Suryaprakash@Nanganallur NSTSS On Dec 31st,2017

[rajeshnat]

Suryaprakash@Nanganallur NSTSS On Dec 31st,2017
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Vocal: Suryaprakash
Violin : BU Ganesh Prasad
Mrudangam : KMS Mani (who is his guru and whose school he belongs to?)
Madipakkam Gopalakrishnan : kanjira

Concert Type : Nirvana - No concert to follow
Day/Duration : Sunday/ 2 hours and 30 + mins
Concert Type: Free Concert
Hall : Nanganallur sadguru thyagaraja samajam

1. Came late..(some one can fill the missing numbers)
2. ninnarul iyambalagumo (R,N,S) - kAmavardhini (pantuvarali) - papanasam Sivan
4 mins neraval in innal kooTi inbam ooti indrajAlam vitthai kAtti??
Swaras

I came in 5 to 10 mins late and that was the only major disappointment of me not attending on time. As i entered he just began the krithi ninnarul iyambalagumo in pantuvarali . I just googled to find that DK jayaraman has taken this krithi . I have not heard this krithi in any medium and it was superb, especially the finish line of neraval of indrajAlam vithai kAtti was applicable to a bright start of pantuvarali . Nice to know a rare papanasam sivan krithi is getting traction. There was a bit of irritation for me in sound setup as mrudangam right and violin was higher than vocal but it got settled . I was surprised when many in the front side of audience said it was ok despite they having speakers, but with few near me conveying less volume the flip of sound between vocal and violin/mrudangam was both swapped and the overall volume was trimmed. Nanganallur audience has a widest range of aural mean.

3.kadalE vAdu (R,S) -narayanagowlai - T
3 mins alapana and 2 mins violin return
2 mins swaras

Lovely alapana of narayanagowlai was sung briefly and the chitoor subramania pillai /madurai somu popularized krithi was sung very well . Swaras were bit short considering what is coming bit latter I think it was ok.

4. neerajAkshi kAmAkshi (R,CS ,CS) - hindOlam - MD
9 mins alapana and 3 mins violin return

What an outstanding alapana in hindOlam , crowd gave huge rounds of applause for both suryaprakash and the crisp violin return of bugp for alapana . See the minutes of violin accompaniment , bug prasad is bug free prasad. My first orientation of this chowka kAlam dikshitar masterpiece in a live concert was when TK Govinda rao sang this in a live concert, then i heard prasanna venkatraman who sings very well this number. Then i downloaded the musiri source of neerajAkshi which brought me tears. What a joy to hear this masterpiece krithi . To sing chowkakAlam just with the controlled aggression of voice power without losing an iota of sowkhyam was wonderful aesthetics exhibited by suryaprakash.May i know who is the genius who put two rounds of cittaswaras for this neerajakshi dikshitar krithi, they are fantafabulous showing the clear distinct facets of hindOlam. For this alone the concert was worth it

5.kA vA vA (S) - varAli - psivan
swaras for 4 mins
Slow followed by Fast is best demonstrated by this school .Crowd lapped up the sarvalaghu downpour patterns .

[rajeshnat]

6A. chakkani rAjA ( R N S T) - kharaharapriya - T
16 mins alapana and 5 mins violin return
14 mins neraval in kantiki sundara taramagu rupave
13 mins swaras
What a joy to hear sadguru created raga - kharaharapriya. Near equal credit to Bug free prasad his returns are so intensely carnatic and he never gives one phrase of non carnatic distraction sangathi. Suryaprakash was unfettered, with the crowd waiting breathlessly upon the next stage of development be it raga,krithi, neraval or a swaraprastara . The bAni was intensely ganakaladhara but with very personalized manodharma.

6B.tani for 11 mins

7. MEgaragamaliga composition - devargal arul seidharAgangalE - hamsanadam + nattai + kalyani+ bhairavi + ranjani + Simm madhyamam + tOdi + darbar + shyamA + dhanyasi + bilahari+ kharaharapriya + rasikapriya+ shanmughapriya +atana + saramathi + kApi + Abhogi + pooornashadjam + kAMbodhi + sindhubhairavi + mohanam + sooryakantham + madhyamavati - Suryaprakash

