Sri TM Krishna - Vocal
Sri RK Sriramkumar - Violin
Sri K Arun Prakash - Mridangam
Sri BS Purushotam - Kanjira
Sri Rithvik Raja & Kum Emmanuelle Martin - Thampura
01 inthaparAka - nAdanAmakriyA - rupakam - Anaiah
02 karuna Elakante - varAli - Adi - Thyagaraja
03 nAjeevadhAra - bilahari - Adi - Thyagaraja - R S
04 mangaladevathA - mArgadesi - Adi - Muthuswami Dikshitar
05 viribhoni (varnam) - bhairavi - kanda ata - Pachimiriyam Adiappa Iyer - R Thanam N S Thani
Neraval and swaram at sri raja gopAla deva swami
06 idhudhAno thillai thalam - behAg - Adi
07 vAdinen vAdi - virutham - Ananda bhairavi, kalylAni, karaharapriyA, khamAs
08 karpooram nArumo - khamAs - khanda chApu
09 mAdhava mAmava - neelAmbari - Adi
10 mangalam
I am not sure how many people know of this, TMK is supposed to be one of the artists who excelled in varnams. He is supposed to be a varnam expert also. That is probably one of the reason why he sometime sings varnams much later in to the concert. So it must have been very good.
And personally I have heard very less of Bilahari from him. I used to be a mad fan of this raga. I missed this song too. The photo looks very great. Pls have some closeup photos.
Detailed review, please, someone! Rajaglan, TMK has sung a nice Bilahari RTP in a commercial recording that features Palinchu Kamakshi. That was a good concert, with a lovely Gowlai as well.
Out of curiosity -- I've seen "Intha Paraka" listed as both Mayamalavagowla and Nadanamakriya. Which is correct?
Not to be contrarian, but I think I ended up preferring the Bilahari more. Sriram Kumar's raga essay was gorgeous, and I think Krishna did great justice to the huge sheaf of sangatis of the pallavi of Najeevadhara. Some of the later sangatis, in fact, seemed to be mini raga essays in themselves, which is as much a tribute to the genius of the composer as to the skill of the artist executing them.
I was telling Vijay yesterday that the Bhairavi centrepiece began to feel bloated after a while. There was ragam, then thanam, then this majestic varnam that is so definitive of the raga, and then there was neraval. By the time kalpanaswarams came around, I wasn't sure what more the artist could add, and that was how it turned out -- the kalpanaswarams sounded superfluous, and the only addition was Krishna's ability to sprint through them for minutes together.
One idea I had, just as the kalpanaswarams were starting, was that Krishna could have done Bhairavi swarams at a slower kalam, and then gone into Ragamalika swarams of Manji, Huseni and Mukhari. It would have been a great illustrative exercise in the differences between these ragas, and from a lec-dem floating around somewhere, I know he could have highlighted those differences well. So much of the main piece was educational, so this would have been an interesting way to end it.
Very good suggestion at your last paragraph elaborating the ragamalika swarams of lookalike ragas.
Sometime I too get this feeling about bloated But I guess the overdose feeling is very subjective. Lot of them
like it that way and imagine the freedom in the old fashioned four hour concert.
Last edited by rajaglan on 28 Dec 2008, 08:37, edited 1 time in total.
My son, and nephew, who are die hard fans of TMK, were highly critical of the Bhairavi exercise, and so also a friend of mine ,who was seething with anger after the performance.He said that this was a farcical exercise in the name of innovation,very strong words from die hard fans of TMK They have sworn never to hear him again.I hope some one who attended the concert posts an honest and dispassionate review. I would not like to go by these remarks and I would also not like to read unnecessary praise by fans who always give such artists a demigod status. Bye Ragjay
Last edited by Ragjay on 28 Dec 2008, 08:46, edited 1 time in total.
so, if people remember, I brought up this " shri t.m. krishna bhairavi ata talam varnam as main extravaganza" in a thread a few days ago, perhaps a week ago.
