Season Concerts 1

Roundup of Early Season Concerts

BVB 8/12/2007

K Gayatri
L Ramakrishnan (Violin)
Arjun Ganesh (Mrudangam)

Era Napai – Thodi Varnam – Adi
Sree Mahaganapathi – Attana – Adi (S) - ??
Karunajoodavamma – Varali – Misra Chapu – Syama Sastri (RNS)
Kripajuchutakuvelara – Chayatarangini – Adi – Thyagaraja
Sathatham – Kharaharapriya - Adi (RNST) - Swathi Thirunal

Ranjani & Gayathri
HN Bhaskar (Violin)
Arun Prakash (Mrudangam)
S Karthick (Ghatam)

Brihandambika – Vasantha – Misra Chapu – Deekshitar (S)
Kanugonu – Nayaki – Rupakam – Thyagaraja
Kanthachoojumi – Vachaspathi – Adi – Thyagaraja
Thyagaraja Yoga Vaibhavam – Ananda Bhairavi – Rupakam – Deekshitar
Ninnada – Kannada – Adi – Thyagaraja
Enneramum – Thodi – Adi – Marimutha Pillai

Thanks to the superstar sisters scheduled to grace the stage after her concert, K Gayatri found herself singing to a full house. The crowds may not have come to listen to her but her music deserved all those ears and hands and some more. The opener in Thodi revealed a strong voice that was in solid control even in the second speed. Both the alaapanas were well handled, with her adventurous streak especially evident in the Kharaharapriya essay - this also led to the occasional slip as when a desired landing on the panchamam after some tara sthayi phrases overshot the runway. The rendition of the krithi was also an ordinary patch for the 3 artistes, all of whom had played their exceptionally well until then: Arjun Ganesh seemed somewhat insensitive to the structure of the krithi while Ramakrishnan appeared to be groping in the dark. Both however made up in the swara and tani avarthanam sections respectively. Gayathri is one of the juniors well on her way to prime-time, as I suspect are her accompanists yesterday

Ranjani and Gayatri began brightly with a brisk krithi in Vasantha, sauteed with some quick swaras. The young woman on the tanpura nodded repeatedly, as if to convey the appreciation of her instrument - the sisters' enunciation is almost perfect leaving nary a blotch on the critic's book...The alaapana in Vachaspati continued the good work and while Thyagaraja Yoga Vaibhavam had a little more helium than appropriate, the mellifluous swirl of the resultant balloon was not without its charms. Kannada was yet another example of dazzling speeds handled with impeccable diction and absolute tonal fidelity but was should have been the launching point for the summit assualt turned out to be a gentle slope earthwards - the main piece needed more time and while I have nothing against abhangs one wondered about the advisability of setting apart 45 minutes for tukkadas in a 2 hour concert. The megh/megh malhar(??) was enchanting enough (prompting me to remark that the siblings would do well to make formal forays into HM - this is meant as a genuine compliment and is not to be construed as sarcasm) but the truncated Thodi and tani left one with a saccharine aftertaste where there should have been the full bodied headiness of draksha-rasa...

The violinist's Thodi was brilliant and Arun Prakash bamboozled the hands with his trademark brand of mathematical witchcraft which his partner on the Ghatam, the freshly minted Doctor, resonantly reproduced. Doubly disheartening then, to see such extraordinary skill being wasted on a dhinchak jhaptal that is more the bailiwick of the street drummer...The audience response was expectedly disproportionate with the tail-pieces fetching the maximum applause.

