NSG in San Diego on 23 May '09

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 25 May 2009, 09:57

Neyveli Santhanagopalan - Vocal
SD Sridhar - Violin
Tanjavur Murugabhoopathy - Mrudangam

Sri MN Sundaravaradhan Memorial Concert
Duration ~ 2 h 45 min

Approximate Songlist:

01. guru brahma guru vishnu (slOkam) - bEgaDa
gurulEkha eTuvanti (N @ tatwabhOdanajEsi, S) - gowrimanOhari - khanDa cApu
02. Ananda sAgaramIdanI (S @ pallavi) - garuDadwani - Adi
03. sadguruswAmikku (sketch) - rItigowLa - Adi [2]

04. entha muDDO (R, S @ pallavi) - bindumAlini - Adi
05. ADa mODi galadE (R, N @ caduvulanni telisi, S) - cArukEsi - Adi
06. kA vA vA - varALi - Adi
07. maduramaduram srI rAma nAmam (R, N @ eNNiya karumangaL, S, T) - kharaharapriya - Adi?

08. haridAsulu veDalE - yamunAkalyANi - Adi
09. Sketch Thanam Pallavi - kIravANi - khanDa jhampa
Pallavi: kambIravANi kIravANi ambAdEvi (eDuppu samam +1)
Ragamaliga swaras in aTANa, yadukulakAmbOji, ahiri
10. kastUri tilagam (viruTTam) - yamunAkalyANi
krishnA nI bEganE - yamunAkalyANi - misra cApu

11. rAma mantrava japisO - jOnpuri - Adi
12. thiruppugazh (containing words "vinUdakAra perumALE" ?) - aTANa ?
13. en thAyum (viruTTam) - suruTTi, hamsAnandi, sowrAshtram
pavamAna (mangaLam) - sowrAshtram - Adi

NSG's concert was organised in memoriam of local teacher Revathi Subramanian's late guru Sri MN Sundaravaradhan, who dedicated his life to teaching middle class girls in North Madras where there was a paucity of teachers at the time. He was apparently fond of remarking that music is not an exposition of a musician's manOdharmam or talent but an exercise of devotion, and personally I do not think a better vocalist could have honoured the late Sri MN Sundaravadhan's memory and philosophy than our resident vidyarthi, Sri NSG.

Sri NSG and his team presented a lovely concert last evening. As this was a memorial concert to a guru, NSG appropriately commenced the concert with a nice rendition of Thygaraja's gowrimanOhari krithi, and as was a feature of all his krithi expositions last evening, NSG sang the composition slowly, allowing himself at least a couple of avarthanas after each segment of the song to provide an insightful flourish of the raga, which especially in gurulEka eTuvanti was especially evocative. I was pleasantly surprised when NSG commenced a neraval in the first krithi itself, something I've heard almost no other artiste do. The neraval at tatwabOdhanajEsi was exceptionally thorough and bhava laden in two speeds, and the second speed sequences with repeating NSNS patterns were lovely, as were the GR MG PM DP type ascending patterns employed towards the conclusion of the neraval. I hope more artistes take his cue and start concerts with neravals right at the top of the order, as opposed to the usual pattern of reserving neraval to the third or fourth piece, because the neraval really developed an ambient atmosphere for the rest of the evening. The kalpana swaras following the neraval were memorable for NSG's perfect descent into the mandra madhyamam, and some kaNakku patterns were also interesting. NSG concluded the krithi rendition with a few avarthanas of u-karam before the words "teliyakabOdhu" that was very interesting.

The subsequent garuDadwani rendition was easily one of the highlights of the evening, and certainly the best garuDadwani I've heard. The composition had a very noTTu swara type feel and was very pleasant, and NSG's swoop from the madhya shadjam to the tara shadjam during the krithi rendition was lovely. NSG sang outstanding kalpanaswaras in this piece, bringing out the beauty of flat notes that characterise this raga, and his swara patterns starting from the madhya gandharam like GMP,,, GMPD,,, GMPDN,,, GMPDNR,,, were very creative, and the sangathis in the pallavi upon return to the eDuppu were also lovely. There was a moment in singing the kalpana swaras where NSG dropped all the way down to the mandra shadjam, and his voice maintained its resonance there and it was just as amazing as when Maharajapuram Ramachandran had accomplished the same feat half a year ago here.