I was curious after having seen the MA souvenier, how it was going to be presented. good effort. however, i feel there was really no relevance in singing ragam and thanam, then following it up with a varnam. it seemed like giving a hobo of the street an expensive haircut, and designer suit. ultimately, it missed the mark.
As a die hard fan, I expressed my fear of shri krishna's contrarianism because I was sensing a desperation in his concert formats: his singing technique (he shouts effectively at times, nowadays), also, the over the top dramatic hand actions and stage mannerisms- shestai ( I almost thought the violinist was going to get smacked in the face; it was close call) are all a bit too much. His new designer kurthas are very nice though. I guess you win some, you lose some. Sadly, I think he is going in a different direction nowadays. wish him the best anyway....
I am new here. Here is a very disorganized writeup of impressions of this concert.
I attended only from 3rd song onwards. TMK's voice was giving him a little bit of trouble, esp. when singing softly, for example the pallavi of the mArgadEsi, but I won't hold that against him ... it is extremely difficult to sing so frequently, especially during season, and 99% of the time TMK's voice was able to impactfully cover all shades from subtle to powerful.
nAjeevadhAra was awesome - Bilahari was given a grand treatment. During the song, TMK and Arun Prakash got tremendous mileage out of the kalapramanam in the pallavi with the slow buildup from the start to the end of each avarthanam (slow chatusram transitioning to fast), showcased in many of the sangatis. It was really effective and has made me an instant fan of this song. It's a shame that later parts of the song were a shade boring by comparison, the pallavi came out THAT well.
The "RTV" (ragam - thanam - varnam I'll call it) was also great. Solid ragam and thanam (for the latter, especially the portion ending in P, with great turns by both TMK and RK Shriramkumar). The varnam itself was very weighty and long with ALL its portions being sung (4, not 3, swarams, the post-charanam linking section, which I forget the official name of, and so on). It could have been shorter, some impact was lost here, esp. w/ the previous song also being long and weighty.
The RTP 'pallavi' aspect was established by singing neraval, trikalam, swaram in "sAmI shrI rAjagOpAlA dEva" (the second part of anupallavi). This particular section is very interesting to choose because 1) it ends with a pause and 2) it leaves OFF the resolution to 'SRND' that follows just follows in the actual varnam, stopping instead at P, and giving it a very different feel as a result, especially in the trikalam. Neraval and swaram showcased classic TMK, building up from slow to full speed ahead locomotive power ... nothing like it. TMK is not big on calculation, but he did cut aTa thalam in half, quarter, etc for koraippu, which is 7s, and RK Shriramkumar was quite admirably up to the task. Also, TMK had a nice korvai for this song, which Arun Prakash expertly tossed back at him in the first round of the tani.
This is one concert where accompanists really added a second dimension to the music. RK Shriramkumar was, 90% of the time, up to the task of matching TMK blow for blow (I've heard him better though, TMK 'won' the more intense exchanges). Moreover, he was really able to bring to life all of the nuances of TMK's singing, especially in krithi presentations. K Arun Prakash and BS Purushotthaman were solid throughout. TMK and RK Shriramkumar's modulations in dynamics and feel were always reinforced by Arun Prakash (he is of course known for being particularly good at this), which in turn was matched by Purushotthaman (who is, I'm also realizing, particularly good at this). The tani was stimulating, short, and sweet, and showcased virtuosity on both sides, with rounds in multiple nadais (even mishram).
The tukkuDAs at the end were sung very well and provided nice closure to the concert, particularly the khamAs. I was originally not planning to go to this concert because I was a bit pressed for time beforehand. I'm glad I changed my mind.
Edit: I see people are looking for a dispassionate review. I am basically positive here, but let me give a disclaimer for that - I've seen a couple of TMK concerts this season and this was by far the most interesting and enjoyable. I did not like the previous ones I attended, particularly the one at Brahma Gana Sabha. Stylistically there is a lot to criticize in a concert like this, but if you take it for what it's worth, it was a thought provoking musical exercise and totally unique. In sabha season, where you are drowning in millions of kutcheris, things like this are standout for me.
