sriranjani santhAnagOpAlan@MA(Mini) on June 26th,2009

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 28 Jun 2009, 14:36

sriranjani santhAnagOpAlan@MA(Mini) on June 26th,2009
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Conducted as part of HCL Concert Series. This is the first time I am hearing Sriranjani in a full length concert.
Accompanied by anayampatti venkatasubramanian - violin and R.SankaranArAyanan - mrudangam

Sriranjani completed the reetigowlai and I heard only the last few lines of the varnam as I was late.An emotive sAveri from the lines of soundarya lahiri was sung quite well by the vidushi (though the vidushi announced it as viruththam , I think it is slOkham and not viruththam). The sAveri of shyama SAstri came out well more in the krithi and swaras , neraval was an average rendition.

MD's ambhayambA in kedhAragowlai was dwelt quite well, perhaps a more questioning bhAvam would have been better. The pick of the day was her dharmavati. I liked her alApana a lot she carefully sang it in a detailed fashion avoiding any traces of few other prathi madhyama cousins .The krithi rendition and swaras were very good , again the neraval was a bit of mediocre rendition. She went from submain to main directly . bEgaDa is to me a very difficult rAga to excel if the musician takes it as a main, one has to find nuances in this rAga and if it is more instinctive it would be better . To an extent her krithi rendition inclusive of alApana was not nuances filled one , her rendition of begada was just good.

She ended with a brief tillAna in behAg that was just one tukkadA. Since she was sneezing quite a lot I am assuming she had to wind the concert a little less than 2 hours. anayampatti venkatasubramaniam's nAdham was too squeaky, R.SankaranarAyanan had a very pleasant and very good azhuttam, though his usual excellence was not there.Tani was brief and a quick pass, perhaps he wanted to give more time for the vidushi to sing.

In general sriranjani does appear as a learning musician (few of her contemporaries appear more well rounded),there was quite a few moments of great classicism spread but it was not even .Would be nice if there is more layam orientation to her rendition especially during swaras and perhaps more manOdharmam in neraval will be a great asset.Ofcourse both of that is just few concerts away as she is the daughter of vidyArthi. Overall a good to very good concert.One has to appreciate her choice of kritis and spread of vageyyakaras and to me she appears an open throated musician which is a great asset.

1. slokham and Vanajakshi ninne korinanu - Reettgowlai - Vinai Kuppier
2A. soundaraya lahiri "vipanchA gAyaNti" - sAveri - Adi Shankaracharya
2B. shamshari shamguru ( N S)-sAveri - SS
neraval in the lines shyama krishna sOdhari for 3 mins , 4 mins swaras

3.abhayAmbA nAyaka(RS) -kEdhAragowlai - MD
4. bhajana sEya rAdA (R N S)- dharmavati - MV
12 mins alApanai , 6 mins violin
neraval in niravadhi sukha dAyakuni paramAtmuni bhakta pAluni for 3 minutes and 9 mins swaras

5A. nAdOpasanA (R S T) - bEgaDa - T
12 minutes alApanai , 5 minutes violin and 7 mins swaras
5B. tani for 6 minutes

6. dheem tana uDhara .. nanda nandana - behAg - p.sivan
7. nee nAma rupamulaku + mangalam kOsalendrAya - sowrAshtram + shuruTTi - T

Sathej · Post by **Sathej** » 28 Jun 2009, 15:31

The Saveri Shyama Sastri Krithi is Shankari Shankuru.

Sathej

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 28 Jun 2009, 17:47

Sathej wrote:The Saveri Shyama Sastri Krithi is Shankari Shankuru.

Sathej

karnatica lists this song as shamshari shamguru. Few years back i thought it was shankari shamguru , donot what is the exact starting lyrics of this song

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 28 Jun 2009, 18:17

shankari shamkuru. rAgA: sAvEri. tALA: tisram

P: shankari shamkuru candramukhi akhilANDEshvari shAmbhavi sarasija bhava vanditE gauri amba
A: sankaTa hAriNi ripu vidAriNi kalyANi sadA nata phaladAyikE haranAyikE jagatjanani
C1: jambupati vilAsini jagadavannOlAsini kambukandharE bhavAni kapAladhAriNi shUlini
2: angaja ripu tOSiNi akhila bhuvana pOSiNi mangaLa pradE mrDAni marALa sannibha gamani
3: shyAmakrSNa sOdari shyAmaLE shAtOdari sAmagAna lOlE bAlE sadArthi bhanjana shIlE

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 28 Jun 2009, 18:48

Well, it is 'shankari sham kuru' actually.
"shankari" means consort of shankara, or Lord Shiva. (the word 'shankara' itself means 'one who does good')
'sham kuru' means 'Do(kuru) Good(sham)' or literally, 'Please shower your grace'.
It is not 'shankari shamguru'. 'Guru'(teacher) should be relpaced by 'kuru' which means 'to do'.

