Carnatic Ensemble - San Diego - 26th Mar 2010

[bilahari]

K.N. Sashikiran - Vocal
Nagai Muralidaran - Violin
R. Thiagarajan - Flute
Ganesh - Chitravina
Guruvayur Dorai - Mrudangam and Konnakol
Uzhavur Babu - Mrudangam
E.M. Subramaniam - Ghatam

Duration: 2h 45 min

Approximate Songlist:

01. mallari - gambhIranATTai - Adi - Sashikiran?
02. siddi vinAyakam anisham (S) - shaNmugapriya - rUpakam
03. instrumental composition - hamsadhwani - Adi (khaNDa naDai) - Sashikiran?
04. kAmAkshi anudinamu (swarajathi) - bhairavi - miSra cApu
05. Happy Birthday (to Cleveland Sundaram) - shankarAbharaNam - Adi
06. instrumental composition - chalanATTai (S) - Adi - Nagai Muralidaran
07. raghunAtha nannu (?) - swararanjani - Adi
08. instrumental composition - hamsanAdam - miSram
09. PDPS swarakrithi - bEgaDa, Ananda bhairavi, pUrvikalyANi, nAyaki, pUrNachandrika - Adi - Chitravina Ravikiran
10. Thanam - srI, nATTai, gowLai, Arabhi, varALi
Pallavi - srI : endarO mahAnabhAvulu antarIki vandanamu (with trikAlam and maybe tiSram) - Adi [2]
Ragamaliga swaras in ghana panchaka ragas
Thani Avarthanam
11. nArAyanatE namO namO - bEhAg - Adi
12. venkaTAchala nilayam - sindhu bhairavi - Adi
13. chinnanjiru kiLiyE - rAgamAliga - Adi
14. English Note - shankarAbharaNam - Adi - HMB
15. thillAna - dhanaSri - Adi - Swati Tirunal
16. vandE mAtaram - dES - Adi

While N. Ramani had originally been scheduled to perform this evening, he was unable to attend due to ill health, giving rise to this "unique" ensemble event. The concert started with a mallari composed especially for this concert. Siddi vinAyakam was prefaced by a short sketch by Nagai Muralidaran and the entire composition was played with all the instruments. Surprisingly, Sashikiran started singing along intermittently during this piece and continued doing so for the rest of the concert. Additionally, he would also hum into the microphone as and when he pleased. The instrumental piece in hamsadhwani that followed was excessively light and I felt that the sober mood set by shaNmugapriya should have been enhanced with more serious compositions.

At this stage, since the concert had been advertised as a Carnatic one, I was still under the impression that it would follow the kutcheri paddati (how foolish of me!). The bhairavi swarajathi that followed bore the introduction of konnakol, with Guruvayur Dorai calling out sollus during the krithi rendition while Sashikiran was sometimes-singing-and-sometimes-not-singing and all the instruments were always playing. Kindly imagine the following scenario: A violin, a flute, a chitraveena, a mrudangam, and a ghatam all playing. A voice singing. And konnakol. Now, in your mentally conceived image, is anything productive, meaningful, or aesthetic being produced by all these various instruments? I have never in my life heard the bhairavi swarajathi (one of my favourite compositions of all time) so wretchedly torn asunder as it was this evening. One word to describe not just this krithi rendition but the entire evening: cacophany.

How could an ensemble work in Carnatic music? Is it just me and my love of sparseness? What can three melodic instruments do that one cannot independently? What is the purpose and the benefit of merging the sounds of the chitraveena, violin, and flute (especially when the timbre of all three instruments is so different that one is always heard best and one almost never heard)? Why add a vocal element to an instrumental ensemble? Why did the vocalist just sing and hum as and when he pleased, making the entire concert appear like a jam session in his living room rather than a concert (ticketed at US$20)? Why add a konnakol on top of all these layers and layers of converging sounds?

By the end of the bhairavi swarajathi, I was entirely disoriented and disenchanted by the proceedings on stage. The ensemble continued with a brilliant sketch of shankarAbharaNam by Nagai (whose solo concert this should have been) and then broke into the Happy Birthday tune. Sashikiran and the organiser then interrupted the hitherto so very fluent concert to announce today was Cleveland Sri V.V. Sundaram's birthday. While it was a very appreciative gesture, I seriously began questioning the seriousness put into this concert by the artistes. Could this not have been done before the concert? After the concert?

After yet another instrumental composition "specially composed for this concert" in the ragam chalanATTai, the ensemble presented Poochi's composition in swararanjani. This composition was actually performed beautifully and I enjoyed it a little (only a little due to building angst and sadness that yet another rare opportunity to hear good music had been smashed to smithereens - do these artistes realise how we YEARN and how LONG we wait for these meagre few opportunities to hear good CM? And yes, artistes know that San Diego has a very serious CM crowd). After the swararanjani piece, lo and behold! Another special instrumental composition (these instrumental compositions are all just swara notes, by the way) in another really weighty CM raga - hamsanAdam. Any guesses as to how probing the composition was? Any bets as to whether or not the note concluded with fast passages running up and down the raga's scale?

