Mridangam Arangetram of Saaketh Nandakumar (for vocal of Smt Vasudha Ravi) on Jun 30

[mahesh3]

Mridangam Arangetram of Saaketh Nandakumar, student of Sri Ramesh Srinivasan of Sarvalaghu Percussion Art Center held on June 30th 2018 in Chennai

The Mridangam Arangetram of Master.Saaketh Nandakumar, student of Laya Kala Ratna Sri Ramesh Srinivasan of Sarvalaghu Percussion Art Center, was conducted on June 30th 2018, at Tattvaloka Hall, Teynampet, Chennai.

Concert set was as follows: Smt Vasudha Ravi (Vocal), Sri. R.Raghul (Violin) and Sri. S.V. Ramani (Ghatam). The event was presided over by Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr.M.Chandrasekaran as the chief guest and Cleveland Sri V.V. Sundaram as the guest of honor.

Sri. Ramesh Srinivasan is the leading disciple of Mridangam Maestro Sangita Kalanidhi Shri Vellore G. Ramabhadran. Saaketh, aged 14, is a freshman in Evergreen Valley High School, San Jose, and has been learning from Sri. Ramesh for over 5 years.

Stalwarts such as Vidwan Sri.Vikku Vinayakaram, Vidwan Sri. Mannargudi Eswaran, Sri O.S.Thyagarajan, Sri Tiruchur Mohan, Sri J.Vaidyanathan and many others also graced the occasion and blessed Saaketh.

Concert list as follows:
1- Ninne kori varnam, Vasantha ragam, Adi thalam, Taccūr Singarācāri
2- Rakta Ganapathim, Mohana ragam, Adi thalam, Sri. Muthuswamy Dikshitar
3- Narada Muni, Pantuvarali ragam, Adi thalam tishra nadai, Sri. Thyagaraja
4- Marivere Gathi, Ananda bhairavi ragam, Mishra chapu thalam, Sri. Shyama Shastri
5- Niravadhi sukhada, Ravichandrika ragam, Adi thalam, Sri. Thyagaraja
6- Main - Koluvamaragatha, Thodi ragam, Adi thalam, Sri. Thyagaraja
7- RTP - Madhyamavati Ragam, kanda nadai tisra jathi jhampa talam
8- Tillana - Sindhubhairavi ragam, Adi Thalam, Sri. Lalgudi Jayaraman

Sharing a review received from an attendee:

