shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Review the latest concerts you have listened to.
Post Reply
pattamaa
Posts: 749
Joined: 22 Nov 2009, 10:24

shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by pattamaa »

Date : 30 Apr 2017, 6pm to 9pm
Venue: Arkay Convention center
Thematic veena concert by Jeyaraj and Jayashree for veenavadhini trust on dikshitar birthday celebrations
narration by rajani

concert started with rare poornapanchamam raga (mayamalavagowlai without nishadam) with a rare sadhu jana chitta.. the keerthana is on advaitha philosophy and not on any specific deity, but classied under subrahmanya since signature guruguha is present. Next athana keerthana vamankha sthitaya was played (Ganapatyam), jeyaraj played brief atana alapana. After this, for kaumaram (muruga), jayashree played udaya ravi chandrika alapana, and then sri guru guha murthe was played. for vaishnavam, sri vidya rajagopalam was choosen, which was preceeded by alapana of jaganmohanam (jalarnavam), which was played very soulfully. for saktham (devi),two keerthanas were played, sri raja rajeswrani in poornachandrika and abhayambika in kedaragowlai... the main keerthana was in shaivam, aptly shankarabharanam, and sadasivam upasmahe.. alapana and thana stood out, there was ragamalika thanam suiting to the theme of advaita, all rare ragas, i haven't heard before, nor can recollect it. after thani avarthanam, suryamurthe in saurastram representing sauram was played. Jeyaraj asked everyone to join them to sing.

rajani's narration was very apt, she explained about adishankara's preaching related to deity, quoting from relevant verses of slokas, and then how dikshitar imbibed similar principles and composed keerthana. she read out the keerthana with meaning. As usual, Jayashree sang the lyrics while playing to highlight lyrical value.

Umayalpuram mali supported very well without any intrusion what so ever, and enhanced the concert.

Very memorable concert, i have heard few shanmatham theme concert (MS amma, vijay shiva etc), but this one stands out quite well.

Hope the concert is archived.

pattamaa
Posts: 749
Joined: 22 Nov 2009, 10:24

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by pattamaa »

a write up used by rajani was distributed to everyone after concert as bonus, is a treasure.. thank you J & J

bhakthim dehi
Posts: 539
Joined: 24 Feb 2014, 21:28

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by bhakthim dehi »

1. Sadhu Jana chitha cannot represent a krithi on Lord Muruga. It is purely an advaitic krithi, as said. Pallavi itself reads as 'sakalam brahma mayam'.
Why should they select a krithi like this when we have better krithis on the Lord Subrahmanya, even on the rarer side like 'saurasenesham'?

2. They elaborated Jaganmohanam or Jalarnavam as a prelude to' Sri vidya Rajagopalam?
Both are different, though represent the same mela number 38 in asampoorna and sampoorna mela system respectively.
Noways, Jalarnavam can be an equivalent to Jaganmohanam. The latter has many unique phrases which cannot be seen in Jalarnavam.
If they have rendered an alapana of Jalarnavam before the mentioned krithi, it's a blunder. It means the artists didn't have a basic understanding of these unique ragas.

pattamaa
Posts: 749
Joined: 22 Nov 2009, 10:24

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by pattamaa »

1. There was separate keerthana for kaumaram. The keerthana was selected for advaita only.

2. Jayaraj played jaganmohanam only. I.mention jalarnavam as equivalent mela raga.

Probably you don't know about J and J or haven't heard them. Hence you come out harsh. Please do listen to them.

bhakthim dehi
Posts: 539
Joined: 24 Feb 2014, 21:28

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by bhakthim dehi »

The post was mainly aimed to know what they have rendered. Nothing wrong in questioning to know the fact, be it J&J or SSI or anyone else.
Again I am saying Jalarnavam is not an equivalent to Jaganmohanam. I can't decide now, whether you are not able to find a difference between these two or they have mixed both these ragas.
Kindly, do not take this personally. I want to really know what they have rendered.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by arasi »

Pattamma.
I wish I had been there. I might have picked up a few things from this concert with rAgAs and kritis I haven't heard of before.The other reason is: every time I hear J&J, there is a feeling of serenity and peace which envelops me. Add Rajani's comments--no wonder it was a concert worth attending. Hope to hear at least part of it on the web.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by rshankar »

Sounds like a lovely concert! I'm hoping it was recorded!