The next composition presented (of Ravikiran) was essentially a ragamaliga note consisting of ragas that all employ PDPS phrases. This was a rather cute composition and effort, though pUrNachandrika after srI seemed horribly out of place. Sashikiran then announced the piece de resistance of the concert: a kind-of-but-not-really RTP (that seems to be very much in vogue these days). After a one-line sketch of srI, short rounds of thanam were played in the ghana panchaka ragas, with the instruments alternating. The thanam was uniformly good, with the nATTai on the chitravINa employing a lovely, delicate NNPM,,, phrase. Chitravina Ganesh also did a beautiful job with varALi, while Nagai continued to impress with a gorgeous Arabhi that used flat notes surprisingly effectively. While R. Thiagarajan was quite good whenever he played, he seemed in awe of the others on stage and was consistently reticent, which thankfully merely dented the ship which had already a gaping hole left by an iceberg collision.

The crisp neraval of the pallavi was well executed in the safe and stable hands of Nagai (pun fully intended), with even Thiagarajan contributing some nice thanam-type sequences. Once again, nothing extraordinary from anyone but at least it was real Carnatic music of passable quality. The ragamaliga kalpanaswaras were extremely brief and promptly brought the concert back to its mean. However, each artiste was responsible for a particular ragam and when they were playing all the ragas together, the exchange between the artistes was very nice.

The thani avarthanam was quite enjoyable (it even sounded like a real thani avarthanam and not something "specially composed for this concert"). For one of his turns, Guruvayur Dorai used konnakol and spat out sollus with amazing speed and breath control. However, all the sollus merged into what effectively sounded like gibberish. Not eloquent at all. Maybe I need to give this konnakol thing another chance but I definitely found it very peculiar and intrusive in this concert, always drowning the melody.

The percussion accompaniment throughout this concert was good, by the way. Guruvayur Dorai anticipated well (but I didn't think he was being challenged anywhere, really), and EMS, too rose to the occasion. Sri Dorai's sishya on the second mrudangam also played a few short rounds during the thani and was unobtrusive and good.

The tukkadas were actually presented quite well but I was in no mood to enjoy any of them. Well, maybe I enjoyed Nagai's sindhu bhairavi sketch. And the dES sketch as well. A bit. And the concert - at long last - finished.

So what went wrong?

(1) I am not a big fan of ensembles in general. Even in veena-venu-violin concerts, I find that the veena often gets shortchanged and can only be heard occasionally over the continuous sound of the other two instruments. As such, I confess I had a bias entering the auditorium for this concert. I still believe that CM is not made for instrumental ensembles. For one, there is just no value in the overlapping sounds of various different instruments in krithi renditions. Often, the "interference" means the rasika cannot discern one coherent tone but a cluster of sounds. Additionally, having several instruments ruins moments of silence. I need silence in my music. I am a minimalist. This is why I have been crying myself hoarse about violin trios as well. The more instruments there are, the greater the likelihood of at least one of them playing at any given second. How does the rasika stop to digest what he has just heard and appreciate it mentally without the necessary interval of silence? The one benefit of an ensemble is that some instruments better demonstrate a technique or an aspect of a raga due to their inherent advantages. Similarly, each instrumentalist contributes his or her ideas via manodharma exercises to inspire the others and enrich the concert experience. However, in this concert, there was almost no meaningful manodharma (note that not a SINGLE full raga alapanai was played in a concert advertised as Carnatic), and as such, the artistes did not really get an opportunity to demonstrate their own talents or the individual advantages of their own instruments (for instance, I would have loved to hear an actually substantial thanam from Chitravina Ganesh. Or a second speed neraval from Nagai Muralidaran. Or a tara sthayi exploration of shankarAbharaNam from Thiagarajan). So, what was the point of this ensemble?

(2) As I mentioned earlier, I do not understand what exactly Sashikiran was doing in this ensemble. What was the need for the vocal element? And why did he just pipe in and out almost whimsically? I especially disliked his random humming during raga alapanais and krithi renditions when other artistes were playing. It was out of place, but more importantly, it gave the impression that the concert had no specific, definite direction and was merely a jam session and a "free for all".

(3) The choice of compositions was abysmal. There were hardly any serious CM compositions, and even those were murdered in a cold-blooded manner. The concert was chock filled with light, unsatisfying instrumental numbers, which also contributed alongside (1) and (2) to give the impression that the artistes did not view this as a serious event.

