gAyathri VenkatarAghavan@PS High School on Aug 30th,2009

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 30 Aug 2009, 23:06

gAyathri VenkatarAghavan@PS High School on Aug 30th,2009
------------------------------------------------------
This concert was organized by vasantha cancer memorial trust . Usually they hold the concert at ashoknagar (not been there), this time they had given an award to Smt GV.This concert had a lot of publicity in the sense for the last one week , in the hindu there was a mention about this concert . This concert was advertized as "Smt GV singing Smt MS subhalakshmi's concert of her 1968 sangeetha kalAnidhi".

The accompanist were padma Shankar- violin, manOj shiva - mridangam and KV gOpAlakrishnan -kanjirA.

Being a vidushi , I guess there is always aspiration for any present musician to sing like MS ammA. Smt MS atleast has two major strengths , The first is "her emotive dose", they were very varied covering every rasika within india and almost making every rasika hero worship ms ammA. But for me this emotive dose was only an after effect of her super major major strength. That major strength is Smt MS ammA working and putting effort in getting "that nAdia comaneci sustained pitch" and because of her sustained pitch, the saNgathis had weight and because of that all rasikas felt that extraordinary depth in Smt MS ammA music and more importanly the rasikas visualized this truly incomprehensible and fathomless ocean of carnatic music (you need atleast 100 births to get this CM in your head) . Smt GV did fairly cruise well with emotive dose, but to get that sustained pitch she had her share of hits and an equal share of misses.

I went late , but I was still early for the concert because of the award ceremony. Smt GV started with a fairly heavy number in harikAmbODhi.There was neraval and swaras but overall the sound adjustment was muffled and incidentally the accompanist never gelled well. After a near clean poorvikalyAni (did I spot first few sangathis as slight hamsAnandi), she launched into a well rendered jnAna mosaga rAdA. Another round of neraval and swaras popped just felt atleast at this point she could have gone more with n and s .

Like Smt MS ammA , the filler devagAndhari of GKB was sung very well with a real good feel of lyrics. MS ammA's pitch is truly in tirumala heights when she renders this tirupati narayAnaswami pushpalathika. (I was thinking this pushpalathika was sung in UN concert , not sure if that was sung even in her SK concert). This pushpalathika does indeed have the charm only when there is neraval and swaras . Both were very good to excellent.

Pitch Pitch Pitch ,it was indeed there in the main AlApanai of shankarAbharanam , but to a great extent she lost her vocal stamina to an extent in the krithi rendition of this MD krithi. Smt MS AmmA may have had Smt radhA vishwanAthan, but GV had no backup support , the neraval was just good and the swaras were built up quite well and then the unsustained pitch caved in and the swaras of shankarAbharanam was not that great.

POst tani , Smt GV picked up beautifully and sang excellently that tough pranathAthi hara, the rAga contours were clear and distinct , starting from shree which was bit low (she usually sings the rAgam much better than this), but the first two chakras were well rendered. I love these thematic concerts as it forces the vidushi to sing an RTP. The RTP was in the grand bhairavi but the time allocated for the RTP was more like say little more than hamsanAdam pallavi and also the pitch of the singer was not sustained well in the RTP. The rAga alApana was quite short and the tanam was also short, her pallavi was very good and the swaras were also short , the pallavi RTP was over in 22 minutes with another 2 minutes of mini tani at the end. Certainly could have been better in my favourite big 6.

The tukkadas were all there in near ms amma shape , the emotive hind kApi, the famous dhanashri thillana and maitreem bhajithA all added a lot of shine towards the concert.

The violinist padma shankar played just very good, she is usually more better especially her shankarAbharanam main return was not that great . The percussionists did not lift the concert , especially for many many sangathis manOj shiva's play was too average. Their tani did not have any punch. The percussionist more importantly mridangist could have lifted atleast 1/2 or one notch higher, and given a more wholesome experience. But that did not happen. For want of time smt gv also skipped two songs which she mentioned(saravana bhava and kanchadala neelayadAkshi).

