Navarathri Mandapam 2009 - Prince Rama Varma - 19-09-2009

devi · Post by **devi** » 20 Sep 2009, 09:57

Thiruvananthapuram Navarathri Mandapam Concerts commenced with Sri. Rama Varma's concert. He was accompanied by Sri. Varadarajan (violin), Sri. Harikumar (mridangam) Sri Karthik (Ghatom) and Sri Govindaprasad (morsing) Here's the song list:

1. Sarasijanabha - Kamboji Ata tala varnam
2. Paripalayamam - Reethigowla (S)
3. Parvathi nayaka - Bowli
4. Vihara manasa rame - Kapi (S)
5. Paramapurusham - Lalithapanchamam (S)
6. Devi jagatjjanani - Shankarabharanam (R, N, S, T) Neraval @ Devamakutamani
7. Jalajabandhu - Surutti
8. Japath japath - Ragamalika

It was a memorable concert from Sri. Rama Varma. Personally Kapi Kriti and Shankarabharanam were unforgettable.

Regards,
Devi.

kedharam · Post by **kedharam** » 20 Sep 2009, 11:14

What an awesome selection of compositions! Missing the ambience as well.

music_is_life · Post by **music_is_life** » 20 Sep 2009, 21:59

I am missing the ambience too. I heard that today's concert was by Sreevalsan Menon. Hope someone would write a review of that concert

kalaash · Post by **kalaash** » 24 Sep 2009, 11:25

Prince Rama Varma's 'Vihara Manasa Raame' and 'Japath Japath' were excellent. 'Japath Japath' only keeps getting better each time I hear him. After the concert when I went to congratulate the prince he said although he had sung Japath at last year's Navaratri too, he was forced to sing it again this year due to the huge number of requests that came pouring in begging him to sing it this year too. I found Sreevalsan Menon's pale in comparison to Varma's. But 'Vishweshvar Darshan Kar' was very enjoyable. I am pasting the links to Sri Rama Varma's 'Japath' from last year. It is an excellent rendition and I can't stop listening to it once I start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYkHDcR- ... annel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yTDGlnG ... annel_page

coolkapali · Post by **coolkapali** » 24 Sep 2009, 12:40

Kalaash, why drag Srivalsan Menon into this....its not a healthy habit to compare artistes.....On a different day things could be different...also your perceptions might be different from mine for example....just a friendly suggestion.

ranjith.r747 · Post by **ranjith.r747** » 24 Sep 2009, 13:25

kalaash · Post by **kalaash** » 24 Sep 2009, 15:47

Coolkapali, I actually like Sreevalsan's voice quality and had huge expectations from him. This was the first time I was hearing him live. But somehow this concert didn't strike a chord with me. Therefore I am bound to compare. I am not discrediting the fact that he is a renowned musician but between the two concerts I attended, I really liked Varma's concert very much.

suneeth.krishnan · Post by **suneeth.krishnan** » 25 Sep 2009, 10:35

Itz natural that we compare musicians. I would think that there is nothing wrong in healthy comparison. I could listen to both concerts through AIR. I think both Prince and Sreevalsan sang beautifylly well, though I like Sreevalsan's more.

Seems 'coolkapali' like Sreevalsan and 'kalaash' like Prince, no matter

ambika.sundaram · Post by **ambika.sundaram** » 25 Sep 2009, 14:35

Who is this prince ? Is he from Tranvancore royal family ?
I have listened to Sreevalsan Menon for his concert at music academy some time back. Melodious musician, I should say. Impressive concert.

suneeth.krishnan · Post by **suneeth.krishnan** » 25 Sep 2009, 15:53

Yes Ambika. Prince Rama is from Travancore Royal Family. Plays Veena too. He is infact the co-ordinator of Navarathi Mandapom concerts as well as Swathi Music Festival in Trivandrum.

ambika.sundaram · Post by **ambika.sundaram** » 25 Sep 2009, 16:41

Thanks suneeth.krishnan.
Now I remember, I have seen many of his posts in youtube.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Sep 2009, 17:57

I don't know how many princes sing--no, I'm not thinking of the purple clad pop prince

Anyway, this one is the prince who doesn't particularly choose to be addressed as such, but belongs to a democratic forum like RasikAs.

sreekumar · Post by **sreekumar** » 25 Sep 2009, 18:16

Being the coordinator of Navarathri Mandapam concerts, last few years Mr Varma had given chances to a lot of upcoming musicians to perform in the Mandapam. Also bringing female artists into the concerts was revolutionary considering the long standing traditions followed in the Navarathri Mandapam concerts. I think that is something to be appreciated !

