Ranjani Gayatri @Kala Rasana, 30-Dec-08

sridhar_ranga · Post by **sridhar_ranga** » 31 Dec 2008, 15:19

Ranjani and Gayatri - Vocal
HN Bhaskar - Violin
K Arun Prakash - Mridangam
Anirudh Athreya - Khanjira

Kala Rasana, Rani Seethai Hall
30-Dec-2008 6:15 PM

1. entO prEmatO - Varnam - SuruTTi - tiruvoTriyUr tyAgayyar
2. Sobhillu - jaganOhini - T (S)
3. tUmaNi mADattu - hamIrkalyAni - tiruppAvai
4. yOchanA - darbAr - T (R, S@pallavi)
5. Saravanabhava guha - SahAnA - tanjavUr Sankara Iyer
6. ninnE nammitinayya - simhEndra madhyamam - mysUr vAsudevAchArya (R, NS@pannagEnda SayanA, T)
7. ninnADanEla - kannaDa - T
8. RTP - nATTakkurinji - khanDa jAti tripuTa 2 kalai - with rAgamAlikA swarams
Pallavi composed by K. Arun Prakash: eeSanai tillai naTarAjanai pOTruvOm kanaka sabhaiyil naTanamADum
9. viruttam- oru taram Saravanabhava + Saravanabhava enum - shanmukhapriya - PS
10. chinnajiru kiLiyE - rAgamAlika - subrahmanya bhArati
11. rAma nAma - abhang - jenjhUTi - tukArAm
12. pavamAna - sowrAshTram

It was a thoroughly enjoyable concert with not a dull moment, sans any gimmicks. The two sisters are so well coordinated with not a trace of trying to out-do one another. Support from all the accomopanists was very good & complemented the main artistes well without being intrusive/ in-your-face loud! Both the simhEndra madhyamam main and the RTP drew several rounds of applause especially each round of the RM swarams (bowLi, dEsh and 4 or 5 others - my brain circuits are a tad slow and normally need a full aalaapana to decode most rAgams!)

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 31 Dec 2008, 15:29

Thanks for the review, sridhar. I have always enjoyed the sisters' singing and like you say, the level of understanding between the two is just incredible.

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 31 Dec 2008, 16:41

mallus pl do not mistake. there used to be ajoke that even in the remotest part of the world like Antartica, you will find a malayalee selling chaya. Likewise , Bilahari seems to have been in all performances and writing wonderful, meaningful, interesting , educative reviews. KEEP IT UP ,BILAHARI
GOBILALITHA

sagars · Post by **sagars** » 31 Dec 2008, 17:28

Regret I missed their concert this season.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 31 Dec 2008, 20:09

Thank you Balu mama! And sagars, I too had to forgo their concerts this season. As was reviewed in this site some time ago (by rshankar?), they certainly know how to keep the audience interested during a live concert.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 Dec 2008, 21:54

My amma went to the concert , she is still in ecstasy . If my mother knows how to lift the mouse she would have posted a post in vidwans and vidushi thread for ranjani-gayathri , she is her clear #1. My mom tells me the desh was splendid.

kgopin · Post by **kgopin** » 02 Jan 2009, 11:17

This was another grand concert by the sisters. The Nattakurinchi raga aalapana was too good. Ragamalika swarams in Bowli, Nalinakanthi, Subapanthuvarali and Desh.

carnatic_songs · Post by **carnatic_songs** » 02 Jan 2009, 23:44

Thanks for the wonderful review.

Could anyone please upload the concert, if possible? I'm really interested in listening to their simhEndra madhyamam, since I've never listened to them singing this rAgam. I would greatly appreciate it even if you could just upload ninnE nammitinayya in simhEndra madhyamam and the Nattakurinji RTP.

Thanks in advance!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 03 Jan 2009, 06:41

Carnatic_songs, please don't publicly request for recordings of current artistes! Also, IIRC RG duo even requested Sangeethapriya to not share any of their recordings online.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 03 Jan 2009, 06:52

sridhar_rang wrote:Ranjani and Gayatri - Vocal

Kala Rasana, Rani Seethai Hall
30-Dec-2008 6:15 PM

1........

11. rAma nAma - abhang - jenjhUTi - tukArAm

It was a thoroughly enjoyable concert with not a dull moment, sans any gimmicks.

Alert readers immediately notice the abhang. :rolleyes:

iamkirinlemon · Post by **iamkirinlemon** » 03 Jan 2009, 08:34

i don't like this kneejerk reaction to what has now become a practice with an established track record in RG concerts. they are from bombay and they sing abhangs quite well.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 03 Jan 2009, 08:40

iamkirinlemon wrote:
i don't like this kneejerk reaction to what has now become a practice with an established track record in RG concerts. they are from bombay and they sing abhangs quite well.

Absolutely. The word in Mylapore is that they learnt the abhangs directly from Sant Tukaram in a tutelage that lasted several years.

It is unfortunate that they are not from Tiruvannamalai; otherwise they would be singing Thiruppugazh also well which they would have learnt directly from Arunagirinathar.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 03 Jan 2009, 09:55

harimau, sarcasm aside, I think iamkirinlemon is making the point that the dueling abhangists ( as you affectionately call them

) know marathi well which helps a lot in singing the abhang with the right bhavam.

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 03 Jan 2009, 12:35

But what's the idea of singing an abhang in a CARNATIC concert anyway?! If they know marathi well and like abangs they should probably have a concert exclusively for those. Anyway, none of this discussion is new... They will keep doing what they need to draw crowds. Each one has their own USP...

