Suryaprakash@sastri hall on Sept 09th,2017

[rajeshnat]

Suryaprakash@sastri hall on Sept 09th,2017
--------------------------------------------
Vocal : Suryaprakash
Violin : Kumbakonam M R Gopinath
Mrudangam : Manoj Siva
kanjira : Bangalore S Purushotaman

Concert Type : Nirvana - No concert to follow , Free concet
Day/Duration : Saturday/ 2 hours and 45 minutes inclusive of early 10 mins speech
Time : 6:15 to 9:00 pm
Occasion : Late violinist rememberance day - ThirukOdikAval krishnamurthy who was the grandson of thirukodikAval krishna Iyer (guru of semmangudi)

1. vidulaku mrOkedA (N,S) - mAyamAlavagowlai - T
neraval in kamalA gauri vagheeswari for 3 mins
3 mins swaras
2. lavanyA rAmA - poornashadjam - T

3. orukAl sivachidambaram (R,S) - Arabi- Marimutha pillai
8 mins of alapana and 4 mins violin return
5 mins of swaras

4. vinatha sutha rArA(R,S) - huseni - T
6 mins alapana and 3 mins violin return
5 mins swaras

5. vachama gOcharamE - kaikavAsi - T
6A . ragam shankarabharanam - alapana for 17 mins and violin return for 10 mins
6B. taanam with mrudangam for 8 mins
6C. Endukku peddala (R Taanam N S T) - shankarabharanam - T
11 mins neraval in vEda sAstra
15 mins swaras
6D. tani for 12 mins

7. Ela rADAyanE kAmini - bhairavi - chinniah
8A. viruththam - petra thAi thanai - hameerkalyani +
utra dEgathai - darbAri KAnada +
katra nenjagam - shyamA
8B. varuvArO - shyamA - GKB

9. Geethadhunikku - thillana - dhanashree - ST
10. thirrupugazh -thullumadhu vetkai - hamsAnandi - AGN
11. pavamAnA

[rajeshnat]

Once upon a time there was a violin vidwan by name thirukodikaval krishnamurthy .Thirukodikaval is a carnatic hamlet in the kumbakonam belt . vidwan krishnamurthy learnt from thiruvalandadu sundaresa iyer and he was the grandson of thirukodikaval krishna iyer(guru of semmangudi). Krishnamurthy played lot of concerts for ariyakudi and musiri in that carnatic belt in 30 to 40s . While captain ariyakudi decided to settle in madras along with vice captain musiri(especially) , the spin bowler violinist thirukodikaval krishnamurthy was egged by captain and vice captain to move to chennai but krishnamurthy did not move to madras .

The spinner did not want to move out of few temples in the land of thirukodikaval . He was so attached to the diety of bhadrakali of thirukodikaval and he decided not to move out of the place .Incidentally PSN mama debut concert was played by thirukodikaval krishnamurthy and after 3 decades suryaprakash also had his debut concert in chennai in late 70s/early 80s. Both Shri Psn and suryapraksh were not fraudigees but prodigees who atleast gave the debut at the age of 12.

Krishnamurthy after 70+ years of age moved to madras he had no choice I guess his children should have moved and then was particularly respected by TVG who gave lot of opportunities talking with many musicians .Incidentally once he went to benaras and played .Omkarnath heard his play and asked him to play a solo in benaras. I guess bhadrakali goddess blessed krishnamurthy to guide atleast two great students PSN in the early/mid part and suryaprakash in his fag end of his life. All this was told by son of thiurkodikaval krishnamurthy who conducted this concert.

Moving on with this concert
-----------------------------
From some time in 2001 I have heard this vidwan suryaprakash almost very periodically , it is almost 8 or 9 month gap . There is a noticable addition in his core tenet of his music . It is more the texture of his voice . He is certainly adding more gestalt in the lower and middle registers to give more sustained shruthi suddham . It is reaching a lot to my heart and not just my head. THe orientation of suryaprakash was always with MMI as prime axis but today it was more of his other paramaguru Semmangudi as prime axis with a slight throw of ramnadkrishnan and kvn here and there .

The start was in Maaya Malava gowlai with vridulaku . This to me is a brilliant number sadguru T shows perhaps a very distinct and different color in this krithi. T phrases the krithi with different phrases by mentioning different god and goddess apart from his ishta devata rama - what can I say kamala -gowri- anjaneya -deva -nandi you name it you almost have all the gods in the temple areas of tiruvarur belt . Unlike the other popular number of mmg like meru samana, I have noticed the quanta of neraval and swaras is considerably less for all the musicians when they sing this vridulaku . I just dont know why but that is what is the aural observation that i have made after repeated hearing of vridulaku . MMG gives a restraint agression and I am glad he took this.I was more glad that he also sang a neraval and swaras in mmg , the last time i heard this was one memorable thamarakkad nambudhri with N and S , it just gives me goosebumps as T has created shear magic with right spacing of words to create the most perfect start with magical mmg.

