Gayathri Venkataraghavan @ Rama Seva Mandali, Fort School – 28 Mar 2018

Vocal : Gayathri Venkataraghavan

Violin : Mysore Srikanth

Mrudangam : K V Prasad

Ganjira : Guruprasanna

List:

01 shLOkam ( vighnarAja krpAsindhO )

evaraNi – dEvAmrtavarSiNi – Adi x 2 – Thyagaraja

02 kallu sakkare koLLirO  – kalyANi – mishra chAp -Purandara Dasa ( O, S )

03 jAlandhara supITHastHitE – valaji – rUpakam – Muthaiah Bhagavathar ( A,S )

04 kSIra sAgara shayanA -dEvagAndhAri – Adi x 2 – Thyagaraja

05 rAma kathA sudhArasa – madhyamAvati – Adi x 2 – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S,T )

neraval & svara @ bhAmAmaNi jAnaki saumitri bharatAdulatO bhUmi velayu sItA’

06 RTP – dharmavati – khaNDa tripuTa , dwi nadai ( pUrvAngam in chaturashra naDai, and uttarAngam in khaNDa naDai)  +1 akSaram eDuppu, arudi after rAmuni 6 akSaram

pallavi line ‘ bhajana sEyavE O manasA rAmuni, paramAtmuni bhakta pAlini

rAgamAlika svaras in vAsanti, candrajyOti and nAgasvarALi

07 mAnasa sancararE – sAma – Adi -Sadashiva Brahmendra

08 shLOkam ( mAtA rAmO mat pitA rAmachandrah: ) – darbAri kAnaDa

rAma nAma bhajisavarigE uNTE bhavada bandhana – darbAri kAnaDa – rUpakam -Purandara Dasa

09 rAmanai bhajitAl – mAND – Papanasam Sivan

10 shLOkam ( gOpAlaratnam bhuvanaika ratnam ) – yamunAkalyAni

bhAvayAmi gOpAlabAlam – yamunAkalyANi – khaNDa chAp – Annamacharya

11 thillAna ( dhIm tana udara tarana ) – behAg – Adi – Papanasam Sivan

12 mangaLam – saurAStram – Adi – Thyagaraja

shLOkam ( mangaLam kOsalEndrAya ) – suruTTi

Concert started very late ( around 6:53 pm) despite the artists arriving on stage at 6:25. There were tuning of two tanpuras , probably there was a shruti box too. Getting all of them in sync and sing the same  sa pa sa, was taking eternally long. In the meanwhile, one saw the percussion artists leaving the stage and going back ( It was later announced that Sri K V Prasad was unwell and was infact unable to start the concert. However, he came back and continued for next 3+ hours with his usual style, which should be appreciated).   After singing some kEdaram raga sketches, Vid Gayathri Venkataraghavan also left the stage for a while.  However, concert started around 6:55 and she did sing for more than 3 hrs ( beyond 10:00pm), in spite of the dwindling audience.

And, some of the best music came towards the later half of the concert.  The early part of the concert wasn’t all that great. Valaji and kalyani were ok, devagandhari wasn’t moving at all.  It was with the main madhyamavati, the whole concert lifted itself out of the drab, more precisely from the neraval. Not surprisingly the first real ‘active applause’ of appreciation was for the neraval. Kalpana swaras were pretty good too. K V Prasad and Guruprasanna played a commendable tani avartanam.

The concert peaked at its best in the pallavi. Tanam was exquisite. Srikant played some delectable tanam here. Super class. Structuarally complicated talam with two different nadai for khanda triputa with a shift in eduppu was impressively executed. The trikalam was smooth. Nice rounds of ragamalika swaram,  the one in vAsanti was beautiful.

She sang a quick short ‘mAnasa sancharare’. I thought  she was quickly filling up the sheet to fill the number of compositions. But the rest of them were very nice, including the request ‘bhavayAmi gOpAlabAlam’ and the devarnama , each preceded with a nice shlokam. Good concert, with a brilliant pallavi from vid. Gayathri venkataraghavan.

