Vocal : Sriram gangadharan
Violin: B Raghuram
Mrudangam : V Krishna
Ghatam : G Omkar Rao
List:
01. SrI rAjarAjESwari Sankari (varNam) – mAyAmALavagauLa – N C Murthy?
02. mahA gaNapatim manasA smarAmi – Nata – Dikshitar ( S )
03. ennagANu rAma bhajana – pantuvarALi – Bhadrachala Ramadas ( A,N,S )
neraval & swara @’rAma rAma rAmayanucu ramaNIvokkadE ‘
04. ranjani niranjani – ranjani – GNB ( A,N,S )
neraval & swara @’kanjadaLa lOcanI kAmAKSi’
05. Sankari Sankuru chandramukhi – sAvEri – Shyama Sasthry ( A )
06. vAsudEvayani – kalyANi – T ( S )
07. tAmadamEn swAmi – thODi – Papanasam Sivan ( A,S,T )
… had to leave at this time…
If the concert of Saturday was marked for its serenity and tranquility ( possibly associated with elderly gentlemen), this one was with the vigour and excitement associated with youth. The evening was like travelling in the highspeed roller coaster with occassional slow ascend, before you are back to the high speed slope. Sriram Gandgadharan’s concert was marked with high energy the spirit, passed on to the rest of the artists like an epidemic ( to a lesser extend to B Raghuram , thank heavens). I had to leave after the main, due to some othe commitments, and that has nothing to do with the concert.
I’ve heard about Sriram before and some one told me he sings like GNB. Well, the list above has very strong influence of GNB, and some of the bhriga laden singins does have the imitation of the legend. But, one came in to listen to Sriram and not GNB.
He started with a varnam, I’ve not heard before ( or do not recollect), which was rather nice. The fireworks started with the nattai swaras. They aren’t bad and he was in control even at the super fast swaras. His alapanas of Pantuvarali, ranjani, saveri and thodi was decent. With the main thODi, he even pulled off a brilliant ‘grahabhedam’, smoothly slided in progression and return ( a feat repeated by violin to a less profound effect). The neraval of Pantuvarali and ranjani was good, but might have lost some ‘bhava’ content due to the speed, especially at ‘rAma rAma rAmayanucu’. He cherished at the kalpana swaras , mostly done in fast, super fast and ultra fast speeds. He did create the overall exhilerating atmosphere within the hall, with some spirited ( es expected) percussion support. He did the last swara vibrato ( pa ma dhA~~~~ , kind) at pantuvarali and kalyani , which wasn’t very appealing.
B.Raghuram was the soothing balm in the high adrenalin situation. He was at his best form through out the evening . From the tone quality to the way he played yesterday were good to listen. He alapana of sAvEri and thOdi were superb. He was at ease even with the super fast kalpana swaras. I did not stay to listen to the tani avartanam in full, but in general the percussion was in line with the overall energy that was in the air.
Intersting concert, with some good selection of kritis.
Brain Drain 