Sri R K Shriram Kumar - Sri K Arun Prakash, Raga Sudha, 18 J

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 19 Jan 2010, 07:10

Nada Inbam - Marungapuri Gopalakrishna Iyer Violin Festival

?
? - mAyAmAlavagauLa - rUpakam - ? (??S)
rAmabhakti sAmrAjya - shuddha bangalA - Adi - T (RS)
karuNa ElAgaNTE (?) - varALi - Adi - T (?) (RNS)
tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam (?) - Anandabhairavi - rUpakam (?) - MD (?)
sarasa sAma dAna - kApi nArAyaNi - Adi - T (NS)
koluvaiyunnADE - bhairavi - Adi - T (RS)
pArvati ninnu nE - kalagaDA - tishra Adi - SS
akShaya linga vibhO - shankarAbharaNam - mishracApu - MD (RNST)
sAramaina - behAg - rUpakam - ST (R)
tiruppugazh - pUrvikalyANi - tishrarUpakam
Ehi annapUrNE - punnAgavarALi - Adi - MD (sketch)
pavamAna - saurAShTra - Adi - T

I reached somewhat late, having missed one train by not more than a minute. Maybe the irritation rubbed off, but this concert didn't go to my expectation (I have explained how greedy I can be in the S Varadarajan review).

The mike for the mridangam seemed to be set so as to make the tentative strokes taken in the songs' beginning were clearly audible, so it got really loud in many places. Another observation I made very late into the concert (and the delay in reaching there bugged me all the more for this!) was that the tambura had a mike for itself.

I realised first-hand why many veteran instrumentalists often repeat the same songs. I did get a little irritated during the Anandabhairavi ... I am uncertain of the tAla because I was thinking it was some padam (so I didn't try finding out the talam

:/ ). Of course, I was puzzled as to why RKSK would play a padam this early into the concert, etc...

Perhaps a more traditional (common?) ragam like kEdAragauLai or aThANa could have been taken up for the NS piece between Anandabhairavi and bhairavi, as there had already been a shuddhabangalA.

bhairavi rAgam was very good. The kriti was played extremely fast. kIzhkAla swarams alone were played, entirely on the G string (and the D string), to "manasu ranjilla".

pArvati ninnu nE was rendered well, but at places it seemed very "swara-like".

ShankarAbharaNam was well-developed. The kriti was rendered with palpable love

(was happy to have attended the concert for just this - and Ehi annapUrNE <which I wanted to request too>!), especially the madhyamakAla for the anupallavi (is it where there is the prAsam of kSha?). The neraval and swarams, done somewhere in the caraNam, were mostly centered around the upper registers. I am sure RKSK had a reason for staying there, but not knowing the lyrics, I felt at least some pondering in the mandra sthayi (or pseudo-mandra sthayi) - at least in the swarams - would have encashed shankarAbharaNam's saukhyam more effectively. That said, the swarams had many of the traditional dATu phrases of shankarAbharaNam, and were very enjoyable in their own way.

Talking of the R,N & S, they were all good for varali too. The neravals in particular were totally awesome. They can be extremely enjoyable even when one doesn't know the sahitya, when played the right way on a suitable instrument with a good technique and sahitya adherence. (Sorry for being philosophical

)

The tani was somewhat complicated in its initial parts and I couldn't understand what was going on ... I didn't sincerely try to enjoy it - was feeling tired, so won't comment.

The post-tani section was very enjoyable.

Especially the Ehi annapUrNE and the sketch before it!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 19 Jan 2010, 10:21

Thank you, Srikant, for the honest review. Mandra sthayi swaras in bhairavi would've been interesting! Also, isn't koluvai almost always rendered at a faster clip a la MMI?

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 19 Jan 2010, 10:23

I too attended the concert. The mike was indeed very sensitive and Arun was hyper sensitive too and played some excellent strokes. The thani was complicated for a lay person as it was replete with kaarvais. He played thisra nadai, in which he played Misram in Lower speeds giving more kaarvais and developed a good number of patterns.

Certainly the Man of the Match was Shankarabharana Aalapana which just stole the show.

J.Balaji

beginner · Post by **beginner** » 19 Jan 2010, 10:57

on 17/01 evening at Music Academy, Rudrapatnam Brothers presented Shuddha BangALA as the first rAg in their concert and the song was different. RKSK was too present in the concert and he must have been inspird by SB

Singing Shuddha BangAlA, invitation to nAyaki, nArAyaNi, may be there !!! mani rangu & Sree would also be waiting for an entry.