Last edited by iamkirinlemon on 28 Dec 2008, 09:17, edited 1 time in total.
Mixed reviews, as expected! Just on reading the list, I thought adding every single component of manodharma to Viribhoni (or any composition) might end up superfluous... I like samanth's suggestion of ragamaliga swaras to ease some of the "pressure" off Bhairavi.
I was there at the concert. I loved the Bilahari kriti - the sangathis in the pallavi- and the Bhairavi tanam. Yes TMK did have a slight problem with the voice. It as a great team on stage, I left as soon as the neraval started and seemed to have missed a very good tukkada section. Maybe since i left just in time without getting an overdose of Bhairavi it felt good
It was a good concert. But somehow the main Bhairavi did not appeal greatly to me after a point. Viriboni is no doubt a great composition and is one of my personal favourites among Varnams. But to me, it seemed like there was too much Manodharmic ornamentation and the composition selected was too modest. A grand Pallavi or even a good Krithi would have done justice to the elaborate treatment. Viriboni somehow did not match up to the build-up. Nothing against singing it as the main, but I felt it was a bit too elaborate treatment of a relatively limited composition. Even the Manodharma after a point started sounding repetitive.
Thanks for the feedback guys - yeah a lot of mixed opinions. I have to say my own vote for the grandest composition in Bhairavi is Viriboni but as Samanth says perhaps the coverage of the krithi is so exhaustive that there was no scope left for manodharma. Swaras in Mukhari, Manji etc. may have been interesting but also very slippery! I am sure the thread wouold have been twice as long if he had!
Also I woulnd't call it "innovation" - but I don't tink TMK made any such claims either. However it must be noted that attempting trikaalam in Ata Tala is not so easy.
I should say, there were actually 4 kalams - slow chatusram, slow tisram, slow chatusra tisram, and fast chatusram. Not super hard (especially after seeing what Abhishek Raghuram did with Viriboni last year during the academy lecture demonstrations) but still nice to listen to.
My opinion of Viriboni is same as Vijay's, so I am a bit surprised at Sathej's characterization of it as a 'limited composition' ( and falafel's put down comparison of it to a hobo being dressed up ). But then they were there at the concert and I was not...
I agree w/ vasanthakokilam. I feel Viriboni is simultaneously the king of both varnams and Bhairavi compositions. Maybe that is why I did not object to TMK's treatment of it.
I still maintain Viriboni is a great composition. I only said it was 'relatively limited'. I don't object to it being mained though. Was just that I didn't find the rendition to be 'complete' in terms of satisfaction. It is qualitative I know. But just that I felt it. Also that the Neraval was at Sami Shree Rajagopala. Have heard an earlier Neraval by TNS sometime at the Charanam line - Chiru Navvu and that appealed to me more in terms of the patterns he brought in.
To the critics: TMK should be applauded for his creative effort. It is another thing if his effort did not impress, but the fact that he tried something innovative is worthy of applause.
If TMK himself felt that it wasn't worth it, surely he will not try it again.
Note: I wanted to attend this concert just for the Viribhoni, but I didn't not attend the concert.
Theres nothing wrong in singing the varnam as the main song.
Trichi J.Venkatraman has done a concert just with 1hr 45 mins of Vathapi ganapathim.
TMK took Vaathapi Ganapthim as main in AIR's Vinayaga chathurthi Radio Program.
Now viribhoni, whats wrong in that.
If only i attended the concert I would have got dissapointed, because i thought he might be singing the varnam in
Aadi talam (misram). I am sure he might have given a thought of doing that, may be due to lack of time he might have sticked on to the original Ada-Talam.
It is worth a million to listen and play for varnams, that too with speed and nadai variations. I am sure its a challenge for all the performers.
I personally feel, Its a great/creative approach. I would like to see it live once.