Sivaramakrishnan
Posts: 1582
Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

pattamaa wrote: 01 May 2017, 19:46 a write up used by rajani was distributed to everyone after concert as bonus, is a treasure.. thank you J & J
Can it be provided as a link in this thread?

Sachi_R
Posts: 2174
Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by Sachi_R »

Arkay have a tradition of streaming, archiving and sharing the concerts. I request Rajani and Arkay to make available a recording. Obviously, we should listen more to J & J.

pattamaa
Posts: 749
Joined: 22 Nov 2009, 10:24

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by pattamaa »

Sivaramakrishnan wrote: 02 May 2017, 07:35
pattamaa wrote: 01 May 2017, 19:46 a write up used by rajani was distributed to everyone after concert as bonus, is a treasure.. thank you J & J
Can it be provided as a link in this thread?
rajani - can you please upload and share the link ? If needed i can scan and upload. Please let me know.

Rajani
Posts: 1193
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 19:52

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by Rajani »

Thank you Pattamma for the nice review. It was indeed a showcasing of very rare kritis, as a tribute to Dikshitar.

The write-up that explains the Shanmatham and the context of each kriti was given as a handout to those to attended. If you'd like to have a soft copy, please send me a mail and I will mail it to any of you. It is rather long, and so I do not wish to post it here.

Arkay centre does make a recording of the thematic concerts every year. I shall discuss with the artistes about putting up some parts of the concerts.


Sachi_R
Posts: 2174
Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by Sachi_R »

Rajani,
Kindly consider uploading your writeup in Google drive/dropbox/archive.org and sharing a link. That way those who couldn't attend the thematic concert will benefit to some extent.

Rajani
Posts: 1193
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 19:52

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by Rajani »

Sachi Sir, thanks for your suggestions. I really would like to share with interested people, but prefer to do so individually. Please send me a mail through the forum and I shall send you the copy.

Nick - it was really nice to see you at the concert. We would like to hear your thoughts too.

Nick H
Posts: 9379
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by Nick H »

There is an onus on the listener as well as the performer. One has to put other aspects of life aside, and, at the very least, open one's doors to the music. It doesn't always happen, or I don't always succeed.

As it happens, I went to this program in a foul mood (and I don't mean thinking about hens! I just corrected the spelling :oops:) and a bad temper.
arasi wrote: 02 May 2017, 04:52 The other reason is: every time I hear J&J, there is a feeling of serenity and peace which envelops me.
Yes! Due to my own fault, it took until the main for me to cast off the black state and really enjoy the concert. This was a terrible waste of good music rarely heard, for they do not perform very often over the year.

I wish they did! Their sound is wonderful, with a very smooth, rather than percussive-pluck, feeling. One of the speakers, probably Ramnarayanan, mentioned how he sometimes felt that he was listening to vocal music. I can see what he meant.

I can understand that some people prefer uninterrupted music, but Rajani does her narration extremely well: she keeps it to the point and does not take much of the time. Even for a non-religious person such as myself, it is a pleasure to listen to her.

Speeches at the end of a concert are usually made to an empty hall. This was far from the case here: quite a few remained, and remained attentive. I got to know Mr and Mrs Ramnarayanan back in the days of the Oli chamber concerts, but I never knew how multifaceted his career has been and continues to be.

I do hope to hear Jayashree and Jayaraj again soon: their music is so beautiful.

Rajani
Posts: 1193
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 19:52

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by Rajani »

One of the songs of the concert, Sri Rajarajeshvari, can be seen/heard here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55NoUSveHXs

Sachi_R
Posts: 2174
Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: shanmatham - thematic concert by Jeyaraj & Jayashree

Post by Sachi_R »

Thank you, it was quite enjoyable!

Post Reply