Smt.Bombay Jayasree, Kalasagaram, Hyderabad.

[Aditto]

Smt.Bombay Jayasri - Vocal
Sri.Embar Kannan - Violin
Sri.Guruprasad - Kanjira
Sri.Venkata Ramana Murthy - Mridangam

Bombay Jayasree was awarded the Sangeeta Kalasagara as part of 48th anniversary Celebrations of Kalasagaram. She said "It is all because of the great guru's blessings and the wishes of the rasikas that I am getting this award (all other awards) for the little thing I am doing to music." She mentioned that music is kind of a disciple. Music starts as Mental Discipline and Physical Discipline and becomes a Spiritual Discipline where in one surrenders to the Notes !! The speech was beautiful and I tried my best to give the gist.

The concert started at around 7.30 PM after many speeches with few words and went till 9.55 PM. Before starting the concert, she said that the receiving of award is not complete without mentioning the accompanists without which she would not be able to sing even a single note.

List of songs:
1. Vatapi - Hamsadwani - Muttuswamy Deekshitar
2. Orajupu - Kannada Gowla - Tyagaraja (RS, S)
3. Chutamurare - Arabhi - Tyagaraja (R,N,S)
4. Ka Va Va - Varali - Papanasam Sivan
5. Bhajarere Chitta - Kalyani - Muttuswamy Deekshitar ( R, S)
6. RTP - Kapi - Parama Purusha Sree Rama, Seeta Manohara. Ragamalika Swarams in Amrutavarshini, ?, ? followed by Tani.
7. O Raghuveera - ? - Bhadrachala Ramadas
8. Bhavayami Gopala Baalam - Yamuna Kalyani - Annamacharya.
9. Thillana - ? - Lalgudi
10. Nee Naama Rupamulaku - Sowrastram - Tyagaraja

Being a laya dumb, I cannot give the technical details of the talam to which the pallavi was set. Also, I could identify only Amrutavarshini in the ragamalika section. Revanth, who attended the concert will give detailed review.

Observations:
1. Mispronunciation in Vatapi. She sang Viswa Kaaranam Vighna Varanam as Vighna Kaaranam Viswa Varanam or something to that effect.
2. Mispronunciation in Chutamurare. She sang Chutaamu Raare Sudalutaara instead of Chutamu Raare Sudatulaara.
3. Kannada Gowla swarakalpana was namesake.
4. No Neraval for Bhajarere Chitta.
5. Kapi Alapana was very short.
6. Could not understand a word in O Raghuveera except the pallavi line.

Had the concert started @ 7 PM, I wonder if we would have got some thing better.

[hnbhagavan]

If there is a audio recording,what you are saying can be verified.It is difficult to comprehend !

[Aditto]

I did not record the concert !!

[revanthv552]

Ragamalika swarams were in Amruthavarshini, Brindavana Saranga and the last one sounded to me a lot like Nasikabhooshani (Not sure about this! But I definitely know that it is a vivadi raagam)
The Thillana was Lalgudi Jayaraman's Madhuvanthi. It was rendered very beautifully. (I still remember watching this as a kid watching this in MMU. Her rendition of this thillana always appeals to me greatly.)
Juthamurare had the neraval at "Seethapathi Pujyudata"
The Raga for "O Raghuvara" was Des.
The Pallavi was set to simple Adi Talam from my observation.

Coming to my thoughts about the concert, I do agree with Aditto's thoughts about sahityam. There were multiple places where the lyrics were unclear or mispronounced. However, I personally enjoyed the Arabhi and Kapi. Embar Kannan's violin was mind blowing. I always liked his style of playing the violin and I was totally satisfied listening to him after a long time. Particularly during the Kapi, I remember audience breaking into a thunderous applause twice as the violin was being played. Remembering the last concert of hers which I attended, (the Andolika and Chandrakauns RTP still has a special place in my heart. I can never forget the ease with which she traversed from one raga to another!) this concert was slightly not fully bright! (for the lack of a right word. I completely understand that artist's do have their days and I am not complaining)

And yes, her speech was beautiful! I remember writing down parts of what she said for the power with which it appealed to me. Her humility, her simplicity and her honest treatment of music definitely appeals to me. Always.

[Aditto]

Thanks Revanth for filling in. Yeah, I might not have sounded all positive about the concert. Not a fulfilling concert. I wish she comes to Hyderabad soon and gives a concert like the ones in Bay Area

[sivakami]

Good to see that we have another member Aditto from our forum to write about the happenings here in the twin cities, hyd-sec'bad..

