Mrudangam : Anirudh Bhat

Ghatam : Raghavendra Prakash

List:

01 mAtE malayadhwaja (daru varNam) – khamAs – Adi -Muthaiah Bhagavatar

02 shrI varalakSmi namastubhyam – shrI – Roopakam – Dikshitar ( S )

03 cintayAmi jagadambam – hindOLam – Mishra Jhumpa – Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar

04 shrI cAmuNDEshwari pAlayamAm – bilahari – Adi x 2 – Mysore Vasudevachar ( A,S )

05 mAmava janma doDDadu – pUrvikalyANi – Mishra Chap – Purandara Dasa ( A,S )

06 OrajUpu jUcEdi nyAyamA -kannaDa gauLa – Adi – Thyagaraja

07 birAna varalicci – kalyANi – Adi Tisra naDai – Shyama Shasthri ( A,t,N,S,T )

neraval & swaras @ ‘shyAmakRSNa sOdari gauri, paramEshvari girijA’ (?)

08 mAnasa sancararE – sAma – Adi – Sadashiva Brahmendra

09 jagadOdhAraNa – kApi – Adi – Purandara Dasa

10 thillAna – cencurutti – Veena Seshanna

11 mangaLAm – saurAStram – Thyagaraja

shLOkam in madhyamAvati

Very good start of the annual festival of Nadasurabhi, who are celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year. Congratulations to the Nadasurabhi team on this momentous occasion. They have been doing a commendable job over this years and wishing them all the success in future.

You cant ask for a better start to their proceedings of this year’s festival, but with a sedate Veena concert of one of the leading artists of the Mysore School. True to his lineage, the concert was memorable. Largely selected on devi, and from the Mysore composers ( and one piece each from the Trinity), nice mix of talam, it was evident that a lot of thought had gone into the preparation.

To me, the concert livened up from the bilahari. I am not hinting that the prior compositions lacked anything, but one could see a marked difference with the kalpana swaras of bilahari. The pUrvikalyani alapana that followed was delectable. Vamshidhar was very good in his turn of alapana. The swaras that followed were top class.

Kalyani alapana started with a bang ( as they say). I loved the start ( well, then on it was kalyani 🙂 ). However, the tanam which came in was outstanding. Very very elaborate, exquisite and arguably the best part of the concert.  It is always a pleasure to listen to tanam on a Veena. Shyama Shasthri’s kriti was nice. There was few rounds of neraval followed by a masterly kalpana swaras, which has some of the intelligent variations on display. The percussion duo played an impressive tani avartanam. I should add that Anirudh Bhat accompanied brilliantly through out the evening.

There was not much to hope for post main, as the crowd was sparse by then. There was time ( until 9:00, said the organisers on his query on how long can I go on) for a couple more. Veena Sheshanna’s thillana was a worthy mention in this segment.  Here again, I think the Chencurutti thillana is ‘tailor-made’ for Veena playing.

Impressive concert by Vid Balakrishna and the team on Day1 / Phase1 of the Nadasurabhi Annual Festival.

 

V Murali, Nagaswaram @ Ranjani Fine Arts, 9 June 2018

Nagaswaram : V.Murali

Nagaswaram Support : K Chandrashekhar & M Durgesh

Thavil : Murugesh & P T Mani

Talam : S Murali

List:

01 pagavAri bOdhana(varNam) – hamsadhwani – Adi -Patnam Subramanya Iyer ( O )

02 shrI mahAgaNapati ravatumAm – gauLa – Mishra Chap – Dikshitar ( O,S )

03 raghuvamsha sudhAmbudhi – kadanakutUhalam – Adi – Patnam Subramanya Iyer

04 O rAma nI nAma EmirucirA – pUrvikalyAni – Adi – Bhadrachala Ramadas ( A )

05 entarO mahAnubhAvulu – shrI – Adi – Thyagaraja ( O )

06 sAmaja vara gamanA – hindOLam – Adi – Thyagaraja ( A,S,T )

07  maguDi song ? – punnAgavarAli

08 tandanAna Ahi – bhauLi – Adi – Annamacharya

09 bhAgyAda lakSmi bAramma – madhyamAvati – Purandara Dasa

10 mangaLam – saurAStram – Thyagaraja

 

 

Vidushi Kanyakumari @ Nadasurabhi Annual Festival , 3rd Nov 2017

Violin : Vid Kanyakumari

Violin Support : Vittala Rangan

Mrudangam : Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma

Ganjira : Vyasa Vittala

List:

01 ? -hamsadhwani (S )

02 sanAtana paramapAvana – phalamanjari

03 svAminAtHa paripAlayAshumAm – nAta – Dikshitar

04 lAvaNya rAma – pUrNa SaDjam – Thyagaraja ( O )

05 gAnamUrtE – gAnamUrti – Thyagaraja ( A,S )

06 shrI vishvanAtham bhajEham – chaturdasha rAgamAlika – Dikshitar

---

07 vijayAmbikE – vijayanAgari – Muthaiah Bhagavathar ( A,S )

08 heccarikagArA rA – yadukula kAmbOji – Thyagaraja

09 shrI krSNam bhaja mAnasa – thODi – Dikshitar ( A,t,N,S,T)

neraval & swara @ shankha cakra gadA padma

rAgamAlika swaras in ??, kApi,rEvati,valaji?

