Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

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shankarank
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Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by shankarank »

sarasija – mAyamAlava gauLa – Adi – vaRNam, maharAja SrI svAti tiruNaL
svarams in the caraNam.

rItigAuLa – Alapana
tatvamariya taramA – Adi – SrI pApanAsam Sivan neraval? , svarams at matiSEkaran maganE

pURvikalyANi Alapana – more than semi elaborate
ninnuvinAgA maridikkerunnAru – vilOma miSra cApu , SrI SyAma Sastrigal

mIvalla guNAdOShamEmi

mOhanam – Alapana
nanu pAlimpa – Adi – SrI tyAgaraja svAmi neraval @ karamuna cara kOdaNDa kAntitO
tani

simhEndra madyamam – RTP
|| (3/4) ADuvOm pADuvOm koNDADuvOm | (7) puttANDu piran || datena
trikAlam with caturASra triSram as the naDai bhEdam
hahudhAri, sAvEri, bAro krishnayya’s tune. Reverse to finish the svara Kalpana.

kintu ceyvu njAn ninnahO kIravANI sakhi ( My request made just in time) – kalyANI – rUpakam – padam - maharAja SrI svAti tirunAL

ancu mukam tonDril - viruttam - kamas
sentil vaLar sevalanE kanda surar kAvalanE vandaruL dayaparanE vaLLi maNavAlanE vA – triSra gati.
as much as I got the song.

dhanASri tillana – maharAja SrI svAti tirunAL - Adi
Mangalam.

A very impressive performance by Vid. Amrutha Venkatesh with able support of Vid. M Rajeev and Vid. Arjun Ganesh. The energy level was at the get go in the svaraprastAra for the vARNam, and I missed the vaRNam rendition. rIti gauLa was rendered in a brisk pace on the ascent with not too much dwelling anywhere, while she showed some slow down on the descent. She exercises her voice control to the hilt is what I gathered. The kriti rendition set the pace for the concert. She is able to push the syllables around, as they said somewhere, like a batsman who can hit irrespective of ball placement. madhura paripURNa , she touched a lower register in the sangati sequence, not sure whether she reached pa for a svarakshara. In the svarams she rendered ninisa with varing degress of stress, emphasis. Poruttams to mati Sekaran eDuppu, in lower kAlA before getting to higher kAla svaras.

pURvikalyaNi was another level. She again brought her voice control into play. Her brighas are prolific, but graceful. Violin reply by Rajeev Mukundan was equally good. Ninnu vinAga was rendered effectively. Some of the sangatis included a sarigA reach from below into vinAgA , rather than a beat down from above with a pamaga. Very deftly rendered, with Ga pausing plain and mari dikkaveru continuing the svarksharam spree. I have never heard this “Ga” and mari clearly in other renditions. She also excelled in bringing the rhythmic nuances of the kriti varying the syllabic lengths deftly. And she delivered full lines of anupallavi and caraNam in a brisk pace before any repetitions. She left pURvikalyANi to bear it’s own weight without burdening it with her own nerval or svarams.

The concert left ghanam and went into nayam mode. mIvalla was rendered with a sketch of an Alapana prelude. Brisk rendition, with svarams galore to showcase kApi.

mOhanam sounded somewhat cliched , she couldn’t bring her unique imprints into it. The kriti rendition lifted it up and neraval and svarams were impressive.
Vid. Arjun Ganesh again exhibited his soft exhuberance through out. He is endowed with syllabic perfection, and his pharans were a delight. The tani avoided any naDai bhedams, except a triSram embedded in a kOrvai. He managed time for the artiste it seemed.
Had to step out for simhEndra madyamam a bit. tAnam was good by both artistes. Arjun chipped in for last rounds of violin tAnam reply. Pallavi sAhitya was apt for the day and well received. She did trikAlam with caturaSra triSram that fitted two repetitions in 3 Avartas. She was a bit tentative on part filling/part acceleration the first time, but got it the second try.

Raga mAlika svarams were well received by the spread out audience, who occupied the seats in the manner of Pauli’s exclusion principle. But one could tell they were committed audience. About 200 in a 800 seater.

Then it fell on me to restore ghanam with a request of mahArAja’s padam in kalyANI. Brought it out of the chamber : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TB8QEela00 . Brilliantly accompanied by Arjun. She put her full force on it. Sounded much better out there! After it was over, a saha Rasika, former trivandrumite , mridangist tried to confirm the tALam with me – is it rUpakam? Well art achieved it’s lakshya!

Now beyond chamber and sabha, it seems it has hit popular modes of presentation by other artistes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaxTYJks1Jk

Even in the dhanaSri tillana her energy continued and she hit some peaks in valleys in her handling. There was an unusual sangati there somewhere! She let time scale drift and caught it in one of the tillana verses, sending me in a tizzy to regain composure on a soft tAlAm that I was doing.

It was a treat of a concert and the rest of the rasikas who usually turn up for bigger brand names, missed something unique.

Amrutha Venkatesh does not remind me of any particular school or style. May be her melodic approach is due to a very tenuous/remote Dr BMK influence through Prince Rama Varma.

