Dec 2005 - Our Experiences

Review the latest concerts you have listened to.
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coolkarni

Post by coolkarni »

Hello everyone .

I am kickstarting his thread so that people who were here can give their idea of the season.
One cannot do justice to all sabhas and artistes so the next best course would be to hear from you all.

Music Season 2005

This Season was one of my leanest , since I was pre occupied with my business.

Nevertheless I managed to attend a few Concerts .

1.Sowmya at Padma Seshadri School KK Nagar . If only others can sing at this pace and pitch?.no matter what the talent-
The beauty of CM comes out so well when the artists dwell on those beautiful phrases with such loving care.(To Hell with those rapidfire shots and the Formula One Laya sequences?)
Opened with a natakuranji varnam and the next song Chalamelara was a magical mix of emotions.?Saketha Rama ? ?though just two words ?were enough to sustain so many alluring variations..
Dharee Nee ?Shudha Saveri, a song By Goplakrishna Bharathi ?Vandalum Varuttum Adutha Janma Thandalum?or so it went,
A Bharthiar Song in Sanskrit (she announced that it was one of the only two of his in Sanskrit),sukhee evvaro,were some other memorable krithis..
Vittal ramamurthy and Neyveli Narayanan were the perfect foil that day.
2.TV Ramprasad?s concert at Bharat Kalachar-was splendid because of his rendering a major Namakusumamula and also thamboori meetidava (Dasar pada).Mysore Srikanth and Raja Rao were in fine form.
3.TNS at Narada Gana Sabha with Chandru and Raja Rao.
Was a great concert , going by audience response (they are so forgiving when it comes to srurthi lapses-but so unforgiving when a Violinist accompanying, makes the slightest of mistakes!!)
For the ones who debated on the chandru thread ?if it was correct to play lines from a krithi during an alapana ? Here was the defining evidence.I made up my mind that it was beneath the dignity and capabilities of a violinist to play such lines during alapana.The Reason??.Chandru played lines from TWO krithis this night.Nagumomu and Bhajare re manasa at different parts of the alapana.The second one resulting in a fairly loud burst of laughter(or derision ??), But my mind was made up.
4.Ajoy Chakraborthys Concert at Krishna Gana Sabha.
As I entered the hall (I was late by 10 minutes) he was singing something which looked like a mix of Lata mangeshakars Bhayyan Na Dharo from dasthak and ?? Thelisi Sankaramshudai in adamodi of of MMI-TVS?
Yes it was a grand Charukesi , no doubt.The Tabla was tuned almost like a pakhwaj and his elaborate rendition was full of sargams.
Then on to a nice yaman , a tharana and then Balmuralis thillana.

Three thumris followed , the last of which was a soulful Bhairavi.
some snapshots.

http://rapidshare.de/files/10236235/Sin ... 1.mp3.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/10236450/Sin ... 2.mp3.html

At 60, he admitted that it was time for him to start learning again.
And this he was doing by learning CM from Balmurali.
He also announced that the accompanying singer was his second student ( 7 years into training with him) and that he ran a school for tiny tots and had trained 900 students till now.
He also paid fine tributes to Chennai and Carnatic Music.

It was so refreshing to see a senior artist speak in such a humble manner.
He ended up giving us his personal visiting Card -after the concert-, indicating to us again and again, that his new found love for CM was not just a passing fancy.

5.From KGS, we dashed to Sivagami Petachi Auditorium.With a mind already drugged by Ajoys concert, the whole place was so soft and silky.(Wonder why Schools Look so different at daytime .In the late evenings, they always have such an out of this world look.
I over heard a person remarking to his friend -I NEVER HAD THE FORTUNE OF BEING RICH ENOUGH TO BE EDUCATED HERE .ALL WE COULD AFFORD WAS RAMAKRISHNA SCHOOL
Hmmm.
Strange person I thought.Probably never learnt to count his blessings.
Anyway it was nice to learn that Kamakshi7 (Sridhar) whom I met on this forum also studied at my ? Little Flower School in Jamshedpur ?.It is small world after all.

Here was a singer with a totally different objective.Madhup Mudgal, a teacher at Gandharv Maha Vidyalaya Delhi.He was intent on revealing the beauty of the raga.Everything else was secondary .Kamod, Sree Kalyan, Miya Malhar,Darbari Kanada ?

