V R Dileepkumar @ Gayana Samaja , 17 Feb 2019

Vocal : V R Dileepkumar

Violin : Mathur Srinidhi

Mrudangam : C Cheluvaraju

Ghatam : N Gurumurthy

List:

01 gajavadana bEDuvE – hamsadhwani – Purandara Dasa ( O,S )

02 sadAchalEshwaram – bhUpALam – Dikshitar ( A,S )

03 innu daya bAradE – kalyANavasantam – Purandara Dasa

04 sItApati nA manasunA – khamAs – Thyagaraja (A, N )

neraval @ prEma jUci nApai pedda manasu jEsi

05 vAcAma gOcaramE manasA – kaikavashi – Thyagaraja ( A,S )

06 parama puruSa hrdaya – laLitApancamam – Swathi Thirunal

07 evarimATa vinnAvO – kAmbOji – Thyagaraja (A,N,S,T )

neraval & swara @ bhakta parADhiDunucu parama-

08 shLokam ( kastUrI tilakam lalATa) – cArukundaLam ( some derivative of cArukEshi) & mAND

bArO krSNayya – mAND++ – Kanaka Dasa

09 nI nAma rUpamulaku – saurASTram – Thyagaraja

shLokam ( mangaLam kOsalEndrAya) – madhyamAvati

;——-

*Fabulous concert by V R Dileepkumar and team.

*First time listening to an elaborate kaikavashi. What an effort.

*For every kalpana swaras, he seems to be on a roll. Never ending flow of the age old way of singing swaras.

*An absolutely marvellous kAmbOji. What a splendid alapana, and the rest of the kriti, neraval and swaras.

*Sedate bhUpALam and khamas.  His choices of the ragas and the compositions were very impressive.

*The other artists, especially Cheluvaraju made the overall concert very appealing.

*Every memorable concert is ‘remembered’ for one of the unique/special composition, a rare raga or a special pallavi or something unique in a specific presentation. For me, this will be known as ‘that kaikavashi’ concert.

*Brilliant stuff. Kudos to the team.

 

V R Dileepkumar @ Seva Sadan, R K Srikantan Trust Annual Sankranti Festival, 16 Jan 2019

Vocal : V R Dileepkumar

Violin : B Achyuth Rao

Mrudangam : Renukaprasad

Ghatam : S N Narayana Murthy

List:

01 ErA nApai ( varNam) – thODi – Adi – Patnam Subramanya Iyer

02 shrI raghukula maNDubutti – hamsadhwani – Adi – Thyagaraja ( O,S )

03 sakalagraha bala nInE – aThANa – Khandachap – Purandara Dasa

04 ardhanArIshwaram – kumudakriya – Roopakam – Dikshitar ( A,S )

05 vandE sadA padmanAbham – navarasa kannaDa – Adi -Swathi Thirunal

06 rAma kathA sudhA – madhyamAvati – Adi x 2 – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S,T )

neraval & swara @ ‘ bhAmAmaNi jAnaki saumitri ‘

07 gOvindamiha gOpika – bhAgEshrI – Mishrachap – Narayana Theertha

* 2hr concert , good time management.

*A cracking kumudakriya. Outstanding alapana and equally brilliant swaras.

*Beautiful madhyamavati alapana. Shortish neraval ( probably because of the time), but grand kalpana swaras.

*Enthusiastic percussion support. Boisterous at times. Sedate violin support, he played a good kumudakriya.

 

 

V R Dileepkumar @ Nadasurabhi , 20th Dec 2015

Vocal : V R Dileepkumar

Violin : Mathur Srinidhi

Mrudangam : B C Manjunath

Ghatam : S N Narayana Murthy

List:

01. erA nApai (varNam) – thODi – Patnam Subramanya Iyer

02. ninnu jUci – saurAStram – Patnam Subramanya Iyer ( O, S )

03. tAyE tripurasundari – suddha sAvEri – Periyasamy Thooran

04. E rAmuni – vakuLAbharaNam – Thyagaraja ( A,S )

05. sarasa sAmadAna – kApinArAyaNi – Thyagaraja ( N,S )

niraval & svara @’hitavu mATalentO bAga balkitivi

06. kAmAkSikAmakOTi pIThavAsini – simhEndramadhyamam – Dikshitar (A,S )

07. evari mATa – kAmbOji – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S,T )

niraval & svara @”bhakta parAdhInuDanucu parama-‘

08. alarshara paritApam – suruTTi – Swathi Thirunal

09. eppO varuvArO – jOnpuri – GKB

10. mangaLam – saurAStram – Thyagaraja

mangaLam kOsalEndra (shLOkam ) – madhyamAvati

For last 3-4 years, he comes to Bangalore once an year to perform. The last one was at Ranjani Fine Arts , exactly an year ago. The memories of that concert still linger,and hence the anticipation was high. That is exactly what was delivered. Everything that was elaborated was a treat.

He started with a brisk varnam in thodi, setting things up with the rest of  the crew on stage. Most of the initial adjustments were done by then in terms of amplifications and feedbak and that helped in the smooth flow of the concert from there. He continued with another Patnam kriti in saurashtram, with few rounds of impressive kalpana swaras followed by a quick and fast thaye tripurasundari. I liked the chittasvaras in the composition and the way they were presented.

