BHARATIYA SANGEETHA VAIBHAVAM-DEEKSHITAR AKHANDAM

[CRama]

An Akhandam comprising of Deekshitar Kritis was conducted in Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium on 28 Feb starting from 09.30.a.m focussing on less heard kritis of Deekshitar and kalpita sangeetham -giving the artists time to sing as many compositions as possible within the allotted time which was around one hour per artist. Care was taken to avoid repetitions as far as possible. I attended concerts starting from 3 P.M. I am happy to share a brief report about the concerts I heard.

I.Ms. Sankari Subramaniam Vocal
Akkarai Swarnalatha- Violin
N.C.Bharadwaj-Mridangam
Song list
1.Kanchadalayathakshi- Manohari
2.Sree Rama Saraswathi- Nasamani
3.Sree Nathadi Guruguho - Mayamalavagowla
Brief Swaram at Mayamalavagowladi desa
4.Mahadevena palithosmyaham- Devamanohari
5.Mamava Meenakshi- Varali aftera short alapana
6.Kancheesam Ekamranayakam-Note

She is the daughter and disciple of Ms. Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam. The Keertanas were rendered well. She has got good potential. It will take some more time for her to mature into an accomplished performer.

II.Ms. Bharathi Ramasubban
Akkarai Swarnalatha- Violin
N.C.Bharadwaj-Mridangam
Song list
1.Sree Mooladharachakra- Sree
2.Saraswathi Manohari- Saraswathimanohari
3.Manasaguruguha-Anandabhairavi after a short alapana
4.Saraswathi Chayatarangini- Chayatarangini
5.Sree Dumdurge- Sreeranjini
6.Balakrishnam-Gopikavasantham

She has a very good voice having a wide range. Her patantharam was good and the concert was of high standard. She will be one of our future stars.

III.Shri Neyveli Santhanagopalan and 12 disciples.
Akkarai Subbalakshmi- Violin
Neyveli Skandasubramaniam- Mridangam

Shri Santhanagopalan ascended the stage along with 12 disciples who have been specially trained in rendering the songs he has selected for the concert. He mentioned that as you dive into the ocean of Dikshitar's music, you will get more and more treasures. There will be a new revelation each time you see a keertana from a different angle. He briefly explained the significance of each kriti and speciality of the raga/prayogas before the song. It was very educative..
Song list
1. Thyagaraja palayamsumam- Gowla
2.Abhayambaanayaka Varadayaka- Kedaragowla
3.Palayamam Parvatheesa- Kannada
4.Parimalaranganatham- Hamirkalyani
5.Sree Balasubramanya- Bilahari
6.Sree Kamalambike Avava- Ghanta
7.Chethasree- Dwijavanthi
8.Ekamranatham- Gamagakriya
8.Sree Balasubramayam-Suruti

Some of the explanations he offered:
* In the song Abhayambaanayaka, , in one place Deekshitar mentions the peacock as well as the lord Siva as Neelakantha
* Because of his visits to North India and stay in Kasi, Deekshitar became well versed with hindustani ragas and he brought many North Indian ragas to carnatic music. One of them is Hameerkalyani and he composed many songs in this raga. He adapted this raga so well to suit our music. He further added that after learning this song, his enitre understanding of the raga had undergone a change. Surprisingly, Deekshitar has composed two songs starting with Parimalaranganatham on the same God. But one is a long song and another with Samashti charnam.
* The Navavarana kriti in Ghanta is the only kriti in this raga and you have to listen to this beautiful song to get the swaroopa of the ragam. Deekshitar has very intelligently woven the name of the ragm (as he has done in all the (kritis) "Santhatham mukthighanta mani ghosha".The meaning I am not capable of reproducing here.
* In the kriti Ekamranatham, a word Panchakshara is coming which is in the Pa - panchamaswara and its consists of 5 aksharas only
* The song in Suruti is a very auspicious one and is normally sung before Navavarana kritis.

The concert was very good. There were no alapanas or swaras. Among the students, there were three children of about 10 years of age and they also sang all the compositions with confidence. He later introduced his students and spoke high about each one of them who had come all the way from Delhi and Kerala to learn under him. He made an open invitation for interested people to come and learn under him. He deserves appreciation for his commitment and dedication.

