S. Sowmya - Vina Recital, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore S

kamavardhani · Post by **kamavardhani** » 07 Sep 2009, 22:10

Sowmya (Vina), Poongulam Subramaniam, Dr. S. Karthick
BVB Mini Hall, Mylapore, Sep 6th 2009, 6.15 - 7.30pm

Gam Ganapate - Hamsadhwani - HMB (S)
Eti Janma - Varali - T (R)
Sujana Jeevana - Khamas - T (R sketch, S)
Parasakti - Saveri - T (R, N, S)
Samayamide Ra Ra (Javali) - Behag - R sketch & brief tanam

Organized as part of a "Vina Navarathri" festival featuring several short Vina concerts, this performance
saw vocalist Sowmya in a different avatar. A short and sweet recital before a jampacked overflowing hall. Present in the audience were Dr. N. Ramani, NSG, Padma Subrahmanyam, Jeyaraj-Jayshri, Savita Narasimhan, SP Ramh and many other artistes. The first kriti was played on Sowmya's own instrument, with a conventional mike that did not (probably due to faulty amplification) project the vina's sound properly. From the second piece, upon request from the organizer she switched to Sri B. Kannan's instrument fitted with a contact mike. Loud and clear now, but the contact mike noticeably affects the sweet natural tone of the Vina. I felt Smt. Sowmya's playing style reflected her natural "azhuttam" that she displays in her vocal performances. Khamas and Saveri were the highlights and one could see her singing along as she played the Saveri kriti. Accompanists did a great job. The concert was over much too soon. I hope they schedule longer performances next time and at a more spacious venue. The hall, the traffic on the Mada Street and the parking scenario were all nightmarish.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 07 Sep 2009, 22:41

very impressive!

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 07 Sep 2009, 23:05

Excellent. I was not aware that Sowmya played the Veena

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 07 Sep 2009, 23:15

I was also not aware of it my good friend G.R.S Murthy a vainika told me that she played extremely well .... and happy too that Veena is getting its due recognition. Kudos to Kannan and Co.

J.Balaji

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Sep 2009, 01:39

What a pleasant surprise! Didn't know that Sowmya plays the vINA too, as her guru did. How many facets to this erudite musician!

fuddyduddy · Post by **fuddyduddy** » 08 Sep 2009, 02:54

Amazing! She never stops surprising me...

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 08 Sep 2009, 05:17

A good vocalist will be able to bring all those nuances, she/he sings, in the vINa while playing on it. Happy to know tha Sowmya did exactly that. A truly versatile artist.
Shri Kannan must be congratulated for this wonderful attempt.Is he not the nephew of Ms.Padma Subramanyam?

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Sep 2009, 06:51

Yes. Shyamala Balakrishnan's son.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 08 Sep 2009, 15:39

I wanted to go to this recital, however by chance, I happened to go the Veenai Navarathri in the morning of sunday and hence had to miss in the evening due to some other work.

Sri T T Narendran had presented a veenai recital, with in an hour's notice, in lieu of somebody else who couldnt make it due to some personal reasons. and i happened to be taken along as the bag-carrying-boy for him. He was accompanied by Sri B Ganapathiraman and Sri N Rajaraman. The short-concert had just 2 pieces, viz., dEva dEva kalayAmitE with ragam, neraval, swarams and rAnidhi rAdu with rAgam and tAnam. It was very good presentation.

It is indeed a great thing to have such a series dedicated to vINai and most of the vainikas in the city are being featured. It is indeed a uphill task to do it and Sri Raghurama Ayyar and Sri B Kannan who have been putting it together need to be specially congrajulated.

Also, i noticed yet again that, the nAdam from the vINai with the normal mic sounds all the more nice than the nAdam when a contact mic is used.

revanthv552 · Post by **revanthv552** » 08 Sep 2009, 18:45

I never knew Sowmya ma' am could play the veena! Wonderful to know!