Smt S.Sowmya at MFAC, 22nd Dec 2008

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 23 Dec 2008, 10:56

Violin : Embar Kannan
Mri : Neyveli Narayanan
Ghatam : ?!

1.viribONi (bhairavi varNam)

2.rAmachandram bhAvayAmi (vasanta, rUpakam, Muthuswami Dikshitar) (N, S at kAkutsam dhImatam kamalAksham dhImantam)

3.kuvalayadaLanayana brOvavE (nATakurunji, Adi, Thyagaraja) (A, S at pallavi)

4.dEvi brOva samayamidE (chintAmaNi, Adi, Shyama Shastri)

5.sarasasAmadAnabhEdadaNDachatura (kApinArAyaNi, Adi, Thyagaraja) (N, S at paramashAmbhAvagrEsaruNDanuchu)

6.yArO ivar yArO (sAvEri, Adi, Arunachalakavi) (A, N, S, T at chandrabimbamukhamalarAlE)

7.RTP-dEvamanOhari (mishra chApu)

(manOhari dEvi sundari pAhi... dEva)

(rAgamAlikA - dEvagAndhAri, dEvakriyA, dEvagAndhAram, dEvaranji)

8.kaNNanai kaNDAyO (sindhu bhairavi, Adi, ?)

... (Had to leave at this point)

Wholesome concert with a sumptuous RTP... But personally, I thought the artiste went a little overboard with expanding it... The AlApana itself lasted around 12 minutes... Then tAnam and several variations in the pallavi... Given the rAga's scope, I'm sure EVERYTHING possible was attempted but at the risk of sounding a tad repetitive. The artiste had trouble with the pallavi in trikAlam... She sang it wrong 2 or three times n then got it right, eliciting a sabash from the mridangist... The rAgamAlika was very interesting... In accordance with the spirit of the rAga, swaras in dEvagAndhAri were rendered only in vilamba kAla... The subsequent start of shuddhasAvEri (dEvakriya in dIkshitar sampradAya) was a little foxy... Even the violinist was thinking for a couple of seconds n then Smt Sowmya announced the name of the rAga just to confirm. I was now expecting dEvaranji since I have heard a rendition of namastE paradEvatE by Sri S. Ramanathan... Instead, she began to sing karnATaka dEvagAndhari which again, was referred to by Dikshitar as dEvagAndharam ( the line dEvagAndhArarAgatOshiNi in the kriti pancAsahtpITharUpiNI)... Then came dEvaranji n she sang the swaras at a faster speed... The whole effort drew a lot of appreciation n stood testimony, as always to Smt Sowmya's cerebral approach to Carnatic...

The second item was also sung wonderfully... The neraval and swaras had lot of steep glides n Sri Embar Kannan's long swaraprastAra was slightly reminiscent of bits n pieces of the song andi mazhai pozhigiradu... It was really pleasing...

Inconsequential (?) tidbits/trivia:

1.Kanimozhi Karunanidhi was seated in the first row n listening with rapt attention... She stayed all thru...

2.The Malladi Brothers walked in mid-tani n stayed till the end of the RTP... They seemed to really enjoy the proceedings as well...

3.(Surprise! Shock actually...) Smt Sowmya forgot to complete the Thyagaraja kriti sarasasAmadAna... She sang a soothing neraval n rapidfire swaras at paramashAmbhava n at the end of it, just finished the song. CharaNam missing... The violinist reminded her a couple of seconds after the claps n she bore a "it's-too-late-to-do-anything" look n smiled at some members of the audience who'd also noticed the gaffe. We smiled back at her

4.She mentioned during the sAvEri kriti abt singing it in this rAga n not bhairavi cuz that's how it's mentioned in the books plus that's how her guru taught her the song. She even posed a "chinna quiz"... asking every1 as to who was being addressed by who in the song... N gave us the answer at the end of the kriti...

devi · Post by **devi** » 23 Dec 2008, 11:55

All these reviews makes it irresistible for me to attend at least one of Smt Sowmya's live concerts!

janaki_nag · Post by **janaki_nag** » 23 Dec 2008, 12:09

Jigyaasa wrote: Ghatam : ?!

Udupi Sreedhar

Jigyaasa wrote:The artiste had trouble with the pallavi in trikAlam... She sang it wrong 2 or three times n then got it right, eliciting a sabash from the mridangist...

I wouldn't call it trouble. It is just proof that the pallavi wasn't rehearsed. Kudos to Sowmya!

Jigyaasa wrote:The whole effort drew a lot of appreciation n stood testimony, as always to Smt Sowmya's cerebral approach to Carnatic...

Amen!

hindolam · Post by **hindolam** » 23 Dec 2008, 12:24

The devamanohari raga alapana was quite stunning--brought the ragaswaroopa out wonderfully. Neyveli Narayanan on the mridangam was outstanding without being obtrusive. His thani with Udipi Sreedhar deserved a better appreciation from the surprisingly sparse crowd. Sowmya is definitely not a crowd puller as compared to other lady "stars". Maybe she needs to add some abhangs etc to her repertoire to bring in the crowds, which do not seem capable enough to appreciate her intelligent approach to her concerts.

dhanyasi · Post by **dhanyasi** » 23 Dec 2008, 12:55

Jigyaasa wrote:. She even posed a "chinna quiz"... asking every1 as to who was being addressed by who in the song... N gave us the answer at the end of the kriti...

and the answer was

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 23 Dec 2008, 13:27

hindolam wrote:Maybe she needs to add some abhangs etc to her repertoire to bring in the crowds...

I pray to God she doesn't... There r enuf of those doing the rounds...!

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 23 Dec 2008, 13:29

dhanyasi wrote:and the answer was

Rama referring to sita... Lotsa ppl in the audience guessed it the other way round... N then Smt Sowmya commemted on how respectful the character was, even in those days n how this is an "eDutthukATTu" to ppl in our times...

anandabhairavi · Post by **anandabhairavi** » 23 Dec 2008, 13:35

I agree Jigyaasaa sir. Enough of abhangs in cutcheri.Let them sing Tamil songs instead like Sowmya madam does.

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 23 Dec 2008, 14:43

"Sir"?

I'm flattered... But kindly just refer to the nickname... No sir n all pls...

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 23 Dec 2008, 16:17

Lovely review Jigyaasa. The first time I'm seeing this line being elaborated by neraval in Sarasama! She must've spent all her efforts on making it work and then forgotten about the rest of the song...

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 23 Dec 2008, 22:17

Thank you

Don't consider it much of a review

Well I've heard Smt Nithyasree Mahadevan sing neraval and swaras at hitavu mAtalentO bAga balkitivi... Which seems more meaningful for a choice of line for neraval...

Sathej · Post by **Sathej** » 24 Dec 2008, 10:21

Neraval at a rarely heard line in Sarasa Saamadaana. Thats interesting indeed! But that doesn't justify the fact that she could forget completing the song. Also I find it very difficult to buy the argument that faltering in the Trikalam is proof that the Pallavi wasn't rehearsed. Rehearsed or not, the artiste would do well to present it flawlessly on stage. And anyway, the faltering in the Trikalam is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition to show that the Pallavi wasn't rehearsed! I have seen examples both ways - a rehearsed Pallavi falling flat on stage as well as an unrehearsed Pallvi coming off quite perfectly.

Sathej

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 24 Dec 2008, 10:26

One of the advantages to starting neraval after completing the whole song would be avoiding incidents such as these! On the flip side, when a neraval line is not sung "in situ" it might sound rather contrived...