Have you noticed how tall the senior students in Dr. Ramakrishnan’s mridangam class are? It became apparent during the photo-op at the end of the mridangam recital conducted by Dr. Ramakrishnan with all his students. My God – they are all six-footers. Remembering some past students it is the same story. Look at Vivek, Tarun, Vikram, Saheelan, both Tejases, Suhas, Nikhil or Prem all of them six-footers towering over their parents. Branavan, Shreyas and our South Florida darling Nannu have all had growth spurts in the recent years with still a lot of growth left in them. Someone should study this. Forget funding for research on pig odor in Iowa. Let us use the money for a detailed study on the impact of playing mridangam on the growth of Indian boys. We will first talk a bit about recital by Dr. Ramakrishnan’s students and then the concert.
The part of the recital that I enjoyed the most was the performance of the aspiring artists. Even after decades of teaching in South Florida, Dr. Ramakrishnan showed no signs of slowing down. On the contrary, he seemed to be enhancing his teaching methods. One could say that he is “rediscovering” himself as a teacher. The kind of depth shown by these new students is refreshing leaving even the senior students awestruck – “wait a minute, I never learned that”. These new students came in all ages – but hey, for the mature ones, if you are looking to become a six-footer better luck next life. These beginner class students were very enthusiastic in showing their mastery over the fundamentals of the thalams they were demonstrating both in “konnakkol” format and playing. “Konnakkol” as most of you know if the art of vocalizing the codified forms of mridangam sounds. I look forward to the days when South Florida community will have mridangam performances coming out of its ears within a few short years. Great job, all of you! Keep up the good work and practice.
The senior students’ performances were really unique – a Thillana mala. It is a garland of Thillanas put together in refreshing ragams and thalams. Songs were rendered very nicely by our very own Sri Madhu Chandrasekaran. Madhu’s confidence in performing is growing day by day – nice job. Our local violin maestro Sri Sanjay Chandran gave a pleasing performance. Most importantly, playing to the caliber of Madhu and Sanjay is very motivating for these senior level students some of whom are ready to carry an entire concert. Below are the links on you-tube, thanks to Mr. Prabhakar Ramalingam.
The part of the recital that I enjoyed the most was the performance of the aspiring artists. Even after decades of teaching in South Florida, Dr. Ramakrishnan showed no signs of slowing down. On the contrary, he seemed to be enhancing his teaching methods. One could say that he is “rediscovering” himself as a teacher. The kind of depth shown by these new students is refreshing leaving even the senior students awestruck – “wait a minute, I never learned that”. These new students came in all ages – but hey, for the mature ones, if you are looking to become a six-footer better luck next life. These beginner class students were very enthusiastic in showing their mastery over the fundamentals of the thalams they were demonstrating both in “konnakkol” format and playing. “Konnakkol” as most of you know if the art of vocalizing the codified forms of mridangam sounds. I look forward to the days when South Florida community will have mridangam performances coming out of its ears within a few short years. Great job, all of you! Keep up the good work and practice.
The senior students’ performances were really unique – a Thillana mala. It is a garland of Thillanas put together in refreshing ragams and thalams. Songs were rendered very nicely by our very own Sri Madhu Chandrasekaran. Madhu’s confidence in performing is growing day by day – nice job. Our local violin maestro Sri Sanjay Chandran gave a pleasing performance. Most importantly, playing to the caliber of Madhu and Sanjay is very motivating for these senior level students some of whom are ready to carry an entire concert. Below are the links on you-tube, thanks to Mr. Prabhakar Ramalingam.
Sharada Ramakrishnan deserves a special mention as a lone female student among a sea of six-footers and wannabe six-footers. Bucking the trend, Sharada is growing in this artform. Great job, keep it up. I hope more and more young girls are inspired to join and learn the art.
Preview - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deFPhcFXYm0
Tejas Ramalingam - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa1ztGafXFo
Tejas Ramalingam - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DRSdYpg01M
Shreyas1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoB8vb76eq0
Shreyas2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoB8vb76eq0
Prem1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zdhTtS7Wcw
Prem2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pj92xAwiUc
Sharada - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag6m6as9xC4
Branavan1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyBbNU1UUdM
Branavan2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIiDDJHu-1g
Tejus Rao - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7KHtizc9v4
Tejus Rao - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-fXKVYKNtQ
Alright, let us discuss the concert.
Vocal - Sri Neyveli Santhana Gopalan
Violin – Sri S.D. Sridhar
Mridangam – Thanjavore Murugabhoopathy
Sri Santhana Gopalan’s bhakthi bhavam, demonstration of his devotion, was pouring throughout the concert. His devotion to the art form and religion was unquestionable. But overall, the concert was a “struggle”. The singer was trying to find his voice. The violinist was trying too hard – not sure if it was the microphone setting or the violin. The mridangist was struggling to find his timing and inspire the other artists. The audience was finding it a struggle as well. There is no question on the talent and training of the artists but today they failed to gel. Certainly there were moments of glory one would come to expect from the professional artists of this caliber. Let us go to song-by-song discussion.
Kanada Varnam in Ata thalam – warm up song, nothing spectacular.