He moved on with lavanya rama and dedicated to ramnad krishnan . Not that he did not sing well , but #2 with no neraval swaras just does not interest me that much. Arabi raga delineation was more like maharajapuram school - not the dare devil thatha vishwanatha iyer who drove the arabhi f16 fighter plane , more like santhanam who adds distinctly lands with each sangathi in a boeing 747 flight . I did not know about this krithi at all and he sang a rare marimutha pillai thamizh composition - oru kAl sivachidambaram . There is a lot of rhythmmic jumps in this rare thamizh krithi and the percussion did anticipate well, manoj is a great singer in mrudangam.

He moved on with a lovely huseni . Huseni is just a rakthi beauty.The alapana was leisurely with right dose of konjal and sustained mild aggression which best desribes huseni. I was expecting a more nayana pidi rAma ninnE in huseni but i got slighly less nayana pidi krithi with vinatha sutha rA rA. Swaras were well done with lovely return by MRG.

The days best was indeed shankarabharanam for its creative quotient of tAnam , neraval , swaras and alapana .Shankarabharanam is very tricky raga to have a sustained interest atleast to me. I adore semmangudi for his fluid frictionless treatment of rendering in a right pace to escape cobwebs of drowsiness that can quickly come in as flu virus and keep me in a snoring mood. Madhyakala taanam particulary the last 7 mins of his 8 mins when Manoj joined was spectacular -thiruvananthapuram navarathri was right there . Neraval was a major shade of KVN with right anchor in aadhara shruthi . The alapana was quite semmangudish but felt the rendition of krithi was very his own with real voice power in lower and mid register taking from his paramaguru semmangudi (sp has his first guru thirukodikaval rajamani not related to krishnamurthy at all).
Swaras in shankarabharanam were in mmi mode in second half with the right aggression and tempo with the famous ganakaladhara crescendo towards the end. I aurally look for KambOdhi minus minus power in shankarabharanam and should have a great expansiveness of manodharmam and i got that in plenty. Particularly if there is a short return by violinist that means it is MAIN.

In the tukkadas I liked the very leisurely viruththam in all three ragas especially darbari and ending with varuvArO . varuvArO that too with few phrases with full power in few key line like bhayappaDAdE enru sholla was a real head turner . Also most importantly to repeat few lines in this lovely thamizh krithi that extra shyama oomph. I was surprised that he sang that rare javali in bhairavi and I dont think i have heard him sing this . He said that he dedicated that to 150th anniversary of veena dhanammal and he also dedicated the poornashadjam to Ramnad krishnan.

MRG-Manoj-BSP defined pakkavadhya manodharmam
------------------------------------------------------------------
MR Gopinath is the sishya of vishwanatha sharma . Vishwanatha sharma who has played lot for chitoor subramania pillai and madurai somu . Infact towards the last few years somu has lot of concerts where MRG has also accompanied . IN my opinion MRG is a very under rated artist. He gives essence and there is always right proportion and great melody . His raga essays were crisp and he kept the limelight with suryaprakash. Incidentally at times i have noticed in the past where Gopinath used to play full note during alapana or returns but yesterday it was really perfect gopinath .

I am slowly zoning in the direction where we can coin Manoj Siva as a real thyagi . He has improved leaps and bounds nice sound and most importantly there is no unwanted teermanam and it is zero showmanship . His simplicity just struck me throughout and he brings the same gauravam like his illustrious guru palakkad raghu. BSP played with restraint which is not usually a case, i am assuming sastri hall being a smaller hall must have made him extra cautious . I particularly liked his play in taanam , neraval and swaras of shankarabharanam and that one thukkada beauty of varuvArO and the early zoning in mmg was right support.I zoned out a bit in tani but it was crisp and they did not hoard more time and kill any thukkadas - manoj you are a real thyagi.

IF there is a crib one is a minor and other is a major .
----------------------------------------------------------------
1. The minor crib is he could have killed one of the two songs either the poornashadjam or the kaikavashi . There is just no point in singing a krithi without a r n or s unless the krithi is a endaro , evarani or few dikshitar krithis like say a ranganayaki or soundara rajam or a swarajathi . This is just truncation of carnatic depth and I have always the feeling of O gosh why so soon to the next.

2. what happened to his tradeship fast filler before main. He should keep that always there , he disappointed without having one of that . I thought he is going to take vachama gOcharamE - kaikavAsi to a manavyAlakinchara -nalinakanthi fast filler status . I thought I am going to hear kaikavashi with fast swaras forthe first time in my life but it was just krithi .

All said the gestalt of suryaprakash voice is improving very steadily . we can have more interest in his lower and middle registers which was surely not the case say before say 2012 where it is more middle and upper register . He is taking the right pointers to grow musically rich .At least yesterday ishta devata of krishnamurthy bhadrakAli was there in full force- what can one say with his manodharmam and his high charge in voice power - as gopalakrishna bharathi pleads vociferously in his shyama krithi - bhayappaDAdE enru sholla

Overall an excellent concert for 2 hours and 45 minutes

[kvchellappa]

No one can do a better vimarsanam perhaps.

[ram1999]

What is nirvana ??

why not a poornashadjam without a raga alapana as the 2nd kriti into the concert.

There is no hard and fast rule as to what should be sung as number 2 and number 10.

