Hyderabad Brothers - San Diego - 30th Oct 2009

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 31 Oct 2009, 13:49

Hyderabad Brothers - Vocal
Nagai Sriram - Violin
J. Vaidyanathan - Mrudangam

Duration: 3 h

Approximate Songlist:

01. sarasIjanAbha (varNam) - kAmbOji - aTa
02. panchamAthanga (R, S @ pallavi) - malahari - rUpakam
03. orajUpu jUcEdi (Sketch) - kannaDagowLa - Adi
04. krupajUchudakumELarA - chAyAtarangiNi - Adi

05. marivErEdikkEvvaru (R, N @ dharalOna nI sATi, S) - latAngi - khanda cApu
06. idi samayamurA - chAyAnATa - Adi
07. rAma bANa (R, N @ bhAma kASabaDu rAvaNa, S, T) - sAvEri - Adi [2]

08. dandamu - balahamsa - Adi
09. Ragam Thanam Pallavi - shaNmugapriya - Adi [2] (eDuppu samam + 1)
Pallavi: saravaNabhava guhanE shaNmugA
Pallavi in hindOLam, mOhanam, and hamsadhwani, and swaras in the same ragas in reverse

10. chArumathi upachAramu - kAnaDa - Adi
11. aiyO vibuDu (?) - kEdAragowLa - Adi
12. parulannamATa (jAvaLi) - kApi - rUpakam
13. nI nAma rUpamulaku (mangaLam) - sowrAshTram - Adi

The Hyderabad Brothers commenced their concert with a beautiful exposition of the kAmbOji varNam, noteworthy for a lingering kArvai at the panchamam in the ettugada swara sequence of PDM, - PDNDM, - PSNDM, - DM, - P- GMP,,,,. The pUrvangam of the varNam was sung in two speeds. The second item of the concert was one of the highlights for me, for it was my first experience listening to a malahari alapanai. I initially thought Sri Seshachary's alapanai was a unique kind of sAvEri (in my defense, he does sing some really quirky phrases in familiar ragas!), but gradually understood it to be malahari. The malahari alapanai was outstanding, with some Hindusthani phrases thrown in especially during the descent to shadjam, and the flat note character of the raga was handled in a very aesthetic manner by Sri Seshachary, whose sense of shruti was almost perfect right from the start of the concert. Special care was taken not to oscillate the R and D, and the dhaivatham was used particularly well in the alapanai. S-P-S phrases were used intelligently too. A clean rendition of Dikshitar's krithi followed, and a fairly elaborate swara prastharam was appended. In this, Sri Raghavachary sang some really beautiful dattu patterns with a particularly nice RDPDM,, while Sri. Seshachary used jArus appropriately in phrases like SDP,,, SS(tara)P,,, .

Surprisingly, orajUpu jUcEdi was sung without any kalpanaswaras, but the krithi rendition was so immaculate that I didn't find anything lacking in the piece. Similarly, krupajUchudaku was sung so sensitively by the brothers, with well-judged tonal modulation, coaxing the beauty of the lyrics and melody out of their cocoon ever so gently. Sri Raghavachary handled most of the subsequent latAngi alapanai, and provided thoroughly classical, bhava-laden fare. However, he too essayed some Hindusthani phrases in the tara sthayi, and often sang the madhyamam plain to excellent effect. In particular, his phrases extending to and lingering on the tara madhyamam won appreciative gasps from the audience. His brigha sangathis in the tara sthayi were a testament to his excellent breath and voice control. Sri Seshachary took over in the tara sthayi, singing some lovely phrases like NR,(SNS).. NSR,S - SRG,R, before rapidly descending into the mandra sthayi, singing some wonderful phrases and concluding with an elongated nishadam which was just perfect in shruti alignment. A suitably racy rendition of marivErE followed the alapanai, and there was a nice neraval after the krithi as well, with Sri Seshachary employing phrases like N,G,RNS well. The neraval was done in alternating first and second speeds, which gave a unique feel to the neraval. Flat notes appeared in abundance in the duo's kalpanaswaras especially in phrases like PDMP,, DNMP,, DNDPMP,,.

After a beautiful chAyAnATa (which I had approximated to pUrNachandrika), Sri Seshachary sang an energetic, brigha-happy sAvEri, where the bhAvam of the ragam was compromised slightly, I felt. Even as I was feeling impatient with all the brighas, Sri Seshachary suddenly lowered his volume and sang a really soft, beautiful kArvai at the tara shadjam, following it up with some delicate phrases centered around the shadjam. And in a snap the loveliness vanished and waves of brighas pounded the shores of the raga. Then they too dissipated as he descended into the mandra sthayi, which suits his deep resonant voice down to the T, and the few minutes Sri Seshachary spent in the lower octave made me forget myself - it was one such experience. The azhuttham his voice maintains even at the mandra rishabam is just awe-inspiring. Nothing in the rest of the sAvEri rendition could have bettered the concluding moments of that alapanai, and nothing did. The krithi - one I have not heard before - was sung nicely, and a fairly elaborate neraval was done too, but the potential of the neraval line was not adequate fulfilled I thought, since hardly any time was spent on second speed sequences, and the mixture of first and second speed neraval that they sang in this krithi did not quite fit the composition or the krithi as well as it did for the latAngi. A sadly kaNakku-loaded kalpanaswaras segment followed, which dutifully ended in a kOrvai centered around phrases like SRGSR, and PDNPD,.