 

S R Maruthiprasad at Sri Rama Seva Mandali, Koramangala 26 March 2018

Vocal : S R Maruthiprasad

Violin : R Achyutha Rao

Mrudangam : V R Chandrashekar

Ghatam : S Srishylan

List:

01 shLOkam ( praNAmya shirasA dEvam gaurIputram vinAyakam) – gauLa

praNamAmyaham shrI gaurIsutam – gauLa – Adi -Mysore Vasudevachar ( S )

02 nAda sudhA rasambilanu – Arabhi – rUpakam – Thyagaraja ( O )

03 ETi janmamiti hA rAmA – varALi – mishrachAp – Thyagaraja ( A,N )

neraval @ ‘ sAgarashayanuni tyAgarAjunutuni’

04 shrIpatiyu namagE sampadavIyali – shrI – khaNDachAp – Purandara Dasa

05 dAsharathi mahanIya – kEdAragauLa – Adi – P T Narasimhachar (Pu Thi Na ) ( A,S ,T )

06 shLOkam ( kUjantam rAma rAmEti madhuram madhurAkaram) – shubhapantuvarALi

rAma rAma rAma sItA rAma ennirO – shubhapantuvarALi – Adi tisragati – Purandara Dasa

07 rAmanAma pAyasakkE – jana sammOdini? – Adi – Purandara Dasa

08 elli nODidaralli rAma – pantuvarALi – mishra chAp – Kanaka Dasa

09 shLOkam ( shrI vatsAnkita shrI kaustubhadhara)

gOvardhana giridhara – darbAri kAnaDa – Adi – Narayana Theertha

10 tUgiri raghurAmana ghanashyAmana –  hindustAni kApi  – mishra naDai – P T Narasimhachar ( Pu Thi Na )

11 mangaLam – saurAStram – Thyagaraja

shLOkam ( mangaLam kOsalEndrAya) – madhyamAvati

What a fine musician he is. This isn’t first time I am listening to him, but it indeed was for the first time I am attending his concert.  I’ve listened to him multiple times in the Bangalore FM amrutavasrhini program and each time, he has impressed me. So, this was an occasion I was looking forward to and he did not disappoint me.

Solid voice, excellent at the lower octaves. Absolute beauty in his diction and the way he split the lines to get the absolutely correct meaning of the kritis.  Very high on emotive scale – I don’t deny his handicap is adding to our appreciation. I could see visible movements of emotions around me when he was singing the varALi kriti and the shubhapantuvarali. That aside,  he sang brilliantly. Super selection of kritis including some beautiful devarnamas, which is his forte.

Took a while to settle, with the lack of feedback and some balancing of volumes. That largely impacted the Arabhi piece after a good gaula. Violin volume continue to be on a lower side through out, which not only affected the overall listening pleasure, but his interest in the scheme of things. Percussion support was a surprise package. Sri S R Chandrashekar played very well through out the evening, including a nice little tani avartanam.

Only two alapana , in varALi and kEdAragauLA, pretty good on both occasions. Kedaragaula was done in a relatively faster tempo. Violin was even faster, loosing some of the sheen out of the same.  Pu Thi Na’s composition was a good choice, not heard before.

As requested by the organiser, he sang a lot of devarnama in the concert. The ‘shrI patiyu namage’ still linger in mind. Even the others were sung with  a lot of elan, soaked in ‘bhAva’ , clear articulation of words so that the meaning comes out clearly.  It is always a pleasure to listen to Karnataka Artists singing devarnamas.

If you look at the list with a typical concert scheme, there are a lot of missing things ( only two alapana, one neraval, only a couple of kalpana swaras at the end of the kriti etc). But if you are one who experienced this last evening, you probably carry the music with you beyond the music hall and there in lies the success of a good concert.

