Dr Baby Sreeram at London, 23-July-2023

[jayaram]

Dr Baby Sreeram concert in London

Dr Baby Sreeram (vocal)
Sri Balu Raghuraman (violin)
Sri HS Sudheendra (mridangam)

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London
Sunday, 23-July-2023, 5:45-7:40pm

01. Deva deva kalayAmi te - Mayamalavagowla - Rupakam - Swati Thirunal
02. Orarumugane - Ritigowla - Adi - Neelakantha Sivan
03. Neelakantha nityananda - Hamsanandi - Adi (tisra nadai) - Neelakantha Sivan (set to music by Dr Baby Sreeram)
04. Ika nannu brova - Bhairavi - Adi (2 kalai) - Pallavi Sesha Iyer
05. Laya vinyasam (thani avartanam) by Shri Sudheendra
06. Saramaina maTalanTa (javali) - Behag - Rupakam - Swati Thirunal
07. Maname unakku - Varamu (shuddha hindolam) - Adi - TM Thyagarajan
(lovely chittaswaram!)
08. Srihare Janardhana - Revathi - Adi - Pudukode Krishnamurthy
09. Thillana - Bindumalini - Adi - Baby Sreeram
- Mangalam -

London rasikas were treated to sublime music last Sunday.
Dr Baby Sreeram gave a superb concert soaked in classicism. The accompanists, Shri Balu Raghuraman on violin and Shri HS Sudheendra on mridangam, took the concert to even greater heights.

Dr Baby started the concert with a lovely rendering of the Ganesha shloka “Srikantho mathulo yasya”. (I understand this is an invocation shlokam by Parameshwara Kavi.)

श्रीकान्तो मातुलो यस्य जननी सर्वमङ्गला ।
जनकः शंकरो देवः तं वन्दे कुञ्जराननम् ॥

This sedate start set the tone for the rest of the concert.

First item was Travancore maharaja’s evergreen kriti in Mayamalavagowla. Her sahitya shuddham came out right away, with how she paused between ‘kalayAmi’ and ‘te’. (The great MDR used to be careful with such details.) Crisp neraval and swaras with superb returns by Shri Balu, enhanced by Shri Sudheendra’s delightful strokes, gave an indication of what was in store for us rasikas.

Next treat was Ritigowla. Again, from the very first note, she just took off! The beauty of the ragam was brought out in just a few brush strokes. Balu’s returns added beauty to the rendition. After the brief alapana, another Thiruvananthapuram resident, Shri Neelakantha Sivan’s kriti followed. (Dr Baby hails from Thiruvananthapuram, so the bias is understandable!)

Next was the submain in Hamsanandi. After a Hindustani-ish alapana (Sohini like), she sang another Neelakantha Sivan kriti. She mentioned that she had set the music for this kriti herself. The relaxing pace with which the kriti was sung brought out nice aspects of the raga. Balu sir and Sudheendra sir enhanced the beauty of the rendition immensely.

The main item of the evening in Bhairavi followed. Soaked in classicism, she transported us to another level. Balu sir brought out so many nuances of this grand ragam with his wonderful playing. His violin literally “spoke” (பேசித்து) the lyrics, in his own inimitable style. The amazing anticipation and lovely nadai changes by Shri Sudheendra during the neraval and kalpanaswara added to the overall beauty of the rendition. I looked around, and could see many rasikas in deep meditation listening to the divine music from the inspired maestros on stage.

Laya vinyasam was next. Sudheendra sir was really enjoying himself and brought out amazing phrases, including on the thoppi side.

Dr Baby then started with another shloka, this time in Behag. She sang the dhyanashloka from Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri’s magnum opus Sriman Narayaneeyam. The words are as follows:

पीताम्बरं करविराजितशङ्खचक्रकौमोदकीसरसिजं करुणासमुद्रम् ।
राधासहायम् अतिसुन्दरमन्दहासं वातलयेशम् अनिशं हृदि भावयामि ॥

The flourishes she used to paint the Behag canvas had the characteristic style of her illustrious guru, mahavidwan Sethalapathy Balasubramanian. The smile on her face enhanced the “mandahasam” lyrics! And Shri Balu responded with a superb Behag, taking it north of the Vindhyas with his magical playing. Dr Baby mentioned how vocalists are often reluctant to hand over Behag to able violinists because they take it to even greater heights, and Balu sir proved it totally!

Dr Baby then sang the famous Swati Thirunal javali, Saramaina maTalananda. The sringara bhava of the ragam was brought out so well. The soft strokes from Shri Sudheendra’s mridangam embellished Shri Balu’s nectar-filled rendition.

Vidushi Baby announced that the next item was her own guru TMT’s (mahavidwan TM Thyagarajan sir) composition “Maname unakku kavalai illai”. She explained the meaning of the composition, before embarking on the beautiful Varamu kriti. TMT was a genius vaggeyakara, and how he has deftly handled this delicate raga was demonstrated by Dr Baby, ably supported by the violin and mridangam maestros.

Acceding to an audience request for a Pudukode Krishnamurthy kriti, she next sang the famous PKM kriti “Srihare janardhana” in Revathi ragam. Dr Baby has recently completed a mammoth 2-year project called “PKM-100” where she has got 100 different artistes to sing 100 kritis of Pudukode sir. Great vidwans like Pudukode sir deserve to get more recognition, and Dr Baby is doing wonderful seva in this regard.

The Revati kriti was followed by her own thillana in Bindumalini. Her prowess as a vaggeyakara was brought out so well.

A short Madhyamavathi alapana formed the mangalam.