After a good rItigowLa rendition, NSG proceeded to elaborate bindumAlini raga. NSG's alapanai was rather imaginative and aesthetic, and his use of the repeating sequence of PDP PDP PDP was creative, and the gamaka he gave to the nishadam in the phrase GMPND,,, was very pleasing. There was also an in-shruti swoop from the mandra panchamam to the tara panchamam that was rather amazing (given his customary difficulty in the tara sthayi). NSG also sang some great sangathis ending in the mandra madhyamam that were beautiful. Throughout the evening, it must be noted that although NSG's voice degenerated into a croak past the tara shadjam, his shruti and voice were very compliant in the madhya and especially the mandra sthayi, and NSG certainly used the mandra sthayi to his advantage in this concert. In an age where most musicians (even instrumentalists) give short shrift to the mandra sthayi, I applaud vidwans like NSG, Vijay Siva, TMK, and Parassala Ponnamal who spend some time in the lower octave exploring ragas, as it provides a lovely depth to any alapanai, and is very emotive. The customary entha muDDo was sung after the bindumAlini alapanai, and the swaras at the end of the piece were fine, with a noteworthy juxtaposition of the phrases NSDPNNS/ MPGRGGM. I was disappointed that there was no concluding long passage of swaras in this piece, and its absence made the kalpanaswara segment of this rendition seem incomplete to me.

CArukEsi was sung next in response to a request, and the 6-7 min raga expansion was fair. NSG used the dhaivatham, especially the mandra dhaivatham excellently during the alapanai, but the relative lack of focus on the madhyamam compromised the bhava of the raga slightly, I felt. I also thought there were one too many shankarAbharaNa piDis in the first minute or so of the alapanai. After an MMI-esque rendition of ADa mODi, NSG sang a mostly second speed neraval at caduvulanni telisi which displayed his immaculate control over kala pramanam. The kalpana swaras were excellent, with delicate, softly sung swaras starting from the madhya shadjam and concluding in the nishadam where the bhavam of chArukEsi just oozed. NSG's use of the nishadam in the swaraprastharam was also commendable.

After a fair rendition of kA vA vA (a request of a highly esteemed rasika), NSG complied with another request for Tanjavur Sankara Iyer's krithi that the vidwan sang in NSG's house--maduramaduram srI rAma nAmam in kharaharapriya. NSG's short raga alapanai of kharaharapriya was oustanding and he somehow managed to convey the essence of the raga in a mere 4-5 minutes and left me wanting a whole lot more (unfulfilled desires are what drive us aren't they). TSI's krithi was sung with a lot of bhavam and NSG's articulation of the sahitya was perfect (he does slur some words when singing). I loved TSI's krithi and when NSG sang the line starting with eNNiya karumangaL, I was hoping against hope that NSG would sing a neraval here, since its sahitya and music seem to lend itself perfectly for neraval. However, I was not hoping for any more neravals in this concert since NSG had already surpassed the unwritten law of no more than two neravals per concert. Once again, NSG sprang a surprise and started a comprehensive neraval in the eNNiya karumangaL. The kharaharapriya krithi and neraval were easily the second highlight of the evening, and I was glad that NSG decided to turn this into the main, proceeding to sing kaNakku-laden swaras after the neraval (a bit indulgent here), and then turning it over to the mrudangam artiste for the thani avarthanam. To whoever requested this krithi, a big thank you!

