Violin arangetram
Rasika Murali (violin)
Rohan Krishnamurthy (Mrudangam)
A Padmanabhan (Khanjira)
I was not sure if this site reviewed arangetrams as opposed to concerts until I saw some arangetram reviews I thought a brief note of this arangetram that took place in Boston is timely. The song list stretched a mile.
Virubhoni varnam
Vatapi Ganapatim
Marivere Gati Evaramma
Durmagachara
Niravadhi sukhada
Kalgiunte
Entanivina vintura
Boggendra shayanam
RTP (25 ragas up and down, composition of Suguna Purushotaman)
Chnnashiru kiliye
Medley Ragamalika (Ghatam Kartick productions)
Vasishnava janato
Tillana
Mangalam
Rasika is a student of Boston based Tara Anand who has produced a good number of students. This arangetram stood out in that the artist appeared to be giving a concert like any other experienced artist would. It was evident that she had taken it seriously and the efforts paid off. Especially, she handled the main piece Kirvani which would have done proud to Lalgudi Jayaraman. Her kalapramanms were to the point and there was no sign of any nervousness. In this regard, kudos to the percussionists, especially the seasoned Rohan Krishnamurthy who encouraged the violinist with excellent syllables and tonal support.
The RTP was slightly on the avoidable side, I felt. It could have been a brief attempt to show the artist’s skills and training. But as is often the case, with arangetram artists as well as senior vidwans from India, given the microphone, make maximum use! That was a minor aberration in an otherwise exceptional performance by Rasika who announced her arrival on the NA scene. With her talents she would be an excellent choice as an accompanist too, a point that needs to be taken note of by the organizers in NA who claim to promote local talents yet do very little in practice.
The thani avartanam after the main piece showed the class of the percussionists, Rohan Krishnamurthy in particular. He is no stranger to Boston, the last appearance being with the legendary T.N.Krishnan at MIT. He showed no signs that he was seated with a far less known artist, but on the other hand, lent his skills and experience to enhance the main artist’s performance. I am told he is a student of Guruvayur Dorai and having known Dorai personally, I can say his student is indeed a chip of the old block. Dorai has this ability to take concerts to a different level, irrespective of the main artist, and his student has mastered that talent. I have not heard much of the khanjira artist, but he provided an ideal side accompaniment to Rohan, not intimidated by the more famous mridangist. He deserves applause for a good job he did.
On the whole, the more than 500 listeners were treated to a wonderful evening of Classical music all provided by kids born and raised in the USA and who were as good as any that we have seen in the Boston area, either visiting from India or US based. May God bless them.
Boston violin arangetram
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rshankar
- Posts: 13754
- Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26
Thank you for that review. You bring out a very important point - Artists like Kum. Rasika and Kum Aishwayra (Aishu) show us (old fogies) how versatile and effortlessly bi-cultural our children are. And what is more, the most successful of them are very adept at integration - they do not keep the two cultures separate, in water-tight compartments, and this is giving rise to such a vibrancy to the Indo-American culture of these children - it is very heartening.
Kudos and best wishes to Kum. Rasika, and may God bless all of them.
Kudos and best wishes to Kum. Rasika, and may God bless all of them.
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arasi
- Posts: 16873
- Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30
Congratulations to Rasika and all the others!
Absolutely, Ravi.
It is interesting that in fiction by young immigrants, we come across more of a struggle for identity in the lives of their charcters who live at two cultural levels. They feel a bit of iolated sometimes. In reality, in the world of the arts, it seems as though the youngsters of today easily fit into the dual modes of their cultural expression. They play or sing in the school orchestra and also train in the indian arts. They even take the old country's music and dance into their schools to let their fellow students sample them! They invite their friends to arangETRams.
As a mother of children who had very little of anything dESi when they were growing up, it was a different story. There were no facilities for them to learn dance or music. India was too far away in those days too! Frequent travels and technology have helped in recent times, no doubt.
Absolutely, Ravi.
It is interesting that in fiction by young immigrants, we come across more of a struggle for identity in the lives of their charcters who live at two cultural levels. They feel a bit of iolated sometimes. In reality, in the world of the arts, it seems as though the youngsters of today easily fit into the dual modes of their cultural expression. They play or sing in the school orchestra and also train in the indian arts. They even take the old country's music and dance into their schools to let their fellow students sample them! They invite their friends to arangETRams.
As a mother of children who had very little of anything dESi when they were growing up, it was a different story. There were no facilities for them to learn dance or music. India was too far away in those days too! Frequent travels and technology have helped in recent times, no doubt.
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Bostonresident
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 17 Oct 2009, 09:06
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carnaticdasan
- Posts: 86
- Joined: 16 Jul 2008, 17:06
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Bostonresident
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 17 Oct 2009, 09:06