Vakluabharanam was the first alapana to come done in very impressive way displaying its ample scope and his capabilities. It had to  be E rAmuni, which followed by yet another rounds of cracking kalpana swaras with some great perussion support. Sarasa sAmadAna that followed was shear joy to listen. Singing in a little slower tempo, from the usual fast paced one.  In the given context and poise of the concert until then, this made a lot of sense and brought out some intrinsic beauty of the kriti. The neraval was also done at the same speed, toying with the words hitavu and mAtalentO to some nice effect. Yet another great kalpana swaras to follow.

Simhendramadhyamam alapana that followed had some of his characteristic bhriga laden passages. Started with some brilliant low octave phrases for a long time before gradually progressing to the middle and higher octave increasing both the tempo and length of those phrases.  Mathur Srinidhi replicated most of those and stayed very close to the lead artist through out the evening. Dikshitar’s masterpiece was sung with a lot of gusto and class. Impressive kalpana swaras was again followed.

There were no short pieces of those ‘fillers’ to ease himself. A fabulous kAmbOji was to come and what a treat. Everything one can think of was presented, awesome alapana by both vocalist as well as the violin, good choice of a kriti which offers sufficient scope of singing, brilliant neraval with some great accompaniment and an outstanding swaraprasthana. The kalpana swara part itself was nearly 20 mins and it seems that he was willing to go on and on. Electrifying atmosphere. B C Manjunath, who played so well through out the day livening the concert with his assistant, played a fitting tani avartanam.  I loved some of his ‘left hand play’ producing some great structural combinations.

I had the privilege, on the insistence of the Secretary against my comfort :-), to  honour the artists on the stage. I am thankful to Nadasurabhi. Post main was quickly concluded with a Swathi Thirunal padam and eppo varuvArO.

Blissful evening. A kAmbOji to remember for a log time.

 

V R Dileepkumar @ Kulakkad , Palakkad 23rd Apr 2015

Vocal : V R Dileepkumar

Violin : Edappally Ajith

Mrudangam : Jayakrishnan

Ghatam : Sreejith Vellattanjur

List :

01  sAmi daya jUDa (varNam) – kEdAragauLa – Thiruvottiyur Thyagayya

02  shObillu saptasvara – jaganmOhini – Thyagaraja ( S )

03  sAdaramava sarasija dala – surutti – Swathi Thirunal ( A,S )

04  banTurIti kOlu – hamsanAdam – Thyagaraja ( A,S )

05  sArasamukhi sakala – gauDamalhAr – Muthaiah Bhagavathar

06  chakkani rAja mAragamu – kharaharapriya – Thyagaraja ( A,N,S,T )

niraval & svara @ ‘kaNTiki sundarataramaku rUpamE’

07  shLOkam ( jayatu jayatu manthram) – brindavana sarang

kamalAptakula – brindAvanasAranga – Thyagaraja

08  bArO krSNayya – rAgamAlika – Kanaka Dasa

09  cheli nEnEtlu (javaLi) – paras – Dharmapuri Subbarayar

10  shLOkam ( mangaLam kOsalEndrAya) – madhyamAvati

Such a fabulous concert yesterday by the team ! What an outstanding kharaharapriya, one of the best I’ve listened in the recent times. The team put up such a brilliant concert in the first half of the day after a short felicitation function of his first Guru, K M Krishnan Namboodiri.

Concert started with a brisk kedaragaula varnam, setting the combination in order. Starting at ‘saptasvara’ repeating a couple of repeats, he quickly launched the jaganmohini kriti. Few rounds of svaras in the higher speed was very nice. Surutti was the first alapana. The only request that was given to him to sing. I had heard his ‘sAdaramava’ in one of the telecast of ‘Chembai Sangeethotsavam’ and hence requested for a detailed version of the same. He complied with a splendid alapana. Swathi composition was extended to some nice rounds of kalpana svaras.

Another awesome alapana came for hamsanadam from Dileep, equally matching one from Ajith. Bantureeti had more interesting swara prasthana, with both Vocalist and the violinist trying to excel each other. A Muthaiah Bhagavathar’s composition was sung before the main.

I haven’t heard a kharaharapriya main from Dileep, and it probably was preserved for this day. What an outstanding alapana. Each phrases grew from one to the other with pristine clarity and quality. Some jaw dropping sudden twists in the phrases made it very appealing. Edappally Ajith was equally brilliant, repeating some of those interesting phrases in his turn. Chakkani raja, it was. It had been a while since I’ve heard this in a concert. Percussion team came in aptly during those sangatis. Neraval at the expected ‘kantiki sundara’ was very very good. Some of the ‘sundaratara rUpame’ picks were nice to hear. A very long two phased kalpana svaras were fabulous. Kalpana svaras alone lasted nearly 20 mins. Jayakrishnan and Sreejith were supporting the main artists very well, both through their appreciative remarks and through their percussion support through out the morning. The duo , played a good tani avartanam.