Since, I didnt attend the concert I cannot comment on the concert.
Though the foundation of CM was laid by Trinity, it was Maha Vaidynatha Iyer who brought CM to prominance till ARI laid out the platform for the current Concert Paddhati. None of these momentous changes were without controversy. The traditionalists always opposed changes but ultimately CM won! TMK is shaping to be another Yuga PuruSha who will take CM to new heights. Kudos to TMK
"why not?" seems to be the style of TMK and his new controversial attempt in breaking tradition. Any such attempt is a welcome change if and only if it will, in anyway take our music a few steps forward. But this????
ok. so when the question Why not? is posed, is there an answer to substantiate, condemn or contradict?
In a 2 hrs long concert, both the artiste and audience reach a sublime level during the main piece. And that is when a main ragam is sung exploring its depths. Varnam's lyrical content, compared to Kriti is less. Esplly the swarams that follow after Charanam is nothing but pure music.Whereas a kritis lyrical intensity is far more. And when a Kriti is sung as the main piece, becos of its intense lyrical content or bhava, the concert definitely reaches an elevated level which is experienced both by the artiste and the audience. To sing a Varnam which is almost pure music as a main item, makes little sense, esplly after an elaborate raga alapana which is pure music again.
sometimes breaking tradition cannot be seen as a very brave attempt just because it was broken. I would rather say that sticking to tradition and innovating within, needs more valour.
In many ways following tradition is more trendy, classy and modern than going "modern"!!!!!
I am curious how many feel as Brahmam does that lyrical content is what elevates the main piece. I would tend to disagree - I know too many CM lovers who cannot understand CM song lyrics at all, and react instead to the deeper musical presentation that constitutes the main, as compared to an ordinary piece. In fact many ordinary pieces (look at tukkudas) are intensely lyrical. I would say music and manodharma actually distract from the lyrics; just look at your average RTP for proof of this.
Regd Samanth's Q on MMG versus N'Kriya, the two are very close except that the latter is a "Nishdantya" raga which means the scale (with the same notes as MMG) is from Nishadam to Nishadam. Songs which have lots of phrase endings in Nishadam are soemtimes classified as N'Kriya. In Intha Paraka's case, IIRC, the first line of the Pallavi ends in N3.
However, to me, the distinction seems somewhat academic.
Lyric is the body and Music is the soul in CM. We need both. If the lyric is in a familiar language, we are able to recognize the bhava and the emotive terms and enjoy the sentiments. But the Music which is non-corporeal, essentially breathes life into the otherwise inert body that elevates the listener transporting him to the exotic world. The ultimate 'nada anubhuti' is in the ability to cut through the 'body' and reach unto the 'soul' of Music. As the Lord says:
Thus the eternal music traverses through the different lyrics but itself remains changeless. In the olden days Music was simply ragas and RTP and lyrics were inessential (as in HM) and the rasikas were nada yogis who could merge with it. Then came ARI who introduced kritis as the mainstay and gave concert a format. TMK is trying to debunk the idea and restore pure music to its pristine pedestal! We will experience the ultimate bliss from CM only after the kriti/language barrier gets broken!
Brahmam makes a fairly compelling and well-reasoned case for choosing a krithi with more elaborate/meaningful lyrics. That is definitely a welcome addition to this interesting debate. We have to grant that in Varnams, the lyrics are fairly limited with a lot of akarams thrown in for carrying the tune and laya. So Brahmam's point has some validity even if one does not understand the lyrics. There is definitely some grandness in the sonic quality of the words ( even if one does not understand the meaning ). Now, I think I understand what Sathej is talking about as well.
Till now, I have been thinking mainly the 'pure music' aspect of varnams.
iamkirinlemon, the thukkada with heavy lyrics case is different, there the tune and laya are not necessarily as grand as the major lyrically oriented compositions of the trinity.
