Wednesday, November 1, 2017

2017 Oct - Veena Concert by Nirmala Rajasekar


Veena- Nirmala Rajasekar 

Violin - VVS Murari 

Mridangam - Thanjavur Murugabhoopathy

Kanjira – Dr. S. Ramakrishnan



We had to miss the 2017 Navarathri in South Florida as we celebrated our Shashti Abda Poorthi in India during that time.  So, how is life after 60?  Our good family friend Dr. Shanthi Sundaram told me “A new life starts after 60 and this part of your life is really the most important part”.  Wow, really?  The truth in that statement hit me quite hard.  Till now we built a family, brought up the kids, built a career, took in a lot of stress, music/dance/Tae Kwon Doe lessons for the kids, arangetrams and performances, traveled several million miles, chased growth at the expense of the health etc. – basically the usual stuff everyone goes through.  In spite of all these activities, thankfully, we found some time for religion and spirituality.  But now it is time to clearly refocus my life.  After all, how many more years in this planet?  Clearly, the road traveled is longer than the road ahead in this life.  So, make every step count.  I am thankful to all the Guru’s in my life, in person or virtual, who laid the foundation for my spiritual path and religious path.  Over the years, these Gurus have built an unshakeable faith in Advaita Vedanta and Hindu Religious practices within me.  It will be up to me to fan the spark, grow within and prepare for next life.  I seek the blessings of all those who are further ahead of me in the path and I want to draw inspiration from everyone I meet.  Ok, let us go to the concert.



Veena concert is a rare occasion, especially for those of us living outside of India.  In talking to the artists and other musicians I learned that Thanam has a special place in Veena concerts.  If I may say so, Nirmala played Ragam-Thanam-Krithi in place of Ragam-Thanam-Pallavi in Purvi Kalyani as the main piece.  The Thanam part was elaborate and the percussionists joined in to give us a treat.  Overall, the concert had captivated the audience – where did the stress go.  When a musician connects with the audience you know it is going to be divine.  The artist was able to express the emotions within the song with the instrument which made all the difference.  It had a good mix of melodious songs, fast songs and popular songs.  It was nice to have both Mridangam and Kanjira – the transition between Veena/Mridangam to Violin/Kanjira was seamless and flawless.  There were times they mixed it up as well – nice.  Everyone went away with a smile on their face – great job.  Let us go to song by song.



Sahana varnam/Adi - Beautiful choice of ragam to start the concert. Very captivating rendition. Fingers flying through the instrument at the second speed. With seasoned accompaniments it was a treat



Jaya jaya in Natai/Khanda Chapu – beautifully gliding through the notes. She suddenly picked up the microphone to sing a few lines – it was a pleasant surprise.  Later we found out that she is a seasoned vocalist as well and it clearly showed.  Mridangam and Kanjira fell in sync from the get go. Great to see the musicians enjoying themselves a sure sign of a good concert. Very elaborate swarams with seamless handoffs between veena and violin and correspondingly between mridangam and kanjira. 



Raghuvamsa Sudha in Kadana kuthuhalam/Adi – Veena is probably the best instrument for this song. Made the audience happy with this toe-tapping number - beautifully rendered. 



Rama nee samanam Evaro in Kara Kara Priya/Rupakam – I will be honest here – this is not exactly my favorite ragam.  This ragam and song made a lot of musicians and hard core music lovers very happy.    One of these days I grow enough in appreciating music to develop a taste for this ragam, sorry for now, I muscled through the song.



Meenakshi mamava in Purvi Kalyani/Adi – Very enjoyable alapana with some beautiful phrases. Violin rose to his full height during alapana.  Some parts of the alapana was very meditative and touched many hearts.  Unexpectedly she went to play Thanam and Mridangam/Kanjira joined in.  Very enjoyable interaction between the percussionists.  When she went into the Krithi we were just spellbound.  At many places she sang along with the Veena - great.  Neraval and swarams took us to a different level – no sign of stress. 



Enna thavam seithanai in Kapi/Adi – Effortless playing.  Brought out the emotions of the song. 



The concert ended with an Annamacharya keerthanai in Revathi followed by the ever popular Ragee Thantheera and finally a Thiruppugazh.