Mridangam Arangetram of Chi. Rajeev Devanath

[carnatican]

Mridangam Arangetram (Debut Concert) of Chi Rajeev Devanath (Disciple of Laya Kala Rathna Guru Ramesh Srinivasan)


Carnatic Classical Music Concert
Vocal - Hari Devanath, Disciple of Shri Neyveli Santhanagopalan
Violin - Vittal Ramamurthy
Mridangam - Rajeev Devanath, Disciple of Guru Ramesh Srinivasan
Ghatam - SV Ramani
Vocal Support - Shashank Mahalingam & Anirudh Raja

Chief guest - Sangeetha Kalaanidhi - M Chandrashekaran
Guest of Honor - Neyveli Santhanagopalan

Memorable treat by father-son duo

Coming a day after the 25th-anniversary celebration of Guru Ramesh Srinivasan's Sarvalaghu Percussion Arts Center in San Jose, California, the father-son duo of Hari & Rajeev, provided a grand treat to Bay Area rasikas in the form of Rajeev's mridangam arangetram concert. Supported by stalwarts Vittal Ramamurthy and SV Ramani, the concert was a 3.5-hour affair, performed in front of a packed auditorium. Rajeev has completed his fifth grade, and has been learning mridangam for the last 7 years with Ramesh, and has also trained as a vocalist in Sri Paduka Academy, a Carnatic vocal school founded by his father Hari Devanath since he was five.

The concert comprised of the following pieces:

The concert began with a Varnam in Atana - Ambikayin mahimai - composed by Guru Neyveli. The varnam provided a brisk start to concert, with Rajeev and SV Ramani, along with Vittal setting the expectations for the audience to look forward to a good concert. Many Carnatic music aficionados in the bay area know the young and talented Rajeev, and those that do not know him were likely immediately charmed by his disarming smiling face and confidence on stage.

This was followed by Sarasiruha - in Naattai. This was another brisk piece, allowing Rajeev to warm up nicely with good clarity in his playing for mel kaalam.

The Hindolam piece Ramanukju mannan mudi then followed and was solidly executed. By now the audience was well and truly in the flow of the concert, the hall filled to capacity.

Then Hari switched to a more melancholy mood with the all time classic Marivere - in Ananda bhairavi. The piece allowed Rajeev to showcase the subtle side of mridangam accompaniment, never interrupting the flow of this beautiful composition.

This was followed by a krithi in Lalitha panchamam - Parama purusham - a good touch in a less frequently heard ragam.

There was a light touch with the next composition Rara rajeeva lochana - mohanam - a play on welcoming young Rajeev onto the concert stage. There was nothing light about the rendering though - with the audience treated to a sumtuous alaapanai by both Shri Hari and Ramamurthy.

Nadamaadum naadanadi - in Purvi kalyani followed, setting up the stage for the main piece.

The main chosen for the concert was Saraguna paalimpa - kedara gowlai (rettai kalai adhi). Koraippu sequence was nicely executed by Hari and Ramamurthy and supported by percussionists

Rajeev performed his thani in this taalm. He showcased various nadais with good clarity and and maintained a beautiful naadam throughout on the mridangam, always good to see with budding artists. The thani sequence also included a konnakol recital by Rajeev in tisra nadai. The thani ended with a flourish with a nice mohra and korvai sequence, executed flawlessly.

There was not a dull moment in this concert, as the main was immediately followed by a weighty RTP in Keeravani. The thaalam for the RTP was a special one: It was modified adhi taalam, with a different jaathi for each aksharam. In the laghu, the first aksharam had 3, second 5, third 7, fourth 9 and the dhrutham had four kalai for first beat, 3 for second, 2 for third and one for last. The thaalam thus had 44 maathrai (3-5-7-9-8-6-4-2). The thaalam was composed by SV Ramani and has been christened as "catch 22 thaalam" by Shri Trichy Sankaran. Rajeev joined in at the end of the thaanam impromptu which was a nice touch. The RTP's lyrics, composed by Neyveli Santhaanagopalan were “vaani keeravani gambheeravaa(ni) vaa nee varam tharave nee veni”. Eduppu was one maatra into the second aksharam, with the arudhi karvai falling on ni of gambheeravani. RTP featured the usual chatusram/ tisra nadais, mel and keezh kaalam as well as an elaborate neraval which was pleasing.

The highlight of the RTP for the audience though was the second sequence of konnakol reciting Rajeev performed in the RTP. The konnakol was not recited - but sung in the keeravani ragam for the pallavi “tha, dhin thakka dhin tha thaaka dhin dhin (arudhi) tha thom thakajunu thom tham” - flawlessly executed to the thaalam for various permutations and combinations of nadais and kalams. Belying his age, and encouraged by “bales” from senior artists on stage, Rajeev transported the audience to enjoy the beauty of the layam of the pallavi, ending with a flourish singing the pallavi showing everyone he is no slouch when it comes to singing. Certainly, one of the most memorable moments of the concert! The RTP ended with a mohra and korvai set to the 44 beat thaalam. Rajeev’s vocal training was apparent not just in the thani, but reflected on how he accompanied throughout the concert.

Seasoned artists as they are, Senior Violin Vidwan Vittal Ramamurthy and Ghatam Maestro SV Ramani elevated the concert with amazing accompaniment, which provided the perfect pedestal for Rajeev to showcase his talent.

The concert ended with a few lighter pieces - Devaki nandana and a thillana, wrapping up with a tiruppugazh (madhiyaal vitthaganaghi). And thus we reached the end of a 3.5hr concert - time had flown by!

There were endearing comments and blessings from Shri M. Chandrashekaran at the end of the concert, who remarked: "this is not a modal (first) kutcheri, this is a modalana (first class) kutcheri". Shri Neyveli Santhanagopalan appreciated the vocal knowledge of Rajeev, especially appreciating the pallavi konnakol rendered in ragam.

Credit due to Guru Ramesh Shrinivasan and Rajeev's parents for grooming him for this performance. Best wishes that Rajeev's oodles of talent continues to mature over time.

[rajeshnat]

Photos,would also help. Thanks for the,great review. Apart from.rajeev I also did not know about hari. Keeravani rtp by appa is a great arangetram gift to his son. Kudos to ramesh srinivasan we have had atleast 5 to 7 arangetrams. Is he the bhakthavatsalam and srimushnam rolled into one in terms of producing students. Hope these young rajeevs and others make it big like catch 22 maestro.

[anands]

Fantastic review above - I was at the concert and still haven't got out of the Catch-22 talam - thanks Sri SV Ramani and Sri Trichy Sankaran for the name! Singing the konnakol was a pleasant surprise and I later found out it was the hallmark of Shri Ramesh Srinivasan's guru Sangeetha Kalanidhi Vellore Ramabhadran's guru and father Konnakol T. P. Gopalachari (as the name suggests!). Will try to post photos/videos here later.

[thanjavooran]

Good luck to Rajeev Devanath on his debut.
With wishes,
Thanjavooran
19 07 2019