Dr. Pantula Rama at SIFA, Bay Area, 09/ 09

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Sindhuja
Posts: 162
Joined: 31 Mar 2010, 11:11

Dr. Pantula Rama at SIFA, Bay Area, 09/ 09

Post by Sindhuja »

Vocal: Pantula Rama
Violin: MSN Murthy
Mridangam: Tanjore Murugabhupathi

Song list:

1. Pranamamyaham sri - Gowlai, Adi - Mysore Vasudevachar
2. Azhaga azhaga - Shuddha Dhanyasi, Khanda Chapu - Ambujam Krishna - R, S
3. Jambupathe - Yamuna Kalyani, Rupakam - M. Dikshitar - R, N, S
4. Koluvaiyunnade - Bhairavi, Adi - Thyagaraja - R,N
5. Dwiraga RTP: Kannada & Kaanada, Adi, mishra nadai, eduppu after 5 aksharams
6. Kandarpajanaka - Valaji, Adi - Annamacharya
7. Thamburi Meetidava - Sindhubhairavi, Adi - Purandaradasa
8. Bhayarani (Padam/ Jaavali?) - Kaapi, Rupakam - Tirupathi Narayasamy
9. Thillana - Brindavani, Adi - BMK

Dr. Pantula Rama and team presented an appealing concert today at Atherton, CA. I'm a die hard fan of PR's voice in the mandara sthayi and just for that, I can say it was a very fulfilling concert. Her voice is as weighty as it is mellifluous. The Gowlai was an apt kick start and was very beautiful - wish she sang a few quick rounds of swarams (as far as I remember she didn't). The shuddha dhanyasi alapanai was lovely. Singing long drawn duritha phrases with utmost ease seems to be her forte for I noticed this at many instances - these are such a delight to hear. I'm not a fan of giving a lot of gamakam to the shuddha dhanyasi gandharam although it is common practice. Today PR too started out that way (although she went on to sing many phrases with a plain ga as well) and curiously, I discovered something I had never seen before - a similarity between Dhanyasi and Shuddha Dhanyasi. In the initial few seconds in fact, I was wondering if it was Dhanyasi. And only later did it occur to me that they actually share the same arohanam - so this could be another reason for not shaking the ga too much in SD, in order to distinguish it from the Dhanyasi prayogam (along with the ni gamakam) ... anyway, this is just me rambling. I do realize that SD is customarily sung with the ga gamakam. The kriti is a very nice composition with a beautiful "mettu". Her swarams were very enjoyable with many sarvalaghu rounds. Jambupathe was the highlight for me. What a brilliant alapanai by both her and Shri Murthy! (On that note, could someone throw some light on this version of Yamuna Kalyani as used by Dikshitar? It sounds like Mohana Kalyani but with shuddha madhyamam. It is definitely different from say Krishna nee/ Narayana Hari/ Bhavayami. Any info on how/ why Dikshitar conceived it this way? Or is there a difference between Yamuna and Yaman Kalyani?) The neraval was short and sweet - given the pace of the song, I think a longer neraval might have made it sag a bit. The swaras were nicely done too. Bhairavi ragam was complete with all standard prayogams. She sang the first part - till the higher sa - let the violinist take over, came back and finished the ragam, again followed by the violin's conclusion. The violin was particularly brilliant in this - very much enjoyed the masterly rendition. Neraval was done in two speeds at manasu rañjilla sura satulu. She did not follow that with swarams. Thani was very good and gripping, though I didn't note down details.

PR then announced they would present a short RTP in Kannada (Purvangam) and Kaanada (Uttarangam). The Pallavi line was as follows:
Purvangam: Rama sri rama kannada valadaiyya
Uttarangam: intaparaakaa nadachi vachchi nannu brovaviyya ("Kaanada" appears in the conjunction of the first two words)

Ragam in both were nicely done. The tanam in Kannada was quite brief and I felt the time was not equally distributed between the two. Nevertheless, enjoyable. Pallavi was sung with few rounds of neraval followed by trikalam. Given the long pallavi line (and the long avarthanam in each cycle) neraval would be tricky but they were really good. Swarams were interesting - she started by singing Kannada in the uttarangam, thereby finishing with the Kannada line in the purvangam, and vice versa for Kaanada. But I felt the subsequent swaras lacked a discernable structure - or may be it was just me. For instance, after a longish (and brilliant) kuraippu at dha quickly alternating between both ragams, the next swaram was Kaanada alone, and then she finished with a final swaram again in both ragams. The grand finale "kanakku" was quite interesting.

