Vid|| Soumya Bellevue WA, May 29 2009

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 31 May 2009, 09:18

Vocal- Soumya
Violin -RK Shriram kumar
Mridangam -Neyveli Narayanan

ninnu kOri -Vasanta Varnam Adi
ninne Bhajana sEyu vADanu- nATa -Adi (T)(N,S)
cani tODi tEvE- hari kAmbhOji -Adi (T) (R, S)
sadAcalESvaram- bhUpAlam- Adi (MD)
nambi keTTavar- hindOLam -Adi (PS)
kAmAkShI amba svarajati - bhairavi -miSra cApu (SS) (RNS+ tani)
kAdal"¦rAdhE rAdHE- khamAs ? (??)
caliyE kunjan -brindAvan sArang- (ST)
bhavapriya bhavANi -bhavANi- rUpaka (SR)
Cenni ?? tiruppugazh ?
tOm tOm -tillana - pUrnacandrika- Adi (PSA)
Mangalam pavamAna.. (T)

We had the pleasure of hearing an excellent concert by Vidushi Soumya along with Vid RK Sriram Kumar and Vid Neyveli Narayanan. This was my first concert of hers. Her kriti in nATa was well presented with a superb neraval at sItA nAta sakala lOka pAlaka. At the kalpanaswaram I wondered how they take off into another round of swarams in the middle of the tala (ah! the lessons I learn being on this forum) and end all well. Within few seconds into the next AlApana I knew it was harikAmbhOji. I find this raga tough to identify but was pleased I got it right. I specifically liked the kriti cani tODi tEvE (was new for me). Such a lovely kriti!

SoumyaÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s voice suited very well when she sang sadAcalESvaram. The lower octave seems to be her best.

Then, the grandest of all- bhairavi. One has to experience a live performance to feel the kAmAkshI svarajati 100 %. Soumya ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“s heavy voice just brought out the beauty of this composition. The neraval at bhakta jana kalpalatika was so pleasing, and the back and forth between vocal and violin was something I cherished here as well as throughout the concert.

I was so happy to have had the opportunity to hear RKSK. His playing was top class in accompanying as well as his solos. And, I have not forgotten the mridangist. My one ear and eye was observing all the intricacies of mridangam playing as well. Sitting thru mridangam class for over a year helped me enjoy, but have not much knowledge to comment. At some places in his tani I felt as if he was playing for a dance performance and I could see Soumya moving her head to the rhythm.

Wish I could hear this concert once more.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 31 May 2009, 09:34

Nice review, Suji. Thanks! I am now wondering when I will have the opportunity to hear the bhairavi swarajati live... And interesting neraval line as well. I have only heard the SSI school neraval at "syAma krishna sahOdari" in the last stanza of the composition. But my personal favourite line in that composition is bhaktha jana kalapalatika... It has an inspired start with M,P NDM,, and bhairavi just pours out of it.

Also nice to see a nATTai neraval, which is pretty rare I think.

I believe the khamAs item is kAdalenum tIvinilE, a Bharatiyar composition.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 31 May 2009, 09:35

Incidentally, how many concerts do you have in your place annually?

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 31 May 2009, 09:48

Nice review, Suji. Happy that you enjoyed Sowmya's classic presentation and as is your wont, picked up many pointers.

'kAdalenum tIvinilE rAdE rAdE' is bArati's song.
(Ah, I see that Bilahari has already pointed it out).

I think it is bhavapriyE bhavAni

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 31 May 2009, 10:09

arasi

is that bhavapriye not an S Ramanathan composition? i think i remember seeing this in a Dr S Ramanathan sangeetha releases where the accompanists are MSG and KRM

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 31 May 2009, 10:14

Suji Ram wote "I specifically liked the kriti cani tODi tEvE (was new for me). Such a lovely kriti! "

U must hear DKP singing this song. I will U/L this song little later.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 31 May 2009, 10:46

Ignoramus,
Yes. Suji does say SR at the end of the line.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 May 2009, 12:41

bilahari wrote:Thanks! I am now wondering when I will have the opportunity to hear the bhairavi swarajati live... And interesting neraval line as well. I have only heard the SSI school neraval at "syAma krishna sahOdari" in the last stanza of the composition. But my personal favourite line in that composition is bhaktha jana kalapalatika... It has an inspired start with M,P NDM,, and bhairavi just pours out of it.

Exactly I also feel the same. That neraval line looks new to me. Also swarajathi with R N S is very very rare, WA is lucky WAH WAH

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 31 May 2009, 15:05

But YK, w or w/o any combination of R, N and S is probably even rarer!

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 31 May 2009, 22:12

bilahari wrote:Incidentally, how many concerts do you have in your place annually?

A tease Bilahari? How MANY concerts? Simple answer- as many as I review them here : ( WA or WAH is not lucky !
I keep reading your reviews at your place with envious eyes

The last vocal concert I remember is Ranjani Gayatri duo in Oct 2008. I left the review paper along with crazy comments in the hall so didn't report here. And I missed Maharajapuram Ramachandran's concert.
We did have Sathya's concert last month.
And, I can count on my fingers the number of concerts I attended

in the last 5 years

Thanks Arasi for your comments and corrections!

