Hyderabad Brothers at Parthasarathy Swami Sabha on 25 Dec 20

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 25 Dec 2008, 21:57

Vocal: Hyderabad Brothers
Violin: S. Varadarajan
Mrudangam: Karaikudi Mani
Khanjira: N Amrith

Approximate Songlist:

01. kanjadalAyadAkshi - kamalAmanOhari - Adi
02. samayamidE nannu brOva (S @ pallavi) - kEdAram - rUpakam
03. nI paramA nAma (sketch, S @ pallavi) - Ananda bhairavi - Adi
04. sogasujUda tharamA - kannada gowLa - rUpakam
05. pAmarajana pAlini (R, N @ kAmikAntha paladAyini, S) - simmhEndramadhyamam - rUpakam
06. palukuTEchE palamEni (short sketch) - phalamanjari - rUpakam
07. vidajAlathurA - janaranjani - Adi
08. srI rAjagOpAla (R, S @ pallavi, T) - sAvEri - Adi
09. enthadi kulukE - kalyANi - rUpakam
10. entha nEvanenthunE sakhi - kEdAram ? - rUpakam
11. mundati valEnApai - bhairavi- mishra chApu
12. evathE pAdu nammA - aTANa - khanda chApu
13. rAgam - madhyamAvathi

Good concert by the Hyd Bros this afternoon with stellar accompaniment as well to complete a well-rounded team effort. Excellent start with a racy rendition of Kanchadalayadakshi, and Kedaram krithi rendition was ok (better voice modulation could have been exercised in rendering this raga) but the short burst of swaras was very good, with the younger brother demonstrating a variety of Kedaram gamakas using the shadjam (especially the characteristic long glide towards the gandharam and back). Ananda Bhairavi sketch by the younger brother was good, especially in tara sthayi, and a rare krithi followed. The swaras were too short to make an impact. Simmhendramadhyamam ragam by the elder brother (read: elder brother) was just fabulous and filled with bhavam and had several creative phrases, and the krithi was rendered very well with a way too brief neraval and equally brief round of swaras both being rather disappointing. Especially the neraval just saw the younger brother increase and decrease the pause between words without actually performing a typical neraval of actually playing with the sahitya. Phalamanjari rendition, including the sketch, was just outstanding, with the younger brother bringing out the melody of the raga very well. After a sweet Janaranjani, the younger brother sang a very good, succinct Saveri alapanai with mostly classical phrases, and a weighty krithi was sung, disappointingly with no neraval and swaras were once again very short. Of the thukkadas sung, Munthadi Valenapai and Evathe Padu were excellent.

Overall, I wish the number of items had been reduced in a 1h 50min concert and more elaborate kalpana swaras had been sung in at least the main item, and a more thorough neraval in Simmhendramadhyamam. However, several krithis I've never heard before were rendered, and all krithis rendered with excellent diction, and I was kept interested every minute of the concert. I'll definitely have to slot in an evening performance for this duo next year [but at whose expense? I don't want to ditch or demote anybody from my current list! So many people to listen to, so little time

].

Varadarajan was wonderful on the violin. What an accompanist! His Simmhendramadhyamam alapanai was outstanding, and his Saveri was so crisp and to-the-point. He had excellent responses ready for all kalpana swaras and neravals (he got about 2 chances per piece!) and was highly impressive.

My first time listening to Karaikudi Mani, and he has got to be the most vigorous and strokeful mrudangist I have ever heard. The thani, as a result, was an exciting roller coaster ride with crescendos and power strokes aplenty and has got to be one of the most captivating thanis I've heard live. Amrith matched KM very well and he certainly plays the khanjira with the most azhuttham amongst all artistes I have seen. Both of them accompanied excellently for all krithis.

My second season experience ends on a high and now that familiar sinking feeling of having to wait another year before the next deluge of good music. Sigh.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 25 Dec 2008, 23:27

Thanks Bilahari - you have done all of us a great service by sending your excellent reviews. I know how it feels when the season comes to an end...have a good trip back to Singapore and the US.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 26 Dec 2008, 07:53

As a rule, there should be only one party with paper in a concert. It is either the rasikas who are writing down song lists or the artists who are referring to notes.

Observing this rule, I did not write down a song list because from the first line of "Kanjathalayadakshi", Hyderabad Brothers started looking at their notes to see what it is that they were singing.