IV. Ms.Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam
Akkarai Subbalakshmi- Violin
Neyveli Skandasubramniam- Mridangam
Karthik- Ghatom.
Song list
1. Sankaram Abhirami- Manohari-brief swaram
2. Sree Kamalamba Jayathi- Ahiri
3. Pranatharthiharaya- Samantha-brief swaram
4. Shadanane- Khamas
5. Akhilandeswari- after a brief alapana
6. Marakathalingam- Vasantha after a brief alapana
7. Bhajare rechitha- Kalyani after abrief alapana and neraval No swaram
8. Kodandaramam- Kokilaravam
9. Vande Meenakshi- Note
An altogether enjoyable concert as always one can expect from her.



V.The Grand Finale -
T.M. Krishna
M.R Gopinath-violin
Manoj shiva-mridangam
Karthik-ghatom

T.M.Krishna also emphasised the greatness of Deekshitar's compositions and repeated that each time you dwelve deep into the music, you will get new pearls and corals.
Song list.
1. Maaye twam yaahi- Tarangini
2. Viswanatham Bhajeham Sathatham- Nataabharanam
3. Sree Nathadi Guruguho Jayathi- Mayamalavagowla
4. Mamava pattabhirama- Manirang
5. Rama Janardana- Note

His concert included very valuable demonstration and insight into the raga and the songs presented I will try to share whatever I could assimilate and reproduce for the benefit of our rasikas.
# Song No 1. The song was sung in a different tune surprising most of the listeners for whom the song is familiar as sung by veterans over the past fifty years. He explained that this song should be sung in this manner only and this is the raga Tarangini which Deekshitar composed in Asampoorna mela and he sang elaborate kalpanaswaras also to show the swarasthanas. The popular version which is similar to Chenjuruti is not Tarangini.
# Song No 2. He sang the alapana of the raga and explained that this is raga Nataabharanam and not to be confused with Natakapriya. Both have got identical swarsthanas and same number. But they give distinctly different flavours. So it should never be written as Raghupriya/Ravikriya as is being done by many. While handling Deekshitar kritis, the structure of the Asampoorna melas given in Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini should be followed and not to be confused with the 72 Melakartha scheme.
He sang a few rounds of kalpana swaras also.
# Song No.3. He gave a wealth of information relating to this song which I am trying to explain to the best of my understanding and capability. But it should be remembered that his observations are based on the notation given in the Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini and the notation given in other books like Kriti Mani Malai etc or sung by other veterans will be slightly different.

This is the first song composed by Deekshitar. It is on lord Muruga of Tirutani and is one among the Guruguha Vibhakthi kritis.

1. In the first line of the song, sarali varisai in three kalams are included.
2. In the second line, jantavarisai prayogas are adopted.
3. After the pallavi, the pallavi should rest in mandrasthayi panchamam.
4. In the Anupallavi, each line contains swaras of arohanam and Avarohanam – first half arohanam and second half avaraohanam
5. Alankaram patterns can be seen in the Anupallavi.
6. In the charanam, the first 7 lines starts with ma.
7. In th charanam from the line Maayakaarya kalanaaheeno upto the line preceding madhyama kalam,each line starts from ma, pa, dha, ni and sa respectively Further in each line, the swaras start from the beginning as well from the end in the same pattern.
(eg, ma pa dha ni sa- sa ni dha pa ma).
8. Neraval was done in Maayasabalitha brahmaroopo Maarakoti Sundaraswaroopo and swaras were sung. While doing kuraippu, each avartanam was resting in ma, pa, dha, ni, sa and reverse also.

A highly enjoyable and educative concert. There was a highly deserved standing ovation at the end
I was happy to see that the hall was 75% full even in the afternoon and it was full in the evening. Tea and boost were served free for the rasikas. I heard that free lunch was also given in the afternoon. We should thank the organisers for the pains and dedication shown in organising this event...

[rajeshnat]

I attended from bharathi ramasubban 2nd song, and continued with neyveli and vijayalakshmi's concert .Each of them presented very well . This is the first concert that I am hearing from Bharathi rAmasubban and as crama stated she is very good with a strong diction and should be a vidushi to watch out . crama ,you missed one number mahishArsura mardhiniM in nArayani in your earlier post which was sung between sreeranjani and gOpikAvasantham.

Neyveli's concert with his army of disciples had its jaya tv touch , lot of interludes of speech with his krithis and as you indicated the disciples indeed did very well , though I missed few mikes for the tiny tots who were not heard that much.

Smt viji's concert I heard it from only samAntA , I particularly liked that number the most and to an extent vasanthA (marakathalingam). Also the last note can I say early days of muthuswamy dikshitar nursery rhyme vandE meenAkshi(nottuswaras sAhityam in sbharanam) also showcased as a vaggeyakkarA how dikshitar has had a meteoric rise from his early days in manali to his prime composing days around tiruvArur.

