A good concert by Anoop

It has been a long time since I wrote about my concert experiences here. In the last year, my attendance to concerts has seen a recession. Also, in many concerts which I attended, I could not sit for the complete concert. But last Sunday it was different with Anoop's concert which I could listen from beginning  till end. Before writing anything further, I should mention that this was a very good performance by Anoop and party  that motivated me to write about in my blog.

This concert was organised by Chintalapalli Parampara Trust at Rama Mandira, Malleswaram, Bangalore on 18th Sep. 2011.
Vocal: Vid. Anoop Krishnan
Violin : Vid. Vittal Rangan
Mridangam : Vid. Prashant B S 


List:
1. varNa (S) - sAmini tODi - pantuvarALi - Adi -tiruvotriyur tyAgayyar
2. kEdAra (A) - samayamidE (S) - rUpaka -paTnam subramaNya iyer
3. gouri manohari (A) - gurulEka (N,S) - khanDa chhapu - tyAgarAja
4. aTukAradani - manOranjani - tyAgarAja
5. shankarAbharaNa (A) - RTP - sankeerNa triputa
6. taNni

Review:

The concert started with the varNa in pantuvarALi recited in two speeds with a series of well-knit swara's after the chiTTe swara's. Next came a brief AlApa in kEdAra followed by samayamidE which was concluded with a short and sweet swaraprastara. Then an elaborate and creative AlApa in Gowrimanohari by Anoop was followed by Vittal's relatively short and poignant reply. gurulEka eTuvanTi was presented with nereval and swara at tatva bodhana. This was followed by a quick piece - aTukAradani. Poised and creative rAgAlApana and tAna for the main item shankarAbharaNa rendered by Anoop was followed by Vittal's classically rich and beautiful essay. The pallavi - a complicated and challenging one in  sankeerNa triputa with laghu in trishra nadai and dhruta in chaturashra nadai was well rendered with rAga-mAlika-swara's in the rAga's that appeared earlier in this concert. A good taNi by the mridangist followed this to end the concert. mangalam was not heard since another concert was supposed to start immediately. On the whole, Anoop's sining was creative and inspiring with his sweet voice, creativity, bhAva, ability to present outstanding briga's and good diction. Vittal and Prahsanth followed the main artist very well raising the level of the concert, without intruding the main artist ever. The vast temple premises does not have a great acoustics, but if you sit at a selected few places, you can enjoy the concert well.

Some Concerts I enjoyed recently

It is about four months since I wrote here. Though I enjoyed listening to many concerts in this period, it was not possible for me to write about  all these concerts due to my other commitments.  Among these concerts, if I look for the ones that I will remember for a long time, a few that come to mind are: 

1. Vid. K S Gopalakrishnan - Vid. M A Krishnaswamy - Vid. Mannargudi Easwaran - Vid. M A Krishnamurthy at Gayana Samaja on 25th October 2010.

I remember mAyAmAlavagowLa (tulasIdaLa) and the main item madhyamaavati (pAlinchu kAmAkshi) from this concert. Mridangam accompaniment by mannArgudi Easwaran was indeed special to KSG's flute and refuses to fade away from my mind.

2. Vid. K S Gopalakrishnan - Vid. Charulata Ramanujam - Vid. Anoor anantakrishna Sharma - Vid. Shrishaila at the house of Shri. Upadhyaya on 26th October 2010.

I remember swaminAtha paripAlaya..(nATa)  and kAnaDa (shrI narada) from this concert. This was a special experience since it was a house concert and I could sit near the artists. KSG played tukaDa's for about an hour hypnotizing  the audience. Accompanying artists gave able support to KSG.

3. Pandits Rajan Mishra & Sajan Mishra - Pt. Vyasamurthy Katti - Pt. Ravindra Yavagal at Chowdaiah Hall on 14th November 2010. 

They began the concert with Marwa. I do not remember the names of the other raaga's presented. This was a rare opportunity for me to listen to their great voice in a live-concert. With a very good range and melody this performance touched the audience. Pt. Vyasamurthy Katti on Harmonium followed the vocalists very closely. Pt. Ravindra Yavagal also provided able support on Tabla.

Violin concert by Mysore brothers

7th July 2010
ECE Golden Jubilee Hall, IISc. Organised as a part of a conference by IMI, IISc.

