ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

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CRama
Posts: 2939
Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

Post by CRama »

Team- Abhishek, L.Ramakrishnan (Violin), R.Sankaranarayanan (Mridangam), Chandrasekhara Sarma (Ghatam)

List of songs.
Nada tanumanisam- Chitharanjani
Munduvenuga- Durbar
Mariyadakatayya-Bhairavam
Toline jesina- Sudhabangala (R,S)
Bhajanaseyave- Kalyani (R,S)
Talachintane-Mukhari (R,S)
Koluvayunnade-Devagandhari (R)
Etijanmamidhiha- Varali (R,N,S)
Thani.


This was a brilliant concert from Abhishek and the team. The concert started at 6 P.M.

It was part of a series of thematic concerts billed as Antarkatha organized by Charsur inside the Kapaleeswarar temple. The theme for the day was THYAGARAJA. Accordingly the entire song list was Thyagaraja compositions and the opening song Nadatanumanisam was offering to the Presiding deity of the temple.

Abhishek’s rendering can be termed as excellent. He adopted a new format- well within the tenets of the standard kutchery paddhati. While finishing the raga alapana he seamlessly presented a key phrase of the song in the form of a virutham and then presented the kriti. Some times, the violin was let a go.

The rendering of Abhishek today was very disciplined- with the right mix of volume, bhavam, duration and manodharmam. There was nothing in excess. There was no roller coaster ride.

All the ragams were handled with aplomb- no ambiguity. Alapana of Sudha bangala is not commonly heard in the concert platforms. Talachintane in Mukari is also a rare song. I have heard it only from Balamurali. For Koluvayunnade and Etijanmamidiha, he sang all the charanams with absolute confidence and control. For Etijanmamidiha he sang neraval at Ingitamerigina sangitaloluni and sang swarams at Sagarasayanuni. That sagara first he took from mandhrasthayi- to sync with sagaram. The swarams were brilliant.

The pakkavadyams were excellent. L.Ramakrishnan on the violin was superb. There was some problems with his mike. Actually for us it sounded ok. But may not be for the artistes. It was corrected many times. Then the mike was changed. Now it was very loud for the hall. We had to manage with that. The percussion team was very supportive and embellished the concert well. The thani started at 8 P.M. and I left during the thani. Any forumitewho had been there may kindly list the rest of the songs.

I only felt the absence of a major song in Siva or Ambal when the concert is inside the Kapaleeswarar temple.

kvchellappa
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Joined: 04 Aug 2011, 13:54

Re: ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

Post by kvchellappa »

sarvam brahmamayam.

Sivaramakrishnan
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Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Unable to resist temptation to hear music in Kapalishwar temple precincts, I made a last minute decision to travel from my far off place knowing that I may miss a couple of songs. But I already knew CRama would be there to update me. The not-often heard Tolinejesina was in the air when reached the place. And it was a real bonus.

Abhishek sang in gay abandon -if I can describe so- but he never misused the freedom given unto himself. His absolute internalisation of sahitya including 'unsung charana-s' perhaps keeps him in good stead.

Yes, me and CRama shared sort of a disappointment of Abhishek not taking up a main kriti on Lord Shiva instead of Etijanma (varali) which is common. Or he could have chosen 'Isha paahi maam' for Kalyani.

The left-deft hander mridangist was literally over flowing with rhythmic ideas, ably supported by the Ghatamist who is very frequently seen in concert charts of late.

L Ramakrishnan must be the much sought-after violinist for most artists, I think. What a marvellous bowing and way of following the lead artist!

SrinathK
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Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

Post by SrinathK »

Ah, good that someone was there to review the first half of the concert. For due to circumstances I was only able to make it by the time he was starting varALi past 7:45 or so, and I thought he must already be 3 quarters of the way done with the concert.

But he was far from done. There was a lot more. The best part was that I got to sit right up at the front, literally a few feet from stage along with most of the audience. Unfortunately its been over 2 days, and because I failed to recall the song list in time, there are a few gaping holes in my memory (No I didn't note down the list, I should have. I didn't think I'd ever review it). Kindly request someone to correct the needful.

The varALi alapana was nice and compact, though at a few instances at the very beginning he made it sound SubhapantuvarAlish by singing a plain G2 instead of G1 at some places. ETi janma took off from the anupallavi, which highlights a certain feature of Thyagaraja's kritis in that many of them can be sung in this manner.

The tani deserves a special word for R. Sankaranarayan's refreshing and innovative approach to mishra chApu, especially the section he handled in tisra naDai. A very high level of arithmetic and aesthetic skill. A totally farran based korvai completed the icing on the cake. His ideas are remarkable. It was a challenge for Chandrashekara Sharma to follow such a novel approach, but he gave his best and scored well.

