Madras String Quartet, Bharat Sangeet Utsav

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 10 Nov 2009, 22:07

Madras String Quartet
V S Narasimhan - Violin
Hemantraj Muliyil - Violin
B J Chandran - Viola
V R Sekar - Cello

Bharat Sangeet Utsav, Carnatica & Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha
Narada Gana Sabha
7 Nov 09. 5:15 pm

Orchester Quartet - Carl Stamitz in C Major (3 movements)
Quartet - W A Mozart K.156 (3 movements)

evvari bOdana - AbhOgi - Adi - PSI
srI mahAgaNapati - gauLa - misra cApu - MD
srI subramaNyAya - kAmbhOji - rUpakam - MD
IsanE inda Ezhai - chakravAkam - PS
mOhanalahari - bilahari - V S Narasimhan
tillAnA - dEsh - Adi - LGJ
chinnanchiru kiLiyE - rAgamAlikA
krishna nI bEganE - yamunA kalyANi - vyAsarAyA

It was the first time I was hearing Orchestra-ised Carnatic Music or Western Music live. Though I have seen quite a few of the Quartet's youtube videos, it was definitely a different experience to see it live.

They had set apart about 30-45 minutes of programme for the Western Music Pieces that they presented. All of it so good to hear. I have heard some of these pieces over FM Rainbow & Gold, but to listen to them live is totally a different feeling. I was totally impressed with the coordination and harmony they could bring into their presentation.

The orchestra versions of our compositions were all very different on the ear and i must say i enjoyed it a lot. Sri Narasimhan played short AlApanais of kAmbhOji and bilahari, while Sri Chandran did so for ChakravAkam and Sri Sekar elaborated dEsh. It gave a different flavour to our compositions to be heard in such a version. I did enjoy it thoroughly.

Would love to hear them live again.

bharath

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 10 Nov 2009, 22:32

Braving through the heavy rains that were mercilessily tormenting Madras, one took courage to go to this concert.

A group of not less than 10 people from IIT planned to go, however It was this solitary soul that made his way to Taramani Bus Stand on a lazy gloomy rainy wet saturday afternoon. I was very happy to find a 5C that would directly drop me front of NGS. And surprisingly, the seats were dry as the shutters were never pulled up since morning.

I was dropped infront of NGS at 4:05. I walked-in to find a sparsely crowded NGS auditorium. Sri Ashok Ramani gave a fairly nice overview of tODi and backed it up with a sweet rendition of kArtikEya gAngEya. Sri Ganesh Prasad gave a good reply. The neraval and svarams at 'mAl maruga' was done well. Sri Bhaktavatsalam and Sri Subramanian did a flashy job on the accompanying front and in their tani that followed. Sri Ashok rendered the first and second caraNam of the song, but skipped the third that i was waiting to hear. He rounded off with a rAgamAlikA viruttam and karpagamE.

After a quick coffee at Woodlands just outside, I was back to my seat to hear the Quartet.

Sri Narasimhan's Quartet was a absolutely fantastic performance.

I was planning to listen to Smt. Nityasree for a while before leaving. This time I chose to sit tight and not risk the chance of being shoo-ed away.

Smt. Nityasree started off with a few words on her Grandmom. First up, she sang srI nAtAdi guruguhO. The second song was sujana jIvanA in khamAs. Then came a short sketch of suddha sImantini with jAnakI ramaNA to follow. She rounded it up with a nice round of svarams. I left after this, as she was beginning kalyANi.

She was assisted by her niece, Kum. Lavanya on the vocals. Dr. R Hemalatha was on the violin. Sri Skandasubramanian on the mrudangam and Sri Murali on the Ghatam. The kriti renditions were good.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 10 Nov 2009, 22:33

I found a 5C to drop me back right in time for dinner at our hostel mess.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 10 Nov 2009, 22:54

bharath: And not to mention the 5Cs: Chennai, Carnatica, Chandran, Carl and Chakravakam

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 10 Nov 2009, 23:04

vk, i think i used Madras and not Chennai

so it is one C less

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 10 Nov 2009, 23:48

5C rerouted. Carnatica, Chandran, Cello, C-Major and Chakravakam

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Nov 2009, 05:17

Bharath,
Cakkani 5C lo kUrCOni Chennai velli kaCERulu vini, caduvu kshEtramulO cAru annam tinnArA?

You brought to us the concerts with the rainy atmosphere too!

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 11 Nov 2009, 07:32

rbharath wrote:I found a 5C to drop me back right in time for dinner at our hostel mess.

Did you sms the 5C driver / conductor and did you summon the bus to start when kalyAni began

. You are the only person in chennai to wait and take that rare bus 5C in both directions on a single day.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Nov 2009, 08:47

The nice thing about the name Chennai is that it does not leave room for mispronunciation. meDrAs, muDrAs, metRAs, maD rAs...

Though the city is now called Chennai, the name Madras String Quartet sounds nice and nostalgic.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 11 Nov 2009, 10:35

arasi, my telugu literacy is almost negligible. kindly translate..

rajesh, all my trips to MA or NGS is almost always by 5C to-and-fro. and no, i dont have any driver/conductor mobile numbers. i must also admit that i have given-up on concerts just waiting for 5C on quite a few occasions. so, one indeed does accept that one is way damn lucky to get that bus.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 11 Nov 2009, 10:59

rbharath wrote: mOhanalahari - bilahari - V S Narasimhan

bharath
I read some where that this mohanalhari of VSN is adapted and has a lot of overlap from patnam's paridanamachittE in bilahari.Is that right?

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Nov 2009, 11:09

Bharath,
If I translated it, then all the Cs will go hide! Just read it aloud, and you will get it. You have heard hundreds of telugu songs time and time again. When you hear yourself, you will be impressed with your telugu!

Help with words: cakkani: (you know that word) in this context, comfortably.
kUrCOni=seated; velli=having gone; vini=having heard; I made up the word caduvu ksEtram (literally, place for studies); cAru annam= rasam SAdam (they may not serve it at your dining hall, I don't know; tinnArA?=did you eat?

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 11 Nov 2009, 23:09

arasi, i got the Cs there.. but wanted to make sure i got the meaning right as well. and ya, no cAru annam here for us [:(]