S Shashank at The Music Academy - 1 Jan 2009

vanamali · Post by **vanamali** » 01 Jan 2009, 14:39

Flute - S Shashank
Violin - Akkarai Subhalakshmi
Mridangam - Patri Satish Kumar
Mridangam - V V Ramanamurthy

at The Music Academy, 1st Jan 2009. 9:15 AM to 12:00 PM.

1. varNam - bhairavi - aTa - Pachimiriam Adiappa
2. aparAdhamula - latAngi - Adi - Patnam Subramanya Iyer
3. sarasijanaabha sOdari - naagagaandhaari - Muthuswamy Dikshithar
4. jananI ninnuvinA - rItigOwla - misra chApu - subbarAya sAstri (R,N,S)
5. ?? - brindAvana sAranga
6. R T P - pUrvi kalyANi - Adi (pallavi: Lalithe Vinuthe Mam Pahi Bhagavathi Gunavathi Jagath Janani)
7. vishvEshwara darshan - sindhu bhairavi - swati tirunAL

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 01 Jan 2009, 14:59

Has it become a regular thing, that he plays with two mridangists?

I find this senseless: it offers the listener little other than vague confusion. There is no variety of sound and texture as when different percussion instruments are there.

If he wants only mridangam, let there be one mridangist.

I didn't attend this concert, although I have seen him play once this season. I can understand that some might not like his showmanship, but although he is, undoubtedly, a showman, he is a brilliant showman and, aprt from the niggle of the mridangam count, I have no complaints!

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 01 Jan 2009, 19:00

Purvi Kalyani RTP...... What a nice Raga for a change. This raga is my current fav one.
Shashank....When did he start playing with two mridangam. What is the logic? Keen to know how it sounds like?
He is definitely a great artist, one of the best flutist in the country. Very less reviewed here. I heard that he was
learning HM (not flute) with HPC. Has he settled in Chennai to participate more in CM?

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 01 Jan 2009, 19:36

I recall that last year at the "Yamini" dusk to dawn celebrations at IIM Bangalore on 25th Jan 2008 (to celebrate Republic Day) Shashank had a mridangam (Praveen) and Tabla (Udayraj Karpur). But that was NOT a pure Carnatic Concert which he made very clear . It was a combination of CM & HM.

revanthv552 · Post by **revanthv552** » 01 Jan 2009, 21:58

I would like to know which song was played in brindavana saranga

From a frined of mine, i got to know that in concert of his here in hyderabad,in november, he asked teh rasikas to tell him if they wanted RTP...
the audience said that they would love listening to one... He asked them in which raga they would like it... Then everyone in tehfront rows suggested Brindavana Saranga and then and there he played the RTP in brindavana saranga... its really great to note

Abhimanam · Post by **Abhimanam** » 01 Jan 2009, 23:30

Hi vanamali and revanthv552

The song in Brindavana Saranga is Kamalapta Kula Kalashabdhi Chandra, a beautiful composition of Saint Tyagaraja

nick H, i feel Double mridangam keeps alive the continuity, wholesomeness of the concert going and also to give an equally good laya support for the violinist
I attended the above concert and no doubt Shashank is the best flautist in carnatic music (agree with rajaglan) His Poorvikalyani alapana was in an unhurried pace, like a gentle flowing river, he gave sufficient visranti between raga sangatis so that people could digest and savour it. The soothing sound of the bamboo (without air intrusions) is a treat to the ears. The violinist Akkarai Subbulakshmi also did a commendable job by bringing out the raga essence in an elegant manner
The Tanams were rendered in a masterly fashion. One wonders the amazing controll he has on this difficult instrument. The pallavi was in adi talam (chatustra nadai, 16 beats) and it had all the ingredients of a master piece..
Despite the supersonic speed he displays especially in the swara segments and the complex mathematical structure of the swaprastara (some times it is difficult to keep tala beats on hand even for musicians let alone a normal rasika for his calculated swaras) there is aesthetic beauty in every single phrase / note that he plays. It does not appear like Gimmicky. This proves the point that one can present an aesthetically brilliant swara patterns even if he/she employs complex mathematical calculations, contrary to the feeling in general that "kanakku in music will destroy the music" He presents it with full beauty of the raga / swara, has got tremendous aesthetic sense in his music... His knowledge of HM has also added tremendous vocabulary and has opened a differenet approach to his raga dileneanation(he is a disciple of Pandit Jasraj) No doubt music is beyond language and boundaries and hence his music is wholeheartedly embraced all over the globe
The two great mrindangists did a commendable job. The tani was brief but entertaining, competitive and educative for youngsters. Akkarai Subbulakshmi was a wonderful partner for Sahshank in following his music. One commendable thing about her is she did not try and reproduce all that Shashank did in swara segments, instead she presented her own patterns beautifully enhancing the quality of the concert

greatkrishna · Post by **greatkrishna** » 02 Jan 2009, 06:21

Nick I echo your thought about the dbl Mridangam.

In my opinion rather than showmanship, Shashank's techinically profficiency is what I believe he is trying to display in his playing. I dont think there is any doubt he is the most profficient on his instument amongst those performing today and he has made greats leaps and bounds in his field from a technical persipective.

I take my hat to him for this!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 02 Jan 2009, 12:45

I really loved the Purvikalyani alaapana (I came a little late and this was the first piece I heard) - Shashank manages to almost replicate the qualities of voice that too at a breathtaking pace. But I just wish he would be a little more discerning about displaying proficiency/showmanship or whatever you want to call it. A lot of pyrotechnics were in display in the taanam-pallavi section - I would be less forgiving if this were a krithi rendition but a little more soul would make Shashank's act a really unbeatable one.

Subhalakshmi did a phenomenal job in reproduing the swara raga malikas of Shashank which were rapid fire and just one avaratha long. I didn't get some of the ragas even after the violinist's round!

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 02 Jan 2009, 13:44

greatkrishna wrote:Nick I echo your thought about the dbl Mridangam.

In my opinion rather than showmanship, Shashank's techinically profficiency is what I believe he is trying to display in his playing. ...

I agree entirely. I did not mean to be in any way critical, but rather to comment that, on top of his wonderful musicianship, he is a great entertainer.

I know him a little, and have been to his his house. That would not have come about if I was not an admirer!

It is purely a personal thing, that I will neither excuse nor justify, and perhaps Shashank himself might not agree, but if Shashank and HPC are playing on the same day I would not think twice about which concert to attend: I would be in Shashank's audience.

ajsriram · Post by **ajsriram** » 02 Jan 2009, 13:53

revanthv552 wrote:I would like to know which song was played in brindavana saranga

From a frined of mine, i got to know that in concert of his here in hyderabad,in november, he asked teh rasikas to tell him if they wanted RTP...
the audience said that they would love listening to one... He asked them in which raga they would like it... Then everyone in tehfront rows suggested Brindavana Saranga and then and there he played the RTP in brindavana saranga... its really great to note

I have seen many people doing this, but none has asked for the talam till now (applicable only to people who perform based on the rasikas request and not to others).

ganeshkant · Post by **ganeshkant** » 05 Jan 2009, 16:59

Playing of double mridhangam is not some thing new.In those days it was very much in vogue.I heard that UKSR has played with PRGU,TKM and others.

I heard a concert of Carnatica Bros.in B'lore last year where SRR & Thanjavur Murugabhoopaty played.It was good since there was great diff.in the beats of them.