There was one excellent showmanship of clubbing multiple ragas in thamizh that was way back in 1980s. That was sarangangan maruganE that maharajapuram Santhanam sang the composer was yaazhpaanam veeramani iyer . That composition was crafting lovely lines with a meaning only and raga name getting embedded. Suryaprakash as a vaggeyakkara took a step where not only meaning is there with segments of ragamaliga line but he has also crafted intellingently the lines of popular krithis and ragas - a 3d effect of raga name , krithi touch points and meaningful phrase for a ton load of ragas . For eg phrases like kApi alikkum inta sowkhyathirkku eeduedhu....shyamalanai ninaithu manadu sancharittu etc it is one of a kind . The combo of composer-performer should be demonstrated on the three primary facets of Music, Poetry and Bhakthi which is what we need in CM . Many mess the order bit differently,I prefer the same order in compositions with a descending sequence of Music,Poetry and Bhakthi.Audience were way too excited with diffent segments with few rounds of claps inbetween for many segments .This song could be a testimony for futuristic vidwans and vidushis to showcase Music, Poetry and Bhakthi.

8. thiruppugazh - hamsAnandi - AGN
9. vAzhiya senthamizh - madhyamavati
Customary close nothing much to add

Few words about accompanist
---------------------------
BU ganesh Prasad is an asset his play has azhuttam that is so omnipresent like his guru jAmbhavan V V S .BUG keeps playing clean carnatic sangathis , he gives a more higher level of clarity to me with his pointed crisp ragabhavam . I have never heard this vidwan Trichur K M S Mani , he played well for sure(May i know his school and guru).His Patterns were going well with the krithi and overall there is focus , i liked his play especially in long patterns of neraval in KHP and the chowka kala neerajAkshi. Madipakkam Gopalakrishnan in kanjira never robbed the sowkhyam by excessively playing with mrudangam but he had enough to showcase as the main krithis was a super big main krithi chakkani raja . Chakkani raga gives a lot of rotation to percussionists as sangathis are usually copious.

Nanganallur crowd is mostly attentive and Nanganallur Ramanathan and other sabha patrons whose names i dont know have a very high zeal to conduct concerts .The zeal got transmitted to the performing team. My experience in nanganallur with few artists like abhishek, sanjay , suryaprakash , sandeep, vijaysiva,sangeetha swaminathan and few more i forgot their names in nanganallur pockets are always great . I am assuming since many patrons especially are all musicians there is a drive for musicians to also to respect the vidwat of those senior artists like Nanganallur Ramanathan etc . Also at the same time a degree of higher janaranjakam is there as the crowd is far far more than other places.

Overall an excellent concert for 2 hours and 30 + minutes.

[sankark]

He is performing in Madipakkam Satsangam under the banner of Papanasam Sivan Sangeetha Sabha, tomorrow 3/Jan/2018 6:45 pm

[Jigyaasa]

7 sounds like one of those ragattil siranda rAgamedu type compositions (Nithyasree sings it as one of her choice tukkaDas) that are structured as rAgamAlikAs simply to appeal to lay audiences.

Just stringing together a bunch of rAgas into sAhitya taken straight from the most popular compositions in them seems like the ultimate 'janaranjaka' idea...

In fact, there was a rAgamAlika discussion at some point where these were classified under an amusing title I can't recollect now!

[sureshvv]

2. ninnarul iyambalagumo (R,N,S) - kAmavardhini (pantuvarali) - papanasam Sivan

Isn't this a "rip off" of "ninne nera namminaanura"? Think I have heard this before from a different artiste.

[parivadini]

MS's neraval for this Pantuvarali kriti is legendary

[rajeshnat]

7 sounds like one of those ragattil siranda rAgamedu type compositions (Nithyasree sings it as one of her choice tukkaDas) that are structured as rAgamAlikAs simply to appeal to lay audiences.

Just stringing together a bunch of rAgas into sAhitya taken straight from the most popular compositions in them seems like the ultimate 'janaranjaka' idea...

In fact, there was a rAgamAlika discussion at some point where these were classified under an amusing title I can't recollect now!

Jigyaasa,
No No not at all . I have heard Nithyashree sing ragathill shirandha which has muse only in parts , in many places words are just stitched like kaveri pol oDum saveriya , that number has a dramatic solomon pappaya pattimram ending declaring you have to sing with shruthi and layam or some thing like that . Great effort by composer cuddalore subramaniam but prose takes precedence over muse.Cuddalore subramaniam only connects experience of raga in emotions with words there is no hidden connection of popular krithi and the turns were way too quick. I also wish i heard one more musician other than nithyashree singing that number that would have been lovely to me .

