R.K.Shriramkumar (Vocal) @ NSTSS, Chennai (19 Apr 2007)

ram · Post by **ram** » 19 Apr 2007, 23:05

Venue: Ranjani Kalaikkoodam, NSTSS, Nanganallur, Chennai

Date: 19 Apr 2007

Organizer: Nanganallur Sri Thyagaraja Sangeetha Samajam (NSTSS)

Occasion: Sri Syama Sastri Jayanthi

Vocal: Sri R.K. Shriramkumar

Violin: Sri Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli

Mrudangam: Sri J. Vaidyanathan

Tambura: Sri Balaji

List of songs:

1) dayAnidhE mAmava (varnam) - bEgada - Adi - syAma sAstri (S)

2) pAhi shrI girirAjasutE - Anandabhairavi - rUpakam - syAma sAstri

3) ninnuvinaga mari - pUrvikalyANi - misra cApu - syAma sAstri (ANS)

4) dEvi brOva - cintAmaNi - Adi - syAma sAstri

5) janani natajanaparipAlini - sAvEri - Adi - syAma sAstri (A)

6) kAmAkshI (svarajati) - yadukulakAmbOji - misra cApu - syAma sAstri

7) nannu brOvarAdA - gauLipantu - misra cApu - syAma sAstri

8 ) sari yevarammA - bhairavi - kanDa jampai - syAma sAstri (ANST)

9) mAyammA yani nE - Ahiri - Adi - syAma sAstri

10) karuNajUDa ninnunammina - srI - Adi - syAma sAstri

11) kAmAkshI lOkasAkshiNI (gItam) - madyamAvati - misra cApu - syAma sAstri

(Key: O=raga outline, A=raga alapana, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram, T=taniavartanam)

Popular violin artist Sri R.K. Shriramkumar presented a nice 2.5 hr vocal concert on Sri Syama Sastri kritis. Special mention must be made of Sri J. Vaidyanathan who played well for all the songs.

Source: http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/2007/04/ ... i19042007/

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 20 Apr 2007, 02:28

Isn't Sriramkumar's guru for vocal music, Sri DKJ, J. Vaidyanathan's father?

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 20 Apr 2007, 02:35

Yes Shankar. Shriram is the student of sangIta kalAnidhi isai pEraringnar dAmal krishnamUrthy jayarAma iyer.

My mom says he is supposedly a brilliant singer. I haven't heard him yet.

Haven't heard the sAvEri and bhairavi kritis? Anybody has anyone's rendering?

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 20 Apr 2007, 03:53

RKS is a very unassuming person. His modesty cloaks a great talent inside him. I too would like to hear him sing. Any audio clip of his singing available?

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 20 Apr 2007, 08:57

I once visited Sri RKSK's house and heard his render two beautiful Dikshitar krithis - mAmava raghuvIra [mAhuri] and tyAgarAja mahadhvajArOha [shri]. His singing was nothing short of excellent.

vasya10 · Post by **vasya10** » 20 Apr 2007, 21:06

ksrimech:

I couldnt find natajanaparipalini in saveri.

But i have Smt DKP's sarievaramma (20 mts)

http://www.badongo.com/file/2811241

I remember listening to Sri GS Mani's elaborate bhairavi, let me double check on that.

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 20 Apr 2007, 23:37

I have played many vocal concerts of RK Shriramkumar. He is very gud indeed and a very hard worker. He is of course very unassuming and very jovial. Such a nice person to have both on stage and off stage too. Most part of the year he is in USA so to say. .. and such a busy artiste.

J.Balaji

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 21 Apr 2007, 03:37

vasya10 wrote:I remember listening to Sri GS Mani's elaborate bhairavi, let me double check on that.

G.S.Mani's sari evaramma (> 27mins)

http://www.rogepost.com/n/2425702809

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 21 Apr 2007, 03:45

Thank you DRS

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 21 Apr 2007, 15:08

i was also present in the almost full Ranjani Hall for this concert. To be truthful, i consider myself fortunate to have attended the concert.

The concert began with a nice rendition of the bEgaDa varNam and the anandabhairavi kriti, which followed was rendered with a lot of bhavam and the inspiring cittai svaram. Multiple charaNams were presented.

The pUrvikalyANi AlApanai was nice. The kriti was rendered with multiple caraNams and neraval and svarams at 'kAmitArtapala prdAyaki lalitE'. The cintAmaNi kriti was rendered soulfully. The sAvEri AlApanai was good, the kriti, which is said to be the first composition of Shyama Sastri, was rendered beautifully and was followed by a weighty rendition of the svarajati. The gauLipantu kriti was good.