After a pleasant balahamsa, shaNmugapriya was taken for RTP, and Sri Seshachary sang a brief 5 minute sketch of the raga. His sketch was outstanding as he used jArus to the gandharam exceptionally well and sang some dattu sequences like PDP MPM GMG, etc. His alapanai had more than its share of creative elements and I didn't even have time (or the capacity) to decode the swara constitution of his patterns at the rate his imagination was flowing. I was very upset when the raga alapanai came to a close because it ended up being a cruelly short tease. Both brothers alternated during thanam, which was executed excellently (hard to muck up a thanam in shaNmugapriya, I'd think), with both brothers displaying their immaculate control over kala pramanam. Sri Seshachary sang some nice descending jArus to the N and D in phrases like N,,,S and D,,,s in the mandra sthayi, with the jaru coming down sharply as the N is sung in nATTai or kApi. The pallavi rendition was substandard in my opinion, with an abrupt shift from shaNmugapriya to hindOLam merely a minute after the neraval started. I did not enjoy hearing a ragamaliga neraval of the pallavi, though I definitely enjoyed the hamsadhwani portion of the neraval and swaras too, with Sri Seshachary singing the neraval in Hindusthani style (which had me flummoxed - I'd never have guessed it as hamsadhwani), and then switched to kalpana swaras (starting with a gorgeous N R G,,,,) which got progressively Carnatic until Sri Raghavachary explicitly sang patterns from the varNam in the raga, whereupon I finally felt safe writing it down as hamsadhwani.

Of the tukkadas, the kAnaDa krithi was sung brilliantly, with Sri Seshachary once again modulating the tone of his voice perfectly to deliver the nuances of kAnaDa. The few moments where the brothers sang the krithi without any accompaniment were the highlight of this rendition and of the tukkada session. The kEdAragowLa krithi was strange due to its lack of focus on the rishabam and the faster speed in which it was rendered. Wait, was it even kEdAragowLa? The kApi javaLi provided a nice finish to the concert.

Sri Seshachary was truly outstanding this evening. His voice has tremendous reach in the upper and lower octaves, and he has cultured his voice well. Just listening to him hum the mandra madhyamam in sAvEri with such resonance was sheer bliss. Of course, he seems to possess boundless imagination as was evident from his raga alapanais which follow the passage of a roller coaster ride with the audience forever on the edge of its seat. As a raga unfolds, I generally have a mental image of how the alapanai might progress, and I have an idea of which phrase might be coming up next, and although I am often wrong, I am often right as well. In the case of Sri Seshachary's singing, I think I was wrong every single time I dared expect a certain phrase. Hence, his music made for exciting listening. He also has an excellent sense of aesthetics, which he demonstrated by modulating his voice perfectly to move from forceful brighas to delicate gamakas. Although Sri Raghavachary was typically subdued, he came into his own every time he was given an opportunity, and his sense of classicism offered a pleasing contrast to Sri Seshachary's imaginative forays. Both brothers must be congratulated for their excellent shruti alignment this evening (barring a few slips), and this went a long way in ensuring the success of the concert, as half of the phrases they tried (especially with all the plain notes) would have fallen flat with anything less. Additionally, both brothers have an excellent grasp over the punctuation of their music with silence. While the highly ornamented nature of CM tends to compel singers to maintain a certain continuity in their singing by never altogether stopping to sing, or by tapering off their phrases and minimising moments of total, utter silence, the Hyderabad Brothers liberally punctuate their music - raga alapanais, krithi renditions, neravals, swaras - with moments of sharp silence where neither of them makes a single sound. These sharp silences where the audience could only hear the tambura elevated the listening experience significantly. Particularly, the brothers' use of silences and kArvais in their krithi renditions is worth emulating. Their krithi renditions today, especially in the first half of the concert, stood independently on the basis of their musical worth.

The concert was not without its shortcomings: (1) Neraval, neraval, neraval. The brothers should definitely have sung a neraval in any of the first few items of the concert, I felt. Additionally, their sAvEri neraval was rather odd and ended abruptly. They should have taken more care to explore the neraval line. (2) KaNakku galore. I was not particularly impressed by the brothers' kalpanaswaras this evening. They indulge way too much in mathematical exercises, and in their haste to land correctly on the eDuppu each time, they willingly sacrifice rAga bhAvam. For me, this is just not acceptable. (3) Ragamaliga neraval in the RTP. Completely spoiled the mood of the RTP. Makes ragamaliga swaras look like a lesser evil. Of course, they should also sing more elaborate RTPs. The kalyANi I heard them sing in Singapore was also only 20-25 minutes and totally unsatisfactory.