A few words about Dr Baby Sreeram: she falls under the category of erudite, scholarly artistes of today (Renganatha Sharma sir is another such great vidwan). At the same time, her pleasant stage presence combined with bhava-laden singing and melodious voice, ensure that the music doesn’t come across as “weighty”. As Balu sir remarked, she is a “musician of musicians” (like great masters Ramnad Krishnan and her own guru TMT). I understand she is singing in the 9am senior slot at Madras Music Academy this December season. I would urge all rasikas to attend her concert and savour first-hand her high quality music. As another friend of mine said, hers is pracheena, sampradaya music with high integrity.

Balu Raghuraman is a dear friend, so I am totally biased! We rasikas in London are so blessed to have him here at the Bhavan. I have listened to so many of his concerts over the years. I rate him right at the top - I bet if he had been based in Chennai he would have received several more top accolades and awards.

What can one say about Sudheendra sir! I’ve heard him several times in Bangalore and Chennai. He is the epitome of high quality laya sangeetham. His anticipation is impeccable, and this shows his deep knowledge of the kritis himself.

All in all, we Londoners were fortunate to be treated to an outstanding concert last Sunday. Pranams to the great artistes.

[thanjavooran]

Shri Jayaram avl,
Yes. really Londoners are most fortunate. Good selection of songs. Bhiravi and Varamu must be highlight of the day. excellent team work . A very nice and detailed review. Best wishes,
Thanjavooran
25 07 2023

[rajeshnat]

jayaram
lovely review. I just heard her once in musiri home you may have seen that review. she is a phenom.

one of the finest understatements is the quality of every tmt sir disciple . When musicians like Dr Baby Sreeram connects the hidden vaggeyakkara musical value of these jambhavans like tmt ,pudukode, sethalapathi you hear and enjoy a new angle of unknown CM. For me it is just the near same joy in the zone of you hearing say the great trs or skr when they sing some vaggeyakara like kalyani varadarajan

By the way what is laya vinyaasam , are you giving a new catchy term for tani avarthanam .The joy of hamsanandi sub main and bhairavi main is priceless, also a tail with varamu..... kudos also to balu raghuraman and sudheendra...

Where is rishi , I hope he attended and he will write another review that will challenge you.

[arasi]

Jayaram,
Just when I was feeling disappointed in not seeing as many concert reviews as before on the forum, you appear! Of course, with your spirited and detailed review! Thanks for appearing from nowhere (you disappear too, and we miss you:)) It is such a descriptive review about a vidushi whom I have heard once in person. I really enjoyed listening to her lively concert. You have listed all her capabilities, and yes, her pleasant smile and presence too.

I repeat the question. Where is Rishi? To your excellent review, he would have added another dimension, all his own.
Nick has spoken often about Balu Raghuraman and we know how valuable he is to the UK music community.
Sudheendra is a veteran and one of Karnataka's excellent percussionists.

You do not have many concerts like these--or, have things changed and you do have many of them? Please do share your concert experience with us regularly.Thanks.

sAramaina mATalanta chAlu chAlura--I think is the line.

[KMH]

Dear learned Rasikas, Rishi was absent - he was away at Pinnar, some 50 minutes away from The Bhavan in West Kensington. (He was listening to the Chinmaya Sisters). But I had the pleasure of attending, thanks entirely to a heads-up by Jayaram. Thank you Jayaram, also for the detailed review. In Rishi's absence, let me wear his hat! I would have loved to hear at least one kriti of the Trinity by Dr Baby, and must admit I was a bit disappointed (but please see below). While Bindumalini is honey sweet anyitme, I wonder if she could have chosen one of her other thillanas - the Charukesi one, for instance? Did Bindumalini coming right after Revati rob it of some character? I don't know.
Given Dr Baby's stage presence, her winsome smile, and her wonderful interactions with the accompanists and the audience, it is rather surprising she is not as busy as she ought to be during the Chennai season.
Time is always a constraint in a huge place like London. So Dr Baby had just under two hours to regale us. We Londoners are fortunate, yes, but the city is so huge, concerts going beyond a certain time frame see a withering audience. And when two concerts happen simultaneously, the pleasure of hearing a soul filling concert is given only to a few.

[jayaram]

A small correction to my post.
I received the following note from the learned rasika Shri Pallasena Narayanaswami.
I stand corrected.
————————————————————————————-
पीताम्बरं करविराजितशङ्खचक्रकौमोदकीसरसिजं करुणासमुद्रम् ।
राधासहायम् अतिसुन्दरमन्दहासं वातलयेशम् अनिशं हृदि भावयामि ॥
This is not a shlokam by Bhattathiri (It is not in any Dashakam of Narayaneeyam), but a Dhyana shlokam later inserted by someone else, as a preliminary invocation before chanting Narayaneeyam.
I do not know who is the author (certainly not Bhattathiri).

Also, the opening shlokam is not by Parameswara kavi, nor is in Ramodantam.

[arasi]

KMH,
Thank you for posting and adding more to the review. Good to know Rishi was at a concert, after all--another one. he would write a review too about it?
Good to know about the concert scene in London and surrounds.

[KMH]

I have passed on the enquiries to Rishi! I am sure he will respond. May be he is waiting for the second round by the Chinmaya Sisters scheduled for Saturday at the beautiful Murugan Temple in East London.

[jayaram]

<deleted>

[jayaram]

Arasi and Rajesh - yes, it’s been a long time! Hope to catch up with you all this December at season. The concert scene in London has not been that vibrant of late - partly due to Covid too. We were not able to sustain our sabha Rasikalaya over the years.
Dr Baby’s concert has been a welcome change for us.

[jayaram]

A few photos from the concert