The main bhairavi AlApanai was short and good. The kriti was rendered with all its grandeur with neraval and svarams at 'mAdhava sOdhari gaurI amba'. The Ahiri piece was nicely rendered. The srI rAgam and madhyamAvati pieces were both good as well.

Sri Shriram Kumar gave a nice concert with quite a few rare pieces and personal favourites. However, at places, his voice seemed to show strain, especially in the higher octave. It must have been a tight rope walk to sing Anandha bhairavi and bhairavi, sAvEri and gauLiapantu, srI rAgam and madhyamAvati in the same concert and get them all right.

Sri Chandramouli on the fiddle, was good in parts. Sri Vaidhyanathan was good in accompanying and his tani.

rasaali · Post by **rasaali** » 22 Apr 2007, 08:14

Dear Ram, Rbharath,

Was Gaulipantu rendered with a suddha madhyama or prati madhyama? I have heard artistes rendering this raga with either of these. Example: DKJ himself rendered SS's Tarunam Idamma with the prati madhyamam while MSG renders the raga with a suddha madhayama.

Curious what Sri RKS's version was.

R

ram · Post by **ram** » 22 Apr 2007, 09:12

To me, it seemed neither. It was somewhere between the two madhyamams and seemed more closer to prati madhyamam. If I were asked to strictly choose one note, I would probably choose the pratimadhyamam.

However since I am still in the evolutionary (self-learning) process and have not satisfactorily graduated the stage of swarasthanam identification (though graduated from swara identification long back), I would prefer if someone else who attended the concert gave his/her opinion.

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 22 Apr 2007, 09:36

ram wrote:However since I am still in the evolutionary (self-learning) process and have not satisfactorily graduated the stage of swarasthanam identification (though graduated from swara identification long back), I would prefer if someone else who attended the concert gave his/her opinion.

Ram,
I don't get you. What do you mean by swara identification?

ram · Post by **ram** » 22 Apr 2007, 10:42

What I would consider as three major stages in the evolution I mentioned (self-made just for the purpose of appraising what stage of the learning process I am in at different points in time) are the following:

1) Swara identification: Someone sings a sahitya or sounds a series of notes on an instrument and one is able to say what those notes are in terms of sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni. One may not yet be able to say, for instance, whether the ri is a small ri or a big ri but one is at least able to at least identify that it is a ri (rishabam)

2) Swarasthana identification - 1: This is where one is able to identify which of the 12 frequencies the note being sounded falls on (shadjam, shudha rishabam, chatushruti rishabam, sadharana gandharam, antara gandharam, shudha madhyamam, prati madhyamam, panchamam .... etc). One should also be able to clearly say if a note is being held just below or just above one of the 12 frequencies (as is done in some ragas).

3) Swarasthana identification -2: This is where one's microscope (ear+brain combination) gets even sharper and one is able to identify the 22 frequencies (shadjam, ekasruti rishabam, dvisruti rishabam .... etc ).

There could be more evolved levels but I would be satisfied to some extent if I were to cross stage 2). If you ask me, I haven't still crossed 2) to my satisfaction.

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 22 Apr 2007, 11:16

Ram,
Thanks for the explanation. I'm still in the Neanderthal age based on your rules of evolution.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 22 Apr 2007, 11:25

as ram said, it was somewhere inbetween.

Some Vidwans like Smt Vedavalli and Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan dont accept the prati madhyama version of gauLipantu. They render all the gauLipantu pieces with suddha madhyamam. However, Smt Swaminathan plays the madhyamam a bit above the suddha madhyamam, somewhere in between the svarasthanams of suddha and prati madhyamams and calls it the reNDumkeTTAn or gauLipantu madhyamam.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 22 Apr 2007, 11:28

Is that a straight execution of the note in between the two madhyamams or there is noticable oscillatory gamakam as well? That can make pegging the swarasthanam that much more a challenge. If there is a recording, we can look at the wave form and see how that is executed.

ram · Post by **ram** » 22 Apr 2007, 22:34

sbala: I think you are humility personified.

VK: The shake was there as well at madhyamam.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 22 Apr 2007, 22:40

Interesting. I am in the cave with Bala as well!

Certain combinations sound familiar but identifying swaras as they are being played - boy, am a long way from that! Maybe I will get there someday - man lives on hope!

sbala · Post by **sbala** » 22 Apr 2007, 22:54

Ram,
Not at all. Modesty has never been my strong suit. I look at CM concerts as 3 hours of rest to slow down my life and an opportunity to be away from fellow programmers. I don't indulge in fancy computations during that time. Now that you have laid out the path, I'm tempted to make a few attempts along those lines..

vpadmana · Post by **vpadmana** » 11 Nov 2009, 00:15

Deleted.