2012 Sep/Oct Concerts by TVS, OST and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi

Vocal – Sri TV Sankaranarayanan, Violin – Sri VVS Murari, Mridangam – Sri Thiruvaroor Bhakthavatsalam

In my writing career this is certainly a high point to have the privilege of writing about the concert by the well respected TV Sankaranarayanan.  Musical heritage is not a guarantee of talent but in case of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri TVS it is certainly true – Sri TVS is Madurai Mani Iyer’s nephew.  Let us go straight to the concert.

It is certainly one of the best concerts I have listened to in several years.  First let me applaud the sound technicians who did some innovations for this concert.  I don’t know how they got the normally finicky musicians to agree to this significant change.  The monitor speaker was set up behind the artists so they could hear exactly what the audience heard.  The sound was balanced so perfectly it made the entire concert a great treat.  Even the artists mentioned about how great the set up was and they were going to try and use this method in future concerts.  Kudos, great job Arun and Dr. Ramakrishnan!

Vigneshwara Subha in Arabi/Rupakam – great start to the concert in a peppy ragam that set the tone for the entire concert.  Fantastic voice dynamics, Sri TVS owned the stage.  The swaras were borrowed from Pancharathna Krithi initially and then skillfully shifted away.  Just like one can expect in any TVS concert swaras started pouring.  Both violinist and the mridangist made their mark early in the concert.

Subrahmanya Rakshitham in Suddha Dhanyasi/Adi – very energetic song in a popular ragam; several more bushels of swarams;  Bhakthavathsalam on the mridangam knew he had many fans in the audience and did not disappoint them.  He showed tremendous speed and clean strokes to match the gamakams from the singer.  Borderlines on being a little theatric but the audience just loved it.

Ravichandra Budha in Atana – short and sweet

Guruvayoorappa in Chakravaham/Adi – Nice change of pace with alapana; soulful rendition.  Mridangam sound was a bit too loud

Sarasa Samadhana in Kapi Narayani/Adi – evergreen song, fast number and everyone’s favorite popularized by his uncle Madurai Mani Iyer.  Niraval was remarkable going from soft and slow to fast and furious.  Took a small song and elaborated with niravals and swaras showing his mastery over the art

Venkataramana in Lathangi/Rupakam – Elaborate alapana with some tastefully mixed Hindustani phrases.  My father used to say one should show bhakti bhavam even in alapana by blending in words like “hari ….”, “hara …” instead of meaningless “Ta da ri na”.  Sri TVS is one of the few to still follow that age old tradition.  Violin had done a great job till this point but the alapana here was a bit lackluster.  Could have selected a different ragam for the afternoon concert. 

Main Piece – Intha Sowkya Manine in Kapi/double branched Adi – I thought it was rare to hear Kapi as the ragam for the main piece.  Alapana was powerful, he quickly got through the words and got to the swaras.  The swara spigot opened at full speed.  Great rendition.

Thani – had to make a special mention of Sri Bhakthavathsalam Sir’s Thani.  People come with certain expectations of energy, speed and combination of strokes.  He did not disappoint.  Absolute magic, fantastic Thani that made the audience totally engaged.

RTP in Mohanam/Tisra Tiruputai – thanam part was beautifully done, wow, what command over the ragam.  Violinist came to his full height.  The ragamalika section was very entertaining with popular ragams like Hindolam, Shyama, Bhageshwari.

Eppovaruvaro in Jonpuri preceded by a Virutham – gamakams were fantastic

The concert ended with the ever popular Madurai Mani’s Note, a toe tapping number.  The energy was maintained from the beginning to the very end. 

None of us wanted the concert to end that included the artists.  When we all went up to the artists to mention how well they sang and played for us, Sri TVS humbly said it is because you were great rasikas - please come back.

Vocal – Sri OS Thyagarajan, Violin – Ranjani Ramakrishnan, Mridangam – Dr. S. Ramakrishnan

It was a traditional concert with the pentatonic raga medley (5-note ragas) being the highlight of the concert in Hindolam, Mohanam, Suddha Saveri and Hamsa Nadham.  He moved from ragam to ragam without giving a chance for a applause in between.  He also showed a unique capability in displaying Ragam-in-Ragam. – he brought out Suddha Dhanyasi within Kalyani Ragam by doing a Graha Bhedam or Swara Bhedam.  This is a skill that is very difficult to master, only a few will even attempt.  It seemed like the artist was holding himself back.  An open throated singing would have made the concert even more enjoyable.

