Saketharaman , Gayana Samaja 20 Sept 2009

Vocal : Saketharaman

Violin : Charulatha Ramanujam

Mrudangam : Tumkur Ravishankar

Ghatam : Tumkur SashiShankar

Songlist:

01 sAmi ninne (varNam) – Sri – Garbhapurivasar

02 jalAndhara – valachi – Muthaiah Bhagavathar ( O , N, S )

        neraval & swara @ ‘bhava rOganivAriNi bhaktajana paripAlini’

03 SivakAma sundari – mukhAri – Papanasam Sivan ( A )

04 yArE rangana yArE krishNana – hindOLam – Purandara Dasa ( S )

05 kamalAmbAm bhajarE – kalyANi – Muthuswami Dikshitar ( A,N,S,T )

     neraval & swara at pallavi line

06 RTP – saraswati – Tisra Ata

     pallavi line ‘ vANi saraswati aruL puriyavANi vINA pustakadhAriNi’

    ragamalika swara in dhanyAsi, hamIr kalyANi, sindhubhairavi

07 srI jagadISwari durga – Ahir bhairav – Lalgudi Jayaraman

08 thillAna ( tada dhim ta dhim dhiraNA ) – mAND – Langudi Jayaraman ?

09 mangaLam – saurAshtram, madhyamAvathi – Thyagaraja

Saketharaman gave a very good concert yesterday at Gayana Samaja. As expected, Kalyani krithi of Muthuswami Dikshitar was taken up as main and it was splendind ( despite my non-preference to kalyani).  There was ample time for a pallavi and Saketharaman did not disappoint us. Saraswathi was the raga for Pallavi, and a first time for me.  Charulatha Ramanujam, who did a brilliant job through out, was outstanding in her retun for saraswati. The pallavi with tripalam, the ragamalika swaras were also very good.

Earlier, he started the concert with Sri raga varnam, followed with a superb valavhi krithi. The neraval and swara was very good. The detailed mukhari alapana was also pretty nice. Tumkur brothers was very good at the percussion. Ravishankar, especially, was superb. 

Now, the complaints.. Concert started at 5:15 and was wound up by 7:45. I guess, Saketharaman was in a hurry to catch a train or so. There was a kind of hurry through out. While , he did not speed up the krithi rendering, there was no gap whatso ever from one krithi to the next. The short pauses between pallavi and anupallavi or between charanam were also missing.  The pallavi ragamalika came to an abrupt end after he finished the sindhubhairavi swaras, without a violin reply or an adequate closure of the pallavi.  The post felicitation krithis before the mangalam was also done, for the sake of it. This could have been an outstanding concert, otherwise. Having said that, he was brilliant yesterday.

 

Saketharaman , Gokulashtami Series concert , Unnati Centre

Vocal :  Saketharaman

Violin : Sri M Chandrasekharan

Mrudangam : K V Prasad

Ganjira : N Amruth

Songlist :

01 sarasUDa ninne ( varNAm) – sAvEri – Kottavasal Venkatarama Iyer ( O )

02 vAtApi gaNapatim – hamsadhwani – Muthuswami Dikshitar ( O, S )

03 guruvAyUrappane appan – rItigauLa – Ambujam Krishna ( A )

04 intha kaNNAnanda – bilahari – Thyagaraja ( A,S )

05 bhOgIndra SAyinam – kuntaLa varALi – Swathi Thirunal

06 srIkrishNam bhaja mAnasa – thODi – Muthuswami dikshitar ( A,N,S,T )

neraval & swara at” shankha chakra gada padma vanamAlam”

07 srInivAsa thiru venkaTa – hamsAnandi – Papanasam Sivan

08 krishNA nI bEganE bArO – yamunAkalyANi – Vyasarayar ( A )

09 thillAna ( dhim ta dhim ta dhim ta dhim tana) – brindAvanasAranga – Lalgudi Jayaraman  ( O )

10 mangaLam – saurAshtram (ended with MadhyamAvathi) – Thyagaraja

Originally, Sri T N Seshagopal was expected to perform. Due to his illness, he was not able to make it and Saketharaman was the last minute replacement for TNS. Both Sri M Chandrasekharan and Sri K V Prasad was gracious enough to accompany the upcoming artist. He has not disappoint the crowd, gathered to listen to TNS. It was an opportunity for the young lad to get such an accompanying artists at this age and I would say, he made the most of it, winning appreciation by none other than M.Chandrasekharan, himself.  I have always noticed his ability to sing amazing sets of swaras for every krithi and this time was no exception. The kalpanaswaras followed the hamsadhwani and Bilahari were superb. Main krithi in Thodi, the same krithi Sri TNS enthralled the Odukathur audience a couple of year back, was dealt with delicacy. I thought the swara singing were rather short for the grandeur of this raga and krithi.  K V Prasad and Amruth gave another superb taniavartanam fitting to the display by the main artists. There was a surprise in store by means of a short and beautiful rendering of Yamunakalyani raga followed by ‘Krishna nee begane’.

 

Saketharaman @ Indiranagar Sangeethasabha – 27 Oct 2007

Vocal : Saketharaman

Violin : Charulatha Ramanujam

Mrudangam : Annur Ananthakrishna Sharma

Ghatam : Smt Sukanya Ramgopal

01 chalamEla – durbAr  – Tiruvottiyur Thayagayyar   O

02 kaDaikkaN vaithennai – bEgaDa – Ramaswami Sivan   O S

03 kOti nAdulu – thODi – Thyagaraja         A

04 sIthamma mAyamma – vasantha –  Thyagaraja  A , S

05 O rangasAi – kAmbOji – Thyagaraja    A , N , S , T

     Neraval at ‘bhUlOka vaikunDham’

06 nArayaNa – sudhadhanyAsi – Purandara Dasa   O

07 kanDEnA gOvindana – chandrakauns – Purandara Dasa  O

08 mAnasa sanCararE – sAma – Sadashiva Brahmendra      O

09 bAro Krishnayya – mAND – Kanaka Dasa

10 kriShNA nI bEganE – yamunA kalyANi –  Vyasaraya      O

11 thillAna – brindAvana sAranga – Lalgudi Jayaraman (?)

12 mangaLam – sourAshtram

Saketharaman gave another nice concert from a performance point of view. However, the anticipation set by the initial krithins and the main was for a superb finish. To my disappointment, that did not happen. Post main tukdas were too many and too predictable. It was only 8:15 when the main krithi and tani avartanam were completed. There was a hope for a Ragam Tanam Pallavi , I guess prompted by the piece of paper passed on to him, he decided to sing all those popular kannada compositions. While they were sung beautifully, this concert would have been on a different level, had there been a RTP.

He was amazing during the swaras of Begada krithi and the Vasantha. Kamboji was the Raga suggested by one lady in the audience on his ask ‘if we prefer him sing any particular raga’ and he chose O Rangasai. It was a treat to all. the violin reply after the kamboji alapana was rather too short ( 2-3 mins against a 15 min alapana) and that was not normal, as there were no time pressure.