Brhad-Kala Concert by Sri Krishna Subbarayan - Balu Raguraman - R. Prathap

[Ajit Ramachandran]

1. Varnam, Senthil vaazh Murugayya- Hamir Kalyani, Adi, Prof T.R. Subramaniam- TAMILNADU
2. Deva Deva Kalayamithe – Mayamalavagowlai, Roopakam, Swathi Thirunal –[Neraval & Swaram] KERALA
3. Vande Vasudevam – Sree, Kanda Chapu, Annamacharya- ANDHRA PRADESH
4. Theli Su Ille Muligusu- Mohanam, Adi-Tisra Nadai, Purandaradasa – [Swaram] KARNATAKA
5. Attukadara – Manoranjani, Adi, Thyagaraja, Vivadhi
6. [Raga alapanai] Dharmavathi, Ododi Vanden Kanna- Adi, [Swaram] Ambujam Krishna
7. Viruttham Shree Rama Ramethi, Kapi, Behag, Abheri followed by Nagumomu- Abheri, Adi, Thyagaraja followed by Thaniavarthanam
8. Javali, Narimani nee Kainadhi ra- Kamas, Adi, Dharmapuri Subbaraya Aiyar
9. Tillana - Pahadi, Misra Chapu, Lalgudi G Jayaraman

Brhad-Kala is a sabha based in Orpington area and we were fortunate to have a second concert (the first one I attended was in October). They are doing a fantastic job reviving interest and educating local audiences about carnatic music. Both organisers and musicians alike have made it a point to intersperse performances with useful insights and knowledge to educate the audience about the nuances of carnatic music. They have clearly got a good pull as their concert yesterday was sold out and the church auditorium where this event was hosted was overflowing! Organising concerts like this, and moreover pulling in this size of audience is no mean feat given the number of years we had invested in sustaining a sabha Rasikalaya ourselves - perhaps Orpington might have been a better hub for our venture too!

The other remarkable aspect of the event is the sabha's focus on featuring local artistes - both professional UK-based senior vidwans like Balu Raguraman, R. Prathap as well as committed and talented artistes like the main artiste Sri Krishna Subbarayan. Divyanand Baird, a local veena vidwan and vocalist is the powerhouse behind Brhad-Kala. He and his fellow organiser Satya have also ensured both concerts featured excellent post-concert sumptuous dinner for the audience.

Back to the concert - the evening featured a two-parter. The first was a short hour long concert by a duo of local junior artistes who were accompanied with excellence by the incredibly talented youngsters Aparna Raguraman on the violin, and Rishi Ramesh on the mrudangam. After a 5-minute intermission the evening progressed quickly to the main concert of the evening with Sri Krishna Subbarayan, Sri Balu Raguraman on the violin and Sri R Prathap on the mrudangam.

I first met Krishna at the previous concert and got to know and admire his passion, hard work and commitment to Carnatic music while maintaining a full-time career as a Doctor. Having learned from various gurus including Smt Sarojini Sundaresan in the Alathur style, he is most recently under guidance from Akshay Padmanabhan. Krishna had a good pulse for the audience and began with a theme of a 'tour of the southern states', with the challenging but effective Hamirkalyani varnam by TR Subramaniam followed by compositions from the other southern states before rendering both a mix of esoteric ragams like manoranjani, as well as Ambujam Krishna's masterpiece of poetry tuned to the ever pleasing Dharmavati.

Sri Krishna's vocal range is impressive and the concert maintained a sense of sowkhyam throughout and he confirmed the right balance of vidwat and janaranjakam. Sri Balu is no stranger to us as he is arguably the leading UK carnatic violin vidwan today and his Dharmavati was just extraordinary, as were this fun, supportive exchanges on stage with Krishna. Krishna at several points had Balu and Prathap lead the finishes to songs with wonderful flourish. Prathap again is another extraordinary mrudangam artiste and it is always a pleasure to hear him and his brother perform percussion as it is guaranteed to make things interesting for all levels of audience. In this concert too Prathap explained Konakkol and demonstrated this to the audience who were truly fortunate to witness this ancient art form that Prathap and others are working hard to revive and popularise.

Krishna surprised us with no tani avarthanam after the main piece choosing instead to include this with a surprising rendition of the evergreen classic Nagumomu. His viruththam of sri rama ramethi made me think he might launch Tanjavur Sankara Iyer's Rama Namamey but he chose Abheri and then Nagumomu, which turned out to be incredibly popular with several of the telugu audience members. The tani from Prathap included the aforementioned Konakkol and was just brilliant. The concert concluded with the classic javali in Kamaas narimani, and then the rare pahadi tillana by Lalgudi Jayaraman. The chemistry of the main concert artistes, their mastery and devotion to the art form, as well as the organisation of the whole evening made this especially memorable.

Overall a great evening and I am looking forward to Brhad-Kala's next events already.

[rajeshnat]

Good to see your review Ajit . I did meet your friend Rishi in.a recent concert in mylapore a month back. Glad that you are writing . Best wishes to the organization Brhad kala . First time i am hearing the name krishna subbarayan and prathap, best wishes to them

[Nick H]

First time i am hearing the name... prathap

His elder brother is R N Prakash, mridangam, specialising in ghatam. They come from India (Bangalore?) and have been in London for several decades.