@Aditto,
all your observations are quite possible... There have been many-many such instances of performances by several artistes.
If one wishes to listen proper diction etc. as well, then one has to satisfy oneself with a handful of manavALLu concerts (such as the ones we had yesterday by the Vishnubhatla duo in the same venue..)
Attend the one on friday, by the Hyd Brothers...
I was trying to identify you there; sent you one mail also...

I just returned after todays concert by Sri. Aravind Bhargav which was a befitting tribute to his guru, the Mandolin Maestro..

[Lakshman]

Tha Bhadrachalam Ramdas song is O raghuvira yani nE pilacina.

[arasi]

Sivakami and Revanth,
Thank you for posting and Aditto too, for the review. In your part of the world, CM concerts don't happen that much. Yet, Sivakami, your group (of women) take the trouble to organize a yearly series of concerts.
Revanth's enthusiasm made him attend concerts and write about them even with the exams looming large!
Well, even lesser live music where you are now, but I'm sure you like your work...

[revanthv552]

one has to satisfy oneself with a handful of manavALLu concerts (such as the ones we had yesterday by the Vishnubhatla duo in the same venue..)

Dear Sivakami, I am glad you attended the concerts of Vishnubhatla sisters. Would love to know what they sang. I happened to watch them quite a few times on TV and I must say I was quite impressed.

On the other hand, while manavALLu are adhering to the right emphasis and focus on sahitya, I notice many musicians who are not fully aware of Telugu are taking special care with the pronunciation these days. (Take Gayathri Girish for example, her pronunciation is flawless. So is it with Ranjani Gayatri, Sanjay Subramahmanyam and the list is long). I say all this strictly from my observation and the few concerts I attend/listen about. I feel a lot more satisfied with the selection, enunciation and presentation of krithis! They are taking special care to include songs of Annamacharya and Bhadrachalam Ramadasu for the Hyderabad rasikas. May be a few concerts here and there may not be as bright and entertaining as the others. (I still remember the same musician giving a fantastic concert back then in 2011)

I am very impressed and eager to notice the evolution of the music scene in Hyderabad. Hoping to hear about the Sharada Cultural Trust concerts which are going to happen in two months. They always, always have interesting concerts!

[hameerk]

If there is a audio recording,what you are saying can be verified.It is difficult to comprehend !

Having attended the concert I fully concur with what Aditto said. There were several people who were not impressed with this concert to say the least.And the telugu mis-pronunciations are quite glaring specially in the Arabhi Keerthana. To me it looked like her mind was not in the concert. On the other hand Embar Kannan and V V Ramanamurthy were phenomenal. BJ to me is no Sanjay or Malladi Bros in terms of consistency , it is always hit or miss with her.

[harimau]

If there is a audio recording,what you are saying can be verified.It is difficult to comprehend !

Having attended the concert I fully concur with what Aditto said. There were several people who were not impressed with this concert to say the least.And the telugu mis-pronunciations are quite glaring specially in the Arabhi Keerthana. To me it looked like her mind was not in the concert. On the other hand Embar Kannan and V V Ramanamurthy were phenomenal. BJ to me is no Sanjay or Malladi Bros in terms of consistency , it is always hit or miss with her.

I guess the lyrics were clearly enunciated on the violin and the mridangam.

As Tiger Varadachariar is reported to have told the Telugu speakers, "You can keep the sahithyam, we will keep the sangeetham.

Aren't you all the guys who think the colloquial Telugu used by Sri Thyagaraja is inferior to Annamayya's?

[Aditto]

Aren't you all the guys who think the colloquial Telugu used by Sri Thyagaraja is inferior to Annamayya's?

Oh, great to see a person who has surveyed all the telugu speaking people and took a vote on the telugu of Tyagaraja and Annamayya !!

Stereotyping has become a major fashion these days !!

As for what Tiger said, yes, sangeetam is there because of you only !! But, just because you keep sangeetam, you cannot eschew it

It is like all the performers singing abhangs and you (as in harimau and not all) cannot attend any concert

[harimau]

Aren't you all the guys who think the colloquial Telugu used by Sri Thyagaraja is inferior to Annamayya's?

Oh, great to see a person who has surveyed all the telugu speaking people and took a vote on the telugu of Tyagaraja and Annamayya !!

Stereotyping has become a major fashion these days !!

As for what Tiger said, yes, sangeetam is there because of you only !! But, just because you keep sangeetam, you cannot eschew it

It is like all the performers singing abhangs and you (as in harimau and not all) cannot attend any concert

Here is some stereotyping for you: There are 2000 resumes circulating in the US for senior leadership positions in the software industry....all by Telugu-speaking fellows and the resume is that of Sathya Nadella!