1. enta rAni tanakenta(N S) - harikAmbOdhi - T
neraval and swaras were for each 3 minutes, nerval in "shESuDu shivuniki bhUsuDu lakSmaNa"
2. jnAna mosaga rAdA (R N S ) - poorvikalyAni - T
5 mins alApanai , 4 mins violin and 3 mins swaras
neraval in paramAtmuDu jIvAtmuDu padinAlugu lOkamulu for 3 mins
3. eNNeramum uNdaN - devagAndhAri - GKB

4. ikanainanA moravina(N S) - pushpalathikA - Tirupati NaaraayaNaswaami
3 mins neraval and 3 mins swaram
5A. sadAshiva upasmahE (R N S T) - shankarAbharanam - MD
9 mins alApanai , 7 mins violin return
neraval in "vAamadeva vyAasa sukadiva " for 7 mins and 5 mins of swaras
5B. tani for 13 minutes

6. pranathAthi hara - shree + 12 rAgas of the first two chakras from kanakAngi to rupavathi - Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan
7. RTP in bhairavi
7 mins alApanai with 4 mins intermediate violin return
tanam for 4 mins and pallavi for 8 mins and swaras for 4 mins and a mini 2 minute tani at the end
The pallavi line was "ambA madhura meenAkshi mAm pAhi devi"

8. jagadodhArana - hind kApi - PD
9. thillanA - dhanashri - ST
10. Maitreem Bhajatha - rAgamAliga - kAnchi chandrasekara swami.

Special kudos to vasantha cancer memorial trust , i did see the brochure that was distributed and they are doing a phenomenal job. They help to detect early cancer victims and at the same time promoting CM is indeed an outstanding contribution.

Overall this concert was close to a very good concert for 2 hours and 20 minutes.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 31 Aug 2009, 01:09

Good commentary Rajesh. It is a tough comparison to start with but GV seemed to have done well, from what you have written. Is this a new thing, to follow the song lists of famous and milestone concerts? May be next one is the 'Airport concert'.

( though it may be a household name only in the collector or internet circles )

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 31 Aug 2009, 06:42

Thanks for the great review, Rajesh (as always). This is the first time I'm hearing of a thematic concert that is basically a repeat broadcast of an old concert, performed by a contemporary team! Anyway, Smt Radha Vishwanathan aside, GV is probably the best artiste to sing an MS concert. But a 22-min RTP in bhairavi.... sigh.

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 31 Aug 2009, 06:46

bilhari, the RTP seems to have lasted 29 minutes.

rajeshnat, What talam is the pallavi set to?

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 31 Aug 2009, 06:52

Oh, Rajesh mentioned it took 22 min in the body of his review... I didn't add up the numbers in the songlist, though that does result in a disparity of 7 minutes! Somehow, 29 minutes sounds more appropriate and even semi-acceptable in today's context of RTP singing!

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 Aug 2009, 08:42

bilahari wrote:Oh, Rajesh mentioned it took 22 min in the body of his review... I didn't add up the numbers in the songlist, though that does result in a disparity of 7 minutes! Somehow, 29 minutes sounds more appropriate and even semi-acceptable in today's context of RTP singing!

bilahari/srikanth
There is no disparity , the rAgam was sung in two rounds (just like a typical RTP), the first round was for about 5 minutes then a 4 min violin return ,then a 1 minute of rAgam second round. Totally it was just 22 to 23 mins only with the 2 min tani inclusive.

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 31 Aug 2009, 09:00

7 mins alApanai with 4 mins intermediate violin return
tanam for 4 mins and pallavi for 8 mins and swaras for 4 mins and a mini 2 minute tani at the end

7 + 4 + 4 + 8 + 4 + 2 = 29, I think.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 Aug 2009, 09:18

srikant1987 wrote:7 mins alApanai with 4 mins intermediate violin return
tanam for 4 mins and pallavi for 8 mins and swaras for 4 mins and a mini 2 minute tani at the end

7 + 4 + 4 + 8 + 4 + 2 = 29, I think.

Should I challenge an IITian that too you!!!I just looked at my notebook again.

5 +4 +1 (these 3 rAgams with the intermediate 4 mins violin ) + 4 (tAnam) +8+3 (pallavi and swaras) +2 for mini tani +1 (wrap up of pallavi) ==> so in total 28 mins. ALways I do double counting between two stages as I am only keeping the time in minutes and not seconds

.

Actually the pallavi started at 20:27 and ended in 20:52pm so it was only 25 minutes in total.Putting the time limits I did feel the pallavi was not given full justice that too it being a b h a i r a vi

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 31 Aug 2009, 10:40

T h a t i s t r u e

rain_of_nectar · Post by **rain_of_nectar** » 31 Aug 2009, 12:13

What an un-original concept!

Doesn't do justice either to MS Amma or GV...

