Kalyanapuram S Aravind at MA , 23 December 2017

[ratanabhinav]

Venue : Music Academy , Chennai
Date : 23 December 2017
Time : 11 : 45 am to 1 : 15 pm
Artists :
Kalyanapuram S.Aravind (Vocal)
Pappu Gyandev (Violin)
Ranganathapuram Akshay Ram (Mridangam)
List :
A - alapana , N- NIraval , S- Kalpanaswara
1. Vanajakshi - ritigaula varnam - Ata tala , S @ charanam
2. Aparadhamula - Lathangi - Adi - Tyagaraja - A , N , S @ kripajesi
3. Ranganayakam - Nayaki - Adi - Muthuswamy Dikshithar
4 . Thelisi rama - purnachandrika - Adi - Tyagaraja
5. Enduku dayaradura - Thodi - Misra chapu - Tyagaraja , A, N ,S @ tyagaraja vinutha , Thani
6. Ragamalika virutham - Divya prabhandam - Anatha selvathu ? - Saveri , begada , bagesri
7. Krishna hare - bagesri - Adi - composer ?

1. He started the concert with an electrifying rendition of vanajakshi varnam in ritigaula . It was rich in bhava and the kalpana swaras had intelligent permutation combinations .
2. Lathangi alapana was started very well and the phrases were zig zag and had good mix of puvanga and uttaranga . It was not an up down the scale exercise. Nadaswara pidis were very nice . He reached the lower shadjam .Violinist follwed very well and his reply was very good. Kriti was sung very well in right kalaparamanam with niraval at kripajesi , followed by kalpanaswaras . The concert was very compelling and it would be hard to leave somewhere .
3. As usual
4. As usual rendition.
5. He did an elaborate alapana of thodi with brigas , covering three octaves. Nadaswara pidis were very appealing . a la TNS style . But the thing is , his creativity and manodharma and individuality emerged , though he emulated the TNS bani .That's great ! The violinst was very suportive , a real ' pakkavadhyam ' and his solo of thodi too was engaging and interesting to listen to .
Kriti was rendered very well and the niraval was engaging , and swaras were beautiful . And he finished off swraas with a grand korvai and got ' applause mazhai ' for it . Thani was electrifying and the last segment was really nice , especially.

6. Ragamalika slokam : wished he sang it swtiching from one raga to another with finesse . But he sang a line in a particular raga , then the violinist replied , then he sang the next raga . Was a good presentation overall , especially the sangathis in begada .

He is a hyper active musician and it has been going well and has been his plus point so far . If there is overdose or he is overdoing that , it is not aesthetic . The verve and zing is nice . But he should remember that speed thrills , but sometimes kills , especially the bhava and sowkhyam .

Pluses : he , doesn't shout or scream , he's got a really good manodharma .
Minuses : It would be great if he sings with more sowkhyam .
Overall a good to excellent concert /

[Madras-Talkies]

Very balanced review. Kudos@ abhinav

[Madras-Talkies]

I felt the same. He could have handled lathangi, purnachandrika and Nayaki in a better manner.

Ranganayakam rendition was slightly different from TNS sirs version. Did you also feel the same? @ Abhinav

[sureshvv]

Minuses : It would be great if he sings with more sowkhyam .

I thought there was plenty of sowkhyam. There was a bit more of kanakku than is usual that may have given you the mistaken impression.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

The 'rasika cluster' around me felt Aravindan's rendering was 'much like' Sanjay. The whispering remark came even as the singer was into the Varnam. Listening to the Vidwan for the first time sans any idea of his tutoring, I too felt so rather 'strongly'. 'Phone a Friend' idea struck to me and I found myself 'silently' WhatsApp-ing forumite CRama who replied that the youth is a disciple of TNS. But I tended to join the cluster.
Whatever be the case, the music was of merit and enjoyable!
The Mridangam vidwan had a markedly UKS style.

[Rasika_first]

I liked his thodi and the krithi was presented very well. I have heard a superb rendition by Alathur Brothers. May musicians like him grow in stature. What impressed me was his alavu in singing ( I can't find an other word to describe it). Being from TNS school he sang his share of kanakkus without compromising on the melody aspect. All in all a very good and neat presentation. I have head Pappu before too and he is another violinist to watch out for in the future.

[sureshvv]

Posture of his arms and movements were so typically TNS it was hard to miss. I too found him a bit more guarded and circumspect, all for the better, (the alavu) than last year.

[pperumal]

Best wishes to the student of the "jambavan" TNS.
However, my concern is that with TNS's style of singing, looks like TNS himself took a hit on his voice.
I would advise caution to young Aravind to ensure he learns proper use of the voice - or rather unlearns abuse of his voice.
I don't know if I am making sense ))

- PP.