Dr. S. Sowmya at SFAS - 17th August 2018

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arunsri
Posts: 249
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 13:07

Dr. S. Sowmya at SFAS - 17th August 2018

Post by arunsri »

Dr. S. Sowmya - Vocal
Shri. R.K. Shriram Kumar - Violin
Poongulam Shri. Subramaniam - Mridangam
Sri. Chandrasekhara Sharma - Ghatam

Ms. Ranjani Sivakumar - Tambura

17th August 2018, Shanmukhananda Sabha, Mumbai

6:40 PM to 9:25 PM

First of the 6 concerts as part of Carnataka Sangeetha Pon Mazhai Vizha

1. sAmi nI tODi - panthuvarALi varnam -Adi - rangasAmi naTTuvanAr
2. EntabhAgya - sArangA - Adi - thyAgarAja (S at pallavi)
3. mAyuranAtham - dhanyAsi - mishra chApu - muthuswAmy dIkshitar (R, S at pallavi)
4. bhOgIndra shAyinam - kuntalavarALi - khaNDa chApu - swAti thirunAL
5. dEvi brOva - chintAmaNi - Adi - shyAma sAstry (R, N, S at pallavi)
6. tani Aavartanam
7. kaNNan mALigaikku - aTANA - Adi - pApanAsam sivan {from the movie kuchEla}
8. RTP nATakuranji - 'mazhaiyE vAn mazhaiyE pOdum viDu, unakku yaEn inda kOpam' - khaNDa tripuTa (2) + rAgamAlika swaras in dIpakam, sUryA, vasantA (RKSK), sUryakAntam, vIravasantam (RKSK) and madhyamAvati
9. kAdalenum - khamAs - Adi - subrahmaNya bhArati (verses from dEhi mudam dEhi)
10. chidambaram pOgAmal - chEnchuruTi - Adi - gOpAlakrishna bhArati
11. tuLLumaDa - tiruppugazh in hamsAnandi - Adi - ArunagirinAthar
12. mangaLam

A scholarly, invigorating concert from Dr. Sowmya, despite a very bad throat and congestion. The vidwat and creativity helped her to navigate a bad voice. How else can one explain daring choices of dhanyAsi, chintAmaNi and nATakuranji all in one concert? They were done with much finesse, ease and sophistication. ChintamaNi was a tight rope walk with bhairavi, shanmukhapriyA round the corner! The neraval was done like a pallavi and the swaras were a lesson in the raga. The myriad combinations of poruttams were a delight. Same can be said of the dhanyAsi raga and swaras. The various endings in gAndhAram and panchamam for swaras at mAyuranAtham were cerebral and had the audience lapping it all up. Vintage Sowmya here.

The pallavi, I am sure would have been composed a couple of days ago on the kEraLa rain havoc was highly creative. Goes to show that even such lyrics are very much acceptable and sung in CM. There is no religion or God in this line, goes to show there is NO special need to sing on a particular God/religion to 'attract' people to CM. The ragamalika swaras were in rAgas which gave the idea of light, fire, heat and 'spring season' quite contrary to what monsoon brings. A classic example of innovation and thought without defying or compromising on convention.

Great job by the sidemen, supporting Sowmya through their playing... RKSK was an asset as usual. The experienced percussion duo matched her in all her vocal surprises. Not a mean task.

All in all a superlative effort.

Mention must be made of the aTANA kriti from the movie kuchEla. The kriti is by pApanAsam sivan. What an exquisite piece!!, some of the pidis and jArus gave me goosebumps. Would really appreciate the sahitya for the same. Searched it, not there anywhere online. A recording from the movie, would be a bonus.