Nagai Sri Sriram was excellent on the violin. He was up to the challenge of repeating the brothers' innovative raga phrases and returning the kaNakku during kalpana swaras. His malahari sketch was beautiful (especially the dip to the mandra madhyamam), and his latAngi was thoroughly classical, with little emphasis on plain notes and a traditional, oscillating madhyamam. His sAvEri ragam took the prize, with evocative phrases like MPD,,PMG,,RS, and his kArvais at P and S were both executed flawlessly. In fact, his kArvais today - whether in solo or accompanying - were uniformly excellent. His shruti was excellent and his kArvais were almost necessarily then successful. More importantly, however, he used the technique of bowing over two strings simultaneously to complement the vocalists very nicely. For instance, he would play in the E and A strings for the kArvais at tara shadjam, the A and D strings for panchamam, etc. He also used the mandra sthayi very appropriately this evening, and that itself added to the musical atmosphere. Particularly, his mandra sthayi accompaniment to the line starting from "manasAra" in the latAngi krithi was just stunning. His bowing and fingering were also extremely fluid. Sriram's presence really elevated the music this evening.

Sri J Vaidyanathan was very good on the mrudangam. His accompaniment was extremely measured and sensitive to the vocalists' demands (and Sri Seshachary - being a mrudangist - was quite specific in his demands, even calling out sollus to him!). His accompaniment to krithis was particularly noteworthy in the way he embellished sangathis, filled in moments of silence, etc. He used the left side of his mrudangam very well too, especially during kalpanaswara segments. There is an attractive sparseness in his music that offers a nice parallel to the brothers' music. In particular, there were moments when JV just didn't play at all, complementing the brothers' use of silences. With a different mrudangam vidwan, these silences might have been crushed with a bounty of strokes, so I am thankful for JV's presence this evening. His thani was short and sedate, and was especially interesting for a passage which he played by rubbing his hand horizontally across the right side of the mrudangam. I haven't heard this technique very often - if at all.

Also, the (electronic) tambura shruti could be heard clearly throughout the auditorium, and this definitely enhanced the listening experience, given the brothers' fidelity to pitch.

On the whole, this would clearly rate as an excellent concert.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 Oct 2009, 16:46

bilahari
Liked all your reasoning , though when I read the shortcomings,I thought they were major, but it looks like you in general have a lot of liking for lower octaves, also with sriram's excellence and JV's apt play the supporting artist added a lot of points which kind of offset the shortcomings .

One thing I am noting in this review plus few reviews that was done in US , one of the brothers I think raghavachAri generally plays a role as a support more to seshachAri which is what I have observed when they sang few years before in chennai, but reading your review looks like even rAghavachari is in full blast. Kudos to both brothers.

ThyagarAjaswami is believed to bring back to life of a snake bite victim in nA jeeva dhAra, you being bilahari is indeed bringing so much life to reviews .

Keep it coming overall excellent

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 Oct 2009, 17:05

bilahari wrote: 07. rAma bharaNa (Couldn't catch the name - was it rAmA bANa?) (R, N @ rAvaNa vAmaka ?, S, T) - sAvEri - Adi [2]

The krithi should only be rAma bANa. The neraval line should be the anupallavi line "bhAma kASabaDu rAvaNa mUla balamula". Refer http://karnatik.com/c2745.shtml

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 31 Oct 2009, 20:18

Rajesh, thanks. I think that is the right krithi, then. Sri Raghavachari was definitely in the supporting role here as well, but whatever little he sang was excellent. As for the shortcomings, I think in the light of the krithis and raga alapanais presented, they could be overlooked (for me, anyway).

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 31 Oct 2009, 22:43

Bilahari,
With the concert experience (second hand, of course), one gets a super review experince too, with hurray bilahari and others on the forum.
Sounds like it was a swinging concert, with such good accompanists. Nagai Sriram, the few times I have heard him is a plus of an accompanist. JV too. If the brothers punctuate their singing with effective silences, he is the right man for them because I have observed him to be a 'pauses' man too!

Vijay,
Speaking of reviewers (as the season approaches, we need more!), and of Hyderabad Bros, I am thinking of you. Hope you will appear with your super reviews in December. Take a musical vacation, with your beloved by your side, of course

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 31 Oct 2009, 23:36

An excellent review of what appears to be an excellent concert. The Hyderabad Brothers' tour seems to be a great one, with very good accompanists. Elsewhere in the forum there are discussions on the 'tamburAnAdam' and its effect on the concert as a whole. Glad that you have brought out that point as well. Sriram is a very talented youngster; J.V. is an absolutely wonderful mridangist well know for his sensitive playing.