At 10 Pm i was flying home on my Bike....



My Choices :
Canteen of the season
AT NARADA GANA SABHA-
For its
Sweet dish -Makhmalpuri

Quote of the Season (Overheard)
Two guys discussing an artist with name Salem **** I could not catch it.
? when I heard him two years ago he was so original .Now he has just become a copy of semmnagudi.I am tempted to present him with a snuff box to make the picture complete?.

Meeting of the Season-with Prashanth ?who wanted to meet me in Flesh and Blood..

Telephone Friend of the Season-Kaumaram-he pampered me with so many invitations to Concerts.

Telephone Friend-Long distance ? of the season ?Param Bombay

(I am waiting for those Lec Dem Tracks of T Upendran)


Concerts apart, I had the privilege of
a) meeting Mysore Nagraj/ Manjunath twice , over lunch and breakfast on separate days.
b) Sowmya at my place when we shared some music .

Absolutely simple people who did not mind coming down to my place for discussing issues related to CM.The discussions threw up a lot of questions which will interest all of us .So watch out for this space !
For the time being we are pausing at a point where I have been invited to their place to share , pick up and even involve them in any kind of interactions which will be meaningful to music enthusiasts like us.

They were very keen to acknowledge that Forums like these were an exciting way of performing a social function of bringing us together.
Who knows , a year down the road we may be sharing?Lec-dems+snapshots of our meetings? captured on video and uploaded here?

Exciting days ahead..


And now I will wait for the other accounts of the Season.

param
Posts: 255
Joined: 21 Oct 2005, 14:19

Post by param »

My Choices...:rolleyes:Telephone Friend-Long distance ? of the season ?Param Bombay
(I am waiting for those Lec Dem Tracks of T Upendran)
Coolji,

What I mentioned to you were lesson tracks - not lec dem tracks - all members listed here - especially other disciples of Upenji are sure to be wondering - "Lec Dec Tracks???" and that too of T Upendran????????

Need some softwares to start with.......:rolleyes:

After that all these tracks are yours - I promise.

Best wishes for the new year - btw - what did you treat your friends with this time?

param
Posts: 255
Joined: 21 Oct 2005, 14:19

Post by param »

Coolji,

Thanks for nominating me for the award under the category

Telephone Friend - Long Distance - of the season.

Param

coolkarni

Post by coolkarni »

Post Script.

This year gave me an opportunity to understand how a CM rasika ripens with age.

Twenty Five Years ago , When I was new to CM, I had a symbiotic relationship with a CM Enthusiast.I was is HM Guide and vice Versa.

He would pull me to concerts all over the place and as a majestic todi or saveri ,would unfold, He would whisper to me granduer of the scenes at his ancestral place .. the agraharams, the petromax illumination, crowds waiting for karaikurchi to arrive and start playing at the temple ,(but he was not to be found easily) and that great music filling the night... That used to give me the goosebumps , until he came to point where he had to face his dad at home with a stick in hand , for a breach of Code of Conduct !!

Twenty Five Years later, this was my first season with him after our careers ensured that we stayed in different cities.

Now It is the same again .Only that the subject matter has changed.

"Hey Come here" he calls me often and whispers.. Can you get the beauty of these compositions .How Does Tyagaraja manage to sense these emotions man!!!
"He says -look here-yearning Like an orphaned Girl waiting for the Groom to come and marry her and help her escape her misery --- "
While I am fully submerged in the Reethigowla on display...

Boy i dont even remember the Krithi...

meena
Posts: 3326
Joined: 21 May 2005, 13:57

Post by meena »

Kji

Salem Shriram??? he was mentioned on bboard.

now i dont have a sweet tooth, so canteen of the season 'kara' dish pl.

cmlover
Posts: 11498
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Post by cmlover »

coolkarni

Thanks for the picturesque story with timelines!

Thanks a million for those snippets with that sensitive recorder that has picked up your fidgettings ;-)

Looking forward to more as also from co-attendees!

coolkarni

Post by coolkarni »

CML
so you did not catch me recognising the sruthi bhedam as raga hindola , though you must have heard my friend correcting me to Shudha Dhanyasi.....

cmlover
Posts: 11498
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Post by cmlover »

I do seem to have missed the converation bit but did think it was hindol as you guessed. I am wiser now !

There were a number of wah-wahs but I am not smart enough to understand the subtlities!

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