Nungambakkam Cultural Academy 9/12/2007 – 7 PM

Neyveli Santhanagopalan
Sriranjani Santhanagopalan (Support)
Pakkala Ramadas (Violin)
Thiruvarur Bhakthavatsalam (Mrudangam)
BS Purushottaman (Kanjira)

Karunimpa Idi – Sahana Varnam – Adi – Thiruvottiyur Thyagayya
Ra Ra Ma Intidaka – Asaveri – Adi – Thyagaraja (S)
Mamava Sadha – Nattaikurinji – Rupakam – Swathi Thirunal (NS)
Ka Va Va – Varali – Adi – Papanasam Sivan (RS)
Annapoorne – Syama – Adi – Deekshitar (NS)
Intha Sowkhya – Kapi – Adi – Thyagaraja (RNST)

The atmosphere at the Karnataka School’s auditorium wasn’t exactly electric – the lighting was gloomy and attendance stats, gloomier still…a lesser artiste would have sulked, a mere professional would have simply got on with the job…but to discover within oneself, the resonances and pulsations that were glaringly absent in the surroundings, is the trait of a rare musical specimen – the Vidyaarthi.

Sunday’s sumptuous smorgasbord featured Kaapi as the main course but before queasy stomachs start churning, let me defer to an abler pen in describing the loftiness of Vidyaarthiji’s effort – “Swararaga Laya Sudha Rasa”, which was also the neraval line.

The artiste’s was joined in his divine communion by a sensitive bunch of accompanists. The young lad on the violin was highly interpretative in his approach and the steaming cascades of Kaapi he received from the vocalist were duly poured back with an added layer of froth. Bhakthavatsalam and Purushottaman were vigilant bean counters, adding measured doses of mishram to the heady brew.

I’d been eyeing the poori-masala at the canteen before the concert started but by the time I got out, they were all sold out…besides, after such a strong dose of Kaapi, the appetite needed no further indulgence.

Brahma Gana Sabha - 10/12/2007

Vijay Siva
Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi (Violin)
Neyveli Narayanan (Mrudangam)

Nadatanumanisham – Chittaranjani – Adi – Thyagaraja
Vidulakumrokkeda – Mayamalavagowla – Adi – Thyagaraja (S)
Sankari Nee – Begada – Rupakam – Syama Shastri (R)
Amba Vani – Keeravani – Adi – HMB – (N)
Nambi Kettavar – Kalyani – Misra Chapu – Purandaradasar (RNS)
Palayamam Bruhadeeshwara – Nayaki – Rupakam – Deekshitar
Kamakshi – Bilahari – Adi – Deekshitar (RNST)
Tukkadas
Mangalam

My stats prof, (one Mr. Rahul Mukherjee who honoured me with grades that were, ahem…at some distance from the comforting cusp of the normal curve) was a devotee of the law of averages and held a grudge against anyone who threatened to violate its sanctity. It used to be Sachin Tendulkar in those days but it could just as easily be Vijay Siva, as far as Carnatic Music is concerned.

I am happy to note that my professor’s bad dream continues. However, one feels a certain restraint which reduces what ought to be a slam dunk to a subtler, but less climactic, lay-up. Perhaps, this is exactly the artiste’s intention and it is the caviling rasika who needs to refine, or worse redefine, his musical values.

The skewed audio balance took some of the sheen out of Thyagaraja’s musical discourse (Nada Tanumanisham) and placed it instead on the mrudangist head – I am not alluding to Shri Neyveli Narayanan’s receding hairline which, admittedly, can claim to have achieved certain reflective effects of its own!

The soundman soon got his act together and the second Thyagaraja song came leaping out of the mrudangist’s shell. Moving on, Vijay Siva’s Kalyani was pure Gangajal from the mouth of Gomukh and while Vijayalakshmi’s concoction was sweeter, it appeared to be flavored with a few drops from the river’s conjoined twin. The geographical analogy was more firmly established by the pieces that followed – the flow of the concert was subjected to gravitational certainties after that point although, like the Ganges meandering through the cow belt, majesty of expression made up, to some extent, for lost vigor.

A brief countercurrent was engineered by Narayanan, who was a bit of a hero that evening, with some deliciously distracting patterns lacing the vocalist’s ideas. Freed from these, he went on to weave a magnificent tapestry of tisram.

Some ebbs and tides in the flow then, but still strong enough “on an average” to sweep away the foolhardy foot that ventures to measure its depth…and send it tumbling in the direction of the mouth. Mr. Mukherjee, you’ve flunked again!