Nice review by Srikant. Keep it up.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 19 Jan 2010, 11:25

I reached quite late. Only heard from shankarAbaraNam onwards. It was a good concert. The neveral at 'sAdhu janOpEta' was very interesting. The Ehi annapUrNE wass awesome

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 19 Jan 2010, 12:14

My pick from the concert would be the shankarabharanam song, just the song. And then Ehi annapurne and the sketch of punnagavarali. Then, perhaps, the neraval in varali, then the neraval at Sbharanam.

g~yAnsekhar · Post by **g~yAnsekhar** » 19 Jan 2010, 12:41

The list contains more of SSI items.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 19 Jan 2010, 13:17

IIRC RKSK told me that one of his favourite rAgA is shankarAbharanam .Nice to hear RKSK, varadarAjan and other violinists are performing solo violin concerts

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 19 Jan 2010, 14:54

Would have been nice to see you at the programmes, too, rajeshnat.

As an aside, one could spot several musicians in the crowd ... mridhangam, S Varadarajan, Amritha Murali, Bharath Sundar, Prasanna Venkataraman, Rithvik Raja, etc.

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 19 Jan 2010, 14:59

Srikanth couldnt u see TMKrishna, Sugantha Kaalamegam ?

they were also around ...

J.Balaji

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 19 Jan 2010, 15:50

Such star-studded attendance. Not surprising, considering the concert took place in Ragasudha. Our reviewers can often be spotted there too! The Music Academy of course is another place where you often find artistes in the audience--even discounting the front row of musicians, one or two SKs among them.

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 19 Jan 2010, 15:56

I don't know Sugandha Kalamegham and really didn't spot TMK.

Btw M Vijay (disciple of Sri S Varadarajan) was also there.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 19 Jan 2010, 19:26

srikant1987 wrote:I don't know Sugandha Kalamegham

srikant1987,
She is a very talented musician you will really like her music that too knowing your taste.There is a small write up and one concert review of mine of her
http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... y2007.html

jagan · Post by **jagan** » 19 Jan 2010, 21:12

It was a stunning concert.

In his hands, the instrument transcended itself andit was almost like listening to Vocal music.

Complete dedication, swanubahva and the love and care for the values of carnatic music shone throughout.

And caressing accompaniment by Arun Prakash.

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 20 Jan 2010, 07:07

Not surprising, considering the concert took place in Ragasudha.

Hmm ... not many sabhas call RKSK for violin solos within Chennai.

semmu86 · Post by **semmu86** » 20 Jan 2010, 10:04

These violin solo concerts , are they part of marungapuri gopalakrishna iyer remembrance festival or part of nada inbam festival only ?

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 20 Jan 2010, 10:23

These violin solo and duet concerts are part of Marungapuri Gopalakrishna Iyer remembrance festival only and not part of Nada Inbam conducted every year at Raga Sudha. I will enquire about the number of years this festival is being organised and also some more information. I vaguely remember quite a few years ago one Mr.Jagatheeswaran of Malaysia started this festival. But still let me confirm.

J.Balaji

beginner · Post by **beginner** » 20 Jan 2010, 10:33

- some details about Shri MarugApuri GOpaAla Krishna Iyer (courtesy - Artists Panorama of Carnatica.net)

Marungapuri Gopalakrishna Iyer (One more MadhurApuri Nilaya, maNiyAna vidwan )

QUOTE
Gopalakrishna Iyer was born at Madurai and took to music at a very early age.
He decided to specialize in the art of violin playing at the age of twelve and accordingly trained under Karur Venkatarama Iyer, a senior violin vidwan.
With his dedication and hard work, he flowered into one of the top violinists of the day.
He acquired a phonoviolin and popularised it.
He used to conduct special aradhanas for Tyagaraja.
He was chosen as the Asthana Vidwan in the Marungapuri Zamindari.

aDANA · Post by **aDANA** » 20 Jan 2010, 13:13

It was an amazing concert. very classical.. I loved every bit of it.. especially the upper octaves of shankarabaranam and neraval swaram for kapi narayani. Sri. Arunprakash followed very well and the thani was really interesting... Was nice to see few musicians and students ....