Injikudi Subramaniam @ Pongal Nagaswara Isai Vizha

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai is holding its 24th Pongal Nagaswara Isai Vizha during the past few days

Though a few of our forumites might be attending the concerts no posts have appeared so far. Hence I am opening the topic.

Perhaps the 'star concert' of the series was today (Tuesday 17.01.2012),by Sri. Injikudi Subramaniam with Tavil support of Tirukadaiyur T G Babu and Trichy M S Senthilkumar. I was very happy to see forumites Nageswaran Sir and CRama. There was a good turnout of rasikas (maximum I have seen for Nagaswaram in any sabha.)
It was a very good concert.

I listened to the following items:
1. Mallari-Ganbheeranattai-Khanda Triputa
2. Seethamma maayamma -Vasanta-roopakam -Tyagaraja
3. Rama nannubrovara- Harikambodi-Roopakam-T
4. Baagayanayya- Chandrajyot-aadi-T
5.Shanmukhapriya-RTP
(I had to leave after RTP raga-aalaapana)

The mallari was rendered with all essential, customary components. Vasanta was played in high speed with a few rounds of swaraprastaara. Harikambodi aalaapana was beautiful and was really refreshing as few handled it during the season. The 'pa-dha-nee' prayoga in the aarohana cemented the identity of the scale (without any shades of Kambodi or Khamas).

Shanmukhapriya was dealt in detail and I could hear several prayogas in 'T N Rajaratnam style' with very attractive fingering technique (viraladi as they call it?).

It was a mikeless concert -the tavil vidwans too played with restraint and the programme was quite enjoyable. I invite forumites to comment on the rest of the items rendered by Injikudi as well as other earlier concerts in the series.

Krishna Gana sabha deserves praise for the excellent conduct of the nagaswara vizha.

I however felt that attendance for Nagaswara concerts is far from satisfactory when everybody agrees in one voice that Nagaswara music has been the precursor of raga aalaapana for carnatic vocal music!

However it is a very laudable thing that many youngsters are showing interest in taking up Nagaswaram (&tavil)-many young practioners could be seen among artists as well as the audience.

On Monday (16.1.2012 :3-4 pm)I attended the concert of Sri. Tirurameswaram Kartikeyan & party . An excellent Kharaharapriya (nadachi nadachi) followed by Aabheri (Nagumo)were the major kritis.

[ganeshkant]

I very much wanted to attend this concert but couldn't.Happy to see a review.

On the 31/12/11 and 01/01/12 I was in pApanAsam Nr.ThanjavUr and I visited the Govt.muisc college,ThiruvaiyAru along with Mr.Sreenivasan who is a teaching faculty for nAgaswaram and an excellent vidhwan to see a musical programme by students on the new year day.I was quite happy to see many youngsters in teenage studying there.They are learning with a lot of fervor and I could spot quire a few talents.

[CRama]

It was a very good concert. I had been longing to hear his concert in the DEc seasopn itself. But he would have played in very few places. His elaborate alapana for Harikambodi for 10 minutes and Shanmugapriya for 25 minutes were great treats. In Shanmugapriya he played a pallavi and played very elaborate swaras shared by his co nadaswaram vidwan who also played well. In the ragamalika, he played Sahana and Behag. His behag was very captivating and he played like shehnai which would have satisfied to a certain extent his rasikas who throng to hear hindustani ragams by him. Being a mikeless concert, the volume was very much appropriate. The tavils also did not bang and were much enjoyable. In swaras he liberally employed tisram and khandam. I am longing for a longer concert by him.

Before the concert, Nageswaran Sir introduced me to IS and I was touched by his humility. We had a nice talk about TNR, Karukurichi etc who are his idols.

It is sad that sabhas are not including Nadaswswara concerts in the DEc season festival. I heard that KGS is going to have a Mallari festival sometime next month. IS will be playing in Brahma Gana Sabha on 29 Jan.

[Nick H]

Wanted to go ...a young man's 3rd birthday took priority.

Was amazed at the gentleness with which he played when I say his Dec Raga-sudha-hall concert.

[S.NAGESWARAN]

Dear Rasikas,
I am really thankful to Sri Injikudi Subramaniam for giving permission to share his Nadaswaram concert held on 17.01.2012 at KGS.

The expansive and vistara Raga Alapanas for the Ghana Ragams is well suited for Nadaswaram.

Sri IS had played an enjoyable raga alapana in Harikambhoji and Shanmukapriya and the Pallavi in Shanmukapriya was excellent.

I always enjoy his post ThaniAvarthanams of Sri IS wherein he plays Hindustani Ragas For nearly 30 minutes.

However, he played 4 ragams in the RMK.

His Behag sancharams with lot of Shenoy sancharams were enjoyed by all the Rasikas.

The download links of the concert is given below.

Injikudi Subramanyam KGS 17.01.2012.

1. http://www.mediafire.com/?ie5vnmzg5aw535b

2. http://www.mediafire.com/?8pz8c8xovrbe5ii

3. http://www.mediafire.com/?lwp8z2ugg53k8r6

4. http://www.mediafire.com/?90g8ndq55xtq5e5

5. http://www.mediafire.com/?hgi8nahkopc8r34

6. http://www.mediafire.com/?tka7ofzmjvaqck0

7. http://www.mediafire.com/?tka7ofzmjvaqck0

8. http://www.mediafire.com/?tdfdp3yerd46th6

9. http://www.mediafire.com/?7o62ntdijxgqx0s

10. http://www.mediafire.com/?jbc7o92712ioy6q

11. http://www.mediafire.com/?58e4kd9j3y0iuc6

12. http://www.mediafire.com/?y4cele17gu356av

S.NAGESWARAN.
23.01.2012.