After the Thyagaraja krithi in yamunAkalyANi that the organiser said San Diego rasikas had been wanting to hear for a long time, NSG obliged my chit request for Ragam Thanam Pallavi. This is the first time I have requested anything in any concert, and I was thrilled when NSG (whom I had e-mailed prior to the concert as well) kindly obliged me and sang a short RTP. Of course, the two minute sketch of kIravANi was disappointingly brief, but my primary interest was in NSG's thanam, and NSG sang an elaborate thanam in three octaves, illustrating exactly why he's easily one of the best thanam singers on the circuit today. Whereas many artistes have trouble maintaining an even kalapramanam in thanam and even more difficulty producing thanam patterns that reflect the raga instead of relegating the raga to the tail flourishes of thanam and singing the same N,NS NNS NNS and G,GM GGM GGM type phrases to create the illusion of thanam, NSG fleshed out the ragam extraordinarily during the thanam, maintaining an even faster madhyama kala pace. After a 8-9 minute thanam, NSG sang a crisp pallavi neraval in a faster madhyama kala as well, before the expected progress into ragamaliga swaras where he said he'd sing the ragas mentioned in his (numerous) other chits. Although relatively short, his ragamaliga swaras were well executed and the ahiri was especially brilliant, as was the nonchalance with which he sang all the ragas in reverse order.

I wish a second yamunAkalyANi krithi had been avoided, but NSG obliged the request anyhow. Of the concluding tukkadas, the viruTTam in suruTTi, hamsAnandi, and sowrAshtram was excellent.

Overall, I thought NSG sang a really beautiful, customarily sowkhyam-laden concert last evening, which prompted my friend who's never heard him before to exclaim that "he's MDR minus the konashTai." Certainly, the leisurely pace of the concert, the ample moments of silence between lines of each composition and phrases in raga alapanais and swaras, both contributed to the MDR effect. The organizer also complimented NSG for requesting for a low volume throughout the concert, and it certainly complemented his music extraordinarily. There is a certain warmth and intimacy in NSG's music that draws rasikas inward--it is not merely his leisurely singing or his music even but his unassuming demeanor on stage, his attitude towards rasikas, and his enthusiastic appreciation of his accompanists that all combine towards this warmth, and there is something rather special not only about his music but about his person. In an evening of firsts, I also ventured to speak to NSG after the concert to thank him for obliging my request and also for singing FOUR neravals during the concert, something which is an unimaginable luxury these days.

I was personally not impressed by SD Sridhar's performance on the violin last evening, though I'm in the minority because every other rasika I spoke to after the concert thought he was good. I was particularly disappointed by his uneven bowing, with his bow liberally slipping up and down the strings, resulting in screeching aplenty, his reluctance to use the full bow when accompanying, and his execution of brigha sangathis also encountered several rough patches. Nonetheless, he did have his moments, especially in his response to kalpana swaras in cArukEsi, his ability to rise to the occasion during kaNakku swaras, and his kIravANi thanam which had nice patterns like GR MG PM DP ND... and Mandolin Srinivas's kIravANi note type patterns SP RP GP. His cArukEsi alapanai was also a shade better than the vocalist's.

Murugabhoopathy was good on the mrudangam, providing very soft and unobtrusive support, filling up the moments of silence admirably, and I especially enjoyed his unique tIrmAnam in kA vA vA, which was the best part of the whole rendition. His saravalaghu play during kalpana swaras was also excellent and for some reason reminded me of VR accompanying MMI, and his thani, though on the shorter side, was very crisp and pleasant and I managed to recognise mohras and farans, so hurrah!

To adopt Rajesh's system (my manasika guru in reviewing), I would rate this a mostly excellent concert.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 May 2009, 11:13

Bravo, Bilahari! You are backwith a review!
A more than 'good to excellent' review (a Rajeshism) of the concert from you and I thank you for that. Not only are you detailed in your review, but by writing it, you more than made up for thedearth of any reasonable reviews on NSG's concerts in the US.
You have captured the music of vidyaarthi who is known for his sowkyam, of course. His neraval in the very first kruti which you enjoyed does define this unique vidvAn. His music has a meditative quality that it seems as though he could be singing in his own house with no audience and yet you find yourself there, listening to him. I feel that way whenever I hear him. As your review says it very well, those who haven't heard him, need not be fooled. There is imagination and variety and a freshness in his phrases. Yet, as you pointed out, his child-like simplicity lets him first be a dedicated vidvan, and then a performer. While it is not an ideal thing for a vidvAn who is a performer in this nitty gritty world, this is better in another sense because we get to hear a vidvAn who is engrossed in his music.
I haven't been able to hear him in the US, and I have to wait until the end of this year to listen to him in India, it seems.