(4) Little to no manodharmam. No raga alapanai, one short neraval, a little thanam, a few short kalpana swaras, but nothing substantial. And they advertised this as a Carnatic ensemble?

At the end of the essay, restate your thesis. I was always taught this in my humanities classes. Here it is: What was the POINT of what happened this evening?

I can honestly say that I have never felt so insulted as a rasika in my entire life. How could someone in good conscience present such music to any audience anywhere? Especially to an audience starved for CM which has perhaps five to ten genuine opportunities each year to listen to some good music? Was this the occasion to conduct a music fun fair and stuff cotton candy down our parched throats? Was this even the occasion to experiment with such an ensemble? Could this not have been a regular CM concert with perhaps one or two instrumental pieces towards the end? Why... WHY did they choose to do what they did tonight?

And WHY did all of you in the audience give them a standing ovation? And then complain about it afterwards? Why not sit still and let them know that we are upset (and let it be known that not ONE out of the ten or so audience members I spoke to after the concert liked it)?

While I do not enjoy reviewing bad concerts, I think there is as much value in dissecting failures (more so, in fact) as in appreciating successes. I do not intend any disrespect to any of the artistes, who are all people I admire tremendously as musicians, but I cannot in good faith accept or tolerate what was passed off today as CM. It was not.

[semmu86]

Bilahari , first of all a great review. What to say , one can only feel pity for such a show presented . Am with you on all the points including that i also dont find ensembles particularly in CM to be of any value whatsoever..I know its easier in hindsight to say that you should not have been there for such a programme first of all .But then looking at the performing artists list , you should have infered what could have been in store so as to avoid getting insulted by such insensitive performances . Harimau rightly pointed out in one of his reviews about these ensembles and the quality of audience who turn up for such performances . Harimau , is this what you call "Performance art" ? But then most of them citing his acerbic tone , dismissed all that he wrote , but the truth is here for us to see , when it comes out from one of our most active and prolific reviewers , with of course everything put forward in a constructive way . The ultimate point is that , till there is an audience for everything , musicians will continue to sing/perform anything ..

Bilahari , am already getting a feel of what to expect from other concerts in the festival . Sincerely hoping against hope to be proved wrong..

[rajeshnat]

Bilahari
Beautifully written , I have to confess so far I am not put to any happy birthyday numbers in a concert yet in chennai though always feel US concerts are far more better as it is minimum 3 hours plus.

1.I remember long time back harimau said a bunch of musicians sang happy birthday to some one in cleveland in that famous hotel where they stayed .

2. During our meet at nAgeshwaran's house where Aishwarya played violin, Cleveland sundaram addressed all of us and said in one of the concerts where sowmya sang sometime in cleveland a bunch of students in the crowd got up and sang Happy birthday to sowmya .

3. Now there is a third happy birthday in sandiego right at the concert. Nice way to sustain sampradaya.

I am sure bilahari you may have had the cake at the end of the concert :tmi: . Sure the other concerts in sandiego will be far better (GV, Trichur brothers, Trichur ramachandran and pantula rAma). I hope there is no birthday in the next two days.

[rbharath]

bilahari, m sad after read your write-up. hope u get to listen to some good real concerts sooner than later.

[bilahari]

Arvind, I'm glad someone else agrees with me about ensembles! You are right - it is easy in hindsight to say I should not have attended at all, but the advertisement merely called it a Unique Carnatic Ensemble. Had it been (appropriately) named Frivolous Fun or something to that effect, I would of course have stayed at home with my MDR and KVN (they never disappoint, you see).

Now, as Rajesh says, the other concerts this weekend should all be good (especially Sunday's concerts). I hope the student presentations today will lift my spirits (both teachers are wonderful and have very talented students). Thereafter, I have no expectations for the nAdaswaram, Manasi Prasad ensemble, or Mandolin Srinivas. If they impress, good. If not, whatever. Tomorrow, however, I am expecting to be blown away!

Rajesh, thanks for the humour. I needed it!
Thanks, Bharath, for the empathy. Needed that too!

[appu]

Bilahari,

When we talk ensembles, one has to consider their origin. Is this one that was thrown together for the sake of ..... OR have the artistes given it some serious thought into the production. Yes like you said had the organizers titled this as Frivolous Fun instead of Unique, you may have refrained from attending. Of course from the organizers stand point of view in retrospect, they realize they were taken.

An ensemble becomes unique when every one concerned, namely the artistes, arrangers, conductor, organizers all get involved and make a conscious effort to pull of a production. Yes that is why it is called a production. It is not a fly by night affair. Indian musicians have a tendency of trying their hand at everything, jazz, fusion etc and yes the ultimate outcome is like you said "Cacophony".

Well as much I feel sorry for you, at least their is some consolation that you have learned something about unique ensembles.