This one devargal arul seida is quite an ingenious arrangement by Suryaprakash. Ofcourse all of this makes sense only when u got to listen to it to get the full aesthetics that is synergized out of the constituent parts. There is undelying melody and detecting aesthetic relationships with its consonance , dissonance and contrast in words say that is X axis coupled with exhiliration,serenity and exotic rasa say that is Y Axis. Just to give an example not 100% sure with words the lines were shanmughapriyanukku thanthai thAi irunthal sArangan theduvAnO arunAchalanai(with raga of shanmughapriya which favours exhilaration and sarangA continues with its own heavy muse ) , rasika priyam pera aruL seyya vendinEn (with raga of rasikapriya which has a touch of exotic vivadi s kalyanaraman effect) and antha shyamalanai ninainthu manadu sancharikka (with raga of shyama which has a touch of serenity).

Have you heard Nee than thunai (starting in neelambari ragamaliga)sung by s kalyanaraman and ML Vasanthakumari singing vishwanatham bhajeham or Paarkadai alaimelE in nice pace of transition of ragamaligas. Then you may like this too is my best guess.

Bottomline dont compare ragathill shiranda and devargal arul seidha in aesthetics .As i said the descending order of music, prose and bhakthi is critical , you juxtapose these 3 in different order aesthetics gets bit fractured.

[Jigyaasa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xb4ceKwIQI

I have heard this before. We can agree to disagree, I suppose. The incorporation of rAgamudrAs in bhaktan yAsittu dhyAnamE seidu, oppillA hari and sAramadil teLindu is interesting but the rest of it is pretty straightforward - too straightforward...

[arasi]

Suryaprakash's imagination and aesthetics are something I admire. He is evolving all the time. Add to it the asset of his voice. How he has refined his art in the past years is also noteworthy. I'm happy to say so. I'm not playing jAlrA because he has sung my songs in a CD and sings a few occasionally in his performances (while I may have to wait another century before my songs are picked up to be sung, if at all
Of course, past musical experience is a sound base to build our rasanA on, but it doesn't bar us from being receptive to the present music. In the past too, some did break barriers, bringing in the new, now classics--MMI for instance?

Back to Suryaprakash: his only bane with some staunch old school rasikas is that he gave concerts of popular old golden hits of SG Kittappa and others in a few concerts and in a recording years ago. Some may also think that a voice like his belongs only in popular music High time those who don't lend a ear to him go listen to him...

[Jigyaasa]

I'm not sure if this was directed towards me but if so, just two points:

1) Suryaprakash is a successful Carnatic musician and has certainly established himself over the years. He attempts expansive manOdharama on uncommon rAgas and expresses his creativity in multiple ways.

The disagreement was exclusively around the particular song and epitomizing it as a

testimony for futuristic vidwans and vidushis to showcase Music, Poetry and Bhakthi.

I have heard his concerts on Youtube and can appreciate some of the renditions unreservedly. Different people have different tastes in terms of the voices they like, the artists they listen to, the reasons they attend a 'Carnatic' concert, the songs they enjoy hearing etc.

I am, however, dubious of how rajeshnat consistently rates Suryaprakash's concerts "excellent" while practically every other artist reviewed is usually on a spectrum of performance. The bias seems a bit obvious.

2) Segueing from the end of 1,

blah blah...

playing jAlrA because he has sung my songs in a CD

...blah blah

Of course, people have every right to promote themselves by the sheer volume of their posts on the forum and other means, or their creations

cakkani rAjamArgamuluNDaga sandula dUranEla O manasA...

[sureshvv]

cakkani rAjamArgamuluNDaga sandula dUranEla O manasA...

If you are on a highway an SUV may be ideal. If you are in a "sandu" a bicycle will be best.

The set of kritis chosen for a particular concert also depends on the audience at the venue. This may be a case of satisfying the audience (won't use the "p" word, as that is elitist).

[Jigyaasa]

The set of kritis chosen for a particular concert also depends on the audience at the venue.

Covered under

the reasons they attend a 'Carnatic' concert, the songs they enjoy hearing etc.

[rajeshnat]

The disagreement was exclusively around the particular song and epitomizing it as a

testimony for futuristic vidwans and vidushis to showcase Music, Poetry and Bhakthi.

I have heard his concerts on Youtube and can appreciate some of the renditions unreservedly. Different people have different tastes in terms of the voices they like, the artists they listen to, the reasons they attend a 'Carnatic' concert, the songs they enjoy hearing etc.