I ended my day with TMK mAyE in tarangiNi , incidentally the same tarAngini with the same explanation I heard it a year back from TMK, his start was really superb atleast I had a breeezy thoroughly ringing tarangani at the end.

Gamakam Attended the whole day till before TMK from Lakshmi rangarajan-G ravikiran-seetha rAjan(he went gA gA with her capsule) and all others before , perhaps he can post all those too.

Overall like last year this year also it is really well done. Thanks especially to sbopparaju and his team who gave a whole day of muttuswami dikshitar classics.

[ganeshkant]

A beautiful review C.Rama.U have written all that I had in mind.I will just add a bit.

Bharati Ramasubban has a "Ghaneer" saareeram that effortlessly traverses the upper octaves and her voice is quite audible in the mandhara sthayi also.Her singing is very assertive in nature.Her Sanskrit diction is excellent.An asset and welcome addition to CM.Probably Mahakavi Bharatiyar would have sung "Kovilmani osai undhan kural inimayadi " after hearing BRS.

Ms.Sankari is also quite promising.If she is given a bit of voice training and exposed to music of the yesteryear veterans to improve her manodharmam she can emerge as a good vocalist.With an illustrious mother like VS by her side she is bound to improve.

Ms.Seetharajan with her disciples gave an excellent presentation of sedate krithis like Ranganayakam.Gave a great listening making the ambience serene.

VS's presentation was neat and her neraval for the Kalyani kriti was good.

When (TM)Krishna sings I become (like) Radha.My mind delights in his singing.

G.Ravikiran disappointed and the concert was saved by Dr.Hemalata.

NSG's presentation was informative and gave a good listening.

The organizers should be lauded for the arrangements.

[rajeshnat]

Sbopparaju
This year I heard few krithis for the very first time like mahishAsura mardinIM-nArAyaNi by bharathi,Palayamam Parvatheesa- Kannada by neyveli and Shadanane- Khamas by vijayalakshmi. Assuming 80 songs are sung in each akhandham possibly year after year there is a possibility of only the same songs are sung again. Would be nice if you keep a tab over song list year after year so that more and more unheard krithis are sung in the next akhandam that way almost all 400+ songs of MD are covered atleast once.

So in short suggestion is for you to cover more new krithis without repetition in the last few years. To an extent if you keep a tab it may just work out. In 4 to 5 akhandams musicians can cover each of the unheard krithi of MD
http://guru-guha.blogspot.com/2009/04/d ... -list.html link gives all the compostions of MD. Since you video record it will be a real treasure . BTW you are indeed doing a great service , this is just a suggestion as you move forward

[rmsrk]

On the violin for TM Krishna was Sri HN Bhaskar and not Sri MR Gopinath.

[dikshitarbhaktha]

hi folks,
i signed up just now onto this great forum.
partially motivated by this thread because i had the good fortune of attending this gala put together by bharatiya sangeeta vaibhavam.
i attended the event from G Ravi Kiran's concert onwards.
this young musician is sure to go places - what impeccable diction and clarity.
i am sure it must have taken him lots of practice to render the kambodi song he sang kasi visvesvara.
i loved both the dhamavati and the kambodi alapanais - energetic and original.
most importantly - looked like he had taken the trouble to present something new - which i realised after speaking with him after the concert and expressed my appreciation.

shankari subramaniam was passable - decent effort but lacked conviction required while rendering heavy weight kritis.

the next best was seeta rajan's disciples group rendition - what synchronisation and commitment!!!
seetha rajan must be complimented for her untiring efforts to train her disciples and bring them to a very good standard.

vijayalakshmi subramaniam's was another favorite concert - great voice and what felicity of expression.
true hallmarks of an experienced musician.
somethings only experience can teach - and this was proven in the way she sang the main kalyani piece...especially one super fast briga in the kriti.

tmk's concert was great too - few slip ups in the natabaranam chitta swaras but again he was trying to present something new and that was nice.
i loved his mayamalavagovlai neraval - very very enjoyable.

on the whole great outing.

regreting that i am not able to remain in chennai after such a gala event
miss namba ooru

[prashant]

The Navavarana kriti in Ghanta is the only kriti in this raga

Dikshitar has also composed shri mangaLAmbikAm in this rAgA. Notation is available in the SSP. This song appears to be very obscure - I, for one, have never heard anyone sing it.

[mahesh_narayan]

i am sure it must have taken him lots of practice to render the kambodi song he sang kasi visvesvara.