I do not know anything about Sridhar's playing. From what you say, a better violinist would have made NSG's concerts even better, perhaps. By the way, you have said Murugabupathi played the violin!

Ananda sAgaramIdani
kastUri tilakam
rAma mantrava japisO

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 25 May 2009, 11:23

Arasi, thank you for the comments and the corrections. I too was disappointed at the lack of reviews of NSG's concerts during his US tour and consequently put in extra effort to write a detailed review. I can't wait to hear him again at the end of the year (he's promised to sing bilahari for me as we both share a mutual admiration for the raga)!

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 25 May 2009, 13:09

bilahari,
I am not at all sad that there weren't many reviews of NSG's concerts. Your single review compensates all!
Excellent review. It gave a live and real effect.
Some of the best parts were:

In an age where most musicians (even instrumentalists) give short shrift to the mandra sthayi, I applaud vidwans like NSG, Vijay Siva, TMK, and Parassala Ponnamal who spend some time in the lower octave exploring ragas, as it provides a lovely depth to any alapanai, and is very emotive.

I completely agree with you. Mandhra sthayi lends such a lot of emotion and beauty to an alapana.

NSG had already surpassed the unwritten law of no more than two neravals per concert

This law is really foolish[

]. I like a concert only if there are a lot of neravals. I just love hearing the continuous repetition of lines again and again. Although the line is only repeated, musically it is fresh every time!! That is the specialty of neraval. Don't you think?
You must be lucky to listen to a concert with 4 neravals. I would love to go to such a concert. Nowadays, singers drop the practice of singing neraval. They sing neraval only for the main kriti. :O

The subsequent garuDadwani rendition was easily one of the highlights of the evening, and certainly the best garuDadwani I've heard

I can understand! Bilahari backwards is also ecstasy! Isn't it?

I can't call this a review. This is an analysis. Quite a descriptive, understandable and narrative analysis!! =) Continue writing!

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 25 May 2009, 15:56

Bilahari - you exceed your standards every time you write. How i wish you attended december concerts in chennai, and write in this forum?

I am yet another fan of madhara stayi sangathis in alapana!!

-hari

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 25 May 2009, 20:30

Bilahari - excellent review - Rajesh will be pleased! You brought the concert to us very evocatively!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 May 2009, 20:31

Bilahari,
So, he is going to sing bilahari for you? Our soap opera scribe (future film script writer) srinivas has mentioned 'vaLLi nAyakanE' in his current cliff hanger narrative. I seem to be known for two songs among rasikAs, it seems--this and the kalyAna vasantam one.
I hope vidyaarthi would consider singing vaLLi nAyakanE vA, and if it happens, I would flip too, as you would with the bilahari

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 25 May 2009, 20:48

arasi wrote:Bilahari,
So, he is going to sing bilahari for you? Our soap opera scribe (future film script writer) srinivas has mentioned 'vaLLi nAyakanE' in his current cliff hanger narrative. I seem to be known for two songs among rasikAs, it seems--this and the kalyAna vasantam one.
I hope vidyaarthi would consider singing vaLLi nAyakanE vA, and if it happens, I would flip too, as you would with the bilahari

Arasi,
Even I am planning to learn your "Valli Nayakane" and render it. I will be needing happy ragas as I am planning to play Veena in my cousin's "seemantham" function. I will try to upload a recording! And thanks for the 'soap opera scribe' title! I am really honored to receive it from the Queen of Rasikas and Vaggeyakaras! As for the future film script writer, I think that will never happen! =)

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 May 2009, 21:15

Glad to hear that you are going to play vaLLi nAyakanE at the happy event.
As for the queen and stuff, isn't it funny that sometimes the name is taken literally?

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 25 May 2009, 22:24

bilahari
A brilliant review, IIRC this is your second keeravani RTP , you and I (we did not know each of us then)had a chance to hear the same keeravani RTP of NSG (different pallavi line) in 2007 at IFA, madras. His madhyama KAlam tAnam must have been stunning. I have not heard about this TSI kharaharapriyA at all . Must have been odd to hear kharaharapriya (main) -RTP keeravAni , too much of overlap may be not that interesting

.