Every single song was rendered with periodic peeks at their notes... even "Enthadi Kulukke" which they have sung before -- they might have sung other songs too in earlier times -- but they spared us the spectacle of holding up the paper at eye level and reading/singing from it as they have done in the past.

Guru Karaikkudi Mani's mridangam was forceful and loud but not ear-shatteringly so though I was directly in the line of the big speakers at front. One could very clearly hear the different strokes. His accompaniment for the krithis embellished them and the tani avarthanam was nothing short of brilliant.

Folks like Trichy Sankaran (and those who sing his praises) ought to listen to Guru Karaikkudi Mani to understand what good mridangam playing is like: A hint: it is NOT banging away at the drum in a manner analogous to the second wife beating the first wife's kids!

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 26 Dec 2008, 08:52

harimau wrote:A hint: it is NOT banging away at the drum in a manner analogous to the second wife beating the first wife's kids!

harimau: This is exactly what your Sankaran-bashing sounds like, actually

. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 26 Dec 2008, 09:26

prashant wrote:
harimau wrote:A hint: it is NOT banging away at the drum in a manner analogous to the second wife beating the first wife's kids!
harimau: This is exactly what your Sankaran-bashing sounds like, actually . The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

In another review (R K Srikantan at Bharath Kalachar), a different poster said that he had to stuff cotton in his ears to muffle the sound of Guruvayur Dorai's mridangam playing.

Guruvayur Dorai was loud at that venue but his was not in the same class as Trichy Sankaran's playing for OST at Ramana Kendra or (this I heard from multiple sources; I had the good sense to miss this concert upon seeing his name on the list!) for R K Srikantan at Tatvaloka for Carnatica.

I have the intestinal fortitude to form and hold my own opinions and publish them even if they go against commonly-held views about sacred cows of Carnatic Music. I have not reached the state of brain death that most mindless posters seem to have achieved. Some of you should join the stage with yet another percussion instrument: the jaalra (finger cymbals).

One final word: Sacred cows also produce cow-pies!

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 26 Dec 2008, 10:00

harimau, I really enjoy reading your posts, but your posts on this thread border on slander

You have every right to comment on performance by an artist on a given day but passing comments about other artists is not in good taste. You can comment on individual performances but not on artists and other forum members. The biggest pitfall for a person is -- not in thinking that he is the most knowledgeble but in thinking that others are fools. I think you are falling into that now.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 26 Dec 2008, 10:29

harimau: Your so-called 'intestinal fortitude' is not saving you from dropping cow-pies all over this forum, it seems like. Happy listening - I'm off to jAlra class.

rbsiyer · Post by **rbsiyer** » 26 Dec 2008, 10:31

the bros. seem to specialise in phalamanjari. have heard them singing sanatana and sri narasimha in addition to palukadache.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 26 Dec 2008, 23:32

The sound of the mrudangam is also related to the audio system. In Guruvayoor Dorai's case it was because a section of the audience demanded that the volume be tuned up although it was getting very noisy.

Passing a judgment on the mrudangam is a very dicey affair - it just depends too much on quality of the audio system. MFAC, for instance, can make even a Palghat Mani Iyer sound like a tin drum. I myself prefer to hear mrudangists at the Academy which presently has the best audio arrangements in in town. Charsur's comemrcial releases are also very senstive.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 25 Jan 2009, 09:47

Excerpts available here:
http://www.sangeethamshare.org/nagaraja ... ai_viza08/

Though the Simmhendramadhyamam and Phalamanjari, which IMHO were the best parts of the concert, were not relayed by AIR, I do recommend everybody listening to the outstanding thani at least in the Saveri rendition.

lsangeetham · Post by **lsangeetham** » 25 Jan 2009, 22:10

Bilahari,

Mani sir's thani is always intricate and strokeful. Since you heard him live for the first time, you are probably feeling this way ! If you listened to some of his thanis from the past (not to mention his song accompaniment), you would be swept off your feet

BTW, whom are you learning the violin from ? Please let us know if you are performing in a concert, I would love to come and listen to you play.

prasadvrg · Post by **prasadvrg** » 02 Mar 2009, 11:04

Namasthe Bilahari,

I was at that concert, yes, it was a very good concert. I have the play list with the composers. Please correct me if I am wrong.