As to stereotyping, the largest number of visa-fraud cases reported by the US Consulate in Chennai is against Telugu-speaking people.

Thank you for letting me vent.

[kvchellappa]

The original Tiger had music. Pseudo-tigers may not have. I do not think we should make this forum one for whipping up provincial or sectarian conflicts. I feel we need to avoid it by consensus or sometimes compulsion. There are so many beautiful posts on music. Let us not dilute it.

[Rsachi]

I have to say that what Harimau has reported here about visa fraud has been heard by me also from someone running HR in the Silicon Valley. It seems there is a nexus (of incidentally Telugu-apeakers) who "sell" impressive experience certificates to under-qualified software techies (coincidentally same tongue) and therefore many employers are wary of hiring such staff.

[Aditto]

Let me make one thing clear. Music is not mere music to me. It is a way in which I worship God. I did not say that Arabhi was okay, Kapi was just okay or something because I did not learn music at all. I do not have any right to complain on the quality of music when I cannot sing a song.

We are talking about what the composer wrote and how it is not delivered properly. I did not even talk about the situation where the words were broken to fit the tala. The words were all together wrong. What is Sudalutaara? Had it been Suddalu Tera, i would have told myself that Tyagaraja is giving a call for all the women to draw kolams by bringing chalk !!

It is like mispronouncing one's name and saying it is a proper noun ! Or like a Veda Pundit reciting the Veda all wrong.

Be it telugu or any other language, what the composer wrote has to be presented. If the performer takes enough care not to break the words for laya sake, well and good. If not, atleast, sing them properly.

Regarding the quote of what is spoken about Tyagaraja's telugu and Annamayya's telugu !! The person who did it might have got a Ph.D but what is the whole point? Colloquial Telugu will not stay as is for 300to 400 years. It is bound to change. Had it been Sanskrit of Annamayya and Tyagaraja, it would have made some sense atleast (to me) !! Things which we saw 10 years back are not the same now.

If the composer is to go for a toss for the sake of music, sing an elaborate raga, tanam and swarakalpana. Let the lyrics be about upma or vegetable vendor. I am not quoting Tiger's RTP to make an indirect point. I really mean it !!

Please respect what the composer wrote ! That's it. After all, are those not the thoughts of what Tyagaraja or Sivan or Bharati or Deekshitar or Syama Sastry or Purandara Dasa felt at that moment !!

And about visa and fake resumes, though I work in IT, I am least bothered about all that stuff and I cannot comment on that.

I have got so much of music to listen to and so much of compositions to learn ( as in see the lyrics and see what it means to me and how I can develop myself).

[kvchellappa]

Many frontline singers have said that music rather than words or meaning is important to them. Not that they want to mangle the words, they do not pay that much attention to the letters as to the swaras. When I listen to any Telugu krithi and I enjoy the music, I would not know whether it is correctly pronounced or not. Not knowing the language is perhaps a boon to enjoy music! One may argue that the singer must take care; many do not. There is the added problem that Telugu follows Devanagari alphabet whereas Tamizh does not. It has been my longstanding complaint that a majority of non-Tamizh (and quite a few Tamizh) people cannot pronounce Tamizh!

[Aditto]

Is it? Okay !! Its just that I feel the composer's thoughts which are put in words are lost in neraval, swara and in bringing the contours of the raga. May be because, I do not know music and have some knowledge on telugu, I concentrated on it much. Keeping in view of what you said, I will from now on keep those language stuff with me and give the list of songs if I attened a concert at Hyderabad !!

[Rsachi]

Aditto says something that makes a whole lot of sense to me. Words, whenever spoken or sung, have to be true to the composer's original, as it has been handed down. Period.

[pattamaa]

both sahityam and sangeetham are like two eyes, both are equally important... it is unfortunate that some of the singers (leave alone popular), are not concentrating enough...

[munirao2001]

Kruthi is of Vaggeyakara, who creates rasanubhuti using Sahithya-akshara/word sanchari/movement aesthetic; Sangeeta-svara/note sanchari/ movement
aesthetic. Karnataka Sangeeta is a fine art of Sahithya bhavam and Raga bhavam, in unity. Performer's primacy is for raga bhavam over sahithya bhavam to create rasa and its anubhavam/experience. Apa Sabhda is equally defective as Apa Sruti and exhibits performer's deficiency.
Light and film music composers do not permit apa sabhda and special care is taken.
To the question of sahithya bhavam in instrumental music, great maestros have explained that sahithya bhavam demands higher instrumental technique and also enables apt or higher imagination and creativity.

munirao2001

[revanthv552]

Not knowing the language is perhaps a boon to enjoy music! !