Gadolinium · Post by **Gadolinium** » 01 Nov 2009, 08:25

It was indeed an excellent concert. The Malahari alapana was just amazing - i found myself close my eyes and inadvertently blurt out a couple of aHa's (which I usually do not). Personally, I enjoyed the saveri equally as well (a very nice song selection too).

While this was my first live Malahari alapana experience, it was not my first one though. TNS has sung an RTP in Malahari (YES, an RTP!) - its in sangeethapriya http://www.sangeethapriya.org/MainItem/ ... lahari.mp3 . This still occupies an unique place for me and something only TNS can produce - the pallavi could have been better, somehow my brain couldn't take a modified version of "lambodara"

Bilahari - as always, enjoyed reading your review. I have a question - the latangi alapana had some kalyani-ish phrases superimposed with something else, is that common? Long time since I listened to a lathangi, and during the alapana I thought it was a combination of 2 ragas (this is according to my "database", so feel free to tell me if this makes no sense.) Thanks for the purnachandrika reference too - I thought it was till I read your review.

Rasika911 · Post by **Rasika911** » 01 Nov 2009, 08:43

Gadolinium wrote:It was indeed an excellent concert. The Malahari alapana was just amazing - i found myself close my eyes and inadvertently blurt out a couple of aHa's (which I usually do not). Personally, I enjoyed the saveri equally as well (a very nice song selection too).

While this was my first live Malahari alapana experience, it was not my first one though. TNS has sung an RTP in Malahari (YES, an RTP!) - its in sangeethapriya http://www.sangeethapriya.org/MainItem/ ... lahari.mp3 . This still occupies an unique place for me and something only TNS can produce - the pallavi could have been better, somehow my brain couldn't take a modified version of "lambodara"

TNS is a true genius. He has exhausted every possibility in our music. What hasnt he done?
Truly incredible.

Gadolinium, it is a common practice to modify pallavis of existing compositions to structure them as a pallavi.

fiddler · Post by **fiddler** » 01 Nov 2009, 09:41

I recall an old American saying: "If there's nothing pleasant to say, say nothing". With that thought, I didn't want to write the review but this review (by bilahari) made me revisit the idea.

To be objective/fair, agree with everything that was said till Chaya Tarangini. After that it was a total DISASTER.. I am surprised at such a lavish praise for a train wreck !

Here's the reasoning:

Lathangi: Total lack lustre Alapana. Nothing creative ever jumped at me. btw, this was the only time Raghavachary sang(heard) alone in the entire concert. For the rest of the concert, he sounded like "Otthu" in nadaswaram.

ChayaNaata: passable...nothing brilliant about it.

Saveri ragam : Before you realized, the ragam was over. He had the audacity to explicitly sing parts of saveri varnam (He sang the saveri varnam sahityam as well "Girini Velayu Sri Venkatesa"). Is that called ragam singing ? On top of this, we had to hear the heavy usage of false voice.. if you know what I mean.

RTP was a mockery: If music world had traffic rules and law enforcement officers, the brothers would go straight to jail for showing no respect for the RTP law. Driving everywhere and anywhere. Before they could get started on the pallavi and after only couple of times of rendering the pallavi line in one speed, they jumped into ragamalika exercise and caused havoc there. No Anulomam/pratilomam. What the hell were they thinking ? Audience are gnana soonyams ?

All post RTP was very very mediocre not worth my time bad mouthing.

At some point in the concert, Seshachary had to ask the audience to clap

btw, why are they called Hyderabad Brothers and not Hyderabad Seshachary when only one of them sing ? It's been that way for at least over 15 years. I recall an incident, once someone sent a chit to Seshachary and the chit read "Give your brother a chance to sing"

One last statement: Who the hell Seshachary thinks he his? An orchestra conductor ? directing what nadai(s) the mridangist should play and when ? Helping out his brother (with audible Takka) for Raghavachary to know when to start singing his kalpana swaram to know the right edam ? If he has such an incompetent brother, why should he perform alongside him and call it Hyderabad Brothers..is it to retain a wrongly created brand name ?

I still haven't covered every non-sense that happened but I rest my case. Enough of bad blood for the day I guess.

vivek2009 · Post by **vivek2009** » 01 Nov 2009, 10:25

Bilahari,

What is jaru. Any example in some mp3?

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 01 Nov 2009, 10:49

Fiddler,

More or less , many of your points like RTP style (shortened raga and substandard pallavi, ragamalika neraval) , saveri (less bhava and more briga) are there in bilahari's review too.
But he explained several positive points as well. But his review concluded as excellent and
your review concluded as Not so good. I am confused about the The Overall rating in both reviews . But thanks
to both reviews, i came to know of a MD song in Malahari.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 01 Nov 2009, 11:37

>I recall an old American saying: "If there's nothing pleasant to say, say nothing".

Didn't Thiruvalluvar say something like that and that too with one less word

rajaglan has already written what I wanted to say.

