Abhishek Raghuram @ NSTSS (Ranjani hall Nanganallur)

aDANA · Post by **aDANA** » 20 Jan 2010, 23:37

(Sarvasree)
Abhiskek Raghuram - Vocal
Mysore Srikanth - Violin
A.Anand - Mridangam
Sreesundarkumar - Kanjira
Vaidyanathan - Tanpura

1.) Varnam - Natakurinji(Chalamela) - Adhi - Rangaswamy Nattuvanar
2.) Guruleka - Gowrimanohari - Kanda Chapu - T (R N&S @ Thathva Bodhana)
3.) Paraloka Saadhana - Purvikalyani - Adhi - T (R N&S @ Thanayaadhi)
4.) Sukhi evvaro - Kaanada - Adhi - T
5.) Bantu Reethi - Hamsanadham - Adhi - T (S@ Raama naama)
6.) Dharini Thelusukonti - Sudhasaveri - Adhi - T (R&S@ Dhaarini)
7.) Pavanaja (Seethakalyaana) - Kurinji - Kandachapu - T
8.) Somplaina (Tsallare) - Ahiri - Misrachapu - T
9.) Athi mrudhuthara (Pathiki haarathi) - Surati - Adhi - T
10.)Pavamaana (Nee naama) - Saurashtram - Adhi - T

Rangaswami Nattuvanar gets a place in thyagaraja special concert for his beautiful Varnam in Natakurinji.. It was a delayed start due to power failure.. The hall was overflowing well before the start.

Varnam was rendered with the Saahityam for the charanams (its a padavarnam) which is seldome seen these days. As usual the mic was a problem.. They kept changing mikes.. And finally Gowrimanohari unfolded.. A brilliant neraval @ thathvabodhana both by Abhishek and Srikanth and amazing patterns of swaras (with his trademark poruthams).

Then purvikalyani was introduced.. It was a "never heard like this" purvikalyani. So different and for the so called "PURISTS" it was PURVIKALYANI INDEED. The flow was disturbed after abhishek's Raagam (CHANGING MIKE).. Still after the 5 min Chaos, Srikanth came up with a blistering purvikalyani. The Parur style was quite evident and befitting.. Again abhiskek proved that neraval was his forte. Amazing neraval where Anand and Sundarkumar showed their following skills. "Amazing" . Special mention to the korvais. Both abishek's and Srikanth's were interesting. The former was from samam to Edam & the latter was from edam to edam.

When one was expecting for a misrachapu it was a Surprise .Sukhi Evvaro.. Once again the Krithi rendering was fabulous and the percussionists were awesome . Special credits to Anand for his Misra Nadai in the Charanam

Bantureethi was a surprise to me

. And the firework of swaras @ RamaNaama was great.

It was just the swara "dhaivatham (2)" he started with, and he started to adjust his tanpura. Left ppl guessing what the main would be. Few guesses were (K'priya, Devamanohari , kambodhi .Yadhukulakambohi) Nothing was coming but Sudha saveri.... It was a very very(suddhamaana) sudhasaveri (thats for the so called " "). For around 15 mins ( sorry i didnt note the time properly in detail) It was a great exploration of the raaga. Srikanth's reply was Crisp and neat. Then came the most expected Dharini thelusukonti. The krithi itself speaks for the Raaga's beauty. Lots of manodharmam was evident in the krithi rendering itself (Of course not breaking the pataanthram) Then the Swaras were excellent with cute little poruthams.. The koraippu was done in chatusra and Kanda nadai mixed.. It was very challenging.. And Srikanth gave good replies.. And the Final korvai was in Kanda nadai.

THANI...

It was started from where abishek left it and continue in the same mood (Kanda nadai). Both anand and Sundarkumar played extremely well. One could hear the maestro raghu sir's korvai s and Abipraayams in Anand's playing.. Sundarkumar gave amazing replies in Koraippu, which was done in the same fashion as the Vocalist's (kandam and chatusram). Then the final mohra korvai was also neatly done in kanda nadai.. KUDOS to the percussionists.

There was a good speech by Nanganallur Sri. Ramanathan. Who mentioned " ABISHEK WILL SOON REACH A SEPARATE HIGH STATUS IN THE MUSIC FIELD" that apart he has already made great impressions in minds of rasikas ( rasikas as in unbiased well wishers of MUSIC )

The kurinji krithi was presented with great emotion giving the full flavor of the raaga.

The day was made with AHIRI.. (my day) . It is indeed an amazing composition . And the rendering touched my heart.. (sorry for the bias towards the krithi nothing else)

The krithi in Surutti and mangalam in Saurashtram Ended a GREAT CONCERT..