10 muraLIdhara gOpAla – mAND – Periyasamy Thooran

11 krSNA nI bEganE bArO – yamuna kalyANi – Vyasaraya ( S )

12 rAmachandru nipuDu raghuvIruDu – dvijAvanti – Annamacharya

13 venkaTAchala nilayam – sindhubhairavi – Purandara Dasa ( O )

14 bhAgyAda lakSmi bAramma – madhyamAvati – Purandara Dasa

15 hari nInE gati endu – karNaranjani – Purandara Dasa

16 mangaLam – saurAStram

I was reluctant to attend the concert, as I was late to reach the venue. It was already 7:20 and there was major issue to find a place to park, as the main auditorium had some function. The thoughts of returning was so strong, but good sense prevailed at the end. She was concluding the Dikshitar’s chaturdasha ragamalika kriti as I entered. Hence, my impression of the concert is based on the rest of the concert. However, I am sure the same characteristics would have preceded the earlier songs as well. I was told that the gAnamurti was  excellent as well.

A spectacular vijayanAgari was the welcome. I pointed out to my friends later that this was one of the best vijayanagari I listened ever. Outstanding swaras she played with Vittala Rangan. It will remain in memory for a while. She asked if there are any preference for the main rAga. Various choices were aired and kAmbOji, thODi and kApi were the loudest. I think kAmbOji was then conveyed. But she said, she had a plan to play heccarikaga ra and started playing that. May be in a slightly faster tempo.

So the main had to be thODi. She played a brilliant alapana with her desciple joining in later, both doing a grahabhEda ( to mOhanakalyAni) and playing some awesome combinations. Tanam was equally exquisite. Shrikrishnam bhaja manasa was chosen, both playing together. She started her swaraprasthana, after a round, spoke to Shivu on her right and started playing neraval, a good one at that. Back to some impressive swara prasthana including multiple to an fro into ragamalika swaras, before handing over to the percussion team for tani. Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma and Vyasa Vittala did a commendable job here.

Post main had a chain of songs, including many devarnamas. Krishna nee begane baro, is worth a mention with some impressive rounds of swaras.  I am not qualified enough to comment on her style of play, the fingering and bowing technique etc. But, personally I liked the style, it flows smooth and soothing, despite the attached pickup mike, which gives a different sound quality compared to Vittala Rangan’s violin.

PS : For all that I missed, Doordarshan compensated by playing her concert at the 9:00am SRSN telecast.

 

Rajesh Vaidya , Veena @ ‘sruthimelanam’ , Vellinezhi 23rd Aug 2014

Veena : Rajesh Vaidya

Mrudangam : Umayalpuram Sivaraman

Ghatam : Dr S Karthick

Ganjira : B Shree Sundarkumar

List:

01.  gajAnanayutam – vEgavAhini – Dikshitar ( O )

02. vAsudEvayani – kalyANi – Thyagaraja (A,S )

03. tani Avartanam

04. chandraSEkhara – sindhu bhairavi – ?

I do not know if I should put this up here. This cant be really called a concert. Hardly anything was played. More than half of the concert was tani avartanam. Nonetheless, this complete the three concert day at Sruthimelanam. Let it be here for whatever it is worth it.

The function felicitating one of the masters of Kerala percussion Sri Mattannur Shankarankutty ate into the concert time. No surprises here. I have gone through this umpteen times. No such function, especially if it involve ministers and other dignitaries involved ever conclude in stipulated time. The organisers managed the time extra ordinarily well until then probably had to let it go, considering the men on stage. This despite the start at 5:00 pm. Anyway, by the time the non musical functions concluded it was around 8:30.

The stage set for the concert soon, UKS took the mike and announced that this would be a one hour concert as they team has to travel back to Chennai. Luckily, he did not make another long speech. But, it took long to get the mike and amplification of all four instruments set to their desired level, each trying to outwit the other. Once, angrily UKS remarked until his volume is set properly, he is not going to play. Every other participants taking the mike and directing the ‘sound man’ in various language to increase the volume for UKS. It took another 20 mins before they finally set about the concert. UKS had earlier announced the kritis that could be expected from Rajesh Vaidya. It was thus clear that he is going to play only two kritis. I split the list into 4 to make it look decent, separating tani avartanam.

Vegavahini or chakravakam was played ok, adding a few rounds of swarams. UKS was at his elements, lifting the overall effect with his legendary fillers and some clever structural intricacies. The other two leading ‘upa-pakkavadyam’ artists by and large allowed the senior to take lead, playing very subtly through out.

Kalyani alapana was rather interesting. While it was clear that he wsa playing kalyani, one was figuring out what is that he is playing. At time, I thought he was doing some hindustany-ish alaap, at other times he was playing similar to tanam. The nontraditional alapana however did not last long. However, he played the kriti very well with some classy accompaniment from UKS. The swaras were interesting too. The percussion trio, lead by UKS played a long tani avartanam. UKS brilliant as expected and the rest matching to the senior allowing him to get his due credit and respect. Rajesh Vaidya played a quick sindhu bhairavi piece to conclude the concert, pack up , receive the honours from the organisers and leave. 25 mins of tani avartanam and 20 mins of veena playing in total.

This was a big disappointment after a mesmerising concert of AKC Natarajan earlier in the morning and a spellbinding ‘pANDi mELam’ by Peruvanam Kuttan Marar in the afternoon. It is unjust to blame the musicians, as they were ready and waiting for their time. Often these meetings gets extended eating into the musical time. Kathakali artists were readying themselves to take stage by 9:30, their stipulated time and for the rest of the night, until 6:30 am next morning, they enthralled the waiting audience, covering up for this disappointment.