Vocal : TNS Krishna
Violin : B Raghuram
Mrudangam : H S Sudheendra
Ghatam : Sukanya Ramgopal
Thematic Concert on the Compositions of Harikeshanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar
List
(reached late)
03 vaLLI nAyakanE – SaNmukhapriya – Adi – HMB ( A,N,S )
neraval & Swaras @ ‘talli tanri guru deivamu nIvani ‘
04 mAnamu kAvalenu talli – sahAna – rUpakam – HMB ( A )
05 krpAnidhE krpAjaladhE – hamsanAdam – mishrachAp – HMB ( A )
06 sharaNam vijayasarasvati mAyE – vijayasa saravavati – Adi – HMB ( O )
07 manadirkkisainda maNALan – shankarAbharaNam – Adi x 2 – HMB ( A,N,S,T )
neraval & Swaras @ samarasa sharavaNan sadguNa bOdhan’
rAgamalika swaras in ‘nATa, gauLa, Arabhi, varALi, karNaranjani, ………., malayamArutam, shivaranjani, pashupatipriya, …….., hamsAnandi, shrI
08 sArasa daLa nayane – sAramati – Adi – HMB
09 thillAna ( dhIm tare nare nare dhiraNA) – hamsAnandi – Adi – HMB
10 mAvUr valam – sindhu bhairavi – Adi tishra gati – HMB ( O )
11 mangaLAm bhavatu tE mAtanga vadanA – pantuvarALi – khaND chAp – HMB
Many things were notable in this concert. One, fabulous selection of compositions, with a method and reason for each of them. Two , not repeating the often chewed cud ( As we see in many such thematic concerts) , and often bringing out the niceties of the compositions , by means of highlighting them and explaining.
A cracker of a shankarabharanam. Very good alapana, super selection of a kriti , not heard this before in a concert. Years ago, his father and guru ( one and only TNS) gave a special thematic on Muthaiah Bhagavatar, shankarabharanam as main with ‘sahaja guna rAmachandra’. Son, picked another not often heard gem. I loved it.
He did a lot more to the main. Neraval was grand. Nice wordplay around bOdhan, guNabOdhan, sadguNa bOdhan. In fact he closed the kriti ( before starting the neraval) with ” maNALan, isainda maNALan, manadirkkisainda maNALan ” , to some good effect.
The kalpana swaram had some good ‘swarakshara’ landing at ‘sA,mA -rasa’, which he deployed in quite a few rounds. I thought that was very intelligently and imaginatively done. There was also a flurry of ragamalika swaras.
This wasn’t done as a lec-dem concert, but he added a bit of snippets for few of the compositions. The sahAna kriti ( a master piece of shri TNS) , had a unique start at mA, unlike most of teh popular sahana compositions, and this also has mA as one of the pivotal note. I think, most of his alapana were around this, and hence refreshing. He said, the hamsanadam kriti of Muthiah Bhagavatar, was composed in the older tradition of the raga. I remember Shri TNS singing a detailed alapana of vijayasaraswati, years ago during Nadasurabhi Annual Festival ( around 2007/08) and some one from audience asked for the name of the raga as all of us were scratching our heads. He responded by asking us to wait until the kriti starts, which will answer our queries.
Even the post main section was cleverly conceived. A beautiful sAramati , thillAna , the sindhubhairavi kriti on kALi were all impressive. As is his wont ( or one can expect from him) , the mangalam was also was a nice pick.
Despite reaching late , after a stupendous ‘thayambaka dual’ at Indiranagar, I loved every bit of it. I reached during the shanmukhapriya kriti, which followed by a energetic neraval and swara. The supporting artists gave ample support.
Brain Drain 