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 21 Jan 2010, 14:16

Abhishek raghuram@NSTSS on Jan 20th,2010
---------------------------------------

...
2.) Guruleka - Gowrimanohari - Kanda Chapu - T (R N&S @ Thathva Bodhana)
2 mins alApanai sketch(no violin return), neraval for 6 mins and 5 mins swaras
3.) Paraloka Saadhana - Purvikalyani - Adhi - T (R N&S @ Thanayaadhi)
13 mins alApanai, 6 mins violin return, 11 mins neraval and 5 mins swaras
4.) Sukhi evvaro - Kaanada - Adhi - T
5.) Bantu Reethi - Hamsanadham - Adhi - T (S@ Raama naama)
4 mins swaras
6.) Dharini Thelusukonti - Sudhasaveri - Adhi - T (R&S@ Dhaarini)
19 mins alApanai , 7 mins violin return , 11 mins swaras
6B tani
....

There are two extremes of abhishek, one extreme that needs to be praised and another that needs to be told without ambiguity

Abhishek needs to be praised:
------------------------------------

# Over few years , I have this mental map where I look for intense elaboration of R N and S , to me especially in N and S is where the classicism is mostly there. Abhishek in this concert just look at the minutes he sings in the two consecutive R N S , to a great extent atleast you may agree that there is intenseness in his music which is quite difficult to find in many many of the musicians.Of course each of you may think immediately just because he sings two consecutive RNS that just not qualify that has quality. Here is a take for those who feel thatn way

# His gowrimanOhari though alApana was brief , had a well rounded neraval and swaras and the aesthetics came out well. Of particular interest is abhishek's voice , his voice is somewhat resembling the young mangalampalli balamuralikrishna , modulation is clean with he reaching all octaves quite easily , voice is very male and to an extent he like one of his contemporaries which is another kunnakkudi balamuralikrishna has lot of azhuttam that is surely way beyond their physical age ,abhishek is below 25 , the voice sareeram is like 40.

# As adAnA said the neraval and swaras of poorvikalyANi was really superb, patterns had lot of kalpana(manodharmam) and he pulled lot of sangathis and sang with minimal violin return , aesthetics of poorvikalyAni in neraval and swaras came out beautifully and I enjoyed it a lot.

# One also needs to mention about taking this tough dhArini telusukonti which will suck all the air in your lungs and abhishek taking that as a main is very commendable , his krithi rendition was very good not very exceptional , there is usually no neraval for this suddasAveri krithi and swaras had too much of kanakku , to me kanakku has to be there and then it should give way to non kanakku too, but it appeared abhishek had excess of kanakkus , but as such that excess kanakku only does not suit my taste(I am kanakku phobic) for all the kannukku philes they had it a lot.

# Other numbers like the initial varnam was very well done, i would personally not rate his kAnadA filler and fast bantureeti that great but certainly a job quite well done. In the last two both were well presented .

Abhishek needs to be told without ambiguity:
-------------------------------------------
# Carnatic mUsicians have atleast 300 ragas and about 1000 krithis to cover so as such they are running a tough olympic marathon. But all along when they cover the rAgAs they have to mature into that elite gang where rAgA contours should not have ambiguity. A case in point when I have doubts over manirangu vs sree vs madhyamAvati, I just take a recording of MDR's manirangu within a minute manirangu registers and it is so deep. But what Abhishek does is a bit of hide and seek and a intense circling over foggy runways.

a bit of hide and seek:
----------------------
# In the alApana of poorvikalyAni , for first few minutes it was not a confusion of the usual pantuvarAli vs poorvikalyANi but it was more like trying to zone over any of those prathi madhyama rAgAs there in that cloud. Clarity emerged after 2 minutes and poorvikalyAni indeed came out well though there were slight traces of hamsAnandi too in few sangathis too. To me I find he consciously taking an approach to build step by step which is good ,but every step he builds he consciously builds it going around the key jiva pidi's of the rAgA which is his own conscious choice. For me the poorvikalyANi rAgA alApanA had a slight bit of hindustani riyaz touch and the last concert that I attended in annanAgar of his he had it more hindustani ,so to an extent he has to be congragulated of his reduction of hindustani touch

.

intense circling in foggy runways:
-----------------------------------
# If the submain poorvikalyAni was hide and seek, the 19 minute alApana of sudda sAveri was more like pilot abhishek not able to land in the delhi runway airport because of intense fog .I and another forumite sat (he is very knowledgable), for the first few minutes we thought he is heading towards madhyamAvati ,then that another forumite was telling me possibly he is going to nArAyani,then for a considerable time from the 2nd minute to 9th minute he gave a lot of folkish touch and it sounded very much as durgA,then at the end of 9th minute sudda sAveri came and settled as suddasAveri till 19th minute . As such this kind of excess ambiguity in alApana is always a feature of his concerts and I hope he corrects it permenantly before it becomes his so called bAni and style.Incidentally an elderly gentleman sitting in front of me got the sudda sAveri only after violin return and the sabha patron praised and told nAN romba srimapAtten and felt it was durgA (he found it difficult to identify as suddasAveri).