[CRama]

Nageswaran, Thanks a tonne for the care and pains you have taken to record the concert and share with us. It was a wonderful concert.

[gardabha_gana]

#6 and #7 are the same. Guess one of them needs an update

[S.NAGESWARAN]

gardhaba_gana,

Thank you for pointing about the error.

The new download links for 6 and 7 is given below.

06.http://www.mediafire.com/?dyk8a9ducd181jt

07. http://www.mediafire.com/?dbssk392nubbzlj

S.NAGESWARAN.
24.01.2012.

[harimau]

Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai is holding its 24th Pongal Nagaswara Isai Vizha during the past few days

Though a few of our forumites might be attending the concerts no posts have appeared so far. Hence I am opening the topic.

The poseurs (that is the word I intend to use, not "posters", meaning those who post) on this website would wax eloquent about the nagaswaram pidis of some of their favorite vocalists but would not show up at any nagaswaram concert for fear of learning that what they thought of as a nagaswaram pidi wasn't quite up to par.

I missed this concert because of another commitment.

On Jan 14, I went to Hamsadhwani to listen to a nagaswaram-violin duet, with Vyasarpadi Kothandaraman on the nagaswaram (easily the best nagaswaram player today and I will not miss his program if I can help it) and Sriram Parasuram on the violin.

Sriram Parasuram jacked up the volume of the violin so high that he made the nagaswaram sound like an un-mic'ed flute. What a pity!

Easily the best part of that concert was the tani between Patri Sathish Kumar on the mridangam and Thanjavur Govindarajan on the tavil.

As to my nagaswaram concert attendance, I went to the following nagaswaram concerts:

Jan 16 Seshampatti Sivalingam at Krishna Gana Sabha
Jan 15 Tiruppambaram Brothers at Krishna Gana Sabha
Jan 17 Tirukkattuppalli Brothers at T N Rajarathnam Auditorium
Jan 22 Vyasarpadi Kothandaraman providing Mangala Isai at the Music Academy
Jan 23 Vaduvoor Brothers at Jaya-TV Pancharathnam singing
Jan 24 A K C Natarajan at Brahma Gana Sabha on the clarinet.

[arasi]

Harimau,
An impressive attendance list. Do you know how many abhangs you have missed listening to, by doing this?

[harimau]

Harimau,
An impressive attendance list. Do you know how many abhangs you have missed listening to, by doing this?

The song that rates a '10' on a scale of 1-10 in AKC's concert more than made up for all the abhangs I missed!

[arasi]

Let me make a wild guess: nalandAnA?

[thanjavooran]

Is he from the family of Injikudi Pitchaikannu the famous Nadaswara Vidwan?
Thanjavooran 27 01 2012

[harimau]

Let me make a wild guess: nalandAnA?

No.

Bo, some Bo, '10'-star Bo, Derek Bo.

[arasi]

Ah, got it! A good one

And I say, pO pO, some BO! 'Derek' TA (direct-A)pO!
Sambhuvin sannidhiyil unakkenna vElai!

Translation: go, go, Bo! Go mind your own business! Why have you come to a place where Siva's name is chanted?.

[rajeshnat]

Harimau
Nowadays we always see the thavil artists are referred as spl thavil artists , is that spl (special ) mean anything.

[vasanthakokilam]

Arasi: That is quite funny..

[bilahari]

Thank you for the uploads, Sri Nageswaran. Impressive clarity in his playing.

[harimau]

Harimau
Nowadays we always see the thavil artists are referred as spl thavil artists , is that spl (special ) mean anything.

Usually, nagaswaram artists are a 'set', meaning, there is the senior nagaswaram vidwan, a junior one, and two thavil artists, and they invariably perform together.

In the case of "special" thavils, the thavil players who form part of the 'set' are replaced by thavil players who may be more senior or better known and highly respected.

Thus, you have Sri Tiruvalapputhur T A Kaliamurthy advertised as the "special thavil" for Sri A K C Natarajan.

This practice is in prevalence during the Nagaswara Isai Vizha that has been celebrated by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha and Brahma Gana Sabha. The nice thing is that you get to hear someone like Sri T A Kaliamurthy who lives in Mayavaram and does not perform in too many concerts in Chennai.

You also get to hear Haridwaramangam A K Palanivel, Thanjavur T G Govindarajan and other senior thavil vidwans in this fashion.

The interesting thing is that most of the nagaswaram concerts attract a lot of percussion artists who want to hear the tani avarthanam by the thavil artists. Not just other thavil players but also a lot of mridangam players come to listen to, marvel at, and get ideas from these maestros.

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks harimau. I did not know about that aspect of the nagaswaram troupe/band. When I was reading your explanation, I thought of the 'item dance innovation' in films but quickly banished that comparison

I have observed the boys who tag along with the nagaswaram group ( the future players ), practice solkattus ( like what msakellaji does in his videos ) whenever they have like 15 minutes of break in playing. In one wedding, I needed to move the nadaswaram set by 10 feet because we needed to put more chairs and I had to wait till these boys are done since they were doing the 'tha ka tha ki ta...' thing during that break.

[Nick H]

Wonderful: I have been wondering about "spl Thavil" for years!