 

Kanchana Sisters @ Sri Rama Seva Mandali , Koramangala 25 March 2018

Vocal : Kanchana Sisters ( Sriranjani & Shrutiranjani )

Violin : Charulatha Ramanujam

Mrudangam : Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma

Morsing : Bharadwaj Satavalli

List:

01 jaya jaya jaya jAnaki kAntA – nATa – khaNDa chAp – Purandara Dasa ( S )

02 sarasa sAmadAna – kApinArAyaNi –  Adi – Thyagaraja ( N,S )

neraval & svara @ ‘hitavu mAtalendO bAga baliktivi’

03 mOkSamu galadA – sArAmati – Adix2 – Thyagaraja  ( started at ‘sAkSAtkAra’ )

04 apparAma bhakti entO – pantuvarALi – rUpakam- Thyagaraja ( A,N,S )

neraval & svara @ ‘kapi vAridhi dATunA kaliki rOta gaTunA’

05 nannu pAlimpa -mOhanam – Adi x 2 – Thyagaraja ( A,S,T )

06 shiva shiva shiva ennirO – rEvati – kanaka Dasa

07 hanuma bhIma mAdhva muniya – hamsAnandi ? – rUpakam -Purandara Dasa

08 jagadOdhAraNa – kApi – Adi x 2 – Purandara Dasa

09 shrIrAmachandra krpAlu – yamunAkalyANi ? – mishra chAp – Tulsidas

10 bhAgyAda lakSmi bAramma -madhyamAvati – Adi – Purandara Dasa

I am attending their concert for the first time ( vaguely remember listening to them on a telecast) and they did make a good impression on me yesterday. Very energetic concert, no drag, no unwanted musical ‘show off’, very refreshing singing. Senior accompaniment support by Charulatha and Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma did help to lift the concert.

I am impressed with their presentation, the way they sang kalpana swaras, the ease with which they traversed , shared the alapana, the clarity with which sangatis were sung, some innovative bhrigas ( some of them weren’t all that appealing) , or not traveling the often repeated paths.

The antenna went up with the kalpana swaras for nATa, especially the rehearsed joint-effort to conclude the piece. Short outline of kApinArAyani, and sarasa sAmadAna was good with neraval at hitavu mAtalento. some verbal gymnastics, at hitavu and matalento was ok. Very refreshing start of kalpana swaras and the ending of the kriti with ‘chatura- daNDa caturA – bhEda daNDa caturA – dAna bhEda daNDa caturA – sAma dAna bhEda daNDa caturA – sarasa sAma dAna bhEda daNDa catura ‘ sequence.  Interesting, but did not really have any musical appeal. Saramati sketch followed with the sAkSAtkAra’ start. Not very great, probably because their voice is not that powerful to create that impact.

Shared alapana of pantuvarali was good. Good pick of apparama bhakti. Typical neraval and kalpana swaras. PAntuvarali neraval and swaras can never disappoint me. Elaborate mOhanam alapana, again shared by both the sisters. Some nice phrases, good at the higher registers, and those fast ‘akara’ takes. Charulatha started with the nannu palimpa movements in her alapana, which was very good. The hint was indeed right, nannu palimpa was sung well. No neraval, but some intricate laya play in the kalpana swaras. Unlike other swaras, this was sung in two speeds. I liked it. Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma played yet another commendable tani avartanam with Bharadwaj.

nice selection of devarnamas in the post main too, some of them aren’t heard much in concert. The jagadhOdharana started as an ugabhOga like start at ‘aDisidaLu yashOdA , magana’  repeated a few times before singing the composition. Not sure what was the idea, but it would have been better with out that. A Tulasidas bhajan before the closure of the concert with bhAgyAda lakSmi.