About the Accompanist:
--------------------
# I went mainly to hear ANand and abhishek and this is the first time I am hearing Anand.His tani was very good,his play has a lot of azhuttam but for few krithis I found his kAlapramanam was a bit slow to abhisheks pace.

# Mysore Shrikanth played well but few sangathis his bowing was bit scratchy , nAdham was not clean , but alApana returns he removed the ambiguity and asserted the alApana which is always needed for abhishek.

# BS SundarkumAr was lovely not much intrusion , but whereever he played he had lovely touch he was on a roll in the tani , excellent sense of anticipation

Overall the concert could have gone for 3 hours (6 pm start got delayed because of power failure ) , to me personally Abhishek has to work mainly in removing ambiguities in alApana , his kalpana in krithis ,neravals and swaras is excellent. Overall a very good to excellent concert for 2 hours and 30 minutes

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 21 Jan 2010, 14:33

rajesh sir PANIC Index ?

JB

aDANA · Post by **aDANA** » 21 Jan 2010, 16:16

rajeshnat wrote: for the first few minutes we thought he is heading towards madhyamAvati ,

I never knew madhyamavathi had DHAIVATHAM.. the first note he hit was PLAIN DHAIVATHAM...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 21 Jan 2010, 16:17

Balaji,
No, this is his airport review (not to be confused with airport concert!).

Rajseh,
Loved 'intense circling in foggy runways'. All the same, like you, I think Abhishek is going to be a front liner in the near future.
As for Anand, I have heard him a few times in the past three seasons and like his playing. Have heard him play for cousin twice.

You may like to read what Subbudu wrote may be, three decades ago in tamizh, and I translate it here.

An excerpt from his writing on rAga AlApanai:

There are two factions among rasikAs about rAga AlApanA--that the nature of the rAgam is to be revealed at the very outset is one. The other opts for the singer to tuck way the jIva svaRA and engage the audience in something like solving a crossword puzzle--if this or that fits, or something else?
The center of VAcaspati is prati madhyamam. By tucking it away, and letting the audience wrestle with--'is this hari kAmbhOji or kalyANi?' is frustrating.
GNB used to describe it beautifully. In order that the wholeness (pUrNAtvam) of the rAgA is not lost, one should try to sing it in such a way that its svarUpam is kept intact and that it displays itself every now and then as one sings along.
We can recognize a Venkataraman or a Visvamitran whom we know as we see them from a distance. Do we need to engage in analyzing the nose or paunch they have in order to recognize them?

aDANA · Post by **aDANA** » 21 Jan 2010, 16:44

rajeshnat wrote:Incidentally an elderly gentleman sitting in front of me got the sudda sAveri only after violin return and the sabha patron praised and told nAN romba srimapAtten and felt it was durgA (he found it difficult to identify as suddasAveri).

The sabha patron was knowledgeable enough to listen to his MUSIC. And MUSIC.. IF sudha saveri has to be the same everytime u listen. there just one artiste is enough. Or we can even print a book on "HOW TO SING A RAAGAM " with notations.. First of all. SUDHA SAVERI SUNG PLAIN IS NOT DURGA. DURGA IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. First listen to a durga and then come to sudha saveri.. And for the elderly gentleman who could only get the glimpse of SUDHA SAVERI after the violin return " Open ur minds to listen not just ur ears"

beginner · Post by **beginner** » 21 Jan 2010, 17:28

S/SAvEri aro - sa ri ma pa dha Sa
ava - Sa dha pa ma ri sa (avaDava, avaDava, janya upAnga rAg)

DurgA - Aro is same as of S/S, in avarohaNam, pa(panchamam) gets omitted.

- this is the only difference between S/S and DurgA (some say it has been borrowed from HM)

Btw S/S and MadhyamAvathi - if dha(daivatam) is shaken and not sung as a plain note, then S/S would be heard as M/M.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 21 Jan 2010, 18:14

aDANA wrote:
rajeshnat wrote:Incidentally an elderly gentleman sitting in front of me got the sudda sAveri only after violin return and the sabha patron praised and told nAN romba srimapAtten and felt it was durgA (he found it difficult to identify as suddasAveri).
The sabha patron was knowledgeable enough to listen to his MUSIC. And MUSIC.. IF sudha saveri has to be the same everytime u listen. there just one artiste is enough. Or we can even print a book on "HOW TO SING A RAAGAM " with notations.. First of all. SUDHA SAVERI SUNG PLAIN IS NOT DURGA. DURGA IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. First listen to a durga and then come to sudha saveri.. And for the elderly gentleman who could only get the glimpse of SUDHA SAVERI after the violin return " Open ur minds to listen not just ur ears"

aDANA,
# As a listener ,you dont have to unravel the scales to get the mystery of the rAgA(though very few rAgAs you have to do it like few bonkers of harikAmbodhi and shankarAbharanam janyAs), to me it is definitely quite easy to identify and also distinguish between durgA vs suddasAveri ,at many many places for the first 9 minute it was like durgA.