HeyNarayana · Post by **HeyNarayana** » 01 Nov 2009, 11:49

Amazing concert, took us to a different world. Each and every piece was wonderful. I wish I can put in words like Bilahari and few others but even attepmting will only be understating the bliss we experienced. Thanks to all the artists the organizers for a wonderful concert.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 01 Nov 2009, 11:59

Rajaglan, I wouldn't use the word "flawed". For me, the positives of the concert far overwhelmed the negative, so I (and probably Gadolinium) considered it excellent. The converse was true for fiddler, hence his judgement. Different viewpoints - that's all!

HN, didn't run into you during the concert. Glad you could make it and that you enjoyed it!

Gadolinium, I agree about the kalyANi phrases seeping into the lathAngi, and will write in detail once I've uploaded a demonstrative clip.

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 01 Nov 2009, 12:43

bilahari wrote:Rajaglan, I wouldn't use the word "flawed". For me, the positives of the concert far overwhelmed the negative, so I (and probably Gadolinium) considered it excellent. The converse was true for fiddler, hence his judgement. Different viewpoints - that's all!

HN, didn't run into you during the concert. Glad you could make it and that you enjoyed it!

Gadolinium, I agree about the kalyANi phrases seeping into the lathAngi, and will write in detail once I've uploaded a demonstrative clip.

I wanted to change it so corrected it.

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 01 Nov 2009, 15:24

I ntice they have sung the jAvaLi 'Ayyo vibhudu nannu MaracEnE' in kedAragauLa; which is almost disappearing from the stage.

DhanammaL's family knew this one and so does Smt. Rama Ravi.

naaree · Post by **naaree** » 01 Nov 2009, 22:13

This HeyNarayana has sure been travelling with the bros or the bros themselves. He is reviewing every concert of theirs.

Svaapana · Post by **Svaapana** » 02 Nov 2009, 00:16

Did the brother(s) consult their sacred notes. Hope they have done away with it!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 02 Nov 2009, 01:11

svaapana,
There are several note book flippers on the stage. I don't think we should pick on any particular artiste (s)!

An aside, something to think about: a few vocalists who are not in their prime (who used to frown upon this practice themselves), are carrying notes to the stage. These veterans who could sing the lines in their sleep suddenly find that they blank out on words sometimes. So, it's security blanket for them. The also need them if they are not familiar with the lines (let's say, in a thematic concert). Instead of going blank or for fear of fudging a line, they carry a notebook. That does not bother me, but leafing through volumes i a bit of a put off.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 02 Nov 2009, 06:50

fiddler wrote:
btw, why are they called Hyderabad Brothers and not Hyderabad Seshachary when only one of them sing ? It's been that way for at least over 15 years. I recall an incident, once someone sent a chit to Seshachary and the chit read "Give your brother a chance to sing"

Fiddler
I could not control my laughter reading the chit contents , btw how was the chit handed over to seshachari , usually one gives it to the accompanist. Many years back atleast 5 or 6 in a lone sabha in egmore by name kalakruthi (patronized by arusuvai natarajan), i noticed seshachari almost controlling raghavachari every 10 minutes or so with his index finger , kind of remote control mute on and off which we do in between overs in one day cricket match .

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 02 Nov 2009, 08:46

Bilahari: Hard to muck up a thanam? Well, U Srinivas did that a few years back, so it is possible, certainly. In fact I have not heard a good thanam (in any raga for that matter) in a long time.

I think I enjoyed reading bilahari's review more than listening to HB in concert! While I don't like the younger brother's overt showmanship (where he acts like the grand conductor of events, orchestral hand movements and all), I do recognise their vidwat, and despite my harsh criticism of their concerts in the past I realised that they still have a certain level of 'old school mentality' in terms of concert arrangement. But this list appears rather lacklustre for the following reasons (based on what bilahari's reviewed):

1. Saveri sung in a "brisk, energetic manner": Saveri is a quiet, bhava-laden raga. Take out the bhava from Saveri and you have a mutilated Mayamalavagoula.
2. Criminally short RTP, featuring a clustershmazz of ragas. The brothers used to sing quite elaborate RTPs and to hear a Sanmukhapriya alapana that barely hit 5 minutes is highly disappointing, and added to it a whole mishmash of ragas would have a rasika like me foaming at the mouth.
3. Unlike fiddler (and I thought I was a harsh reviewer!), I don't see a problem with singing the occasional varnam or krithi phrase in the alapana. Lots of musicians used to do it and still do it, and it actually can sound quite good if done right (and sparingly of course), but Saveri should not be attempted in a rush.
4. General choice of ragas itself. If we look at the review, we see that the ragas elaborated were: Malahari, Saveri, Lathangi and Sanmukhapriya. I don't think that is an optimal mix. The RTP could have been done in Kambhoji (of course a 5 minute Kambhoji alapana will be more criminal than Sanmukhapriya) or Kharaharapriya, to provide some more diversity. Change the varnam to Kaanada or Rithigoula
5. The concert should be titled Hyderabad Seshachary with Raghavachary vocal support. I actually prefer Raghavachary's more sedate, bhava-laden singing, especially at the higher octaves (where his younger brother's sole aim seems to be to bring paint down from the ceiling by voice alone) but I see that nothing has changed since 1995 when I attended my first HB concert.