Here is the write-up for the concert from Prasanna Padmanabhan:

He started off with Dikshitar's Vatapi Ganapathim followed by a small but brisk kalpana swaram. This was followed by Tyagaraja's beautiful Evarani nirNayincirirA in the ragam Devamrithavarshini (or also Nadachintamani in some circles), a very close cousin of Karaharapriya. 

 
The next was Samagana Lolane in Hindolam. Ranjani showed great dexterity on the violin in the aalapanai. OST cleverly exposed the swaraksharam built into the song (Sa Ma Ga...) in the kalpana swaram.

Without any gap, he started Evarura Ninuvina in Mohanam, Korvais were beautiful crafted by Ranjani in the kalpana swaram. Again, without any gap, he started a brisk paced song in Sudhasaveri called Kala Karane Mela Raghave, which also included a fast Kalpana swaram. It felt almost like a singing marathon when he quickly moved on to Bantureethi in Hamsanadham, once again, without any gap, which I felt he could have gone a little slower and taken the time to bring out the depth of the ragam. I also saw that because there wasn't a lot of breathing room between songs, Dr Ramakrishnan was forced to fine tune the mridangam on the fly although he seemed to do it quite seamlessly!

Then there was the main piece in Kalyani - Tyagaraja's Ethavunara. In the elaborate aalapanai, he was demonstrating "swara bedam". The audience was completely wired to Dr Ramakrishnan's tani. 

He entertained the audience's request for Sabapathi (although usually Abhogi is sung earlier in the concert) - it was a nice treat to my ears. Then there was Muruga (Saveri), followed by Pashyati and a Tillana in the ragam Sankarabharanam (sung in tishram). He finished with Nadupai in Madhyamavati starting with the anupallavi first!

Overall I enjoyed the concert. While I felt he could have gone a little slower in some places, it was well rooted in a refreshingly traditional, old-school style and quite authentic which you don't see very often these days. 

 

Violin – Vijayalakshmi, Mridangam – Bangalore Praveen, Tabla – Nitin Mitta

Comments from Bhavani Nirmal – She chose all lively ragas and elevated the mood of the audience. Normally in writing about a dance performance we talk of "Konjum chalangai" I can describe today's concert as "Konjum violin" The melody and her handling of the ragas and swaras are ringing in my ears.  The thani between the mridangam and tabla players was masterful and engaged our attention totally.  I didn't see a single person treating it as a coffee break because we were totally absorbed by the performance. 

Let me add my comments but it may not be as flowery.  Frankly, I had low expectation for this concert.  But Smt. Vijayalakshmi has blown that away with her sheer violin prowess.  But I have a fundamental question about the concert – what is the true reason for adding tabla to the concert?  The violinist did not add Hindustani touches anywhere in the concert which could have brought out the beauty with the tabla accompaniment.  She just powered through with her traditional Carnatic style playing.  Other than creating a balanced appearance on the stage with the violinist in the middle with mridangam and tabla players on either side, in my view the tabla did not add much to the concert.

Varnam in Garudadhwani – a clever choice, with this peppy number she instantly connected with the audience.  She had a very good command over the instrument

Mamalu Sadha in Kanada/Rupakam – very nice, clean rendition in another peppy ragam.  I had difficulty accepting tabla in a Carnatic concert. 

Arul Seyya Vendum in Rasikapriya/Adi – soulful alapana, very nice touches with her gamakams.  Soft mridangam was very enjoyable

Mati Mati in Mohanam/Mishra Chapu – Smt. Viji rose to her full height in the alapana,  Swaras with alternating mridangam and tabla was an enjoyable section of the song.  Derailed a bit in second speed.   Could have tastefully injected some Hindustani Bhupali touches

Amritha Vahini – energetic song with fantastic control of the bow even at top speed

Hechariga Ra Ra in Edukula Kambodhi/Kanda Chapu – another peppy ragam that captivated the audience.  Well executed gamakams and she glided through the swaras

Kamalamba Bhajare in Kalyani/Adi – favorite of many in the audience.  Alapana was very clean.  But in a long song holding the audience was tough.  I am finally getting used to the Tabla – actually enjoyed it. 

Thani – I agree with Bhavani, the Thani was simply amazing.  The back and forth between the two percussion players was done in misra kuraippu – 7-count inside the 8 beat Adi talam.  This allowed the luxury of a gap of one count making the give and take very easy and enjoyable at the same time.  The energy, speed and stroke combinations were brilliant.

Kaliyuga Varadan in Brindavana Saranga/Adi - Nice

Baro Krishnayya – very enjoyable rendition

Akhilandeshwari in Dwijavanthi/Adi – beautifully executed with very nice touches. 

Thillana in Behag/Adi Tisra Nadai – very good audience involvement, well done.