# Infact I told the 2nd forumite who was sitting next to me(where is he hiding??)that it is suddasAveri but it took that long for us to come up.Just one point when you say

"IF sudha saveri has to be the same everytime u listen. there just one artiste is enough. Or we can even print a book on "HOW TO SING A RAAGAM " with notations.."

.

musicians can stay on the lines of subbudu's comments that fog and nature loving arasi has written about

. Let us not praise manodharmam that gets bit hyper and get trespassed to other rAgAs.

BTW if abhishek overcomes this alApanA deficiency, he will be a superb and well rounded musician , his kalpana is very engaging especially in neraval and swaras , last time I went to annanagar away from the mylapore - mambalam corridor

, this time i came to nanganallur all to hear this young and bright musician

Just curious , how long it took for you to think it was 100% sudda sAveri , how did you feel his poorvikalyANi alApana, any thing you think can be better?.

You mentioned bantureeti was a surprise , what was the surprise there, it is a usual fast filler?

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 21 Jan 2010, 18:19

Beginner
Thanks for the reference. I was about to write on the same lines about sudda sAveri vs durgA. But your comparison of madhyamAvati vs sudda sAveri was apt here , will try to spot that in future.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 21 Jan 2010, 18:30

mridhangam wrote:rajesh sir PANIC Index ?

JB

# Two R N S's and a main R S T which usually does not have a neraval , bingo 2 satisfied.

# viruthams or slOkhams and pallavi in a thyagarAja arAdhanA concert are quite unlikely . So third and fourth not applicable.

# The fifth 3 hour concert , perhaps he had the urge to sing that way, but we had powercuts and mike changes lost atleast 20 minutes there because of last minute hiccups and 10 minutes speech. He could have gone for another 30 minutes, nanganallur crowd are great cheer leaders they stay more and incidentally this concert was a last minute change of udayAlur ,so udayalur kalyAnarAman's huge fan following was there to cheer this deserving vidwan(it was a full house). It was 9pm when he took the mangalam , I want all artists to consciously sing for 3 hours or more , he could have gone for 30 minutes as it is a nirvana concert, though I would have left at 9pm sharp as my home is atleast an hour away.

# In short 2 out of 3 is the panic index score,very very good. Classicism was not fragmented , great job abhishek and team.

Mridhangam
Since you asked I furnished .Others if you want to crib on the panic index go to that thread please not here.

aDANA · Post by **aDANA** » 21 Jan 2010, 18:32

Yes may be if Dha is ShAKEN TILL NI.. it might sound like Madhyamavathi. But that was not the case then. It was so plain. PLain dha.. So no use in calling it "SOUNDED LIKE MADHYAMAVATHI"..

aDANA · Post by **aDANA** » 21 Jan 2010, 18:35

It was a good sudha saveri.. I don find any deficiency in his Alapana @ all.. I use my ears and heart as the scale not my BRAIN OR GOOGLE..

aDANA · Post by **aDANA** » 21 Jan 2010, 18:39

And yes Bantu reethi was indeed a surprise for me.. Surprise as in not that it was not meant @ that place. But a surprise from abhishek . a pleasant surprise indeed.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 21 Jan 2010, 19:27

aDANA wrote:It was a good sudha saveri.. I don find any deficiency in his Alapana @ all.. I use my ears and heart as the scale not my BRAIN OR GOOGLE..

adAnA,
You and I have a different opinion about his alApAnais.Good to have 2 different opinions,that helps immensely in the forum. If you have spotted first phrase of his alApana as a dhaivatam you have used ears and surely your brain and not heart

. Of course none of us have used google when we were in nanganallur.

# I have had 3 occassions where once his mOhanam was like bhupAli, his shree had shades of darbAr and this time this suddasaveri vs durgA.

# Also 2 years back in 2008 music academy IIRC remember arunk writing some where that his madhyamAvati had shades of brindavanasArangA or other way.

# ONce some one wrote his kalyAni had quite a lot of shades of yaman kalyAni

# I know once s_hari wrote about abhishek that it could have more classical pidi's

# I have cribbed a lot about his hindustani slant.

Overall atleast in this forum there has been a little consistent crib on his alApana trespasses , proportion sense (which I think is more to do in his alApana freewheeling).Personally I am collating on all these points for the benefit of abhishek so that he works on this, it is important for him to look at it and see if it really makes sense . Wish Abhishek to be a great musician.

aDANA · Post by **aDANA** » 21 Jan 2010, 20:20

If ur intentions are to get abhishek out of the HINDUSTHANI slant that u are cribbin about so that he wud turn a successful musician. I appreciate u..

But quoting on threads where ppl have said "THIS SOUNDED LIKE THIS , THAT" etc, . Sorry .. Thats just an opinion.. Not the end.....

