Kiranavali at Brahma Gana Sabha - 28-Dec-09

Always_Evolving · Post by **Always_Evolving** » 30 Dec 2009, 01:23

Kiranavali Vidyasankar - vocal
Karaikkal Venkatasubramaniam - violin
H S Sudhindra - mridangam

The song list:
1. Tattvamariya tarama - Ritigowlai -- P Sivan (Raga sketch, S)
2. Namaste Paradevate - devaranji -- MD
3. Himadrisute - Kalyani - SS (RNS)
4. Bhajare manasa -- Abheri - Mysore Vasudevacharya
5. Bhogindra sayinam -- Kuntalavarali -- ST
6. Ne Morabettithe - Todi -- T (RS), followed by thani
7. Ranjanimala -- Ragamalika -- Thanjavur Sankara Iyer

Kiranavali's concert started off with the lovely Tattvamariya-tarama, and a round of swarams. Kalyani highlights were good phrases in the alapana and a careful kriti presentation. There was a lot of clarity in the enunciation of Bhajaremanasa, both musically and in sahitya.

The Todi suite was a classy winner, with a well-executed solid alapana, Morabetithe a less-frequently heard kriti learned from Brindamma. and very good swarams. I missed the thani but Sudhindra's accompaniment was superb and buoyant. The violin support was decent.

Kiranavali's style is serious and searching, and she was complimented after the concert by the senior vidushi Jayalakshmi Santhanam for the "gauravam" in her music. However she was not in as good form as I have seen with her kalpana-swarams, and had a little difficulty with her voice in the upper reaches, which was not the case at the excellent concert she gave at Narada gana sabha a couple of weeks ago. She is deserving of and I wish her many more concert opportunities.

It is commendable that this young musician is a top-class sought after guru, and has already trained dozens of students at an advanced level. Some of whom gave that great presentation of Shyama Shastri's swarajatis at Philadelphia recently.

smriti · Post by **smriti** » 30 Dec 2009, 10:33

I thought the neraval in the Kalyani piece was done very well. The Todi raga alapana was outstanding with excellent reach in the upper notes. I am not sure, but I thought she touched the higher Da in it (Always_Evolving could perhaps clarify). I was happy she sang two of my favorite songs - Bhajare Manasa and the Ranjanimala. My grandfather liked Todi the best.

Always_Evolving · Post by **Always_Evolving** » 30 Dec 2009, 10:56

smriti wrote:I thought the neraval in the Kalyani piece was done very well. The Todi raga alapana was outstanding with excellent reach in the upper notes. I am not sure, but I thought she touched the higher Da in it (Always_Evolving could perhaps clarify). I was happy she sang two of my favorite songs - Bhajare Manasa and the Ranjanimala. My grandfather liked Todi the best.

Yes, manodharma, neraval in Kalyani etc. was definitely well done. I wished she had time for neraval in Todi. Yes, she did touch the tharaysthayi Da several times.

smriti · Post by **smriti** » 31 Dec 2009, 11:41

A_E, thanks for clarifying that. I'm glad my swara guessing abilities aren't too off! We also heard the last song from the previous concert (Trichy Pradeep). His viruttam and Tirupugazh were pretty good. We really wondered why he got only a 1-hr slot (he overshot by 5-7 minutes). Both he and Kiranavali deserve longer and better slots. We heard a couple of items in the following Vina concert (Geetha Krishnamurthy). It was kinda okayish.

Sathej · Post by **Sathej** » 31 Dec 2009, 16:26

I was there at this concert. Was a nice Thodi Ragam. Liked Bhaje Re. Quite a while since I heard it. The rare Dikshithar song was good too. Had to leave during the main Krithi.

Sathej