With her poise, calm demeanor and bhavam rich voice, the tukkadas were a treat, needless to say. If at all I had to pick on them, I'd ask why Brindavani after Kaapi since they sound quite similar.

Overall very nice concert, but somehow her voice sounded a bit unsettling in the higher notes. I felt it wasn't as firm as it was in the lows - not sure if it was just today. She seemed to be using a bit of falsetto, but I could be wrong. There also seemed to be some off notes here and there in the higher range. I felt she also softens her voice in the highs, so it doesn't have the same throw as her lower notes have. But as I said, her mandara voice is to die for, so guess I'm just being greedy. And while the concert had a lot of variety in terms of composers, languages, talams and ragams, the mood seemed to be quite the same until the very pacy thillana. Not that I mind it. There is this unique placidity about her voice and singing and I'm already waiting for the team to come back.
Last edited by Sindhuja on 11 Sep 2012, 04:38, edited 1 time in total.

mahavishnu
Posts: 3341
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 21:56

Re: Dr. Pantula Rama at SIFA, Bay Area, 09/ 09

Post by mahavishnu »

Thanks for your lovely review, Sindhuja. Are you in the bay area now?
Or is there a difference between Yamuna and Yaman Kalyani?
Some say that versions of yaman can use M1 as an anyaswara; the similarities to shuddh kalyan or mohana kalyani come from the use of the prayogam SR2G3P in the ascent which gives a fleeting percept of mohanam, which quickly disappear when you hear the glide over M1 and the distinct M2. And Dikshitar's usage of N3 is also quite sparse, which make this composition quite unique. I can imagine that Pantula Rama does full justice to these subtleties in her neraval.

Sindhuja
Posts: 162
Joined: 31 Mar 2010, 11:11

Re: Dr. Pantula Rama at SIFA, Bay Area, 09/ 09

Post by Sindhuja »

Thanks @mahavishnu. The raga felt exactly the way you have characterized it.
Yes, in the bay area right now.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Dr. Pantula Rama at SIFA, Bay Area, 09/ 09

Post by rajeshnat »

Sindhuja
Keep them coming ,Tx for your crisp review. See the second post of Lji on yaman vs yamunA kalyani
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... an#p206755

Sindhuja
Posts: 162
Joined: 31 Mar 2010, 11:11

Re: Dr. Pantula Rama at SIFA, Bay Area, 09/ 09

Post by Sindhuja »

Thanks rajeshnat - the type 2 given by Lakshman seems closest to Jambupathe.

shanthisekar
Posts: 11
Joined: 09 Apr 2019, 19:35

Request for notations of kandarpa janaka

Post by shanthisekar »

Can someone please share the swara notations of Annamacharya kriti kandarpa janaka in ragam valaji
shanthisekar8@gmail.com

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

Re: Dr. Pantula Rama at SIFA, Bay Area, 09/ 09

Post by arasi »

Just a thought. Wonder if makes sense to others.
Sindhuja wrote her review of Ramagaru's concert in September 2012.
Seven years hence, one of the songs from that concert is requested, Fine. However, wouldn't it be suitable to ask for it in the the Lyrics section rather than in the Concerts thread, bringing an old review to the fore? This way, the sequence of concerts in a particular year remain intact. It also gets confusing because we start wondering if the artiste is touring the country right now!

The same goes for asking for a song in the General Discussions thread, or any other thread for that matter!
I know, it's difficult for new members initially. Still, it's better to go through the various sections we have here which we see clearly on the front page.

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