AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Review the latest concerts you have listened to.
Post Reply
rajeshnat
Posts: 9907
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by rajeshnat »

AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018
--------------------------------------------------------
Clarinet : AKC Natarajan
Nagaswaram Support : Munikumar

Violin : Suresh Kumar (grandson of violinist govindaswamy Naicker)
Mrudangam : Chennai SankaraSubramanian
KanjirA : SunilKumar
Morsing : Deenadayulu

Concert Type : Nirvana - no concert to follow
Day/Duration : Wednesday/ 1 hour and 25 mins
Concert Type : Free concert
Temple/Hall : BVB Main
Occasion : Honouring Carnatic Legends as part of BVB 60th diamond jublee celebrations

1. valaci valaci - navaragamaliga varnam - Patnam
2. teratiyagarAdA - gowlipantu -T
3. amrithavarshini or mandari - did not get the no ??? - some one can help

4. idathu padam thooki(R) - kamas - psivan
6 mins alapana and 2 mins violin return

5. sarasa sAma dhAna - kApinarayani - T
6. mA jAnaki (R) - kAmbOdhi - T
9 mins alapana and 3 mins violin return

7A.saravana bhava guhanE (R,T)- madhyamavati- psivan
2 mins alapana
7B. tani

8. pArvai ondrE pOdumE - shuruTTi- OVK
9. alai pAyudhE - KanadA - OVK
10. kurai onrum illai - shivaranjani - rajaji

11. Thamarai pootha thAdagamadi - Hindustani gAndhari - Popularized by MM Dhandapani Desigar (Composer dont know- Lji Help??)
12. bho sambhO - revati - Swami dayananda saraswati
13. shankarabharanam note - mmi popularized HMB note

14. niraimadi - hamsanandi - thirruppugazh- AGN
15. mangalam with madhyamavati alapana
Last edited by rajeshnat on 17 Jun 2018, 22:10, edited 1 time in total.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9907
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by rajeshnat »

As part of honoring legends i had a chance to hear AKC Natarajan .AKC Natarajan is just 87 years young and as i entered 20 minutes late i could catch the last few minutes of a video documentary of AKC. As he took some time to get started , i was thinking of me attending the only 1 live concert of his in adayar hamsadhwani. That review is there in this forum in 2008.

AKC Natarajan took a difficult instrument Clarinet .Thru few writeups, I have heard in his early days AKC was bit ostracised in taking a band vadhyam . He surely fought the tides and established his place fighting and getting mindshare with nadaswara vidwans of himalayan stature and perhaps even with all other instrument vidwans/vidushis for the last 7 decades. On a side note when the violinist Suresh kumar conducted about 5 to 6 months back 100th centenary celebrations of govindaswamy naicker , that day when suryaprakash sang a kosalam ragam , I felt i should ask AKC sir then as we both walked out of PS high school . No one was there only he was there with one person to support him apart from me . Feel like sharing that anecdote.

Rajesh asked: Sir neenga kosalam ragam vasippengala sir , implying can you take up kosalam vivadhi raga .
Akc told me : Thambi unakku mandolin srinivas theriyumA , avan vasikAda ragamE illai , enna ragam vasikkardhungarthu vadhyam limitation illa it is more as a limitation of the mind of the vidwan and vidushi

That day he told as a chief guest , I have lost many houses too and only saraswathi devi is with me for ever. I have noticed AKC is very sincere and there is not much air either with his vidwat or no false pretension anywhere anytime.

Moving on AKC Natarajan sir in this concert created an intense classical aura .

Moving on to the concert
-------------------------
His start was in navaragamalika valachi , i am not sure if he played every raga in that ragamaliga , the start was just there ,Nevertheless the blow was in the right groove .I was wondering with the pakkavadhyam of mrudangam, kanjira and Morsing will he get suppressed but it never happened . He moved next to gowlipantu, a bit sedate krithi teratiyagaradha when compared to the other gowlipantu mosabaku . AKC's control in lower and middle registers was extremely good for many sangathis. The next was either amrithavarshini (very likely) or may be mandari. I think he played one of the rare thamizh krithi of Dandapani desigar and he was good there.

What a kamas alapana , he kind of settled in an intensely comforting classical zone from here on . His fingering got more pronounced with the commas krithi and with the slow gait idathu padam thooki aadum was brilliant. THe slow was followed by fast with the defining krithi sarasa sAma dhana. I think he did some neraval here in itavu maata lentho kind of using a lot of movements to give a bit more western band vadhyam feel. i enjoyed sarasa sama dhAna . THe next was a grand kAmbodhi, surely a great choice to play for a 87 year old and he took up air sucking kambodhi krithi Ma janaki . This cluster of idathu padam thooki till vociferous mA jAnaki passing thru sarasa sama dhana was brilliant . AKC showed his intense classical seriousness.

THe main in madhyamavati was well done but certainly censored . Infact the only live concert that i attended before he has taken the same kambodhi and madhyamavati with the same krithi mA janaki and saravana bhava guhanE . Nice flow and madhyamavati stayed entirely classical, I dont think he played swaras in madhyamavati

His tukkadas were well done extremely janaranjakam and he did not pander for the mass. Classical quotient was very high and the vadhyam supremacy was adequately showcased. The clarinet vadhyam tone resembles a bit of nagaswaram , a bit of saxophone , a bit of shennai , he was very much there as a clarinet everest , the tile that AKC natarajan earned from TNR. I particularly loved the dandapani desigar number of thamarai pootha thadagamadi, what a control of melody with power. It is also rare to hear parvai ondre podume in shurutti , shurutti did not take any non classical carnatic shortcut, the sangathis were intensely gayaki styled intense anthakalathu shurutti.