Though I respect your opinion and understand that you have experiences which make you say that, I am someone who may not agree with what you said. There are a few of us who believe that knowing the meaning of what is being sung enhances the experience of music. I am someone who tried and learnt Tamizh to understand the beauty of the compositions by wonderful composers like Papanasam Sivan and Ambujam Krishna. Sometimes I listen to the songs and I wonder what made the composer write those beautiful lines and set it to such magical tunes! I try to connect a lot with the emotions of the composer. That joy is inexplicable for me. However, this does not mean that I do not enjoy instrumental music! But when I listening to someone singing, the sahitya and bhava would add to my enjoyment.

Chakravakam is a beautiful raga. But the bhava of the lines when Ambujam Krishna wrote "perugum kaNNIrAl aghattazhukkaghaTri pemmAn unakkangOr tirukkOvil kaTTi" is absolutely beautiful too, isn't it?

Sahitya may not be important to a few, but it enhances the listening experience to a few others.

[VK RAMAN]

analysing, critiquing, looking for mispronouciation, and various other features takes away the concentration and ability to enjoy the mellifluous rendition IMHO

[rshankar]

Revanth and Aditto - very true sentiments - I am sure there are many who don't know or care if baNTu rIti koluvIyavayya rAmA is sung as paNDu rIdi koluvIyavayya rAmA, as long as the tune is intact - but I am certain that the Saint had no intention of asking rAmA to treat him like a fruit (suTTa pazhamA or suDAda pazhamA will be the next question, I presume?)! There are many more such examples...but hey...to each his own...For myself, somehow mispronunciations rankle even in the midst of otherwise perfect renditions like the proverbial thorns.

[kvchellappa]

Between a person who sings well, but is not that true to the words, and one who is true to the words, but not that true to the music whom would you prefer if you are going to listen to music? It goes without saying that if both are flawless it is all the more enjoyable. I put an exclamation mark about ignorance and enjoyment as I am unfamiliar with emoticons. The singers TMK, SS and Sandeep have gone on record that meaning does not have that high a place in their scheme. I can enjoy their music nevertheless. If I have to learn the meaning of all krithis and then only enjoy, I must not listen to any music as most krithis are in Telugu. (I bought Parthasarathi's book four decades ago and look up now and then, but not that keenly). I am sure a number of listeners may not know the meaning of the songs not in their mother tongue or even in Samskritham. Samskritham words are mispronounced by many singers. Many non-Tamizh singers say Ariya Pulavar (in sabhapathikku) whereas it is ariya pulaiyar. Those who do not know Tamizh may not notice it. I feel music takes the first place in music and other things enhance the music. TMK went to the absurd extent of saying that even the composers did not give that importance to meaning going by the notation which splits the words meaninglessly.

[Aditto]

Chellappa Garu,

I have one thing to say for this "The singers TMK, SS and Sandeep have gone on record that meaning does not have that high a place in their scheme".

You have said in one of the discussions about MD's name (Muttuswamy or Mudduswamy) that you will be offended if someone says Jellappa instead of Chellappa !

I have not quoted the above thing out of disrespect, but, music when rendered with all the technicality with proper words is perfect.

And coming to me or you or anybody enjoying music without the knowledge language is quite possible, but, the knowledge of language and the composer's thoughts just add a whole different level to the music.

Instead of discussing what singers thought/think about words and music, the breaking and the baking, let us hope that one day down the line, singers sing with equal emphasis on all aspects of music.

Music is not a mere feat about displaying one's intelligence, it is Nadaposana. Any kind of mistake, be it in the lyrics or pronunciation or raga or tala is not a proper way of doing the upasana. It is like cracking a coconut before God and seeing it damaged.

After all, people sing pallavi, anupallavi and one charanam (amongst many charanams in a composition). Let us hope that one day, things happen as they ought to happen.

Let us stop discussing here and if anyone wants to talk about the sahityam and its current position in today's music and yesterday's music, let us create a new topic or merge with any existing topic if any !!

Regards,
Aditya.

[sivakami]

@aditto,

but, the knowledge of language and the composer's thoughts just add a whole different level to the music

Yes, absolutely true!!
like rshankar says,

somehow mispronunciations rankle even in the midst of otherwise perfect renditions like the proverbial thorns

Exactly!
This is my problem too....