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 21 Jan 2010, 20:33

# I have had 3 occassions where once his mOhanam was like bhupAli, his shree had shades of darbAr and this time this suddasaveri vs durgA.

Why do these sound like fashionable comments? A rough indication of the swarams that were incorrectly handled, or ambiguous phrases that came in would make them sound more real, where as a simple "I didn't like the mohanam" would be innocent hence believable.

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 21 Jan 2010, 21:04

Rajeshnat, your crib abt his Hindusthani slant? Personally, I am not sure it can be characterized as "hindusthani"....

!

And being a sarvalaghu lover, I can see why Abhishek's kanakku may not go all too well with you.

That madhyamavathi alapana that ArunK refers to ... I always go back to it as a highly original renedition. And, if one truly gets madhyamavathi, with proper internalization, one can understand what Abhishek sang that day was Madhyamavathi - pure and true. There is still a jury out there on what constitutes Brindavana Saranga...which itself is a whole other matter. I have heard now 5-6 alapanas of Abhishek's Kalyani, and each one is different, and I am not sure he has ever sung Yemen.....it is Kalyani only.

The only fair point I can think of is abt what s-hari has written...Abhishek indulges in a lot of unique pidis, and for those brought up on a diet of MMI, MDR or even Hindusthani reneditions of Bhimsen...its going to be hard to fully internalize all that he sings.

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 22 Jan 2010, 11:09

Member rajeshnat

thank you for the excellent explanation of the index .. will try to apply and let me assimilate

J.Balaji

beginner · Post by **beginner** » 22 Jan 2010, 11:13

Exposure of MadhyamAvati to rasikas is more as compared to SuddhasAveri because of more kritis in madhyamAvati. Laxman Sir may pl come out with number of kritis. Even if kritis statistics stand neck to neck, preference for elaboration is certainly for M/M by our CM artists, which can not be denied. I presume, before GNB venturing no one tried to elaborate M/M rAg and was simply construed as a Mangalam piece at the end of any presentation.

Sudhha sAvEri taken up as for eloboration (that too main) is very rare even these days. Here also madhyamAvati scores more as rAg eloboration (thanks to GNB school) on comparison.

This may be the reason for getting S/S as M.mAvathi. But distiguishing of these two rAgs is possible on any day/ by good singer.

Following are just (famous) kritis, that immdtly come to my mind

SS - dhAri telusu konti MM - Paalimchu kAmakshi
kAlaharaNmElaA Raama kathA sudhA
paripAlimchu (rare) pArtha sarathy nannu
srI guruha tAraya mangALa pratham
aadAdhu ashangAdhu vA
and many more

I think while it is dEvakriya in MD's school for Shuddha sAvEri. MD's shuddha SaavEri has shu-ri, shu-dha as notes (eg. ekAmrEsha nAyikE).
Because of anticipated confusions, I feel, ShudhasAvEri is not take up for elAboration. To my best of knowledge, GNB has not venutured SS elAboration.

Whereas MadhyamAvati has no dispute to trinites. It has one configuration throughout without any change anywhere.

as usual I have a very loonngg script

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 22 Jan 2010, 11:32

OK... Settle down boys and girls... I do have a recording of a portion of this most tantalizing alapana until the point he hits mel sa and then condescends to sing the standard pidis... If you ask nicely, i may send you a link

Kambhoji · Post by **Kambhoji** » 23 Jan 2010, 07:48

Dharini Thelusukonti - Sudhasaveri - is somewhat a difficult and challenging composition to render in a concert.. It used to be one of the masterpieces of GNB concerts from yesteryears.
I listened to both the raga alapana and the composition sung by Abhishek in this concert.. The raga alapana was simply superb. I think his knowledge of laya and the intricate kanakku that he weaves both in neraval and swara segments is the hallmark of Abhishek's unique rendition of this very difficult composition. And it is equally challenging for accompanists and percussionists. And Anand's ability is in ample display here in following Abhishek like a shadow. His superb control, anticipation and amazing hand speed in tala progressions is remarkable. Brilliant tani indeed! All the best to these young artists as I believe they represent the future of CM.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 23 Jan 2010, 09:05

Yes, indeed. The two youngsters playing together is something to watch. Once, I heard them both on percussion--Abhishek on the khanjira (when their grandfather who was to accompany Ravikaran was unable to, due to a fall--yes, just before he got his SK).I have also heard Anand accompany a couple of other young singers. He is calm on the stage and has nidAnam which is soothing.

anote · Post by **anote** » 23 Jan 2010, 09:55

I have indeed heard Abhishek in the recent times and have found him to be a brilliant talent gone totally astray. Erratic to say the least. When one talks of performing or listening to Carnatic music, one does expect the whole concert to conform to Carnatic Music Idioms at the highest levels and have an uniform and understandable approach through out the performance. As much as one likes creative and genius minds in music, the music output should conform to a disciplined line of thought and output. To me, hearing him, he sounds like the legendary Balamuralikrishna on one front and so many different musicians in several places tailored together with unbearable levels of facial animations!