On a side note , since you live and breathe in bilahari, if NSG is not singing a bilahari RTP, ask him to sing iNi namakOru - bilahari -kOteeswara Iyer composition , there is just a lovely line where kOteeshwara Iyer connects with sadguru thyagarAja , NSG makes us visualize kOteeshwara Iyer's bhakthi to sadguru thyagarAja

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 May 2009, 22:33

I would like to hear it too, Rajesh. VaLLi nAyakanE can wait

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 25 May 2009, 22:45

Arasi
May 30 or 31st , NSG is singing at CT.

cmvenkat · Post by **cmvenkat** » 26 May 2009, 01:07

Of course, i attended Santhanagopalan sir's concert and enjoyed it immensely. But I always worry when too many requests are made. It changes the structure of the concert. I would rather like to hear what the artist comes with items he/she wants to render. I confess that I myself have made a few requests in the past. But now I cannot help wonder Neyveli S would have sung if no requests were there. In the concert in San Diego, Santhanagopalan gave an exceptional concert with Trichy Sankaran accompanying him rather sensitively. We recorded that concert. No request was made during that concert.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 26 May 2009, 02:23

Srinivas, Hari, Ravi, and Rajesh, thank you for your kind compliments.

Srinivas, I am with you 100% on neravals (maybe this is why I am so fascinated by MDR, who sings almost every line as a neraval), and with you and Hari on the importance of mandra sthayi. I guess I do like Bilahari in forward and reverse! I have always especially enjoyed MMI's tatwameruga tarama and I've heard that Nedunuri (?) also sings garuDadwani exceptionally well, though I haven't heard his rendition yet.

Hari, I have been attending the season in Chennai and reporting back, but given the hectic daily schedule in trying to cram concerts, social visits, and shopping in a short period of time, I do not write quite so elaborate reviews.

Rajesh, NSG's thanam did immediately remind me of the IFAS concert two years ago! I remember you had mentioned in your comments that the thanam made it all worthwhile (since it was an abbreviated concert). I have never heard NSG's ini namakkoru and am now very intrigued. Actually, when NSG started kIravANi RTP after kh'priya, I too was rather apprehensive, but I think kIravANi's character is sufficiently different from KHP's because it didn't bother me at all. I think there is a lot of life in the kIravANi nishadam which is more than enough to distinguish it from KHP.

Arasi, incidentally, I listened to Sumitra Nitin singing vaLLi nAyakanE this morning at work, and she did a very good job! I loved your composition for its elegant lyrics (Tamil is always nice since I can at least understand the basic import of the sahitya even if not every word) and I got a lot of bilahari out of it. That neraval line was perfect as well and Sumitra sang a crisp N,S. Maybe NSG will be kind enough to sing both your composition and ini namakkoru this season (in different concerts of course)?

cmvenkat sir, I absolutely agree about requests, but some artistes like NSG and MSR seem to genuinely enjoy (the challenge of?) requests and manage to make a concert work with requests too (I remember MSR's banTurIti kOlu last year which he sang as submain was also a request). An artiste ultimately chooses whether or not to accept requests or to sing according his/her own desires, so those who give requests shouldn't be reluctant at all. I remember an anecdote related here recently (hilarity thread?) where an artiste (MDR?) accepted plenty of chits and was looking at the chits carefully while singing, and when questioned about it later, he remarked that he was making sure he wasn't singing any song requested on the chits!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 26 May 2009, 03:25

Bilahari,
Well, other than to chit chat about them, chits are not worth our while if you have a pre-RTP request, in my view. Requests are a bit different. Still, the chances of your requests being granted are slim. Let's say there are four rasikAs who have requests on a particular day: 1. by E-mail, 2. in person at an earlier hour, 3. just before the concert, or worse, 4. by chits. My feeling is that the one who gives the chit in the middle of the concert (ugh!) might wing it. Well, sort of. A mid-concert chit-giver would have asked for a tukkaDA which either the performer already had planned to sing, or didn't mind singing at the last moment.
From the performer's point of view, requests are a nuisance. Many of them plan their concerts well ahead of time. Any interference would mean reconstructing part of their concert. There are others who just wing it as their mood dictates. Even there, they have a rough idea in their minds about their song or rAgam choices. And then rAgam, composer, pakka vAdyam, the nature of the audience are all factors which they have to deal with.
Unless you are an important figure that day-- a sponsor or an organizer , you would barely get to listen to your request. Does this mean you should not request? Of course not! The funny thing is, I have requested my favorites a few times to no avail, but a few silent wishes have been answered, even without my asking

By the way, thanks for listening to vaLLi nAyakanE and liking it.