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 03 Jan 2009, 12:45

Jigyaasa, you have sufficiently answered your own question

so we will leave it at that.

Sanjay in his blog said that there are others including TNS who have sung abhangs. It looks like there are such precedences well before this became a regular feature of some of these artists.

Also, R&G have not subtracted any item to make room for that abhang ( may be a thillana or a padam, but those are not mandatory in a concert ).

Not that I am a fan of these abhangs but they seem to serve R&G very well and they are doing it while keeping everything else in tact. As rshankar would attest, they
are specialists in viruttham singing and let us give them credit for their focus on that.

I am wondering if people had this kind of adverse reaction when MS started singing Meera bhajans and other such items.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 03 Jan 2009, 23:50

VK, good point about MS's Meera bhajans!

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 04 Jan 2009, 13:15

vasanthakokilam wrote:I am wondering if people had this kind of adverse reaction when MS started singing Meera bhajans and other such items.

But I don't think any one went to MSS's CARNATIC concerts those days to listen to her mira bhajans (or did they? Not sure, wasnt around

) Plus, I definitely don't think MSS used her bhajans as a means to draw crowds to her CARNATIC concerts (not sure of this either).

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 04 Jan 2009, 20:54

Jigyaasa, May be there is a lack of balance in perspectives. Remember, this discussion is in the context of exactly one Abhang by R&G in their CARNATIC concert.

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 04 Jan 2009, 21:27

Then what was the point of introducing MSS and Meera bhajans? As an analogy right?

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 04 Jan 2009, 21:32

Actually, my original point was to really know if MSS faced such similar adverse reactions when she introduced non-traditionally-carnatic elements in her concerts.

Subsequent to your post, taking the MSS case as an analogy, what I meant by 'lack of balance in thoughts/perspectives' is in the case of MSS we do not question if it is a carnatic concert or not and in the R&G case we are questioning why such pieces should be in a carnatic concert when they sang just one Abhang in this concert. ( edited my previous post to reflect this point clearly )

With respect to intentions of artists for why they do what they do, how does one really know such things? Those are all colored by our own perceptions rather than that elusive reality.

BTW, this may not have been clear, my curiosity is really about rasikas' perspectives, positive or negative, on these types of things and not specifically R&G or MS. How such perspectives are formed and cultivated, is it really their own or the environment/group we are part of influences our opinions, etc.

revanthv552 · Post by **revanthv552** » 04 Jan 2009, 22:17

Why should nt people sing Abhungs in Carnatic concerts?
As a rasika i believe change shoudl always be invited.... Wahts wrong in R and G singing abungs... they are extremely good with the pure classical carnatic compositions also arent they??
Well....I believe change should always be invited... When certain musicians sing varnams as main piece and that is welcome... Whats wrong in people singing abhungs and bhajans....?

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 04 Jan 2009, 23:53

I think VK's point was: if MSS could sing the Meera BHajans regularly then what's wrong with R&G doing the same with abhangs? It's hard to argue that R&G do it to attract crowds but MSS didn't...

I am not too fussy about what is sung after the main since I usually lose interest (although it is nice to hear a Padam or a good Vruttham). It could be an Abhang or even a film song for all I care...My concern is the tukkada section itself eating into the rest of the concert. Several artistes now have tukkadas running to 45 minutes in a 2.5 hour concert. This, to me, is certainly a disturbing trend. TMK sang a 4 hour concert today with only a 20 minute tukkada section.

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 05 Jan 2009, 00:38

R&G are very traditonalist and their kutcheri's are very good CM kutcheries. They donot have any compulsions to go
in the same way as the other popular lady artists. I feel they loose their idendity if they extend their tukkada section.
I am sure They know this better than us.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 05 Jan 2009, 06:40

In a couple of RG concerts I've heard, the thukkadas have lasted about 20-25 min in a 2.5 hour concert. About the norm I'd imagine.

drohit · Post by **drohit** » 06 Jan 2009, 07:49

I am a Marathi speaking fellow very interested in carnatic music.

i always thought the thukkadas section was open for lighter fare - bhajans, songs in lighter ragas etc. So, why an with singing abhang but not with chinnajiru kiliye? BTW, MLV and MSS have sung abhangs too.

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 06 Jan 2009, 08:10

I feel that apart from ARUNA SAIRAM, they are the best to sing abhangs, especially the manner in which they pronounce 'pandari nath' is really enjoyable., and the sangathos incomparable. I am expecting a cd from them for a very long time, specially for abhangs

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 06 Jan 2009, 08:11

I feel that apart from ARUNA SAIRAM, they are the best to sing abhangs, especially the manner in which they pronounce 'pandari nath' is really enjoyable., and the sangathis incomparable. I am expecting a cd from them for a very long time, specially for abhangs

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 06 Jan 2009, 08:33

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 06 Jan 2009, 23:59

drohit wrote:I am a Marathi speaking fellow very interested in carnatic music.

i always thought the thukkadas section was open for lighter fare - bhajans, songs in lighter ragas etc. So, why an with singing abhang but not with chinnajiru kiliye? BTW, MLV and MSS have sung abhangs too.

The issue was not about abhang singing, but more towards extended tukkada sections.

blackadder · Post by **blackadder** » 07 Jan 2009, 15:06

Good post, coolkarni. I agree with you regarding MS' Meera bhajans. I think her inimitable voice and her incomparable bhakti contributed tremendously to the devotional and emotional appeal. However, her pronunciation of Hindi, at least for me, grated on the ears a bit.