That was when Abhishek decided he'll sing till the temple decides to call it a day (which was also the case last time he sang here). And so this followed.

Sri raghuvara apramEya - kAmbhOji - Adi (2 kalai) - with detailed Alapana
shrI rAma jaya rAma - yadukula kAmbhOji - khaNDa chApu - (1/5 eDuppu) - with Alapana

After this, Abhishek reeled off quite a handful of kritis back to back without pause, starting each one as the previous one ended.

(???) - husEni - roopaka (1/2 eduppu) - with Alapana (Due to memory slip and hearing the song for the first time after a long gap, I forgot the song and can't recall it correctly. :oops: Can someone confirm?)
nApAli shrI rAma - shankarAbharaNam - Adi.
shrI rAma shrI rAma shrI manO haramA (???) - sahAna - Adi - Another memory gap. Thyagaraja in fact has a lot of lesser known keertanams to his credit.

patiki hArateerE - suruTTi - Adi (1/2 eDuppu)
nee nAma rUpamulaku - sourAshtramam - Adi (1/2 eDuppu)

The kAmbhOji alApana was all brighAbhishek at his best, and there were some very long brighas as well as passages that dug into kAmbhoji's depths as well. Abhishek's voice was at its best in terms of range and so hitting the ati tara Sa seems to be a routine affair for him. The surprise was what he decided to do with the kriti - he started off on the anupallavi, then turned the charanams into a swara followed by sahitya affair like sri vishwanatham bhajeham of dikshitar, in which he explored it in multiple speeds and naDais. He sang all the unsung charanams for this kriti as well.

The yadukula kAmbhoji kriti was sung in madhyama shruti, with Abhishek announcing that its not usually the practice to sing this raga after kAmbhoji, but he's doing it.

In the husEni alApana, done entirely in madhyama shruti as well, Abhishek conclusively proved that his mastery of mixed voice has no equal. He has an extra octave up there over and above the upper panchamam to explore without any strain and no loss of azhuttam or his trademark brighas or even sounding unnatural. For someone whose natural voice is actually a soft baritone like KVN, he's turned it into a most remarkable instrument that he can thrash around like a race car without straining it.

Even the mangaLam was not exempt from Abhishek's special treatment (it never is, but he manages to find something new in it every time), a few improvised sangatis and rendered at a supersonic speed without any sense of rushing. All in all he must have sung about 16-18 songs in total.

Abhishek sings like a man possessed, one who passionately throws everything he has into the music every single time. In this concert, he managed to balance raga bhava with virtuosity very well. His audience spans age groups, with everyone from kids to music students to other musicians and seniors all in the audience enthralled and very eager to sit as close to the stage as possible.

His creativity isn't limited to just manodharma and ever the experimenter (without making a fuss about it), he seems to find new ideas on presenting krithis as well. Only his lyrical pronunciation (which has got better as on date) trails the rest of his music.

He also appreciates his accompanists and their replies and revels in every moment of his no holds barred approach, and if you might think accompanying him is a most intimidating task (and it is one incredible challenge alright), he also watches out for places where his accompanist might struggle to reproduce his impromptu calculations in swaras and steps in to help them find the dot as well, his laya skill allowing him to do anything without hesitation.

Some have criticized him for being too brawny and not having enough bhAva, but then Abhishek isn't one to make you weep. He overwhelms with his masculine exuberance and cerebral brilliance and it is best to let his evolution take the natural course. Let's clear the air one one thing - his music is full of aesthetics and today the rAga bhAva also didn't lag behind. It's just not the toe the line safe, restrained, traditional one. In fact most male singers are like him only, but we haven't seen the equivalent of an F1 driver in CM for a while.

He is definitely going to become the GNB of this generation, no doubt. As for me, I better keep that pen and notepad in handy from now on...

On a side track, after so much debate and controversy in the name of Thyagaraja and so much talk and articles in the papers about his dominance in CM and whether his lyrics matter or what not, or the <cough> "...socio-lingusitic-cultural-national-historical-economic-abstract-religious-political-caste-communal-psycho-media-pure art-liberal-left-right-center-inclusiveness-whatsapp-Facebook - & what not aspects of music, :mrgreen:, it was shockingly refreshing to simply sit without breaking your head over it and simply enjoy a concert only on Thyagaraja kritis!

If only to remind us that we sometimes forget the simplicity of just listening to the music instead of thinking and talking so much about it - and in this age of so much TV and social media we have totally forgotten it. I wished though that isha pAhimam or siva siva siva enarAda should have been on the list, but still, an excellent concert by "brighAbhishek" for almost 3 and a half hours!
Last edited by SrinathK on 28 Aug 2018, 11:15, edited 2 times in total.