VS manjunath, would like to listen to DKP's version of cani tODi..

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 31 May 2009, 23:25

Suji - Nice review!

Suji Ram wrote:The last vocal concert I remember is Ranjani Gayatri duo in Oct 2008. I left the review paper along with crazy comments in the hall so didn't report here. And I missed

Know the feeling - I lost my papers with notes from Satya's and Gurucharan's concerts a couple of weeks' ago!

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 01 Jun 2009, 12:19

>VS manjunath, would like to listen to DKP's version of cani tODi...........

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=b9c5 ... eaa7bc68bc

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 01 Jun 2009, 13:41

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 01 Jun 2009, 13:58

Coolji- DKJ explored singing Harikambodhi exceptionally well, is it not ?

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 01 Jun 2009, 14:12

ganeshkant · Post by **ganeshkant** » 01 Jun 2009, 14:41

Coolkarni,

May I add Rakshabettare,Kumaranthalpanindhe thudhi,Enadhumanam ( Harikamboji),Nambikketevar Evarayya to ur list.

Somewhere in the early 80s I heard him sing Enadhumanam and it was love @ first hearing of this particular song.The azutham and depth he gives @ en seiven is remarkable. Some Musicians try this song here and there but none can come near DKJ.

IMHO nobody else can give so much life to this raga.

annamalai · Post by **annamalai** » 01 Jun 2009, 14:42

coolkarni wrote:Well over the years one tends to assocaite each krithi with one artist (at the most , two or three and rarely four)
Seen that way , the largest Number of Krithis I associate with an artist is with DKJ.

Coolji,

I could not agree with you more. I used to so many concerts of DKJ during my college days. Some of the renditions of DKJ are top class; esp. with Umayalpuram Sivaraman on mridangam.

Yukthamugadu, Vinatha Suthavahana, Sree Valli Devasenapathe, Hiranmayeem, Soundara Rajam, Sree Subramanyo, ....

DKJ had the ability to render a new krithi with a lot polish - Karunai Deivame, Muruga Thirumal Maruga, ....

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 01 Jun 2009, 14:47

coolkarni wrote:Seen that way , the largest Number of Krithis I associate with an artist is with DKJ.
I mean say a list that does Nannu Vidachi,Asai Mugam, Va Murughayya, Chinna Nadena,Amba Vani,Hiranmayim,Gangadeeswaram,Kapalee ,Thulasidala .....

Agree with this 10000%

coolkarni wrote:His renderings are kind of sculpting a temple..One gets a feeling that it will stand the test of time for years and years.

saundara rAjam, ranga nAyakam, murugA tirumAl marugA, kAmAkshi gauri, shri raghuvara apramEya, Cera rAvadEmirA, shri dum durgE, kAmAkshi varalakshmi, guNijanAdinuta, nIvaNTi daivamu kAnanu, eTu nammina, raghupatE rAmA, shri subrahmaNyO, bhajarE rE mAnasa, Celi nE nETlu, darisanam kaNDarkku, ekkAlattilum...

... grand temples each one of them

My God - each song that man sang, pretty much was the authoritative rendition of that song. Each sangati perfectly in place, the kAlapramANam ideal, the finer aspects of each song and rAgA chiseled to pin-point perfection. A simple pArvati patim was treated with the same care and dignity as a weighty raksha beTTarE. Each krithi rendered by him [and of course his Guru and sister Smt. Pattammal] would be sublime.

I always visualize a huge crowd of krithis jostling, pushing and arguing among themselves, "No, I am next in line to be taken up by them, you will have to wait your turn!"

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 01 Jun 2009, 14:57

prashant & Coolji - Excellent...............I too a fan of DKJ. Apart form what has been listed, I want to write What lovely Kalyani ( biRaana vara& other Shyama Shastri songs),Thodi,Bhairavi., Pantuvarali(niNu nere)...............

can rasikas post links to DKJ's Sri Krishnam Bhaja Manasa in Thodi ??

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 01 Jun 2009, 16:54

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 01 Jun 2009, 22:01

Coolkarni avare - nimage thumba dhanyavadhagalu. Devaru(Sri Krishna) nimage Ayur- Arogya-Ashtaishwaryavannu Dayapalisali.

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 01 Jun 2009, 22:19

Thanks manjunath.

I knew if there's a DKP version there must be a DKJ around. Thanks Coolkarni for this.

A sprightly performance of cani tODi by DKJ indeed!!

Any time I feel like learning a song I hunt to see if I can find a DKJ version, and, almost I can get my sangathis perfect even in my first try!

I always visualize a huge crowd of krithis jostling, pushing and arguing among themselves, "No, I am next in line to be taken up by them, you will have to wait your turn!"

Nice expression prashant

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 01 Jun 2009, 22:37

Suji Ram wrote:Thanks manjunath.

Any time I feel like learning a song I hunt to see if I can find a DKJ version, and, almost I can get my sangathis perfect even in my first try!

Suji- Very Much True. I too have learnt many songs by listening to his records.

Suji- By the by, chani tODi in this thread led to another lovely thodi by DKJ.