 

Ashwathnarayanan @ Ramaseva Mandali, Koramangala 08 Apr 2017

Vocal : Ashwathnarayanan

Violin :Pappu Gyandev

Mrudangam :-H S Sudheendra

Ghatam : Phanindra  Bhaskara

List :

01 nera nammiti (varNam) – kAnaDa – Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar

02 varAlanDu kommani – gurjari – Thyagaraja ( S )

03 jaya jaya jaya jAnaki kAnta – nAta – Purandara Dasa ( O,S )

04 jnAna mosaga rAdA – pUrvikalyANi – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S )

neraval & swara  @ ‘paripUrNa niSkaLanka niravadhi sukhadAyaka ‘

05 mAmava pattAbhirAma – maNirangu – Dikshitar

06 rAma rAma rAma rAma, rAmA yennirO – vasanta – Purandara Dasa ( S )

07 nA moravina rAdA – gOpriya – Dr S Ramanathan

08 ELa nI dayarAdA – aThANa – Thyagaraja

09 nannu pAlimpa – mOhanam – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S,T )

neraval & swara @ ‘karamuna shara kOdaNDa kAntitO’

10 bArO krSNayya – rAgamAlika – Kanaka Dasa ( Short sketch of mAND)

11 anri ulagam ( tirupavai) – bhImpLAs? – Andal

12 thillAna – chenchurutti – Veena Seshanna

13 srIrAma chandranukku jayamangaLam ( mangaLAm) – madhyamAvati – Arunachala Kavi

Proximity is not the only reason I decided to attend to Ashwathnarayanan today over other established artists at other venues. This year, I have decided to listen to as many youngsters as possible. His name has been coming up for a while as a name to watch out for. And yesterday’s concert fit that bill, perfectly well.

He has a strong powerful voice, with ease of deployment. Very clear diction, synonymous to the school and lineage he belong to, and a solid stage presence. He is very young and a bit of experience and polishing can catapult him into the big league.

He and the crew did a commendable concert yesterday. Very interesting choices of raga, some memorable swaraprasthana for the main, very moving melodious gurjari and some classy neraval for both Purvikalyani and Mohanam.

The area he might need to focus on ( for that matter most of the youngsters) is the kalapramanam. I guess, they carried away with the excitement and tends towards speed over ‘soukhyam’. Manirang, vasanta and aThana suffered from this. It could also possibly due to an over enthusiastic percussion support. Many times, I found HSS playing the beats different from the sahitya pattern, unsettling the flow. Also, each song ended with an unnecessary longer ‘theermanam’ ( or whatever it is called).

Only two alapana ( barring a short mAND sketch) in the evening. He can definitely organise it better. But both were scholarly. Mohanam especially was very good. These youngsters have a lot of ideas, but will have to sort of ‘organise’ these into a smoother delivery. Neraval for both purvikalyani and mohanam were very good. He has such a strong control over the laya, which was evident even in the singing of ‘sahitya’. His kalpana swara patterns were also very impressive, especially the mohanam.

Mamava Pattabhirama was all over the place. For one, he started with some unusual sangatis. The whole song was a bit ‘aggressive’ to my taste. It lost its natural beauty, which is not expected/accepted from some of of KVN’s lineage. He introduced the raga gOpriya to the audience, paying tribute to Dr.S.Ramanathan, whose birth centenary was yesterday. Gopriya is an interesting raga, with notes spread evenly across, making it impossible to do a grahabhedam.  A janya of Rishabhapriya, and not many composition available, apart from the one by Dr.SRamanathan. A nice gesture from the young lad.Post main was a beautifully rendered bAro krSNayya , a tirupavai and Chenchurutti thillana, before mangalam.

Very talented singer with a good voice, clear diction and well groomed manodharma. We will hear more from him and about him in the future.