If nothing else, we can congratulate TMK for starting the debate on what is an acceptable main piece choice. Whether you liked his choice or not, I think it's a question that is worth discussing, and I applaud that he puts himself out there in order to get the discussion starting.
ajsriram: neat facts. the best part is that there is no wrong or right.
I really wish someone can give me a recording of mangalam as the main piece in the concert or recall on such an episode. I also would like to see it live once.
"why not?" seems to be the style of TMK and his new controversial attempt in breaking tradition. Any such attempt is a welcome change if and only if it will, in anyway take our music a few steps forward. But this????
ok. so when the question Why not? is posed, is there an answer to substantiate, condemn or contradict?
In a 2 hrs long concert, both the artiste and audience reach a sublime level during the main piece. And that is when a main ragam is sung exploring its depths. Varnam's lyrical content, compared to Kriti is less. Esplly the swarams that follow after Charanam is nothing but pure music.Whereas a kritis lyrical intensity is far more. And when a Kriti is sung as the main piece, becos of its intense lyrical content or bhava, the concert definitely reaches an elevated level which is experienced both by the artiste and the audience. To sing a Varnam which is almost pure music as a main item, makes little sense, esplly after an elaborate raga alapana which is pure music again.
sometimes breaking tradition cannot be seen as a very brave attempt just because it was broken. I would rather say that sticking to tradition and innovating within, needs more valour.
In many ways following tradition is more trendy, classy and modern than going "modern"!!!!!
Brahmam.
Is this an attempt by TMK to show that music is important than bhakthi/emotion.
I was telling my dad that TMK has sung Viriboni as main and what everyone feel about it. My dad's immediate reaction was this : " 50 varusham munnadi Flute Mali idha madhiri pannittar.". Some 50 years ago, Flute Mali played a detailed Khamas, played thanam in it and finally played "Sambasiva yanave" and played Swaram and had Thani played in it.
Well, I don't argue against the 'main-ability' of Viriboni or any piece for that matter. My view was just against the 'weight' of the rendition that day. The rendition by TMK wasn't befitting of a main. The Ragam, Tanam, Neraval, Trikalam and the Swarams all seemed 'disjointed' from the piece itself. To me, it was like Viriboni being sung and the rest being just Manodharma in Bhairavi - the 'connect' wasn't there between the Manodharma parts and the Krithi (Varnam in this case).
Sathej
Kudos to TMK for sing the varnam in its original format.
Yes I too felt that after the exhaustive raga, tanam and the weighty piece, swarams semed a little superfluous. But then an artist has to keep upto his "dharma" of keeping all the ingredients intact.
Vedavalli mami has been singing this varnam in this format for time immemorial now.
Even a younger artist like Mohan Santhanam, sings the 3rd swaram, (though not the anubandham, as he has his mother who learnt it from the great Mudicondan. ( The Hindu review on his concert by Lalita Krishnan, sometime back had stated this).
But how many of rasikas absorb or register that a stalwart has been singing this for ages? Old style musicians or vidwans keep many things in an "antarangam" manner and do not attribute any specific greatness to their deeds and neither do rasikas take a not of it.
Rasikas also want everything in an "open " format.
Popular, well connected artists like TMK ,render such pieces, they get noticed and all that he does , gets noticed and then the old tradition gets noticed in a new light !!!
I have accompanied his Guru Shri.Seetharama Sharma for his Bhairavi Raga Varnam during one of his Morning session Lecture demonstrations ... and Sharma Sir sang this Varnam in Misra Nadai ....
Also it is just not singing a varnam or any ata tala varnam as the main piece, that has helped TMK win all the above "Kudos" and cheers. Its the all time monumental singular bairavi ata talam varnam that has taken centre stage and attention in TMKs "Why not?" attempt. So Kudos to the ever green master piece. This cannot be the same with any other varnam. sorry folks.