If he gets to see this note from a music lover like me who only likes to wish him the best, I would sincerely hope that he takes this in a positive manner and take steps to ensure a more disciplined and intellectual musical going ahead.

There have been many talents over the past several decades that have blossomed into legends and sadly there also have been similar talents that have withered away!!!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 23 Jan 2010, 10:08

>When one talks of performing or listening to Carnatic music, one does expect the whole concert to conform to Carnatic Music Idioms at the highest levels
>and have an uniform and understandable approach through out the performance. As much as one likes creative and genius minds in music, the music output
>should conform to a disciplined line of thought and output.

I understand that is your criteria which is fine. But if Abhishek does not follow this, I have a feeling he may be refreshingly good for those these are not the primary requirements. Now I am intrigued about Abhishek based on the rest of the things you say about him.

anote · Post by **anote** » 23 Jan 2010, 11:25

I would also like to add that it is absolutely fine if a musician tries to portray his particular style or line of thought. Me as a listener is here to appreciate the merits and demerits of that.

However, I believe one should portray an uniformly same thought or sense of direction in the entire performance. To have a phrase reflecting serious Carnatic music and suddenly, like a jolt, have a blasphemous musical statement totally unconnected can be mentally disturbing and tiring as well.

Even legends like S. Balachander, Mali, Balamuralikrishna and several more had their own musicla styles totally different from others. However, they were wholesome and never reflected multiple styles within one!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 23 Jan 2010, 12:58

anote,
Blasphemous statement? You mean--unexpected statement??

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 23 Jan 2010, 13:10

anote wrote:When one talks of performing or listening to Carnatic music, one does expect the whole concert to conform to Carnatic Music Idioms at the highest levels and have an uniform and understandable approach through out the performance.

Really? And what might those idioms be?

anote · Post by **anote** » 23 Jan 2010, 14:27

dear Mahesh3, one cant explain what the good carnatic idiom is all about and what good statements in music mean - they can only be felt!

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 23 Jan 2010, 14:56

anote wrote:<snip>... tailored together with unbearable levels of facial animations! <snip>

dear anote, you really need to get past your fixation on "facial animations" before anything you say about carnatic idioms or music in general can be taken seriously.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 23 Jan 2010, 22:13

I see no reason to challenge anote's personal criteria for the idioms of music. To me, if those are the only problems about an artist, I take it as a very positive thing for a young singer, that he is unbridled in his exploration and enthusiam which can occasionally take him past the ropes.. So be it.. If one wants everything to be with in the ropes, there are numerous other great ones out there to listen to. That unbridled enthusiasm and exploration can be quite charming in itself and provide something fresh and if so, such going beyond the boundaries is no big deal at all. As I said earlier, I am now intrigued about Abhisek's music more than ever!!

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 23 Jan 2010, 22:52

vk,
charsur has one of abhishek's concerts that i found very satisfying. Worth the price. Standout piece is the Khamas pasuram Karpuram naarumo, although his tamil diction is appalling at places.

music_is_life · Post by **music_is_life** » 24 Jan 2010, 10:07

I attended one concert of Abhishek Raghuram during the season, the one at Krishna Gana sabha and came out of that concert with a very good feeling. The boy has amazing talent and will reach great heights in music. My blessings to him!

tkb · Post by **tkb** » 24 Jan 2010, 11:36

He is indeed one of the best talents seen in recent days and will be taken seriously in years to come by one and all.

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 25 Jan 2010, 00:03

vasanthakokilam wrote:I see no reason to challenge anote's personal criteria for the idioms of music.

Who is challenging Anote's criteria? All that has been asked for is more clarity on random fluff that has no basis...

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 25 Jan 2010, 03:49

Mahesh, That is really not worth arguing about. I will just say: "seeking clarity vs challenging" - distinction without a difference, the former is just the passive-aggressive form of the latter in this case, if I may psychobabble

. I shall switch to your word.

But that was not my main point. I hope that is clear in my post #30. Boundary breaking can be a virtue in my books, I will have to listen to Abhishek more to find out for myself.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Jan 2010, 09:06

VK,
We do know that in your books, boundary-breaking can be a virtue--the creator of vasanthakokiladhvani

Abhishek is extremely talented. He will prove his mettle in the coming years. Let us wait and see rather than jump on him--it is as if we are impatient and check a grain of rice every other minute to see if the pot of rice is cooked. He is still a work in progress (it is is true even of older performers) and let him grow without too much hour to hour commentary on his progress

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 25 Jan 2010, 11:04

vasanthakokilam wrote:I see no reason to challenge anote's personal criteria for the idioms of music

And how is "facial animation" an idiom of music?

babaji · Post by **babaji** » 25 Jan 2010, 11:27

The trouble with people is only a few Abhisheks, a few Balamuralis,a few sanjays and a few Gurucharans are the names that are prominently featured in the Kutcheri reviews Discussion(or ADI THADI if i have to put correctly according to our Forum Idiom)

The truth about the fact is that no one can be perfect but you can do something impossible with little glitches and errors here and there. which starts to become more of a challenge.
However one thing i can say is that concerts in this forum are'nt critically analysed. Why i say this is because we either have writings of various groups of people who praise or who remain silent or my personal favourite those who hate. And particularly this forum insists on good manners and sugarcoating when it comes to writing about something which according to me is almost like an essay writing competition about whose writing is eloquent.