 

M S Sheela @ Sree Ramaseva Mandali, Fort school, 04 May 2016

Vocal : M S Sheela

Violin : Nalina Mohan

Mrudangam : H S Sudheendra

Morsing : B Rajashekhar

List:

01. ninnE kOriyunnAdi (varNam) – kAnaDa – Thiruvottiyur Thyagayya

02. garuDa gamana samayamidE – nAgasvarLAi – Thyagaraja ( A,S )

03. E mani pogadugurA – vIravasantam – Thyagaraja

04. nAradamuni vedalina – pantuvarALi – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S )

neraval & swara @ ‘ nArAyaNa nAmamulanu pArAyaNa moralincuDu’

05. paTTiviDuvarAdu – manjari – Thyagaraja

06. sarasvatIm bhagavatIm – hamsavinOdini – Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar ( A )

07. teliyalEru rAma – dhEnuka – Thyagaraja ( S )

08. vara rAga layA – chenchu kAmbOji – Thyagaraja

09. shrI chAmuNDEshvari pAlayamAm – bilahari – Mysore Vasudevachar

10. rAma kathA sudhA – madhyamAvati – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S,T )

neraval & swara @ ‘bhAmAmaNi jAnakI saumitrI ‘

11. hAgE irabEku samsAradalli – mOhanam – Purandara Dasa

12.  mElukO  shrI perundEvi maNavALA  – bhauLi – Alluri Venkatadri Swamy

13.  karuNA jaladhE dAsharathE – pIlu – Thyagaraja (not sure if it is the same song)

14. bhAgyAda lakSmi bArammA – madhyamAvati – Purandara Dasa

15. mangaLam – saurAshtram – Thyagaraja

I haven’t attended many concerts this Ramanavami season. Of the 10 odd concert that I manage to be part of, this one, undoubtedly was the best. She was in her elements. Almost everything was perfect in planning and execution. The supporting team was so prompt and apt with their participation.

Some days, it is difficult to select what was your pick of the day. Yesterday was one such. Outstanding pantuvarali , fabulous swara for nagasvarali, nice hamsavinodini alapana ( though I’ve heard her sing this many times and every time I mistook it for ravichandrika), very intelligent selection of shorter pieces – be it veeravasantam, manjari, dhenuka or chenchu kamboji – which helped in cleverly pace the concert, marvelous madhyamavati , especially the neraval and brilliant and elaborate kalpana swaras …you decide.

Having caught in the web of Bangalore traffic, I could reach the place midway through the varnam. As we settled in and ready to receive, she started a nice little nagasvarali alapana. Cracking rounds of kalpana swaras set the stage for the remaining of the evening. After every detailed exposition, she sandwiched with a short piece, very intelligently selected. Veeravaantam was done after nagasvarali and before pantuvarali. Classy pantuvarali alapana by both vocalist and violin followed by a impressive nAradamuni vedalina. As I always maintain, apantuvarali or purvikalyani upfront in the concert gives it an uplift. Crisp neraval and a very very impressive kalpana swaras. Awesome stuff. A detailed hamsavinodini alapana, very elaborate and scholarly exposition.

Couple of short pieces in quick succession. Dhenuka was very moving, including the swaras she sang at the end. Even the swaras were sung in unhurried leisurely way. A chit was forwarded to her and she enquired ‘bilahari?’. I guessed the requester probably wanted bilahari as main.  Though she obliged  the request, it was not main. This session probably could have worked better.

Madhyamavati main was a fitting tribute to Thyagaraja, whose 250th birthday was yesterday, as I see in few posts. In fact, she sang most of the kritis of Thtagaraja’s compositions. Alapana was grand, meticulous clearly build and progressed as one would expect. Nalina Mohan too did a commendable job. Rama katha sudha was no surprise. She sang very detailed neraval and even bigger kalpana swaras. Some intelligent swara patterns, impressive laya intricacies which was fabulously supported by the percussion team was pleasure to watch. Rajashekhar on morsing was having a field day, bringing out some unheard sounds and techniques with the tiny instrument. once during the neraval, he played without using his right hand – using only mouth – for an entire cycle of neraval. Occassionally, he got carried away, over enthusiasm taking the control over restraint, caused minor trouble to the violinist. However, the percussion duo played a good tani avartanam.

Post main had a series of shorter pieces. I am one who likes some innovation here. Instead of singing 5 compositions mixing it with shlokams or ugabhogas would have made better appeal to me. However, having witnessed a fabulous concert, I have no complaints this time.