To TNS fans: TNS exhausted every possibility? I guess so, after all, his concerts these days even feature four or five different sruthis, sometimes in one item itself! That has to be a first! (Heh, I couldn't resist that remark, especially since this was not even a TNS concert and we see the TNS fans out in full force in support of their Thalaivar)

I always thought "bilahari" was a she. I guess I was wrong!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 02 Nov 2009, 09:40

>4. General choice of ragas itself. If we look at the review, we see that the ragas elaborated were: Malahari, Saveri, Lathangi and Sanmukhapriya. I don't think that is an optimal mix. The RTP could have >been done in Kambhoji (of course a 5 minute Kambhoji alapana will be more criminal than Sanmukhapriya) or Kharaharapriya, to provide some more diversity. Change the varnam to Kaanada
>or Rithigoula

This is only partially aimed at your comments about this particular concert...

Then what does one do for the next concert the next day or two in a different city? It sounds like a huge task to keep a variety for the varnam, sub-main, main and RTP and still do full justice every day in this kind of packed concert tour. Of course, the audience in a particular city does not care what one sang in a different city ( except some die-hard rasikas who follow song lists and complain about lack of variety ) but unlike past masters, present day artists seem to mix things up pretty well over a 10 to 15 city tour in 4 to 6 weeks. That calls for a fairly big repertoire that is all brushed up and ready for concert use.

>I always thought "bilahari" was a she. I guess I was wrong!

Hey, you better start attending those singapore rasika meets.

btw, let us not start a TNS discussion in this thread.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 02 Nov 2009, 22:09

And the singing cuckoos are of the male kind--here on the forum too!

sangeethamquest · Post by **sangeethamquest** » 03 Nov 2009, 00:48

I attended an outstanding and enjoyable concert by the Hyderabad brothers at San Jose Yesterday.

Though the items sung were different compared to the San Diego concert. I would like to echo similar sentiments as Bilahari for the San Diego concert. I also met quite a few folks yesterday in the concert who attended the SAn diego concert as well and every one of them did mention that they have not heard the Hyderbad bros sing like this all of them spoke very highly of their San Diego and LA concerts.

People mistake Seshachary's mannerisms as arrogant because they don't know him. The brothers are very close and do not have any misunderstanding between them. I was also under a similar opinion until I met folks who have hosted the brothers for over 10 years in the US and later realised my mistake. Nagai Sriram started similary during the tour and I even read (here) that he kept his violin in the box (in one of the earlier concerts) and refused to play when he was not given a chance. However by the end of the tour (and the last concert) you could see the way both JV and Sriram learnt to respect and work as a team with the Hyd bros especially Seshachary. When you saw yesterday's concert and the post concert dinner talk amongst the artists and the amount of respect JV and Sriram have for the brothers it is seen to believed.

Agreed, Shri Seshachary controls the show and feels strongly about how the music should be performed. For example,n even yesterday he did an alapana and took off with the krithi without giving Sriram a chance. But Sriram knew and respected the senior vidwan's moods. What is wrong with knowing who is the captain on the team and allowing him to lead the way. Most carnatic concerts end up sounding like a cacophony of horns with each one trying to do his own act and showing to the other who is better, why do we need this? Yes the audience goes to listen to the main artist and the accompanists should help create the environment and ambience for the main artists to be produce their best music instead of being a hindrance.

If the main artist is not allowed to control the show it will lead to chaos, and most often you have weak or ordinary concerts because the main artist does not have enough confidence or vidwat to lead and set the tempo for a great concert..........and if we still insist this let us change places let us have the mridangist sit on center stage.

If the main artist's feels the mrdingam should keep quite (at certain times) since he has diff ideas running in his mind and the mridangams patterns may interupt with his trian of thought he has every right to ask the violinist or the mridganist to keep quiet. I applaud this.

Like Sanjay mentioned sometime ago the older generation did not have to worry how much time they gave the violinists or the mridangists however nowadays the artists are more focussed on keeping the accompanists happy rather than focus on their performance.

Would anyone have questioned Ariyakudi or MDR for leading the show or telling the mridangists and violinists when to play or stop. (It is a diff matter that most violinists knew them so well that they knew when to keep quite and when to play, but no one ever questioned MDR or Mali or their Music or their silences.....and why they were leading the show .....)

I don't think anyone can doubt Shri Seshchary's vidwat. Shri Raghavachary, I am sure accepts this and has no issues with it and to his defence he plays the perfect support role. It is only us, the audience who have never met them and see their mannerisms on stage who start assuming things. My guess is that by nature I donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t think Seshachary bothers about etiquette (being extra nice) etc.
Before commenting we should think how well do we know somone. We donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t even know people with whom we have been associated for decades and people whom we think we know so well continue to confuse us. However that does not stop us from jumping to conclusions and start giving meanings to actions of people whom we see for a few hours or minutes.