At the same time I am not convinced about the quality of people who perform nowadays !

devi · Post by **devi** » 25 Sep 2009, 18:44

Here's a clipping from Sri. Rama Varma's concert on September 19, 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlF036WbKAY

tharunthilak · Post by **tharunthilak** » 25 Sep 2009, 21:26

devi - the videos are not at all clear.

devi · Post by **devi** » 26 Sep 2009, 00:54

@Tharunthilak - The venue where concert takes place is lit only by oil lamps. Moreover I presume that these videos are primarily intended for archival purposes which is kindly shared over the net through Youtube by Varma Sir's ardent fan "Musiquebox" (tube name I suppose;-) so that people who couldnt attend but are egerly looking forward to the celebrated concert series can have a flavour of what happended at the Mandapam. Varma Sir himself in one of his previous posts in this forum has given delatils in length about the same. Nevertheless I am sure you enjoyed the audio.

tharunthilak · Post by **tharunthilak** » 30 Sep 2009, 10:17

Thanks devi.
Yes, I did enjoy the videos.

wordpecker007 · Post by **wordpecker007** » 30 Sep 2009, 16:46

@Sreekumar,

I beg to disagree. This time most of the concerts were just superb. Each stood out for different reasons. Look at the singers - Shri Rama Varma, Dr. Sreevalsan J. Menon, Shri T.M. Krishna, Kumari Amrutha venkatesh, Shri T.M. Krishna, veterans Shri Thrissur Ramachandran and Shri TVG, Kumari Amritha Venkatesh and Smt Parassala Ponnammal. What an impressive line-up of veterans, young stars and up-and-coming singers too. And the accompanists too. While there were certain days when the entire concert could not be gushed about, even those concerts had its high points.

rjayakumar · Post by **rjayakumar** » 30 Sep 2009, 18:34

just to add to the above list-Sanjay. Listening to his Jananai mamava-just superb

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 01 Oct 2009, 13:49

rjayakumar wrote:just to add to the above list-Sanjay. Listening to his Jananai mamava-just superb

Has it been uploaded somewhere?

vmr · Post by **vmr** » 01 Oct 2009, 15:12

sreekumar wrote:Being the coordinator of Navarathri Mandapam concerts, last few years Mr Varma had given chances to a lot of upcoming musicians to perform in the Mandapam. Also bringing female artists into the concerts was revolutionary considering the long standing traditions followed in the Navarathri Mandapam concerts. I think that is something to be appreciated !

At the same time I am not convinced about the quality of people who perform nowadays !

vmr · Post by **vmr** » 01 Oct 2009, 15:19

Present generation artists are no doubt talented and perform extremely well. I have attended 3 concerts in 2005 at the Navarathri Mandapam. But nothing can come anywhere near perfomances of yester year starlwarts like Semmangudi Mama, MDR, GNB, The Alathur Bros, KVN and Veena legends like M A Kalyanakrishna Bhagavathar, who had been a regular performers here. Also the likes of Palakkad Mani iyer, Raghu Sir, TK Murthy sir and Lalgudi Sir , TNK Sir etc giving support..... that kind of music can rarely be seen or heard these days.

rjayakumar · Post by **rjayakumar** » 01 Oct 2009, 20:25

here you go...

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=aa27 ... 94d16bff13

wordpecker007 · Post by **wordpecker007** » 02 Oct 2009, 11:51

@vmr

Dear Sir
No doubt about the genius of the past legends but don;t you think it is a little unfair to say that none of the present stars compare favourably with that legendary group. Each generation has its masters, star performers and their own set of rasikas. I am sure when GNB and so on were young, there must have many who compared them to their seniors too. It is an ongoing affair. I, for one, feel that the Mandapam is one place where one gets to hear unsullied Carnatic music at its best. it seems to bring out the best in the singers and the listeners.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 02 Oct 2009, 23:30

Whether or not there was a golden age of carnatic music that will never be seen again, I have no idea. I'm sure there is some truth in the assertions made, but to post simply that something a person saw five years ago was not as good as what they saw forty (or whatever) years ago does seem to me to be a waste of time. Perhaps they might prefer to stay at home with their treasured archive.

Of course, the fact that they have not seen the concerts of the last five years makes their verdict on those concerts a little suspect.

kalaash · Post by **kalaash** » 03 Oct 2009, 19:52

I totally agree with wordpecker007. I beleive each day had its high points. Although I could not attend all of them, according to feedback, I gathered that Sri Sanjay Subramaniam's concert was just on-top-of-the-world. People I know who attended this concert were gushing uncontrollably about his Vakulabaranam and his main piece.

wordpecker007 · Post by **wordpecker007** » 07 Oct 2009, 09:14

@kalaash,
Just to let you know that the Vakulabharanam was composed by Varmaji himself. Moreover, here are the links of him singing the same Vakulabharanam piece at a Kuthairamalika festival.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPOqB3rp ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJuP4IK8 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vUdKku2 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3ZLmgaA ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px7CQzOA ... re=related

regards
wordpecker