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.

Vocal Concert by Arun Mahadevan at IISc

At Choksi hall, IISc organised, by Samskrta Sangha of IISc on 2nd January 2010.
Vocal: Arun Mahadevan
Violin: Satyaprakash K R
Mridangam: Balakrishna

01. varna - valachi - Adi - lAlguDi jayarAman
02. mumuchuvEnirAma - darbAr - rUpaka
03. shrIsatyanArAyaNa - shubhapantuvarALi - rUpaka - dikshitar
04. mOhana AlApa - rArArAjiva lOchana - Adi - mysUru vAsudevAchAr
05. aTukAdarA - manOranjani - Adi -
06. bhairavi - AlApa - lalite shrI- Adi- thyagarAja
07. bEhAg - irakkam - rUpaka
08. jagadoddhArana - kApi - Adi - Purandaradasaru
09. tillAna - mOhanakalyANi
10. mangalam

Review: 

Arun Mahadevan -  a BE student gave a good concert at IISc. He is trained under O S Thyagarajan and T R Subramanian. The concert started with a varnam in valachi. This was follwed by a short AlApa in darbAr and mumuchuvEnirAma. The main item was bhairavi and the sub-main was mOhana. It was nice to hear Mysore Vasudevaachaar's  rArArAjIvalOchana - a krithi rarely heard these days. Yet another rare composition  aDugAna in maNoranjani was rendered with full bhAva. The main piece bharavi was rendered very well with neraval and swarakalpana at teliyani-bAluDa. Sathya on violin and Balakrishna on mridangam provided able support. Sathya's ideas were notable. Balakrishna - a student of ShreemushNam Raja Rao followed up the krithis very well with a good aesthetic sense. At no point of time mridangam sounded noisy. Arun is gifted with a very good voice and his rendering sounds effortless. He has to improve his grip on laya.

Thematic concert on the occassion of Thyagaraja Aradhana at IISc

At Satish Dhawan Auditorium, IISc. Organised, by Praharshini - a students' group of IISc on 5th January 2010.
Vocal: Vid. Manasa Nayana
Violin: Vid. Mattur Shrinidhi
Mridanga: Vid. H S Sudhindra
Ghata: Vid. Phanindra Bhaskar

01. jAnakIramaNa - shuddhasImantini - Adi - thyAgarAja (Swara@raktanaLinadaLa)
02. shrImadAdi thyAgarAja guruvaram - kalyANi - rupaka
03. rItigowLa - AlApa - sadguruswAmiki - Adi - poochi srInivasa iyyengAr
04. sItAmanohara - rAma manohari - Adi - thyAgarAja
04. shankarAbharaNa - AlApa - gurucharaNam bhajarE - Adi - vAlAjapeTe venkataramaNa bhAgavatar (nereval, swara  )
05. mangalam - lAli - kEdaragowLa -khanDachApu - thyAgarAja

Review: 

Praharshini - a students' group of IISc had organized this thematic concert on the occasion of Thyagaraja Aradhana. Vid. Manasa Nayana had chosen the compositions of thyagarAja and compositions on thyagarAja on this occasion. The concert started briskly with jAnakIramaNa. This was elaborated with kalpanAswara  at raktanaLinadaLa. The main item of the concert was shankarAbharaNa. Manasa explored this raga in great detail with AlApa, neraval and kalpanaswara. The sub-main was rIthigowLa. Violinist Mattur Srinidhi gave an apt support on violin. His AlApa and kalpanAswara were classic. Vid. Sudhindra on mridangam followed up the  krithi-s  superbly. Phanindra on Ghatam supported very well. taNi was excellent and an entertaining part of the concert. The vocalist's voice cracked at many places and was not at its best. Too many briga-s and complicated kalpanAswara-s marked the vocalist's performance in this concert.