Let us not judge the book by itÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s cover. Let us enjoy its contents.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 03 Nov 2009, 01:42

PLEASE DO NOT drag all time GREATS like Ariyakudi, KVN & MDR ETC into this discussion. YOU can make your points without dragging them into the MUD which is where this discussion level is. Like Lloyd Bentsen told Dan Quayle: (Symbolically Transposing) H.B. are NOT ARI,KVN, OR MDR. I KNEW THEM WELL & if I tell you the training techniques of H.B.- tho' Tobacco WAS involved in the case of ARI & H.B. in less than two seconds the use in the two cases will clearly make you agree that it WILL NOT contribute to better voice culture..... There is no need to COMPARE especially when it is both gross & wrong. VKV

raj-123 · Post by **raj-123** » 03 Nov 2009, 03:45

Svaapana wrote:Did the brother(s) consult their sacred notes. Hope they have done away with it!

It is replaced by a shiny laptop, i think it is ia MacBook. They consulted it regularly in San Jose concert. It may a dell too.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 03 Nov 2009, 03:47

Sangeethaquest,
I liked your imagery of a cacophony of horns! However, I have been lucky not to have been subjected to such a concert by professionals yet! Also, I don't think you need a conductor in a CM concert to prevent the concert from transforming itself into a caophony of horns

HeyNarayana · Post by **HeyNarayana** » 03 Nov 2009, 05:58

naaree wrote:This HeyNarayana has sure been travelling with the bros or the bros themselves. He is reviewing every concert of theirs.

naree,
Thanks for your focus on my travel with the artists, no I couldn't and I wish I could. Thanks to my job, I was able to attend few and wish I could attend all hopefully next time. I do not have any issue telling I am a great fan of both brothers and God Bless them.

Neeraja veni · Post by **Neeraja veni** » 03 Nov 2009, 22:56

Thanks Bilahari for the review with an `ear' for detail !

Bilahari wrote;
<Sri Seshachary sang an energetic, brigha-happy sAvEri, where the bhAvam of the ragam was compromised slightly, I felt. Even as I was feeling impatient with all the brighas, Sri Seshachary suddenly lowered his volume and sang a really soft, beautiful kArvai at the tara shadjam, following it up with some delicate phrases centered around the shadjam. And in a snap the loveliness vanished and waves of brighas pounded the shores of the raga. Then they too dissipated as he descended into the mandra sthayi, which suits his deep resonant voice down to the T, and the few minutes Sri Seshachary spent in the lower octave made me forget myself - it was one such experience. The azhuttham his voice maintains even at the mandra rishabam is just awe-inspiring. Nothing in the rest of the sAvEri rendition could have bettered the concluding moments of that alapanai, and nothing did.>

It is surprising to note that only the criticism is taken from Bilahari's review on the saveri alapana and the appreciation is omitted .May be a deliberate omission. Sri.Sesha chary is a great musician with abundant vidwat. Over the years i have heard some excellent saveri sung by Sri.Seshachary, one of the very best i have heard. Be it a majestic Sri Rajagopala of Dikshithar or the endearing padam `ley maro' of kshetragna(the king of all padams in my opinion; or the queen?

)Anyone who questions his lack of bhavam in saveri must listen to this padam. Believe me, it is worth it! Because of some brighas sung on that day, i dont think he deserves so many brickbats. A musician has his different moods and is a human being too.

I cant believe that someone stoops so low so as to pass on such a note( as mentioned by fiddler) to a performing musician during a concert and someone stoops even lower to intercept it, read it and proudly declare its nasty contents!!!..( i am yet to see an accompanist open a request slip meant for the main performer and read it.). A pathetic tale written in poor taste.

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 04 Nov 2009, 08:35

vkv, man relax. You're gonna do yourself an injury. The 'all time greats' you mentioned were humans too, so there is nothing wrong with comparing them. If you don't like it, don't read it. If you actually read the comments before responding you might have seen what the previous poster was talking about. It's not like he/she accused them of murder or drug trafficking. Calm down.

Neeraja, maybe I am a sick, twisted individual but actually I found the note passing quite hilarious. Yes it was in bad taste but it was still hilarious.

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 04 Nov 2009, 08:40

raj-123 wrote: It is replaced by a shiny laptop, i think it is ia MacBook. They consulted it regularly in San Jose concert. It may a dell too.

Glad to see them moving on with the times!