Vatapi Ganapathim in Hamsadhwani – Bland. Singer’s voice sounded a bit nasal but picked up some momentum during the kalpana swarams. Struggle to find the voice begins. Mridangam was also struggling to keep pace and be inspirational
Ora Jupu in Kannada Gowla – is the orchestra coming together, may be? The singer was very comfortable with the song and he completely enjoyed the sahithyam (lyrics). Very nice show of bhavams.
Sada Enna Hridayadalli in Panthuvarali and Rupaka thalam – Singer was getting into the zone and the mridangam joined in nicely. Niravals were innovative. Violinist was having trouble keeping pace.
Ramanukku Mannan Mudi in Hindolam and Adi thalam – Violin was sub-par with several extra noises coming from the strings. Singer was really comfortable with this song. Niraval seemed to be his strong suit. He sang this so elaborately, we all thought it was the main piece.
Signature raga malika song – Good blend of many jana ranjaka (crowd pleasing) ragas – Arabhi, Ananda Bhairavi, Kalyani, Hamsadhwani, Saranga, Mohanam, Lalitha, Darbar. Same problems with the violin. Need to spend more time testing the environment.
Sanka Chakra, Deekshitar Krithi in Todi – This was the main piece. The singer’s delivery of the alapana was a bit distracting. The alapana phrases were too short with a lot of pauses. The interaction between artists is always a good thing but it could have been subtle. I found the experience very distracting. A continuous flow of ragam would have immersed the audience in the ragam. By this time, many members of the audience got a bit testy. Again, niravals ruled. Good patches of kalpana swarams and the thani avardhanam was good.
Thamboori Meeti Dawa – all time favorite, folksy number – a toe tapper.
Venkatachala Nilayam in Sindhu Bhairavi – I may be a bit biased, but I happened to like this ragam better when sung in Hindustani style. They take it to higher octaves and the Carnatic singers tend to be subdued. Nevertheless, nice delivery – best song of the concert
Meera Bhajan, Hari Guna in Yamuna Kalyani – Very nice and clean delivery. This was followed by a Thiruppugazh and concert ended with a Mangalam. Would have been wonderful if the concert just started instead of just ending.
I have missed the next two concerts and I hope someone else would do a write up for them.
Alright, let us discuss the concert.
Vocal - Sri Neyveli Santhana Gopalan
Violin – Sri S.D. Sridhar
Mridangam – Thanjavore Murugabhoopathy
Sri Santhana Gopalan’s bhakthi bhavam, demonstration of his devotion, was pouring throughout the concert. His devotion to the art form and religion was unquestionable. But overall, the concert was a “struggle”. The singer was trying to find his voice. The violinist was trying too hard – not sure if it was the microphone setting or the violin. The mridangist was struggling to find his timing and inspire the other artists. The audience was finding it a struggle as well. There is no question on the talent and training of the artists but today they failed to gel. Certainly there were moments of glory one would come to expect from the professional artists of this caliber. Let us go to song-by-song discussion.
Kanada Varnam in Ata thalam – warm up song, nothing spectacular.
Vatapi Ganapathim in Hamsadhwani – Bland. Singer’s voice sounded a bit nasal but picked up some momentum during the kalpana swarams. Struggle to find the voice begins. Mridangam was also struggling to keep pace and be inspirational
Ora Jupu in Kannada Gowla – is the orchestra coming together, may be? The singer was very comfortable with the song and he completely enjoyed the sahithyam (lyrics). Very nice show of bhavams.
Sada Enna Hridayadalli in Panthuvarali and Rupaka thalam – Singer was getting into the zone and the mridangam joined in nicely. Niravals were innovative. Violinist was having trouble keeping pace.
Ramanukku Mannan Mudi in Hindolam and Adi thalam – Violin was sub-par with several extra noises coming from the strings. Singer was really comfortable with this song. Niraval seemed to be his strong suit. He sang this so elaborately, we all thought it was the main piece.
Signature raga malika song – Good blend of many jana ranjaka (crowd pleasing) ragas – Arabhi, Ananda Bhairavi, Kalyani, Hamsadhwani, Saranga, Mohanam, Lalitha, Darbar. Same problems with the violin. Need to spend more time testing the environment.
Sanka Chakra, Deekshitar Krithi in Todi – This was the main piece. The singer’s delivery of the alapana was a bit distracting. The alapana phrases were too short with a lot of pauses. The interaction between artists is always a good thing but it could have been subtle. I found the experience very distracting. A continuous flow of ragam would have immersed the audience in the ragam. By this time, many members of the audience got a bit testy. Again, niravals ruled. Good patches of kalpana swarams and the thani avardhanam was good.
Thamboori Meeti Dawa – all time favorite, folksy number – a toe tapper.
Venkatachala Nilayam in Sindhu Bhairavi – I may be a bit biased, but I happened to like this ragam better when sung in Hindustani style. They take it to higher octaves and the Carnatic singers tend to be subdued. Nevertheless, nice delivery – best song of the concert
Meera Bhajan, Hari Guna in Yamuna Kalyani – Very nice and clean delivery. This was followed by a Thiruppugazh and concert ended with a Mangalam. Would have been wonderful if the concert just started instead of just ending.
I have missed the next two concerts and I hope someone else would do a write up for them.
