Father and Son violin Duet: Prof. V.V. Subramanian and V.V.S. Murari
Mridangam: Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam
When true professionals enter the stage and take one look at the audience some sort of a transformation takes place in them. It really does not matter their physical state before entering the stage. This is true for dance, music, acting, sports etc. True professionals will also give their 100% at every performance. Such was the professionalism exhibited by the artists in this concert. These artists had come on a red-eye flight from California with very little sleep even after arrival due to jet lag, time change and weather change. In addition, they were at the tail end of their tour with South Florida concert as their last. They had all the excuses in the world. But each one of them demonstrated a will to make the South Florida concert the best concert of their tour. On behalf of the attendees I would like to tip my hat for your professionalism and extend our heartfelt appreciation for delivering one of the most memorable concerts.
Kudos to the organizers, the size of our audience has grown significantly. We have always been proud of the quality of our audience but now we have the quantity as well. Mrs. Anu Aji, our resident carnatic music expert made it a little easier to update the blog by writing out the commentary for the concert. Thank you, Mrs. Aji.
Mridangam: Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam
When true professionals enter the stage and take one look at the audience some sort of a transformation takes place in them. It really does not matter their physical state before entering the stage. This is true for dance, music, acting, sports etc. True professionals will also give their 100% at every performance. Such was the professionalism exhibited by the artists in this concert. These artists had come on a red-eye flight from California with very little sleep even after arrival due to jet lag, time change and weather change. In addition, they were at the tail end of their tour with South Florida concert as their last. They had all the excuses in the world. But each one of them demonstrated a will to make the South Florida concert the best concert of their tour. On behalf of the attendees I would like to tip my hat for your professionalism and extend our heartfelt appreciation for delivering one of the most memorable concerts.
Kudos to the organizers, the size of our audience has grown significantly. We have always been proud of the quality of our audience but now we have the quantity as well. Mrs. Anu Aji, our resident carnatic music expert made it a little easier to update the blog by writing out the commentary for the concert. Thank you, Mrs. Aji.
by Mrs. Anu Aji
There are good concerts, great concerts and truly memorable ones. The memorable ones are those where one can rave about the individual pieces one heard several years later.
V.V. Subramanian and VVS Murari, Bakthavathsalam concert falls in that last category. I had only heard Prof. VVS only as an accompaniment, most notably with MS, in my younger days. I had not heard VVS Murari at all. So I had no idea what to expect.
The concert started much later than the scheduled time. When it did start without a Varnam, frankly I was a little disappointed. I am a great fan of Varnams and a believer that a Varnam sets the tone for a concert. But soon the disappointment dissipated as I found myself engrossed in the melody that filled the auditorium with a truly time tested, comforting rendition of Vatapi Ganapathim.
The wait time for the artists’ arrival was well worth it. The details of the tribulations the artists faced on their journey to Miami, and the fact the string broke from the violin amid concert didn’t faze them a bit, are more attestations to their greatness.
There was a family atmosphere on the stage and the mutual admiration and respect each one had for the other was self-evident. Most importantly Prof. VVS allowed Mr. Bakthavathsalam, two mini Thaniavartanams (one that followed Shiva Shiva Shiva Enarada and the other that followed Thiruppuzh) and a regular full length one that followed Mari Vere, to showcase his talents, is very noteworthy.
Mr. Bakthavathsalam demonstrated that he is equally adept at a fast paced Thani (after Shiva Shiva Shiva Enarada) as well as a slower one (after Mari Vere).
While they were playing the Anandabhiravi alapana, it seemed as though the artists had extracted the essence of that divine raga (if in doubt, check the name of the raga), and fed a dose of that very pleasant concentrate to the audience.
When they played Khamas I was almost sure that they were going to play Broche Va. While they didn’t play “my song”, they played an equally enthralling piece “Mathey Malaya Dhwaja Pandya Sanjathey”.
Check this link, the same song from the movie “Morning Raga” - http://bizfractals.com/lyrix/mathey-malayadwaja-lyrics-morning-raga.html
So all in all, I left the hall with a sense of gratitude, elation and I’m ready for their next tour.
End of comments from Mrs. Anu Aji
End of comments from Mrs. Anu Aji
Song by song discussion:
Since Mrs. Aji has practically written out the commentary for the concert, I will just leave you with the list of songs for the record. Prof. VVS was apparently against recording songs on CD’s, his son VVS Murari and Sri Bakthavathsalam finally convinced him to record a CD. He even said during the performance “a concert should be in the records not in recordings”. So, here you go Sir, for the record:
Vathapi Ganapathim in Hamsadhawani – masters of yesteryears jumped out of the violin and sang for us
Nada Thanu Manisham in Chitta Ranjani – they make it look so easy
Himadri Suthey Pahimam in Kalyani – superb alapana
Govardhana Gireesham Smarama in Hindolam – Great coordination
Shiva Shiva Enarada in Panthuvarali – energetic
Matha Malayadhwaje in Kamas – Daru varnam, made up for the lack of varnam at start. Daru is pronounced with a short "a" (not like the punjabi word)
Mari Vere in Ananda Bhairavi – Divine
Saisha Mai Thumara Gulaam in Radha Priya – song and ragam composed by Prof. VVS
Sri Ramachandra Kripalu in Ragamalika (mishra Desh, Sindhu Bhairavi, Hamir Kalyani) – meditative
Thiruppugazh in Purvikalyani - devotion
At the end of the concert, Prof. VVS said that for his next tour he will start with South Florida – we will surely take you up on that offer.
See you all at the next concert