Rajesh,
Yes. You can imagine my disappointment. I am more mobile in India than here. Distances and night driving are real problems. Last time in India, I listened to five concerts of his. Not bad, eh? Looking forward to even more of his concerts the coming season, God willing. May be one in Chennai which you attend too, and we may get to hear that elusive yadukulakAmbhOji, knowing how obliging NSG can be

Always_Evolving · Post by **Always_Evolving** » 26 May 2009, 04:46

cmvenkat wrote:In the concert in San Diego, Santhanagopalan gave an exceptional concert with Trichy Sankaran accompanying him rather sensitively. We recorded that concert. No request was made during that concert.

Confused... There was another NSG concert in SD w/ Trichy Sankaran in addition to the May 23 one with Murugaboopathy?

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 26 May 2009, 07:35

Arasi, but in this case (just like in the San Jose concert), NSG specifically invited rasikas to send in their requests before the concert and in the middle of the concert as well. So clearly it wasn't a nuisance for him, in which case he wouldn't have asked for requests. And even when artistes who have planned for a concert are inundated with requests, they have every right to chuck the chits and sing whatever they'd planned. They shouldn't (and don't--I rarely see certain artistes even taking a second look at chits) feel compelled to oblige in the least. That's my point.

I would argue, further, that some artistes even like getting chits because it reassures them that the audience is engaged in the concert and enjoying their music (I would never request for a song from an artiste who I fear might butcher it).

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 26 May 2009, 08:02

Oh no. I wasn't talking about those concerts where the performers let us come up with requests, but about requests in concerts in general.

You say it well. Yes, it is wise not to ask a song of an artiste if you fear that he might butcher your pet song! Even someone who sings it divinely might mix up the original words--a bit of a let down for a composer!

cmvenkat · Post by **cmvenkat** » 26 May 2009, 09:10

Always_Evolving wrote:
cmvenkat wrote:In the concert in San Diego, Santhanagopalan gave an exceptional concert with Trichy Sankaran accompanying him rather sensitively. We recorded that concert. No request was made during that concert.
Confused... There was another NSG concert in SD w/ Trichy Sankaran in addition to the May 23 one with Murugaboopathy?

Always_Evolving

Yes, yes there was a concert by Sri Neyveli Santhanagopalan a few years ago that I had organized. The venue was Shiva Vishnu Temple. Sorry I was not clear

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 26 May 2009, 09:41

Always_Evolving · Post by **Always_Evolving** » 26 May 2009, 09:45

coolkarni wrote: The Cool guys from from Erode and Mannarkoil have made me get to a point, where I see a Pun everywhere

So says the Cool guy himself

cmvenkat · Post by **cmvenkat** » 26 May 2009, 10:42

bilahari wrote:
I would argue, further, that some artistes even like getting chits because it reassures them that the audience is engaged in the concert and enjoying their music (I would never request for a song from an artiste who I fear might butcher it).

A few years ago there was a concert in San Diego where the main artist asked audience to pick a raga for RTP and gave three choices. We complied and selected Behag. Soon after someone sent a chit asking for krishna ni begane. The resulting introductory alapana in yamuna kalyani was 80% behag!

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 26 May 2009, 19:47

@ bilahari

Phrases like GR MG PM DP form the heart of gauri manohari don't they?

cmvenkat · Post by **cmvenkat** » 26 May 2009, 22:34

srikant1987 wrote:@ bilahari

Phrases like GR MG PM DP form the heart of gauri manohari don't they?