I concur with that !!!.......I learnt the kriti from him while he was learning it from the SSP...The effort he put in to teach me itself was mammoth, not to mention the effort he put in to learn it himself !!!

[malavi]

The concerts in Deekshitar akhandam were a real treat to the ears.smt.lakshmi rangarajan gave a flying start for the day.
she sang for nearly 2 hours and presented some rare kritis.some kritis i remember are
kadambari priyayai in mohanam
mayuranadam in danyasi
sandhyadevi savitri in suddhsaveri
parvatarajakumari insriranjani
a manipravala kriti venkatachalapathe in kapi
ehi annapoorne in punnagvarali
her kambodhi aalaapanai was very good and dr.hemalatha was also equally good
she presented a kriti in kandajathi atatalam
as i could not write down the items i am writing whatever i remember.
on the whole it was an excellent concert with dr.hemalatha and mannarkoil balaji

G.Ravikiran presented a kriti in the raga aardradesi
his kambodhi was also good set in kanda ata talam

Smt.Seeta rajan and students presented kritis on lord vishnu.
ranganayakam in nayaki,
sri krishnambaja in todi
sri venkatagireesam in surutti
and some very rare kritis
the way the teacher and her 7 students sang was excellent.
the effort smt seeta rajan had taken to train her students is really commendable

Another concert to be remembered is that of savita sreeram
she has got a rich voiceand her patantaram is very good
her annapoorne in sama,meenakshi me mudam in gamagakriya are worth mentioning

i was there for only 3 songs by Bharati ramasubbhan.
her anandabhairavi was very good. her open throated singing is her asset.she has got a bright future.

i had to leave after that and lakshmi rangarajans was the best in whatever i heard.

[dikshitarbhaktha]

Smt.Seeta rajan and students presented kritis on lord vishnu.
ranganayakam in nayaki,
sri krishnambaja in todi
sri venkatagireesam in surutti
and some very rare kritis
the way the teacher and her 7 students sang was excellent.
the effort smt seeta rajan had taken to train her students is really commendable

I agree - very commendable effort!!!
I only wish disputed krithis like sri krishanbaja was not included.....

having said that i must concur that Seetha Rajan, G Ravi Kiran and Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam were my top three picks of the day.....

[sreecons]

Thanks to all for your review and input about this function. I felt like I actually relived the event just reading your descriptive notes.

[PUNARVASU]

Seems to have been a very good programme. I am so enamoured by MSD's krithis; hope I get a chance to attend one such programme in the near future.A very laudble effort by the organisers.

[Jyeshtha]

What an awesome Sunday it was! The majestic backdrop of Dikshitar – surrounded by line drawings of the navagrahas—a master piece by Sri S.Rajam--created the right ambience and gave a warm welcome to all. The stage looked perfect with right amount of lighting and the excellent audio system that one has come to associate with Pethachi auditorium.
The music was of great quality with bhakti to Dikshitar coming through in most renditions. The choice of songs was a good mix of popular and more of the rare ones. The audience turn out was almost uniformly good with hall being about 60% to full in the evening slots.
Lakshmi Rangarajan gave a good start to the program. She has good pathantharam but seems to lack energy at places. As a result she goes off Sruti. Would be good if she can take care of this. Her Ehi Annapoorne was very emotive. As also Kadambari priyayai in Mohanam. Dr. Hemalatha and J. Balaji added a lot of weight to the prog.
Ravikiran has good potential. In an Akhandam that is meant to showcase the composer, where was the need for such an extensive alapana of Dhamavathi?? That really ate into kriti time and was disappointing ( he seems to follow his guru in this too!) Mangala devate in Marga desi was very rare and poignant. The joke about Kasi visveswara is that you start singing it here and you can reach Kasi by the time you finish!
Seeta Rajan and students have been performing consistently over the last four Akhandams , it was announced. One could see why! Uniformity of voice and sruti shudham marked their polished rendition.
Shankari Subramaniam showed good potential. Mahadevena in Devamanohari was very lively and was among the songs I had not heard before. Sri Rama Saraswati in Nasamani was very well rendered.
Saveetha sang well. Her voice is a bit tinny though.
Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam’s rendition was thoroughly wonderful. What bhavam each song had! The Ahiri Navavarnam was brilliant. The subtle nuances on Akhilandeswari were very enjoyable. Her rendition of Bhajare re chitta is possibly the best. Kokilaravam and Samantha added luster.
TM Krishna came on with a bang in his inimitable style! The rendition of Tarangini as given in the SSP was very different from one accustomed to Madurai Mani’s! The swaras were very detailed and enegetic. The Natabharanam was very interesting too. While TMK’s energy is enviable, his singing at places is close to shouting. I wish he would retain the subtle flavours of ragas and songs. With his command of voice, range and obvious knowledge, this would greatly enhance the listening pleasure. A very very detailed and lengthy alapana of Mayamalava goula was rendered. This again defeated the purpose of the prog. With his extensive research into the SSP, why not sing a few more gems of compositions? A brief cameo would’ve been far more enjoyable. The observations on Sri Nathadi were astounding!
The sheer intellect and gnana of Muthuswami Dikshitar is mind boggling! Wonder if we will ever see another like him !
Hats off to the organisers for the only one of its kind Ahkandam