The concert started with the vasantha ragam varnam “Ninnu Kori” in adi talam. The thisram and melkala thisram within the same avarthanam was rendered with perfection by Smt.Vasudha. The melkalam that followed and the even faster tempo for charanam distinguished the opening for the concert! Ramani sir’s blending in his melkalam on top of this during the charanam was noteworthy! Saaketh’s accompaniment picked the nadai transitions appropriately. After this, Smt.Vasudha sang a brigha laden “Raktha Ganapathim” in Mohanam. The smiles on stage reflected how the artists were enjoying themselves and set the mood for the day. Following the Mohanam was an upbeat “Narada Muni Vedalina” in raga Pantuvarali and in tisra nadai adi talam. The song was set up by a well-appreciated alapanam by Smt. Vasudha and an equally nice one by Sri. Ragul. The elaborate neraval and manodharmams were matched by Sri.Ragul. The percussionists enhanced the manodharmams well. Next, the singer rendered a soulful “Marivere Gathi” in Andhabhairavi and misra chapu, with the mood reflected by the percussionists and violin. Saaketh’s mridangam accompaniment to the song reminded us all about his parama guru Sri. Vellore Ramabhadran, playing what is just right for the song and not overshadowing it. Soon after, the singer went into fast paced “Niravadhi Sukhada”, in raga Ravichandrika and in adi talam, which contrasted well with the Anandabhairavi. Smt. Vasudha threw in a few challenges to the percussionists showing her command of layam which they responded well. Ramani sir’s fast paced ghatam enhanced the song and created a magical experience.
Then, the singer and violinist went into an elaborate aalapanam in Todi ragam, with some Graha Bedham as well. This was followed by Saint Thyagaraja’s masterpiece “Koluvamaregada” in rettakalai adi talam. It had some very creative neraval and swaras, taken from 6 matras before samam in the Charanam at “Tambura Chekkuni”. The thani by the percussionists started with korvais in chatusra nadai. They slowly transitioned into tisram, and then covered misra nadai, and then kanda nadai. The words “Tambura Chekkuni” were mixed into the thani korvais in a very subtle manner. Saaketh demonstrated his fine konnakol skills by reciting konnakol for the one of the korvais which got a lot of applauses. The korraipu was done in kanda nadai, and this slowly changed into chatusram, and the artists went into the mohra and mohra korvai to end the thani. The confidence that Saaketh showed especially in the Koraippu exchange with Ramani Sir who has decades of experience more was commendable.
Subsequently, the artists started the RTP in raga Madhyamavathi, and the pallavi, which was in kanda nadai tisra jathi jhampa talam, had the lyrics from the pallavi of the krithi “Palinchu Kamakshi”. After the singer finished the swaras, the mridangam artist recited the pallavi in trikalam (again earning special applause from the audience), and then played a mohra and an interesting mohra korvai which used the pallavi’s lyrics blend into the song. The thillana, which was a Lalgudi thillana in Sindhu Bhairavi, was very uptempo and fast, with beautiful rendering by the singer. Finally, the artists ended with the mangalam, earning a standing ovation from the packed auditorium.
Saaketh's strong performance and his control of the kaalapramanam was lauded by the chief guest Dr. M.Chandrasekaran. Sri Vikku Vinayakaram praised Saaketh for following in the steps of Sri Vellore Ramabadran and Sri Ramesh Srinivasan, in his debut concert, especially recalling Saaketh's control while reciting the konnakol and during the outstanding thanis. Sri. Sundaram highlighted that Saaketh was able to handle all the difficult swarams and challenges thrown at him during the singer's extraordinary rendition of all the songs. They were all in praise of Guru Sri Ramesh Srinivasan, for spreading Carnatic music in USA and training his students in this Divine art form, in such a manner that they are able to successfully carry the tradition of Sri Vellore Ramabhadran for generations to come. As pointed out by all the veterans “this was not an arangetram, it was a real concert!”, For Saaketh, it was an enriching experience to showcase his capabilities in accompanying senior musicians like Smt. Vasudha, Sri. Raghul and Sri. S.V. Ramani in the presence of many veterans and connoisseurs.

[rajeshnat]

Best wishes to young saaketh, hopefully sanjose ramabadran has just arrived. Tx Mahesh3 for the review

[thanjavooran]

Shri Mahesh,
Thanks for the excellent review. Blessings to Saketh for a bright future.
With wishes,
Thanjavooran
15 08 2018

[carnatican]

Kudos to Saaketh on the successful arangetram, and to his Guru Shri Ramesh Srinivasan. Keep up the passion for our music, and look forward to many more accomplishments down the road.

[SowmyaN]

Dear Rasikas,

Our pranaams and heartfelt gratitude to all of you who have expressed kind words of appreciation and encouragement regarding our son Saaketh’s Mridangam Arangetram. We gratefully salute his Mridangam guru Sri. Ramesh Srinivasan for making his Arangetram such a memorable event. Our gratitude to Smt. Vasudha (Vocal), Sri. R.Raghul (violin) and Sri S.V.Ramani (Ghatam). Saaketh is indeed blessed to have so many well-wishers and we hope that with all of your blessings, he will continue to pursue this great art.

Regards,
Sowmya and Nandu

Here are the youtube video links of the concert:

Koluvamaregada - Thodi- Adi (main)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy_Fc2b ... cS&index=7

RTP- Madhyamavathi- Tisra Jhampa Kanda Nadai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7yMvJZ ... cS&index=8

Complete Arangetram playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROHGaCr ... rei1JXoWcS

[anands]

Got a chance to listen to Saaketh's arangetram concert finally - congratulations on a fantastic job making the guru and the students of his school proud of him! Also good to see makings of his own style - best wishes for many more concerts and December season performances.