Balaji, I understand why Misra Nadai Adi ( 7 times 8 = 56 ) and Chathusra Nadai Ata ( 4 times 14 = 56 ) are complimentary to each other. When Shri. Seetharama Sharma sang it in misra nadai, did the varnam sound any different melodically or rhythmically or the thala keeping kriyas are the only difference?
vasanthakokilam wrote:Balaji, I understand why Misra Nadai Adi ( 7 times 8 = 56 ) and Chathusra Nadai Ata ( 4 times 14 = 56 ) are complimentary to each other. When Shri. Seetharama Sharma sang it in misra nadai, did the varnam sound any different melodically or rhythmically or the thala keeping kriyas are the only difference?
I don't know about Seetharama Sharma's rendition, but the two different nadai / thalam arrangements for Viriboni you mention were demonstrated at the Music Academy last year during Palghat Raghu's lecture demonstration. The thalam realignment changes the whole feel of the piece rhythmically, and when you sing in Misra Nadai Adi there is a definite speedup in kalapramanam (you can't put Adi talam where every beat has the duration of even a fast misra chapu cycle, that is too slow)
I would rate Kaanada and Kalyani Ata tala varnams pretty highly as well. Nera Nammi in particular would be a good alternative to the exquisite Sukhi Evvaro given the number of compositions in Kaanada...
Brahmam - Could you please explain why the Bhairavi aTa tAla varNam is a singular monumental piece? And why the other aTa tAla varNams can not measure up to it? In addition to the two that Vijay has mentioned, "subjectively" I can name 5 other varNams which are equally majestic (if not more!!) - oh maybe it is just my perception
Last edited by davalangi on 30 Dec 2008, 00:51, edited 1 time in total.
saptaratna wrote:Kudos to TMK for sing the varnam in its original format.
Yes I too felt that after the exhaustive raga, tanam and the weighty piece, swarams semed a little superfluous. But then an artist has to keep upto his "dharma" of keeping all the ingredients intact.
Vedavalli mami has been singing this varnam in this format for time immemorial now.
Even a younger artist like Mohan Santhanam, sings the 3rd swaram, (though not the anubandham, as he has his mother who learnt it from the great Mudicondan. ( The Hindu review on his concert by Lalita Krishnan, sometime back had stated this).
But how many of rasikas absorb or register that a stalwart has been singing this for ages? Old style musicians or vidwans keep many things in an "antarangam" manner and do not attribute any specific greatness to their deeds and neither do rasikas take a not of it.
Rasikas also want everything in an "open " format.
Popular, well connected artists like TMK ,render such pieces, they get noticed and all that he does , gets noticed and then the old tradition gets noticed in a new light !!!
Such are the ways of the world in any field.
Well said. Popular artists can get noticed rather easily for good or bad. Singing Ragam, Tanam Pallavi' s and variations of it, is nothing new. The legendary vainika vidwan Shri Karaikudi Subbarama Iyer and Sambhashiva Iyer used to render Ragam, Tanam and instead of rendering a pallavi they would present a grand keerthana of a great composer. The following is one such sample of great work of music by Karaikudi Sambhashiva Iyer:
In this piece the legendary vidwan renders Shankarabharana Raga, and Tanam followed by Tyagaraja's composition "edhutA nilAchithe". The legendary vidwans of the past never felt the need to take any credit, for any thing that they felt innovative, largely because canatic music, offers infinite scope for innovation, within the confines of tradition. In all their humilty the great vidwans of the past considered innovation as part of their service to music. This was and should be very natural to any vidwan. To innovate within the confines of tradition is one of the most fundamental aspects of carnatic music that makes it the "finest of the fine arts".
One of the most important thing to note here is that the ultimate goal of carnatic music is to lift the layman, skilled rasikas, vidwans alike from the world of ordinary to the realm of extradionary through rendition that is full of bhava and rasa. Just rendering krithis, varnas with bhava laiden raga that brings out the essence of the compositon in a short time, sangathi's filled with life, and swaras and nervals that are eminently simple, requires dedication and practice and learning from a great teacher. As long as any artist keeps this in mind, he/she should feel free to innovate, and the credit should be automatic, and not self proclaimed.