Pallavi structure for those interested:

Start of pallavi 2 aksharam after samam in a 36 beat cycle.

mazhaiyE - 5
vAn - 2
mazhaiyE - 5
pO - 3
dum - 2
vi - 1
Du - 5 (arudi)
unakku - 2
yaEn - 3
inda - 3
kOpam - 5

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

Re: Dr. S. Sowmya at SFAS - 17th August 2018

Post by HarishankarK »

Nice, apt pallavi by the vidushi in view of the worst situation in Kerala

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

Re: Dr. S. Sowmya at SFAS - 17th August 2018

Post by rajeshnat »

arunsri wrote: 18 Aug 2018, 00:54
Ms. Ranjani Sivakumar - Tambura

8. RTP nATakuranji - 'mazhaiyE vAn mazhaiyE pOdum viDu, unakku yaEn inda kOpam' - khaNDa tripuTa (2) + rAgamAlika swaras in dIpakam, sUryA, vasantA (RKSK), sUryakAntam, vIravasantam (RKSK) and madhyamAvati
Nice pallavi line with a great spread of composers.

ArunSri
Is Ranjani Sivakumar who also goes with the name Ranjani Sivakumar Siddareddy(student of Pantula and is in the forum with the id ahiri) or is that a different ranjani sivakumar

Anusha
Posts: 124
Joined: 19 May 2006, 13:50

Re: Dr. S. Sowmya at SFAS - 17th August 2018

Post by Anusha »

arunsri wrote: 18 Aug 2018, 00:54 8. RTP nATakuranji - 'mazhaiyE vAn mazhaiyE pOdum viDu, unakku yaEn inda kOpam' - khaNDa tripuTa (2) + rAgamAlika swaras in dIpakam, sUryA, vasantA (RKSK), sUryakAntam, vIravasantam (RKSK) and madhyamAvati
Wow! Wonderful pallavi line.

shankarank
Posts: 4043
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Dr. S. Sowmya at SFAS - 17th August 2018

Post by shankarank »

arunsri wrote: 18 Aug 2018, 00:54 The pallavi, I am sure would have been composed a couple of days ago on the kEraLa rain havoc was highly creative. Goes to show that even such lyrics are very much acceptable and sung in CM. There is no religion or God in this line, goes to show there is NO special need to sing on a particular God/religion to 'attract' people to CM.
Newspapers use the term Rain Gods many times! English can be a worse language sometimes.

There is a video somewhere in the lounge - where the DK Atheist is critiquing paarpaneeyam ( his word for Hindu!) - he will later use Hindu as defined only in the Constitution, to refer to rest of the people. He had a serious of questions:

mazhai kaDavuLAkumA? - can rain be god?
mozhi kaDavuLAkumA? - can a language be God?
etc.

EVR was dead against the tamizh thai ( tamizh mother goddess ) imagery. This is truly Indic , if not Hindu. Feminine as goddess is not present anywhere else except the pre-historic cultures!

You have to do a good pUrva-paksh ( study of the other!) of other perpectives to understand your own sometimes.

If we made our deities equal to God , then we are no different and we will speak their language!
Last edited by shankarank on 19 Aug 2018, 08:11, edited 2 times in total.

shankarank
Posts: 4043
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Dr. S. Sowmya at SFAS - 17th August 2018

Post by shankarank »

tantra was a late entrant into the pan-indic culture now considered part of Hinduism.

But when reading SrI muttusvAmi diskhitars composition , we only see the God subrahmaNya , because we worship him in form today. The kriti however mentions the subrahmaNya in deep hamsa dyAna in mAlini manDala of SrI cakra , observing the kAdi vidya ( matmaka kAdi matAnuSHTAnO!) towards the divine mother!

How can God worship another Godess?? or be in meditation?? These are non sensical statements in any religion!!

'ka' is the first syllable a child gets from his/her mother. Until then child cries only vowels!
Last edited by shankarank on 19 Aug 2018, 08:12, edited 1 time in total.

shankarank
Posts: 4043
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Dr. S. Sowmya at SFAS - 17th August 2018

Post by shankarank »

Suki sivam explained in one talk. He had named his grand daughter as varshini. Somebody asked him why not a tamizh name. He replied the mAri in mAri-amman refers to rain!

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