I don't believe in doing such things and when it comes to music it would be better that we come to the point.
Like i said lets take this thread as an example itself posting the review was in itself a good thing because otherwise how will people get information like senthil in one movie says "information is wealth"

However the review itself does'nt state the facts without a praise or critic here and there for example

quote Adana"Then purvikalyani was introduced.. It was a "never heard like this" purvikalyani. So different and for the so called "PURISTS" it was PURVIKALYANI INDEED. The flow was disturbed after abhishek's Raagam (CHANGING MIKE).. Still after the 5 min Chaos, Srikanth came up with a blistering purvikalyani. The Parur style was quite evident and befitting.. Again abhiskek proved that neraval was his forte. Amazing neraval where Anand and Sundarkumar showed their following skills. "Amazing" . Special mention to the korvais. Both abishek's and Srikanth's were interesting. The former was from samam to Edam & the latter was from edam to edam."quote

Quote rajeshnat"# Carnatic mUsicians have atleast 300 ragas and about 1000 krithis to cover so as such they are running a tough olympic marathon. But all along when they cover the rAgAs they have to mature into that elite gang where rAgA contours should not have ambiguity. A case in point when I have doubts over manirangu vs sree vs madhyamAvati, I just take a recording of MDR's manirangu within a minute manirangu registers and it is so deep. But what Abhishek does is a bit of hide and seek and a intense circling over foggy runways."quote

After reading these one can get the idea that these are just impressions. If we want to really get the picture we must properly analyse with regard to a vocalist and for that only a vocalist will probably be able to write with full justice because only he knows to measure the depth of music or simply the histrionics of the vocalist.
And not just any vocalist it would be even better if some gayaka vidwan with good experience writes his analysis. That i think should give a complete picture. Because if i am correct when one listens to his vatapi ganapathim that he sang in academy 2007 along with his bro anand and then listen again to the same rendition that he rendered in vijay tv we will know he used the same porutthams and same sangathis and kannakkus infact i did'nt till then wanted to believe it but when anand played ditto the same theermanam that he played for the beginning middle and end of the kirtana that he played at academy two years ago it was only too convincing to not not believe. When the poster for this thread mentioned that he sang kalyani in three places without repetitions it seems to only create hype rather than critical analysis.

If i was going to review it in terms of a vocalist i would review like:-

He sang these songs

sahitya rendering was neat and correct

neraval rendered with correct diction and manodharma

swarams were rhythmical and belonged to the mood of the sahitya.

This would be apt instead we see writings like "FUTURE PRESIDENT OF CM" "SOLE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE AGE OLD ART" and stuff like this only.Let us decide for ourselves when it comes to listening music. This forum is not a place like what the sabhas do, hosting award functions and rememberance day functions to award makutams and honours upon musicians. This is a place where Rasikas educate themselves about Carnatic music and share their knowledge. I of late see the reverse happening.More over even education is nowadays commercialised about who knows what first rather than let everyone know for the welfare of carnatic music. I know that stones are collected and karla kattais are being readied to trash me but i have faith that members will only encourage me to write some more.

Nandri vanakkam

babaji · Post by **babaji** » 25 Jan 2010, 11:32

In this light i would tend to follow Sri Rbharaths reviews which do not tend to go overboard and sticks to the 3 lines and one paragraph format of reviewing.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Jan 2010, 12:06

babaji,
I am glad that you like our Bharath's reviews. Yes, he has been writing crisp, to the point and very knowledgeable reviews from the very beginning. Just as musicians come in all shades, reviewers too. Your points about Abhishek are well worth thinking over. In fact, it would be nice if you can write reviews because we do need more objective views from those who know quite a bit about music.
You are absolutely right. The forum is meant for exchange of the knowledge and thoughts its members possess. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. The ideal state would be to be instructive and also constructive--in being receptive in areas where we lack knowledge.
Just as in vandalism, throwing of stones speaks of a mind which shows its frustrations by destructing something--here, it is the music which ironically we all love--granting, yes, our tastes sometimes match, at other times, not.
This is a democratic forum.The more reviews we have, the better. I would write one too if I were that well-versed in the science of music. I do know that we have many on the forum who are capable of that.
I believe in the words of the mahAkavi: onRu paTTAl uNDu vAzhvE, nammil oTRumai nINgiDil, anaivarkkum tAzhvE (we flourish in being united. If we are against each other, we all fall together). If we can at least respect BArati's words, go a step further and follow his words to the best of our abilities! No, I am not after sugar coated pills--I am after genuine gaNaMUDa PaNam

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 25 Jan 2010, 12:28

vasanthakokilam wrote:Mahesh, That is really not worth arguing about. I will just say: "seeking clarity vs challenging" - distinction without a difference, the former is just the passive-aggressive form of the latter in this case, if I may psychobabble . I shall switch to your word.

