Vocal : Palakkad K S Narayanaswamy
Vocal support : P K Goutaman
Violin : Annapoorni Subramanian
Mrudangam : Anoor R Dattatreya Sharma
Song List :
01. sAmi nI tODi (varNam) – pantuvarALi – Rangaswami Nattuvanar ( short sketch)
02. gOpAlaka pAhimAm – rEvagupti – Swathi Thirunal ( S )
03. nAdasudhA rasambilanu – Arabhi – Thyagaraja ( A,S )
04. marivErE gati – Anandabhairavi – Shyama Sasthry ( A,S )
05. mAmava sadA janani – kAnaDa – Swathi Thirunal ( A )
06. pAhiAm SrI rAjarAjESwari – janaranjani – Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer
07. rAmA nI samanamevvaru – kharaharapriya – Thyagaraja ( A,S,T )
08. mAyA gOpabAla – kApi – Mahakavi Kuttamath ? ( O )
09. thillAna ( Dhim nanana tillillana tillana )- brindAvani – Balamuralikrishna
10. mangaLam – saurAshtram – Thyagaraja
11. madhyamAvathi raga sketch
Many years ago, I heard Sri Palakkad K S Narayanaswamy in a short concert, organised by a resident association part of their Vinayaka Chaturthi. I was so impressed that day, as he presented a pristine, chaste concert on that day. The vachaspati is still fresh in my mind. That probably, helped me to decide on attending this concert, among another three-four equally tempting options. I was out on the road and managed to reach just in time for the concert. Which also means, I missed the earlier event of the evening in which a Music CD ‘nAdasudhArasam’ was released.
Sri K S Narayanaswamy, one of the torch bearer of the Semmangudi bani, presented another pleasing concert. The right measurements in which he sang each alapana, the kalpana swaras with the stamp of the bani and the precision with which each sangatis were sung were the hallmark of the concert yesterday. May be due to the nature of his singing, this wasn’t an energetic exhilarating affair. It was very sedate, probably too sedate for a regular concert. The low level of the hall amplification added to the subdued affair. Adding to it, there was no neraval to get me excited.
Concert started with a rather obscure varnam, followed with the revagupti kriti. He sang few rounds of swarams too. Quickly launched to a short arabhi alapana. Nadasudharasam was very good, so was the crisp rounds of kalpana swarams. Anandabhairavi alapana was top class, taking us through some beautiful passages. So was the kAnaDa alapana. A quick janaranjani came in as a filler, a much needed reprieve after many slow songs. Kharaharapriya was main with a detailed alapana, very majestically rendered. Kriti was equally elegant, with all the sangatis were very moving. I was expecting the neraval, as he did not sing neraval for any of the earlier kritis. There was a quick one-two on the stage between the violinist ( who is his daughter) and the artist and to her visible displeasure ( and a reassuring nod from the disciple who was accompanying him) he started the kalpanaswaras, which was very good. Dattatreya Sharma, who did his best to liven up the proceedings, played out a good tani avartanam. His percussion support was of high standard. Post main was rather short, consisting a kApi kriti and a thillana. In the chaotic and noisy scene of carnatic music, listening to such concerts are very refreshing indeed.
I did buy the CD, which was released earlier in the evening, sung by the same team on the stage, post the concert. Listened to it over last evening and today morning and I can recommend the same to every one who is interested in listening to this vidvan.
Brain Drain 