Actually it employs pratyahatam like

sn nd dp pm
gr rs sn nd dp

bringing out out the raga well

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 26 May 2009, 22:39

Cool, the kannaDiga getting to be a 'pun'dit in puns! A true testament to his being a totally authentic tamizhan

cmvenkat · Post by **cmvenkat** » 27 May 2009, 10:00

bilahari wrote:
After the Purandaradasa krithi in yamunAkalyANi that the organiser said San Diego rasikas had been wanting to hear for a long time (I hope they have visited Coolji's thread on Kannada compositions), NSG obliged my chit request for Ragam Thanam Pallavi.

O by the way, what purandara dasa krithi in Yamuna Kalyani are you talking about?

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 27 May 2009, 11:49

cmvenkat sir, thank you for pointing out my error. I had wrongly attriubuted haridAsa veDalE to Purandaradasa instead of Thyagaraja!

cmvenkat · Post by **cmvenkat** » 27 May 2009, 20:26

bilahari wrote:cmvenkat sir, thank you for pointing out my error. I had wrongly attriubuted haridAsa veDalE to Purandaradasa instead of Thyagaraja!

That is okay. i actually very much enjoy your reviews/analysis. regards.

visaalam · Post by **visaalam** » 29 May 2009, 22:47

bilahari wrote:
I was personally not impressed by SD Sridhar's performance on the violin last evening, though I'm in the minority because every other rasika I spoke to after the concert thought he was good. I was particularly disappointed by his uneven bowing, with his bow liberally slipping up and down the strings, resulting in screeching aplenty, his reluctance to use the full bow when accompanying, and his execution of brigha sangathis also encountered several rough patches.

This is nothing unusual. That is his usual way / calibre of playing.

There are a dozen violonists who play much much better than SDS. NSG could have picked any one of them

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 30 May 2009, 02:44

Does the main artiste get to choose his accompanists during overseas tours?

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 30 May 2009, 08:16

Well, as far as I know, I don't think the artistes can choose their accompanists in most cases. It is quite evident from the numerous Cleveland and Sydney videos. It is quite shocking to note that the violinists, especially are mediocre. They struggle to play kalpanaswaram, even in ragas like Todi, Abhogi, etc. They are local violinists(which can be seen from their name prefixes like 'Cleveland', etc.) The mridangam players are the usual Indian artistes, mostly. I think artistes take the mridangam players with them. But, the other accompaniments are provided by the organizers.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 30 May 2009, 09:45

srinivasrgvn wrote:Well, as far as I know, I don't think the artistes can choose their accompanists in most cases. It is quite evident from the numerous Cleveland and Sydney videos. It is quite shocking to note that the violinists, especially are mediocre. They struggle to play kalpanaswaram, even in ragas like Todi, Abhogi, etc. They are local violinists(which can be seen from their name prefixes like 'Cleveland', etc.) The mridangam players are the usual Indian artistes, mostly. I think artistes take the mridangam players with them. But, the other accompaniments are provided by the organizers.

The Cleveland Aradhana now a days does not typically arrange tours in North America for the artists. The ones coming to Cleveland Aradhana in most instances where artists tour are chosen by some other organiser or the artist reponsible for the particular tour. The Cleveland Aradhana goes thru' enormous efforts to select artist. The Artists are the types: Artists from India, artists from India currently resident in North America, artists from North America who grew up here etc. There is great effort in terms of seniority, age, promise, instruments etc. To be brief but specific as an example there will be Veena as well as Nadhaswaram will almost always be there as well harikathakalashepam The categories, criteria, as well as other considerations will requires a one hour lecture which I persuaded Cleveland Sundaram to talk about during this year's festival at request of rasikas.org members. TWENTY FIVE said they would attend & NINE-INCLUDING ME & VVS- actually showed up. The other seven were already known to us & knew all the details!~ The artists are chosen with advice from SENIOR VIDWANS from India as well as other experts. The Aradhana Committee does not claim to have the expertisetho' some of them may be experts. Hope this clears up at least a few things.......VKV

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 30 May 2009, 11:21

coolkarni wrote:
bilahari wrote: I would argue, further, that some artistes even like getting chits
Knowing NSG too well , I reckon he may break into a CHIT-TAM Eppadiyo , if he does not like the prospects of Chits.
The Cool guys from from Erode and Mannarkoil have made me get to a point, where I see a Pun everywhere

Chit - Tame - padiyO?

The habit of listening to requests are steps for growth!