I am, however, dubious of how rajeshnat consistently rates Suryaprakash's concerts "excellent" while practically every other artist reviewed is usually on a spectrum of performance. The bias seems a bit obvious.

These were the spectrum in the last few months

Suryaprakash@PS High School on Sept 18th,2017 was Overall a very good concert

Jayanthi Kumaresh@Chennai Fine Arts on Dec 23rd,2017 was Overall an excellent concert
Abhishek Raghuram@Narada Gana Sabha on Dec 27th,2017 was Overall an excellent concert
Ramakrishnan Murthy@MusicAcademy On Dec 28th,2017 was Overall an excellent concert

TNS Krishna@parivAdini on Dec 3rd,2017 was Overall an excellent to outstanding concert.(in the highest spectrum)

Please donot doubt the overall intent and donot atrribute motives with your own misreading .

Nowadays internet and youtube clippings are curated well, you have to invest in gadgets, right placements of recording devices and most importantly you have to also edit and only put relevant clips that has preferably great pakkavadyam . Also snatches of gimmicks and rousing applause some genuine/some not are all needed. Some artists do it well. In terms of quality internet marketing Suryaprakash is not even close to where some of his peers are doing with panache.

May be you had access so far only with YouTube stuff, just listen to his live concert and please pass your comment, even on the 'janaranjaka' ragamalika (if ever he sings that). That number with a a fairly heavy classical effect was felt in that Nanganallur concert and mine was a factual reporting, not a biased one. Suryaprakash has a more strengthened base voice gravitas this season, I saw the marked rise in his audiences too live in the concerts I attended.

[sureshvv]

I am, however, dubious of how rajeshnat consistently rates Suryaprakash's concerts "excellent" while practically every other artist reviewed is usually on a spectrum of performance. The bias seems a bit obvious.

1. Rajesh usually provides more than enough evidence for his ratings.

2. All of us who write here have our biases. Some are just more upfront and unapologetic about it.

[ram1999]

I'm happy to say so. I'm not playing jAlrA because he has sung my songs in a CD and sings a few occasionally in his performances (while I may have to wait another century before my songs are picked up to be sung, if at all

[devan]

I believe that. My sincere wish that he will get sk.within 5 years. On that concert he will sing arasi's composition. And rajesh will write a great review.

[kvchellappa]

It can get as low as that or even worse. What a blot!

[Sivaramakrishnan]

In fact Cuddalore Subramaniam's ' Ragathil sirandha ragam ethu' popularised by Nithyasree has helped many rasikas to identify ragas. Surprisingly no other vocalist sings it!!

[Vocalist]

In fact Cuddalore Subramaniam's ' Ragathil sirandha ragam ethu' popularised by Nithyasree has helped many rasikas to identify ragas. Surprisingly no other vocalist sings it!!

Actually, Maharajapuram Srinivasan also does sing that composition. A commercial recording was released, but another recording of his is available on Sangeethapriya.

[harimau]

Suryaprakash's imagination and aesthetics are something I admire. He is evolving all the time. Add to it the asset of his voice. How he has refined his art in the past years is also noteworthy. I'm happy to say so. I'm not playing jAlrA because he has sung my songs in a CD and sings a few occasionally in his performances ....

Engappan kudhirukkulla illai!

Sorry, couldn't resist that!

(while I may have to wait another century before my songs are picked up to be sung, if at all

The Academy is rolling in money. Otherwise, a couple of lakhs of rupees would have gotten your picture on the wall a la some royal "composer". Today, a couple of million dollars wouldn't be enough, though guanxi may still get Ambujam Krishna's picture to decorate the auditorium.

Oops, I shouldn't be giving ideas to the folks in power.

[kvchellappa]

True to your solemn assurance, Harimau.
How much more rancid mau is left?

[harimau]

True to your solemn assurance, Harimau.
How much more rancid mau is left?

Look up the classification of vaggeyakaras as utthama, madhyama and adhama vaggeyakaras.

Then figure out where in that category you fit a person who didn't write the lyrics, didn't set the raga or tala, and didn't set the varna mettu.

One may have to invent a new category.

Sometimes, truth doesn't sit too well with people.

[kvchellappa]

You have got a wrong dictionary; filth is not truth. If you consistently look only at filth, that is what will come out. What is in chetti only will come in aappai.