Vid. Mysore Nagaraj and Vid. Mysore Manjunath
Vid. Arjun Kumar
Vid. N Amrith

1. Varna - Sarasuda - Saveri - Adi - kOttavAsal venkaTaramaNayyar
2. Harikamboji AlApa - dinamani vamsha - Adi - tyAgarAja
3. Simhendramadhyama AlApa - ninnEnammitinayya - mishra chApu
                                                      - mysUru vAsudevAcharya
    taNi in mishra chApu
4. bahudhAri AlApa - brova bArama - Adi - tyAgarAja
5. enna tavam - kApi - Adi - pApanAsam sivan
6. nIlambarai - mAdhava mAmava - Adi - nArayaNa tIrtHaru
7. tillana - dhanashrI - Adi - swAti tirunal
8. mangalam

It was a good concert; lasted for 1 hr and 40 minutes. Good show by Mysore brothers and the percussion artists. Thanks to the organizers. Fast and scholarly phrases, good swarakalpana's and very good tani (in mishra chApu) were the specialties of the concert. dinamaNi vamsha was a fast piece with swarakalpana at dinamaNi vamsha. Simhendramadhyama was the main item with neraval and swarakalpana at pannagEndrashayana. Percussionists rocked the show with a great taNi and active follow-up of krithi's. On the whole it was a good short concert.

A poignant flute recital by K S Gopalakrishnan at Indiranagar

3rd July 2010
Indira Nagar Sangeet Sabha, Bengaluru

Vid. K S Gopalakrishnan
Vid. Mysore Manjunath
Vid. H S Sudhindra
Vid. Giridhar Udupa

1. sAvEri varNa - sarasuDa - Adi - Kothavaasal Venkatarama Iyer
2. aThAna AlApa - srimahaganapathim - Adi - JayachAmaraaja WoDeyar
3. pUrvikalyANi AlApa - jnAnamosagarAda - rUpaka - thyAgarAja
4. hindOla AlApa - dEva dEvam bhajE - khanDachApu - Annammaachaarya
5. shankarAbharaNa elaborate AlApa - enduku peddala - Adi - thyAgarAja
   tani Avartana in Adi tALa
6. kApi AlApa -  enna tavam - Adi - pApanasam sivan
7. sindhu bhairavi AlApa - tambUri mITidava - Adi - purandara dAsa
8. bhAgyada lakshmi bAramma - madhyamAvati - Adi - purandara dAsa

Review :

A Great Concert this was!, one of the finest concerts I have witnessed. A great teamwork by the musicians on the stage. The whole concert touched the audience. The concert lasted for 3 hours and fifteen minutes and there was not interrupting speech. Thanks to the organizers for giving the audience a grand treat. Each of the items mentioned above started with AlApa. AlApa's  had some expressions from krithi's; for example, in hindOla AlApa, there was a phrase matching sAmajavaragamana. shankarAbharaNa was the main item and   pUrvikalyANi was the sub-main.  KSG's creativity and classicism is outstanding; it is surprising that many people have not heard him. Violin accompaniment by Dr. Manjunath was very good. His accompaniment was marked by smooth bowing, complete support to the main artist, poignant essays and good follow-up of -  krithi's, swaraprastara's and nereval. Vidwan H S Sudhindra and Vidwan Giridhar Udupa played with good anticipation increasing the aesthetic value of the recital. Also, their taNi was excellent. The hall purandara bhavana is a very good hall with a great acoustics. This was a monthly concert of Indira Nagar Sangeet Sabha.

Vidwan Pattabhirama Pandit sings at Ananya

Concert held at Ananya in association with Karnataka Gana Kala Parishad sponsered by Smt. Revathi Krishnan in memory of Shri. S K Ramanuja Iyengar.


Vocal: Vid. Pattabhirama Pandit
Violin : Vid. B Raghuram
Mridangam : Vid. H S Sudhindra
Ghatam : Vid. Shreeshaila

List:
01. varNa - chalamEla -  shankarAbharaNa - Ata - swAti tirunAl mahArAja
02. evaranI - dEvAmritavarshini - Adi - thyAgarAja
03. raghuvara nannu - pantuvarALi - Adi - thyAgarAja
04. mAmavasada - kAnaDa - rUpaka - swAti tirunAl mahArAja
05. rEvagupti AlApa - gOpAlaka pAhimAm - mishra chApu - swAti tirunAl mahArAja
06. annapUrNE - sAma - Adi - dIkshitar
07. bhairavi AlApa - janani mAmava -  mishra chApu - swAti tirunAl mahArAja
08. taNi in mishra chApu
      Speech by Vidwan B K ChandramouLi
09. shlOka - aruNakiraNajAlaihi... - dwijAvanti
10. dhareyoLagiruvudu bahu kaTHiNa - sindhubhairavi - Adi - purandaradasa
11. tillana -dhim tha thom dhiku taka -  dhanashrI - Adi - swAti tirunAl mahArAja(?)
12. mangala - pavamAna


Review: 