[VK RAMAN]

The invitation circulated for this event had a special invitation to kids to attend. Was there a lot of enthusiasm among kids for this event?

[dikshitarbhaktha]

A very very detailed and lengthy alapana of Mayamalava goula was rendered. This again defeated the purpose of the prog.

I differ there.
When I go to listen to a concert (be it akhandam or whatever), I expect it ultimately to be a 'concert' and not a monotonous rendition of keerthanams Which is why i enjoyed G Ravi Kiran's, Vijayalakshmi's and also Krishna's kucheri)
I really got bored during Seetha Rajan's groups recitals but I appreciated their synchronisation.
I still regret that Seetha Rajan included the most obviously non authentic Shree Krishnam todi keerthanam

[gowri narayanan]

If Sri Krishnam Bhaja mAnasa is not Deekshithar's composition,then whose is it?All along I have been thinking that it is a MSD masterpiece.

[karthikbala]

[...
When I go to listen to a concert (be it akhandam or whatever), I expect it ultimately to be a 'concert' and not a monotonous rendition of keerthanams Which is why i enjoyed G Ravi Kiran's, Vijayalakshmi's and also Krishna's kucheri)
I really got bored during Seetha Rajan's groups recitals but I appreciated their synchronisation...

I'm not surprised...I've never actually attended group recitals (except perhaps the aradhana pancharatnam singing, and I don't want to go into that...). What really is the point of having people sing in unison? Shouldn't individuality be the real point of classical music? It is one thing to have people render simple devotional or other choral pieces in unison, but are monumental CM compositions really amenable to such treatment? I mean which accomplished performer performs anything exactly the way they were taught?

[sbopparaju]

Hi Folks! This is Suresh Kumar Bopparaju - Managing Trustee, Bharatiya Sangeetha Vaibhavam. I'm delighted to see the extent of interest in our Dikshitar Akhandam this year - both at the program itself and on the net! Thankful to all for the same! I will read all the comments carefully when time permits me to and try and incorporate any feedback there is in our next edition!
I do hope to see even more participation in the forthcoming editions of this event! At the risk of immodesty, I'll venture to say this is a rather unique event!
regards
Suresh

[VK RAMAN]

Suresh - That is a great jesture to earn more good will.

[Gamakam]

I have been meaning to writing a report for quite some time. Work pressure didn't allow me to do so. I have written a quick, half baked report here: http://carnaticmusicreview.wordpress.co ... am-report/

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire day! It was nice meeting Ganeshkant and Rajeshnat. Kudos to the organisers!

[dikshitarbhaktha]

Suresh,

Our heartfelt thanks for organising such a unique event.
Many thanks for bringing out less heard talents like G Ravi Kiran, Shankari, etc.
We also heard several new kritis like kasi visvesvara (Ravi Kiran), kodandaramam(vijayalakshmi), ghanta navavaranam(neyveli), etc - all thanks to this event.

thanks.

[Jyeshtha]

Hi rasikas,

Here is a video clip of Smt. Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam singing in Dikshitar Akhandam 2010 . One of the very beautiful songs composed by Dikshitar in Kamas, the rendition by Smt. Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam is excellent. There is also a jathi rendered in the song, making it even more special and bringing out beautiful phrases of the ragam. Hats off to the artiste for singing many unique compositions like the one below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6DasQ6S53E

[Jyeshtha]

Dear Rasikas,

Here are a couple of video snippets of Kum. Shankari Subramaniam's concert.

1. Kanchadalayadakshi in Kamalamanohari Ragam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYVD0Gp6FEQ

2. Sri Rama Saraswati - A very nice rendition of the beautiful composition in rare Ragam Nasamani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV9ADHQea-s

[sreecons]

Thanks for the links.

[sappri]

I just came across this youtube link of Vid G RAVIKIRAN'S concert at the Akhandam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_1847G9N_U