Let the artist have the freedom to decide what they want to sing !!!

[HarishankarK]

Thanks for the review. Nice fare from Surya.

General question not concerning this review- what's the point of giving the exact time/duration of the alapana? Don't think it has anything to do with vidwath or bhavam. Are we trying to convey here that longer alapanais mean more capability or scholarship?

[arasi]

ram1999,
nirvANa concert means there's no concert to follow. This expression was coined by the author of this review--the one and only Rajesh.

Rajesh,
Thanks for your giving a detailed account about vidvAn Krishnamurthy in whose memory the concert took place. varuvArO, varam taruvArO is an old favorite. Yes, haven't heard it in a while. For you, thank goodness, it didn't turn out to be 'varuvAnO?'(inRu, nALaiyO?)

[rajeshnat]

what's the point of giving the exact time/duration of the alapana? Don't think it has anything to do with vidwath or bhavam. Are we trying to convey here that longer alapanais mean more capability or scholarship?

HarishankarK
I got this idea from Mahesh3 about 10 years back when he gave the same insight for one of the concerts that he attended in New Jersey. I personally liked it a lot then as it gave me great insight.I do know it pains few of you to see that and possibly it may also question as to whether I am listening really with a watch. This is mahesh3 blame him who gave this idea.

Just few pointers on why I write this:
---------------------------------------------

1. This is just like an insight of how many balls it takes a batsman to score a century. Like say geoffery Boycott scoring a century and Shahid Afirdi scoring a century if you do know how many deliveries they took it makes lot of sense. Incidentally in cm concerts they are not that easy to spot unless some one says

2. Also say if a musician like Abhishek sings alapana , suryaprakash sings swaras , sanjay sings taanam it is copious I just want to have that registered in my head. Most of the reviews are more for my own and i am just willing to share that is all. This surely does not mean that the musician has simply sung well because of minutes . No definitely that is not the case.

3. Also if you take an example of many 4 hour concert , the break up of each of that makes lot of sense . Also in one of the concert of TNS Krishna despite R Ramesh playing a near 30 minute tani , TNS Krishna extended from 4 hours to 4 hours and 45 minutes concert . I want to acknowledge those kind of intense professional artists,

4. Also the duration of neraval and swaras at times also shows class in general . Take for example the neraval of KVN and swaras of MMI you generally hear the enthusiasm of those mahavidwans.

5. Also 2 years back for about 4 years I used to even put the count of rasikas of every concert. I did that because simply way too many fellow rasikas were inflating the count and I could not stand that lie and I just thought let me do that . One very respected percussionist told me please dont put that ,we are all working hard . I was thinking in my zeal to push the truth i wanted to put that but I did not recognize that it will boomerang till that respected artist told me . So I purposely have not put the count of rasikas in the last 2 years or so.So as such I also listen if it makes sense.

4. Of late I was thinking for the last 2 years should i put minutes for every swaras and neravals . Actually truthfully for say RTP and Main it makes sense. It may not make sense to say put for an opener nattai or varnam swaras . Here is the head turner , There are at times an opener in say a rare raga vijayasaraswati where I have tasted an alapana for 10 mins , that is worth mentioning to all of you . I have heard in few occassions where even a short filler of swaras for main where musicians have sung swaras for 9 to 10 mins with one mini sketch of violin return.

In short as I said each of that is more for my most personal satisfaction and these data points brings in shade of learning to me which cannot be felt by many.

Also you did not ask this I am still saying this . I put this overall mediocre to good to verygood to excellent to outstanding rating . This i was doing here and there but around 2003 or 2004 I had this friend vijay who writes here and has gone passive in the forum . He used to write wonderfully, once he wrote an aha oho review of an artist , but when we had a private chat for each of those points , he felt they were not that good but he could not retract what was written . I do knew that what he wrote vs what he really wanted to say is really different , for that reason just to bloody remove that ambiguity I felt like saying that overall mediorce to outstanding. At times you tend to write well for a so so concert but express in a so so way for a great concert .That human fallacy is what i wanted to correct.

Timing data points are not related to any of the subjectivity in general but they very likely have a direct relationship. Ask a musician to sing a reetigowlai swaras as an opener tatavamaria taramA like mahavidwan TRS Mama.

Final Takeaway:
--------------------
I would personally urge each of you to read that section with minutes and pause for few milli seconds to get the data (Like how did abhishek sing that long alapana , how come suryaprakash sang such a long swaras etc....)and move on with the subjective review .Otherwise it may apply like this broken antivirus software which scans and complains about virus where you feel it is better to have virus .

p.s I was in double mind whether to write this or not , but since you asked with a tone of why you write without you applying your judgement i thought i should answer that to you so that I dont sound rude in not answering to you.

[mahesh3]

Time to sing a Raga is important - while a long alapana
does not mean it wasnsung in depth - a short alapana
during the main Most likely means it was not sung in depth. I like the time more as a way to see how the concert was planned and structured. Of course - this was my opinion 10 years ago - now, I just look for someone
to sing thodi or shankarabharanam instead of chandrakouns or RTP in some scale.