CRama
Posts: 2939
Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

Re: ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

Post by CRama »

Srinath, Thanks for doing the second half of the concert. I never expected that I will be missing so much of the wonderful concert. Because of bus travel issues and food schedule, I left at 8.05 P.M. I also did not take any note, as I never thought of reviewing the concert. From my memory, today I posted the review.

Sree Raghuvaraprameya- There is a patantharam of the song in which swaram for each charanam is sung- just like a Pancharathna kriti- and that too in two speeds. There is an LP record of Radha Jayalakshmi singing this and D.K.Jayaraman also used to sing like this. However, R.K.Srikantan never used to sing the swaram.

Huseni song- Was it Raghuveera Ranadheera.

A concert of exclusive Thyagaraja Kritis will be always enchanting. I had earlier written in this forum also. No arguement by any self styled intelligentsia can take away the greatness of Thyagaraja.

Abhishek and the entire team excelled in presenting a pristine music with the right proportion of bhavam, imagination, exhuberance and dedication.

Sachi_R
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Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

Post by Sachi_R »

Guys, a great set of reports. Thanks!
I agree 100% with your observations especially about the quality and energy of this redoubtable musician.

Honestly, the bar set by GNB has long since been crossed and this chap is a new species. Nobody else like him.

I have done a loooong interview with him long back which was published. I found him to be humble and a keen learner. Never for him the balderdash of brash brainless innuendoes about Brahmins and Beef and Thyagaraja and Todhunternagar Church.

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

Re: ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

Post by rajeshnat »

SrinathK wrote: 27 Aug 2018, 19:25
After this, Abhishek reeled off quite a handful of kritis back to back without pause, starting each one as the previous one ended.

(???) - husEni - roopaka (1/2 eduppu) - with Alapana (Due to memory slip and hearing the song for the first time after a long gap, I forgot the song and can't recall it correctly. :oops: Can someone confirm?)
nApAli shrI rAma - shankarAbharaNam - Adi.
shrI rAma shrI rAma shrI manO haramA (???) - sahAna - Adi - Another memory gap. Thyagaraja in fact has a lot of lesser known keertanams to his credit.
few years back i wrote a review of Abhishek in kilpauk concert , this must be the medley
6. Medley of krithis in nA pAli shree rAma - kurinji + shree rAma shree rAma- sahana + rama jogi - kamas and again few lines of nA pAli
check for more details viewtopic.php?f=13&t=23854

Thank you -srinath and crama for a lovely review. 3 and half hours of abhishek must have been a joy.

ram1999
Posts: 534
Joined: 26 Nov 2015, 17:20

Re: ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

Post by ram1999 »

CRama wrote: 27 Aug 2018, 20:26 Srinath, Thanks for doing the second half of the concert. I never expected that I will be missing so much of the wonderful concert. Because of bus travel issues and food schedule, I left at 8.05 P.M. I also did not take any note, as I never thought of reviewing the concert. From my memory, today I posted the review.

Sree Raghuvaraprameya- There is a patantharam of the song in which swaram for each charanam is sung- just like a Pancharathna kriti- and that too in two speeds. There is an LP record of Radha Jayalakshmi singing this and D.K.Jayaraman also used to sing like this. However, R.K.Srikantan never used to sing the swaram.

Huseni song- Was it Raghuveera Ranadheera.

A concert of exclusive Thyagaraja Kritis will be always enchanting. I had earlier written in this forum also. No arguement by any self styled intelligentsia can take away the greatness of Thyagaraja.

Abhishek and the entire team excelled in presenting a pristine music with the right proportion of bhavam, imagination, exhuberance and dedication.
The kambhoji masterpiece is sung without swarams by the dhanmmal school, Pinakapani school etc. I guess therefore that this should be the authentic version! This is as per the notations of Rangaramanuja Iyengar which should be the dhannammal bani. Voleti's rendition is beautiful. I prefer this kriti sung without swarams. The rendition with swarams does sound a bit jarring to me !

Sivaramakrishnan
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Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 08:29

Re: ABHISHEK RAGHURAM IN KAPALEESWRAR TEMPLE- 25/8/18

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Alternating Swara & Sahitya stanzas in such kritis are a delight to percussionists as they offer the following facilities :

*Chance for upa - pakkavadyam artists to play solo for passages taking turns with the lead percussionist

* scope to display 'poruttham' at 'take off' points in swara - sahitya phrases

* availability of more 'hands-on time' to exhibit rhythmic skills

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