(Tongue in cheek comment people). Actually what is wrong with consulting notes? These artistes learn close to a thousand compositions, or maybe even more. Most of them are in a language which is not their native tongue, and a single mistake from them would have the rasikas howling in anger (myself included at times) that they have no grasp of meaning and how MDR or KVN would never sing like that, or some such reaction. Better safe than sorry. Of course, consulting notes for swaraprastara or alapana is a different matter altogether...

kmgobburu · Post by **kmgobburu** » 04 Nov 2009, 10:25

Hyderabad brothers certainly presented a variety of compositions throughout their 2009 US tour. anyone recorded the concerts? how can one buy these concert CDs?

thanks

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 05 Nov 2009, 01:14

bala747 wrote:vkv, man relax. You're gonna do yourself an injury. The 'all time greats' you mentioned were humans too, so there is nothing wrong with comparing them. If you don't like it, don't read it. If you actually read the comments before responding you might have seen what the previous poster was talking about. It's not like he/she accused them of murder or drug trafficking. Calm down.

Bala 747, Since you appear to be "HIP" I hope you have a thick skin like me......Thanks for your Health ADVICE. I
WILL TRY TO FOLLOW IT. Do you realise one has to FIRST read it before you realise you shdn't have read it in first place? SIMPLE NEWTONIAN PHYSICS! ARE YOU A STRING THEORIST?... By the way how do you know I am a man? JUST CURIOUS...I did read the previous post. If you had taken courses in ANTHROPOLOGY you would have realised Language is VERY INADEQUATE as it followed feelings& emotons which preceded it......YOU must be quite INSECURE as you do not seem to realise there can be different points of view. That is the basis for forums like this. YOU appear to believe that you are the only person entitled to writing TRASH ....Hope you have a sense of humour yourself...GOOD LUCK to you. VKV

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 05 Nov 2009, 06:12

Folks
Keep the focus on the topic under discussion. You are free to express your views as long as they are not offensive or slanderous. We also do not permit undignified comments on respected artistes. Commenting on comments can best be carried out through Forum Mail.

Your cooperation is solicited!

Rasika911 · Post by **Rasika911** » 05 Nov 2009, 06:40

Looking at notes/computers during the concert is unacceptable. It is their profession, the least they can do is respect their audience and learn their material properly. If they are looking at notes it is clear they havent mastered the krithi and if thats the case they should not be presenting it on the stage. Hope this is not a trend to come.

Did semmangudi or santhanam look at notes? Does Tns look at notes?
@Bala747, i think it would be better if they know 200 compositions properly so that they can sing without looking at notes than to know thousands but unable to sing them without a reference.

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 05 Nov 2009, 15:22

[Edited - moderator]

Rasika, Just because some artistes did not look at notes it doesn't mean that others can't. Artistes may want to look at notes especially if the compositions are in a foreign language and the pronounciation might be tricky, as the saying goes, karanam thappina maranam. Nowadays artistes give so many concerts that are being scrutinized to a degree never done before (I mean if a teacher in Singapore can comment on a Hyderabad Bros concert in America..). They have to worry about variety, range of languages and all that. I am not saying it is to be encouraged, but I can understand why they rather refer to notes. IT is fine to say "we rather they know 200 compositions than 1000", but there are rasikas who say "he sang the same thing in 2003 in Toronto! How can he sing it again in Kuala Lumpur in 2008?!"

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 05 Nov 2009, 15:27

Oh I almost forgot, Neeraja (ma'am?),

Would you have a recording of the Saveri padam? I am a huge fan of padams and would love to hear good renditions of padams. (I always thought the Maharaja's Aliveni in Kurinji was the best but I could be wrong)

Neeraja veni · Post by **Neeraja veni** » 05 Nov 2009, 22:30

bala747
If you are huge fan of padams, look no further! Go to the brother's concerts during the season and go up to them and request them

. I am sure you will treated with a feast of padams. I rarely hear anyone sing padams in the pace they sing (after KVN). By the way have you heard them sing ososi(kasikku poyene in mukhari)?

I would love to upload kshetragna's ley maro but am weary of the copyright issues.

musicfan_4201 · Post by **musicfan_4201** » 06 Nov 2009, 08:46

bala747 wrote:Oh I almost forgot, Neeraja (ma'am?),

Would you have a recording of the Saveri padam? I am a huge fan of padams and would love to hear good renditions of padams. (I always thought the Maharaja's Aliveni in Kurinji was the best but I could be wrong)

Bala
You should then listen to Dr. Sreepada Pinakapani's padams and javalis. Bhruhadhwani some years ago released 2 or 3 tapes full of padams and javalis sung by Dr. Pani in his inimitable style. It is a must possess album.

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 06 Nov 2009, 12:58

fiddler wrote: Enough of bad blood for the day I guess.

How about month instead

?

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 06 Nov 2009, 13:03

Rasika911 wrote: i think it would be better if they know 200 compositions properly so that they can sing without looking at notes than to know thousands but unable to sing them without a reference.

Not sure I can agree with this. While it is certainly better if they can sing without the distraction of having to refer to notes, a newer repertoire is a must to sustain audience interest in the artist. So my preference would be to encourage them to go past 200 and use the notes sparingly if needed.