The concert started with the beautiful aTa-tALa-varNa in shankarAbharaNa; this was followed by poignant rendering of evaranI. Then came electrifying raghuvara in pantuvarALi.  raghuvara was rendered in fast pace with short nereval and electrifying swarakalpana at manasu nA nIkai. Then came calm and slow paced mAmava sada. AlApa in rEvagpti was soothing. gOpAlaka pAhimAm had swarakalpana at gOpalaka. After this, on request by audience from front row, vocalist rendered annapUrNe vishAlAkshi. It was time for the main item; an elaborate and impressive  AlApa in bharavi by the vocalist  was complimented by a neat essay of bhairavi by Vid. B Raghuram. The main item was janani mAmava with elaborate nereval  and  swarakalpana at anupamita kamalavAse. taNi in mishra chApu by Vid. Sudhindra and Vid. Shrishaila was excellent. Vidwan B K ChandramouLi  thanked the artists. The concert  ended with a tillana in dhanashrI. The concert exposed the talent of Vidwan Pattabhirama Pandit and KVN bani. His specialty in swarakalpana was obvious from his complicated swara-prastAra. Also, his rendering of the krithis with bhAva was impressive.  Vid. Raghuram's essays and his following were notable. Vid. H S Sudhindra played with good anticipation, adding beauty to the rendering. Vid. Shrishaila supported the vocalist and mridangist well. Thanks to the organizers and the sponsors for a good concert.

Excerpts from the book "M.D.RAMANATHAN - meaningful pauses" - 1

From the article by Subramanian Ramakrishnan :-

He desired a highly resourceful and inspiring Guru and finally found the ideal one in Tiger Varadachariar. Ramanathan joined Kalakshetra as the only student for the first batch of Sangita Siromani Course in 1944. Since then he recieved undivided attention and boundless affection from his Guru, Tiger, ....

Tiger's presence inspired his initial concerts at the Music Academy and Mysore Rama Mandiram...

His audience, though not large, was clearly marked by the presence of a highly knowledgeble and inspired set of Music lovers...

Vocal Concert by R K Srikantan and R S Ramakanth

At Jayanagar,  organised by Advaitha Samsthe on 13th June  2010.
Vocal: Vid. R K Srikantan and Vid. R S Ramakanth
Violin: Vid. M A Sundaresan
Mridanga: Vid. Arjun Kumar
Ghata: Vid. Giridhar Udupa

01. varNa - ninnE kOri - kAnaDa-  Adi - tiruveTTiyUr tyAgayya
02. gajAnanayutam - chakravAka - Eka - dIkshitar
03. hamsadhwani AlApa - jayamahishAsuramardini - rUpaka - muttaiah bhAgavatar
04. vandE sadA padmanAbham - navarasakannaDa - Adi - maharaja swathi tirunal
05. dEvagAndhAri AlApa - tulasamma - Adi - tyAgarAja
06. mukhAri AlApa - entani nE varNintu shabari - rUpaka - tyAgarAja
07. taNi in rUpaka tAla
08. koniyaDe - kOkiladhwani-Adi-tyAgarAja
09. kalyANi - varavakoDu enage - khanDa chApu - kanakadAsa
10. tOdi - kangaLidyAtakO kAvEri rangana nODadA - rUpaka - shrIpAdarAya
11. bEhag - maDi maDi maDi endu - Adi - purandara dAsa
12. tillAna - dhIm dhIm dhIm .. - kannaDa - Adi -
13. mangala

Review :

This one was a poignant concert by the nonagenarian legend Dr. R K Srikantan and Prof. R S Ramakanth. With excellent accompaniment by the accompanying artists, the vocalists took the elite  audience to the core of aesthetics. This concert was organized by Shri. Arun Kumar of Advaitha Samsthe and the hall was a very good one with good acoustics. The concert began with nennE kOri - a varNa in kAnaDa, which was followed by gajAnanayutam in chakravAka with swarakalpana at gajAnanayutam. Then came the AlApa in hamsadhwani which had a special flavor, followed by jayamahishAsuramardini, with swarakalpana at jaya... Later, AlApa by Vid. Ramakanth in dEvagAndhAri was very good bringing out the bhAva of this special rAga which was complimented extraordinarily on violin by M A Sundaresan; a rare krithi - tulasamma followed this. The main item was mukhAri (entani nE) which was elaborated with AlApa  and  swarakalpana and nereval at kanulAra sEvinci. taNi in rUpaka was very very good. After taNi, there were dEvaranAma's which were rendered very well each starting with a short AlApa. The concert ended with a tillana in kannaDa. One could notice good diction, bhAva and very good krithi-rendering - some signatures of RKS style. All the krithi's were rendered with full bhAva with full justice to the rAga-bhAva. The accompaniment on violin was just too good. Vid. M A Sundaresan's essays in dEvagAndhAri, mukhAri and  bEhag were outstanding. Vid. Arjun Kumar and Vid. Giridhar Udupa followed up very well to make the concert a grand one.