Post main wasn’t long. A nice shloka followed by kamalaptakula ( which he started at the anupallavi ‘kamala kaLatram’) was the highlight of the post main. A devarnama and the paras javali constituted for the rest. He concluded with a shlokam in madhyamavati. A top class concert with a memorable kharaharapriya. An apt tribute to his guru, on the occasion of the latter’s 60th birthday.

 

V R Dileepkumar @ Ranjani Fine Arts , 13th Dec 2013

Vocal : V R Dileepkumar

Violin : Mathur Srinidhi

Mrudangam : Vadakara P Anilkumar

List:

01  mAtE malayadhvaja (varNam) – khamAs – Muthaiah Bhagavathar ( O )

02  shrI raghukula muNDubutti – hamsadhvani – Thyagaraja (S )

03  sogasu jUDa tarama – kannaDagauLA – Thyagaraja

04  karuNAm vidEhi mayi – malahari – Irayimman Thampi ( A,S )

05  marivErE dikkevaru rAmayya – latAngi – Patnam Subramanya Iyer ( A,N,S )

neraval & swara @ ‘ daralOna nI sATi daivamu nE kAna’

06  kaNNa tanri nApai – dEvamanOhari – Thyagaraja

07  saraguNa pAlimpa – kEdAragauLa – Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar (A,N,S,T )

neraval & swara @ ‘ manmatha janaka maharSamunaku nIkEtana mahanIya shrInivAsa nIru’

08  shLOkam ( kastUri tilakam lalATa) – tilang

dAsara nindisa bEDa – tilang – Purandara Dasa

09  eppO varuvArO – jOnpuri – Gopalakrishna Bharati

10  alarshara paritApam – suruTTi – Swathi Thirunal

11  mangaLam – saurAshtram – Thyagaraja

shLOkam ( mangaLam kOsalEndrAya ) – madhyamAvati

What a fabulous concert ! That one ‘malahari’ alone made my evening. Such a free flowing swaras, amazing control, mesmerizing alapanas..some great support from the fellow musicians on the stage. Very memorable evening.

He is singing in Bengaluru after nearly 3 years and from his side he made the most use of it. The start with the khamas varnam itself was grand. Very moving and emotive. Hamsadhvani kriti was fast and he added some brilliant rounds of kalpana swaras, giving a hint of what is in store for the evening. The violin and percussion set to the style and mood of the main singer with the hamsadhvani piece. Another slow kannada gaula kriti came in soon.

He then moved into an outstanding alapana of Malahari. Slowly begun, immersed in its beauty, paced up with some bhriga-laden phrases to some commendable effect. Srinidhi tried to emulate this with some interesting finger-bow play. He repeated same later for latangi alapana as well. While it had some impact to the alapana , aesthetically it wasn’t very pleasing. Luckily he did not try this during kedaragaula alapana.

Irayimman Thampi’s composition in sanskrit is beautiful. Whoever has set this to tune in malahari has done a phenomenal job. Dileep sang this with much elan bringing tears of joy and since last evening only this kriti is singing in my ears. He continued with another rounds of swaras, in the same tempo , extending the overall feel of the kriti till the end. After he concluded the kriti with a few repetition of ‘kamala nAbha’ , there was a split second of silence before the hall erupted to a thunderous applause. Many wanted to know the name of the composer and the raga.

Without much delay , he launched himself into another exquisite alapana of latAngi. A similar pattern of starting slow and ramping up with  some fast paced ( with each shake of his torso more sangati’s seems to be oozing out of this mouth) phrases, with some nice sojourn to the upper octaves, effortlessly executed. Apart from the ‘scratchy’ attempt to repeat some phrases of the vocalist, Srinidhi played a good latangi alapana. Patnam Subramanya Iyer kriti was to come with some good ,classical neraval and yet another round of impressive swaras in the higher speed.

A quick filler in devamanohari came in before the main. A refreshing choice of kedaragaula, listening after a long time. Another beautiful alapana from the lead singer and an equally impressive reply from the violinist. Srinidhi, in fact, started his alapana taking off at the pallavi and anupallavi phrase of saraguna palimpa  and it indeed was the main kriti of the evening. A long neraval at manmatha janaka was in the traditional mould. There was grand, very long kalpana swaras sung in three phases. He seems to be going on and on with one idea after the other. Vadakara Anilkumar, playing for the first time in Bangalore did a brilliant job in percussion. Playing very subdued and to the songs and swaras he shows his mettle with a cracker of a tani avartanam.

Post main list is interesting to look at. One Kannada kriti, a Tamil composition, padam in Malayalam, mangaLam in Telugu and the shLOka in Sanskrit. The shlokam preceded the devarnama in tilang was awesome. Not heard many shlokams in tilang, but it was very well sung. A energy filled eppo varuvaro came in next. I think this composition with all that interesting bhrigas suits Dileep’s style of singing. Alarsara paritapam had to come, starting at ‘jalaja bandhuvumiha’ before the mangalam.

That malahari, still ringing in my ears and the kedaragaula alapana and swaras are enough for a week. I might need to have an antidote for that malahari 🙂