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 31 Aug 2009, 14:59

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 31 Aug 2009, 20:28

Surely, this is not anything whimsical. I don't see why this is not relished as much by a few when thematic concerts abound with all kinds of themes!
Also, how many in the audience would have heard MS's original concert or the recording of it to think that it is repetetive?
They are the same songs, in the same order, sung decades ago. What is unacceptable about that? Aren't we used to the same artistes repeating almost the same songs over and over again without bothering to change what they present in a concert for years on end?
I think the idea was worth it. I am pretty certain that the audience was happy to be there--to hear a concert from one of today's prominent vocalists singing the very same songs that MS sang at the MA. To them, it would have been a novel idea and a good concert...

balusatya · Post by **balusatya** » 31 Aug 2009, 21:01

rain_of_nectar wrote:What an un-original concept! Doesn't do justice either to MS Amma or GV...

.I think the concept of emulating previous generation is not new. we have seen ( are seeing) GNB,MMI,SSI,Maharajapuram S'.pani being reproduced totally by their disciples. I also feel it is relevant to recall that I have heard great TNS singing Orunalpoduma of BMK in the early part of his career. Have we not witnessed the Senkalipuram style being followed? I am unable to recall a sanskrit sloka which has a meaning"If you take anything out of Poornam (wholeness) the balance is poornam only.(I wish someone will bring that quote here before I could manage to recollect from my source)InfinitY- x= infinity(IITians to my rescue please!).By emulating one need not take the pani totally of the guru(manasiga guru in her case) she sings to her style having learnt(still learning) from many gurus.Have we not experienced having been asked to stare at a picture focussed then if you look at the wall the picture is reproduced for sometime?.Did not the pushpalathika -agaramthanil?&seshudu sivuniki bhushudu Lakshmana..neravals sung by GV bring back old memories of MS amma.?When there are disciples for other legends, to my knowledge there is none who can emulate/reproduce as much as GV could explore-blessings for her devotion to music&MS amma -The constant ovation of the packed rasikas throughout stands testimony to this view.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 Aug 2009, 22:04

Smt GV in her award acceptance speech said the sabha patron had given her a one month time and notice for this sk theme concert . This vasantha trust always holds concerts with the theme "eNrenRum (always)MS subhalakshmi".

Just observe the song list(though I am not sure if every no was indeed a sk concert), a HarikAMbOdhi, PoorvikalyAni and then a difficult uphill pushpalathika. Usually we have concerts where if a main is taken in big six the rtp will be in a very minor rAgA . Here it is shankarAbharanam and bhairavi as main and rtp. To a great extent for every musician , I welcome this kind of theme as it gives a reality check of their vidwat and delivery and tries to benchmark with great artists.

Having said that I would like some musician also to take up 2 to 3 hours + of one single tAye YashodA in tOdi@susheendram by the living legend manakkAl rAngarAjan (source of data is cmlover and manakkAl sriram)

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 31 Aug 2009, 23:11

arasi wrote: Aren't we used to the same artistes repeating almost the same songs over and over again without bothering to change what they present in a concert for years on end?

Yep

Many of them insist that the rasikas make them do it

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 01 Sep 2009, 09:55

Would we have made all these disparaging noises if they hadn't announced that the songlist was the same as MSS's Kalanidhi concert's..?

How many of us would have recognized the songlist as the same..?

People who heard the concert can evaluate it just as they would any other concert.. how does it matter that it was this particular set of songs..

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 01 Sep 2009, 12:39

Keerthi, good question.

thathwamasi · Post by **thathwamasi** » 01 Sep 2009, 21:25

@Keerthi - You are right.

Infact, as a younger generation musician, I would love to replicate the exact song list of many milestone concerts of the greats, purely of the admiration that I have for them. For example the songlist of 1967 KVN's music academy concert, or the Alathoor bros music academy concert where they would have sung the sankeerna nadai shanmugapriya pallavi.

Somehow I feel that some of these concert songlists are so perfect that one can just keep replicating them time and again. Both of listening and playing or singing.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 01 Sep 2009, 21:45

Yes, you will find guidelines too, and a ready made plan when it comes to good structuring of a concert. A good idea.

Please! How many listeners would remember the song list even if they had attended the concert? How many would mind, even if they remembered most of the songs? If anyhing, there would be a sense of surprise.
I am sure Gayatri Venkataraghavan sang the concert in the way she does, not aping MS in every bit of AlApana and svarams!!