1 KanchaDalayaTakshi Kamalamanohari Adi Dikshitar
2 SamayamidheNannuBrova Kedaram Rupaka PatnamSubramaniaIyer
3 NeePhalamoNaamaPhalamo Anandabhairavi Adi
4 SogasuJudaTarama KanadaGowla Adi Thyagaraja
5 PamarajanaPalini Simhendramadhyamam Rupakam Dikshitar
6 Palukudache Phalamanjari Adi PatnamSubramaniaIyer
7 Vidajaladura Janaranjani Adi Thyagaraja
8 SriRajagopala Saveri Adi Dikshitar
9 EntaTikuluke(Javali) Kalyani Rupakam Pattabhiramayya
10 EntaNinneVarnintuneSakhi Kedaram Rupakam
11 MuddatiValeNaapai Bhairavi
12 Evate Atana Misrachapu Kshetrayya

I think the 11th song is in Bhairavi.

I request other rasikas to fill in the missing details.

The only distraction at the end of the concert was rasikas getting in the sabha for Ranjani Gayatri Concert. People were moving up and down while the concert was going on. Doesn't really show respect to the artists.

Regards,
Prasad

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 02 Mar 2009, 14:30

Prasad, thanks for filling in the composers! I don't remember item 11 any more. And let's face it--most of the crowd was merely sitting through the Hyd Bros concert in order to have good seats for R-G. People were liberally leaving and entering, eating, talking, yawning loudly and generally did everything they could to make the brothers feel unwelcome.

prasadvrg · Post by **prasadvrg** » 03 Mar 2009, 16:27

Thanks for the reply bilahari. Did you attend Ranajani Gayatri's concert? I was there and it was excellent. Has anyone done the review for that concert?

Regards,
Prasad

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 03 Mar 2009, 21:55

Prasad, most unfortunately I had something else to attend to in the evening, though I do enjoy listening to R-G as well! Could you provide a songlist (nobody's done a review) and add some comments maybe in a separate thread?

endaroo · Post by **endaroo** » 10 Mar 2009, 20:38

The Hyd. Brothers concert was 25th December over. But still members fighting. Comparing the artists Trichy Sankaran and Dorai Sir, the second wife beating the first wife kids of harimau - Jaalra and fighting of rajumds, even comparing and criticising a Great Mridangam Vidwan late Sri Palghat Mani Iyer sound like a tin drum. One member is asking other member with whom he is learning Violin.

Is all this information is really necessary to our respected members.

I humbly request all members to enjoy the concert and not to criticise and fighting like this.

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 10 Mar 2009, 21:54

endaroo wrote: fighting of rajumds.

Can you explain the basis of your allegation please.

endaroo · Post by **endaroo** » 11 Mar 2009, 08:20

My dear rajamds
Fighting nature is always bad. Please don't be serious, be cool. Are you really attending the concerts to criticise/fighting/chit chating. My sincere request to attend the concert and enjoy thoroughly the devine music.

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 11 Mar 2009, 09:52

hi endaroo, rajumds is quite "cool" and doesn't have a "fighting nature" !!! I think you're completely misreading everything. Perhaps you should get used to this forum more ?

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 11 Mar 2009, 11:58

I think the best way to deal with such posts/posters is to entirely ignore them.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 11 Mar 2009, 12:13

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 11 Mar 2009, 21:23

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 12 Mar 2009, 18:01

Mundativale nApai is a Bhairavi padam by kshetrayya. It is extinct in tamizh-land and is seriously endangered in Andhra-desam as well. At one time it held sway in KarnAtaka and those two states, but is now a rare bird. Evatthe and Mundati are surviving only due to the efforts of Chroniclers like Dr. S. PinAkapAni.

HeyNarayana · Post by **HeyNarayana** » 12 Mar 2009, 20:08

Thanks Keerthi for sharing this information, we should be grateful to people like Sri D. Pinakapani and others and to the artists presenting those as well. I attended this concet and had great time. I request members to use their judgement in binging up some of the topics and stay away from noise. Somebody mentioned getting used to the forum, I hope heshe didn't refer to the forum as attacking artists or getting personal. Who ever is maintaining this site is doing service, the responsibility is on the members on how we utilize this. Some of these conversations reminds me of my elementary school days and I wish people show some maturity.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 12 Mar 2009, 21:04

Keerthi, thanks for the info about the Bhairavi padam.