M Rajeev seems another brilliant vidvan! His pURvikalyANi reply and svarams for kApi were something to savor.

rajeshnat
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Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by rajeshnat »

shankarank
Thank you for your lovely review. How long was this concert.

shankarank
Posts: 4042
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by shankarank »

Going by the fact that vaRNam kalpana svarams were in progress around 4:35 PM, the concert went on until 7:25 or so. Close to 3 hours.

bhasi
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Joined: 19 Nov 2018, 13:41

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by bhasi »

@shankarank I really enjoyed reading your excellent review filled with astute observations peppered with humour :)
shankarank wrote: 16 Apr 2019, 18:05
The concert left ghanam and went into nayam mode.
Could you please shine some light on these modes? I can't find much info about these online.
shankarank wrote: 16 Apr 2019, 18:05 by the spread out audience, who occupied the seats in the manner of Pauli’s exclusion principle.
LOL :D

Amrutha Venkatesh is one of my favourite artists. I've seen her live a couple of times back home in Trivandrum at the Kuthiramalika for the annual Swathi Sangeethotsavam that Prince Rama Varma organizes. She has a great voice and excellent voice control, and most impressively for me, sings Malayalam kritis with proper diction and perfect pronunciation, haha!

Sachi_R
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Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by Sachi_R »

Bhasi,
There is nothing Ha Ha about singing with correct pronunciation of words in one's language. Every time a musician mutilates Kannada words, a part of me cringes and dies. All that is now left is the last bit of the rat tail. The entire Ganesha and most of the rat is finished.

I know that Amrutha and many like her take great pains to:
1. Collect the lyric in original published form
2. Check with experts
3. Hear famous renderings and recognise the trouble spots like a Bangalore auto driver who detects pot holes and swerves mercilessly to scare away the mother and child on their TVS behind him.
4. Practise practise and practise until pronounced perfect (pun intended).

And to think, starting with Sanjay, all these singers don't even refer to paper or iPad! What intellect and what determination should they possess. God bless them.

bhasi
Posts: 89
Joined: 19 Nov 2018, 13:41

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by bhasi »

@Sachi_R I couldn't agree more about proper pronunciation being absolutely essential to the music experience, and share your pain about the mutilation.

Amrutha, being a student of Prince Rama Varma, has adopted his policies of practising perfect diction, understanding the meaning of the lyrics (she is read/write/speak fluent in all Sanskrit as well as all the South Indian languages) and introducing the songs as a preface whenever possible.

I too have massive respect for these people who, like you said, do not resort to on stage memory aids. In fact, for me it kinda detracts slightly from the experience if they use any sort of aid.


shankarank
Posts: 4042
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by shankarank »

bhasi wrote: 19 Apr 2019, 15:41 Could you please shine some light on these modes? I can't find much info about these online.
This was dwelt at length in this old thread by our forum admin srkris: viewtopic.php?t=25#p130 very early in this forum.

I used it only in an overall sense of "weightiness" , literally almost a translation of that word in one sense. kApi is definitely as known as a naya rAgAm, I would say even kaRNATaka kApi if we had an unbroken tradition of it, would still be a naya rAgam.

A dictionary of terms :

http://www.carnatica.net/onlinedictionary/dicg.htm

It easily gives away it's characteristics. And that is more than just a clearly identifiable phrase with gamaka embedded even.

arasi
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Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by arasi »

Sachi,
Yes, she's a delight. In voice, the way flexes it around with ease and grace. Her understanding of the lyrics and the way she effortlessly plays around them is delightful to hear. There's no pasappal (getting away with something less) in her singing. As she sings, she is happy, and delights the audience in the process. Yes, the way she handles phrases in the sAhityA comes as easy as child's play to her.

vasanthakokilam
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by vasanthakokilam »

Thanks Shankarank for the review. Quite informative.
shankarank wrote: 16 Apr 2019, 18:05 Amrutha Venkatesh does not remind me of any particular school or style.
I agree.

sureshvv
Posts: 5523
Joined: 05 Jul 2007, 18:17

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by sureshvv »

shankarank wrote: 16 Apr 2019, 18:05 Amrutha Venkatesh does not remind me of any particular school or style.
vasanthakokilam wrote: 20 Apr 2019, 00:59 I agree.
Reminds me of Sanjay in some ways, particularly "threading the needle" approach to notes.

Sachi_R
Posts: 2174
Joined: 31 Jan 2017, 20:20

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by Sachi_R »

Suresh!
What a lovely expression;
"threading the needle" 👍

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

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by arasi »

Suresh,
I was going to ask what it exactly meant, but then, my mind was already on embroidery!

shankarank
Posts: 4042
Joined: 15 Jun 2009, 07:16

Re: Amrutha Venkatesh, M Rajiv, Arjun Ganesh - IFAA, Dallas April 14, 2019

Post by shankarank »

Yeah but the YACM 1st Gen forerunners ramble a bit. There is no "laya Suddham" in their karvais. They thought of themselves as some kind of pudukavidai artists! SubramaNia bharathinnu nenappu manasula!

nUl kOttachunnudAn sandEham! May be the needle felt too thin, they held it up the wrong side!

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