The violinist Suresh Babu played appropriately other than commas alapana he had only fullstop role .The mrudangam artist chennai sankarasubramanian(?m) played like a thavil star with gusto and absolutely no pause and he did not sag with the laya pidippu of AKC . Deenadayulu morsing did not interfere with shruthi. The star accompanist was the kanjira vidwan sunilkumar nice sound and excellent control.

Musicians have to age for sure. I would humbly say there are two categories of ageing musicians . The first category of ageing musicians are more safety net ageing musicians .For these musicians ageing sets in where many musicians plan for longer status quo , kind of way too slowing and losing the grip of layam and also the contours of having musical excitement during concert. Half or may be 80% of the musicians in the last 100 years were like that .

The second category of musicians consciously challenge and make attempts sincerely to fight age , even in their old age they try to show and bring music as how they brought in those days where they were young or in middle age . They fight surely status quo and safety net, AKC Natarajan was more of a second category. In this second category semmangudi srinivasa iyer is the perennial caption.

I had only one disappointment , there was no swaras in the concert . AKC Natarajan still gave intense laya suddham and kept fighting the status quo and kept up the excitement. What else one can say when a 87 year old picks sarasa sama dhana and mA janaki in succession and the joy he brought when he played the near sindhu bhairavi, somewhat near neelamani like krithi thamarai pootha thadagamadi in hindustani gandhari.

Having said that , Is there any one playing clarinet other than AKC. Muni kumar gives nagaswaram support but what about some one picking up clarinet. This instrument does have adequate sound - intrinsically less ear piercing safegaurds and has a great hear sustained nAdham. We have to hear and see the legacy of mahavidwan AKC Natarajan sir thru clarinet.

Overall a very good to excellent concert for about 90 minutes.

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

Re: AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by arasi »

Rajesh,
BVB is to be appreciated for its showcasing 'old is gold' musicians.
I agree about the classical content of AKC's music. I heard him live in Bengaluru when he was a younger elder--in his early eighties. His staid classical playing had liveliness in it, and it was soothing. He was supported in the concert by a younger player (family?) on that occasion. Wonder if braindrain attended that concert. It was at the Indiranagar Sabha. Though far away, I went, wanting to hear him. It was a treat.
tAmarai pUtha thaDAgamaDi is a lovely song. They played this song sung by Desikar often on AIR when we were young.
Yes, would like to know the composer, Lakshman :)

HarishankarK
Posts: 2216
Joined: 27 Oct 2007, 11:55

Re: AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by HarishankarK »

Ennai nee maravadhey Angaiyarkanni - Dandapani Desikar - Amruthavarshini

HarishankarK
Posts: 2216
Joined: 27 Oct 2007, 11:55

Re: AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by HarishankarK »

Ennai nee maravadhey Angaiyarkanni - Dandapani Desikar - Amruthavarshini

Sivaramakrishnan
Posts: 1582
Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

rajeshnat,
The Mridangist must be Tanjavur Sankarasubramaniam based in Thanjavur itself. Yes, he plays boisterously and accompanied the great grand daughters of yesteryear Violin Vidwan V Govondasami naicker at a function in Chennai a few months ago. (You too attended and wrote on the spl concert of R Suryaprakash at the event, IIRC). Sri AKC attended this function held in memory of the Violinist.

I have seen the mridangist playing for Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram on many occasions.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9907
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by rajeshnat »

Sivaramakrishnan wrote: 19 Jun 2018, 09:16 The Mridangist must be Tanjavur Sankarasubramaniam based in Thanjavur itself.
I made a mistake by mixing up .the kanjira artist name does have a chennai tag . I took one or two snaps in my mobile , may be i will push that to the forum soon.Googling now I find the below names.

Mrudangam : Thanjavur G SankaraSubramanian
KanjirA : Chennai Sunil Kumar


jodha
Posts: 146
Joined: 07 Aug 2009, 12:32

Re: AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by jodha »

Khamas kapinarayani and kambodhi in succession.that sounds like a S.Balachander list !

harimau
Posts: 1819
Joined: 06 Feb 2007, 21:43

Re: AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by harimau »

rajeshnat wrote: 17 Jun 2018, 16:49
I had only one disappointment , there was no swaras in the concert .

Having said that , Is there any one playing clarinet other than AKC.
Well, one should have attended the AKC concert at Brahma Ghana Sabha's Nagaswara Tavil Isai Vizha in Jan/Feb of this year.

Not only did AKC play brilliant swaras for several songs, his intricate patterns proved challenging for Munikumar who couldn't reproduce them. AKC Munikumarukku Thanni kamichuttar!

As for clarinet players, several nagaswaram troupes in the villages of Tanjore delta consist of one nagaswaram player and one clarinet player. They are not big names in the Chennai and big city concert circuits but they play for weddings and temple festivals in their hometowns and nearby villages. Even in a Chennai wedding, I heard two nagaswarams and one clarinet.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9907
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: AKC Natarajan@BVB on June 13th,2018

Post by rajeshnat »

harimau wrote: 24 Jun 2018, 08:03
As for clarinet players, several nagaswaram troupes in the villages of Tanjore delta consist of one nagaswaram player and one clarinet player. They are not big names in the Chennai and big city concert circuits but they play for weddings and temple festivals in their hometowns and nearby villages. Even in a Chennai wedding, I heard two nagaswarams and one clarinet.
harimau,
The reverse of Nagaswaram as main and Clarinet as support you have seen . But what about Clarinet as Main and Nagaswaram as support like AKC Natarajan . Is there a tradition of encouraging or even artists who can play Clarinet as a main artist .(Othu voodaradhu is one thing but playing main as another dimension)

Post Reply