But that was not my main point...

Nice sleight of hand to first say "not worth arguing about" and then dismiss his query as "passive aggressive" and then decide to switch to using his word.

One can let a drive-by poster like anote get away with his tripe but when an esteemed moderator like you decides to get in the middle, clarity becomes all the more important.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 25 Jan 2010, 13:12

Suresh, you are reading way too much into what I wrote. Second, it was not written in any moderating capacity, it was just my opinion as a member, so no obligation to follow what I wrote. Feel free to seek clarity or challenge anote.

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 26 Jan 2010, 03:26

Babaji,

Just because he has sung different Kalyanis does not mean he has sung different hamsadhwanis. And, there is no rule for any reviewer that he/she has to point out deficiencies.

As for your thoughts regarding the same theermanam etc, TR Mali used to pretty much play a small selected assortment of thyagaraja krithis, and he always played Vatapi routinely. Many of his rasikas would ask him why he repeated the same krithi, and his answer was that he was trying to play it perfectly atleast once in his life...

go4iyer · Post by **go4iyer** » 26 Jan 2010, 07:58

The few concerts that I attended, I observed that Abhishek introduced a lot of nadhaswaram pidis in his raga essays. I was reminded of late Shri. GNB. It not only is difficult but also requires tremendous amount of control in speed deliveries, swarasudham and voice stability. Incorporating nadhaswaram bhani into vocal is very rare. It should be noted that Abhishek makes such bold/difficult attempts to only give his best to his rasikas. No musician would ever want to disappoint his/her rasikas in any concert.
Considering his age (23?, 24?), I can only say that right now he is diving deep into the ocean of music to explore more and more. With the sort of family background he has and the excellent guidance he is receiving from his revered guru, Shri PSN Sir, he is going to grow into a fine musician and enthrall us all with his glorious music.

I wish Abhishek GREAT SUCCESS in this exploration journey.

Keep up the hard work, young man!!

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 26 Jan 2010, 10:40

go4iyer wrote:
The few concerts that I attended, I observed that Abhishek introduced a lot of nadhaswaram pidis in his raga essays.....

I wish Abhishek GREAT SUCCESS in this exploration journey.

Keep up the hard work, young man!!

Actually, if you were to believe the tripe that is written on this site, everybody and his brother-in-law is using nagaswaram pidis in his alapanas.

It is just that all of you nagaswaram pidi lovers haven't shown up at a single one of the nagaswaram concerts organized by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha or by Brahma Gana Sabha.

If you have, you haven't bothered to write reviews about it.

Maybe I would see someone here saying that Injikkudi Subramaniam or Mambalam Siva was emulating the great Sanjay Subrahmaniam and employing vocal music pidis!

My personal opinion is that 90% of you think that if a phrase lasts longer than 5 seconds, it is a nagaswaram pidi. I don't think you would recognize a nagaswaram pidi even if either a nagam or a swaram bit you in the ankle!

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 26 Jan 2010, 11:48

vasanthakokilam wrote:Suresh, you are reading way too much into what I wrote.

That, or you are writing way more than what you mean

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 26 Jan 2010, 12:21

Republic Day is a ripe time for selling tripe pudding of every kind, it seems. A ripple of humor is the saving grace in the case of the one who warns us of them but vends them himself when he is capable of bringing to us more valuable goods

And an esteemed moderator gets bitten on the ankle for--??

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 26 Jan 2010, 12:47

arasi wrote: tripe pudding

yuk... is there really such a thing?

cpmadhu · Post by **cpmadhu** » 26 Jan 2010, 14:55

I was at Abshishek Raghuram's concert at Hamsadhwani on the 23rd of Jan and he sung a rare kriti in Naganadini. I had difficulty in following the sahityam, i do not know if it was poor acoustics or his style of singing. I do not know if others had the same difficulty?

definitely one of our rising stars.

Rasika911 · Post by **Rasika911** » 26 Jan 2010, 17:10

Im still giving abhishek a chance but at the moment im not a huge fan. I like people who sing solid rakthi phrases in ragams (this doesnt mean lack of creativity) and have a lot of azhutham - this is just my preference. I just feel when im listening to him that he lacks some sort of depth. Very hard for me to explain due to my limited knowledge. His reethigowlai swarams a few years ago was of a very high quality on that particular day.