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 28 Jun 2009, 21:10

nice review rajesh.

yes, Sam-kuru it is, like kuru-kshethram (karma bhoomi)and not gurukshethram!

guru kshethram is umayALpuram and mylapore to me!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 28 Jun 2009, 21:32

"Sham"guru is more appropriate for the 21st century

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 28 Jun 2009, 22:10

Rajesh,
Yes, as usual, your impressions on Sriranjani ring true. She is quite new to the concert circuit but has made a mark in a short time. As you say, she needs time to hone her neravals and the rest. She has a voice which is pleasing and strong which is easy to emote with and she can use it very effectively in the bhAvam department! Anyway, being vidyaarthi's student, the refinement of that kind is only concerts away, as you say. We also know what a bright young woman she is!

Vijay,
I know the kind you are talking about. Sham in our part of the world also means a cover which goes over a pillow or cushion. So, it may also mean, a guru who protects. A sham versus a sham!

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 29 Jun 2009, 06:34

erode14 wrote:nice review rajesh.

yes, Sam-kuru it is, like kuru-kshethram (karma bhoomi)and not gurukshethram!

guru kshethram is umayALpuram and mylapore to me!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 29 Jun 2009, 07:17

Nagaraj,
We know you are a sarva vyApi in your creativity. Your guru too, in his name and fame. Please don't pinpoint Mylapore and call it a kshETram to make the place even more important than it already is

I also hope certain Mylaporeans don't make it a kuruksEtram to defend their honor...

rsn.mridangam · Post by **rsn.mridangam** » 29 Jun 2009, 07:56

On the violin it is Anayampatti sri.Venkatasubramanian played not karaikkal venkatasubramanian.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 29 Jun 2009, 08:51

rsn.mridangam wrote:On the violin it is Anayampatti sri.Venkatasubramanian played not karaikkal venkatasubramanian.

Thanks for the correction.

sridhar_ranga · Post by **sridhar_ranga** » 29 Jun 2009, 10:48

arasi wrote:Nagaraj,
Please don't pinpoint Mylapore and call it a kshETram to make the place even more important than it already is
I also hope certain Mylaporeans don't make it a kuruksEtram to defend their honor...

Arasi

Current claims and counter-claims over its exalted status as the Carnatic Mecca notwithstanding, Mayilai was indeed a kshEtram in the olden days to both Saivaites and Vaishnavaites. "mAmayilai allikkEni kaNDEnE" is how AzhwAr sings the praise of lord pArthasArathi, mayilai was the town and divyadEsam of which tiru-allikkEni was a part in tirumangai AzhwAr's time (12 centuries ago I'd think). I guess (someone can confirm) there are nAyanmAr songs on the kshEtram too.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 29 Jun 2009, 10:57

Oh no! I meant the 'pudu' KshEtram claim. mayilApuriyin 'pazham' mahimai aRiyAdavaL illai! Sorry, if my reference to it did not fully come across the way I meant to convey it...

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 30 Jun 2009, 07:29

nice review, rajesh

! i enjoy reading your insights

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 30 Jun 2009, 08:33

arasi wrote:I also hope certain Mylaporeans don't make it a kuruksEtram to defend their honor...

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 30 Jun 2009, 12:20

Having attended a few of her concerts over the past couple of months, I find Sriranjani tending more towards vocal acrobatics and gimmickry and away from sowkhyam and bhavam laden music. I am sure it is a great thrill to execute some of those fast brighas and getting them right on stage, but it should not come at the expense of a complete well rounded presentation including some meditative/slow renditions of kritis. Unfortunately portions of her recent concerts are more like ice skating competitions and you can almost hear the commentator whisper, "now the artiste will present a triple axel followed by a double twist".

Also with all the bromide about Excellence, HCL could request the presenters to practice their introductory remarks before they get up on the podium. The name "Sriranjani" was enough to confound the speaker and he never recovered from it till the end of the speech.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 01 Jul 2009, 06:45

suresh, that ice skating comparison is quite funny. Now, you say that portions of it were double twisted triple axel. Is that only in the alapana or it was in sangathi, niraval and kalpanaswarams as well?

I think brighas and sowkyam can co-exist as long as the raga is preserved fully ( HM musicians pull it off in their own style ). There is a general impression out there that good execution of brighas gets you to the next higher level in terms of recognition and judgment by the rasikas as a mature singer.

Sriranjani has a guru who is a personification of sowkam and I am sure she would not leave any deficit in the sowkyam department as she grows as an artist.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 01 Jul 2009, 08:33

VK,
She is very talented and is sharp as a tack. Learning is a cinch for her. Yes, her father practises 'soukyamu lEka sangItamu lEdu' and Sriranjani has the advantage and the ability to learn that from him in no time at all.

appu · Post by **appu** » 01 Jul 2009, 18:10

Children are supposed to experiment, before they settle into their own groove. Sriranjani is at that phase in her life. Even her father NSG has been an expert in speed, brighas and gymnastics in his early days. I distinctly remember some concerts where speed was a given. The sowkyam and bhava laden music is only now after he found his niche.

If Sriranjani nailed the sangatis in the brighas etc then I think she has done justice. I have not yet heard her and am looking forward to it.