[rshankar]

Bilahari - great review - I am certainly glad that you were able to write so well after an experience was sure to have given me a splitting migraine.

IMO, konnakOL is a beautiful art form, but again, if I can modify your previous equation of 'speed=applause', I think it has morphed into 'speed=perception of genius'. If it is presented in a pattern that is built-up (first, second, third, and then maybe fourth speed, and future dimensions etc), it is actually beautiful - mesmerizingly so, like the opening tirkAla jati of a pada varNam. Unfortunately, every one seems to present it as an alternative to rocket-launching fuel, with an overwhelming urge to reach escape velocity in a few nanoseconds.

One word to describe not just this krithi rendition but the entire evening: cacophany.

I read your review immediately after sorting out some new Asterix-related (Christmas tree) ornaments from Brussels which included my favorite one - that of the bard 'Cacaphonix' bound and tied! Looks like that should have been the fate of this ensemble too.

[harimau]

Thereafter, I have no expectations for the nAdaswaram, Manasi Prasad ensemble, or Mandolin Srinivas. If they impress, good. If not, whatever. Tomorrow, however, I am expecting to be blown away!

Injikkudi Subramaniam is one of the brightest stars in the nagaswaram field today. But you don't hear about him, or any other nagaswaram artists, on this website because everyone is busy writing about the nagaswaram pidis in vocal concerts but have no use for nagaswaram music itself.

I would go so far as to say that Injikkudi will be standard-bearer for nagaswaram in the years to come. Nagaswaram is a difficult instrument to master. At the wrong time, the mouthpiece (reed) will close up and the instrument will emit a wrong note! But if one makes allowances for that and look for musical ideas, there is no better instrument than the nagaswaram and among the younger vidwans, no one better than Injikkudi.

If U. Srinivas shows even 50% of the brilliance he showed as a youngster (before he ventured into Fusion music), that would be enjoyable. Make sure the organizers turn down the volume.

Manasi Prasad has a good voice and good stage presence. I notice she is currently learning from Smt. Suguna Purushothaman. If she continues under her for a few years and sticks to the Musiri bani her teacher represents, she could turn out to be an asset to Carnatic music. Until then, at least eye candy, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.

As to konnakkol, ghatam, mridangam, etc., that in fact is a throwback to the early part of 20th century. The vocalist would be accompanied by violin, konnakkol, mridangam, ghatam, khanjira, and perhaps dholok or mohrsing. Notice the order: konnakkol comes first among the percussion instruments. Properly presented, konnakkol should align with each swara of the kriti as it is being sung. That is, the tone used in the sollu at any point should be the same swara as the kriti's.

It is rare to hear konnakkol even in Chennai. Usually, it is relegated to a lec-dem at the Music Academy during the December season. And those lec-dems are packed.

These are observations I have made from watching the music scene in Chennai and not at all meant as a defense of anything that goes on in a particular concert.

[srikant1987]

In the one concert I've heard with konnakol, I haven't heard konnakkol accompany the songs, only as part of the tani.

I second Appu on ensemble CM concerts: they will take a lot more planning than a regular concert, and therefore it's virtually impossible to perform a good ensemble CM concert "in lieu" of another concert which's been rescheduled / cancelled a short while before the scheduled date.

It is especially pitiable that such an unsatisfying concert was a replacement for what would've been pure bliss! I suppose the plan was Ramani - Nagai - Dorai - EMS?

[arasi]

Bilahari,
A well-deserved standing ovation to your review You make us proud by the deft way in which you transfer to us your responses to the music you hear. You are a constructive critic, have fine rasanai and objectivity. You are candid and yet caring. If you are daring in your criticism, so be it because you always substantiate it all.
Too many good cooks spoiling the broth was the case. Reminds me of some old movies which boasted of a galaxy of stars and flopped miserably.
Shashikiran is a talented, enthusiastic and caring artiste as well, is sportive enough and is open to audience reaction--though this particular audience disappoints me by giving a standing ovation to something which it did not relish that much, sending a wrong message to the performers.

Harimau,
Wherever you are, I am glad you put in a good word about Injikkudi. We need more nagasvaram concerts at many venues. Not many youngsters may opt to learn the instrument but at least we have to give them a chance to listen to the instrument as much as they can (not for nAgasvaram piDis alone and please--let them keep the sound low, as one would at U. Srinivas's concert!

[binmux]

Hi all,

Im a San Diego resident too - started noticing posts in rasikas.org last year about the festival and have been active reader since then.
I have made very few posts here though. Nice to make a start right ?

Bilahari,
Yesterday I was thinking that the general tone of your review would have been like this - but I was not as frustrated because I did not know what to expect in this concert so was sort of open to listening I guess. I liked the Mallari beginning and the Chalanattai very much. As you mentioned, PDPS ragamalika was good too. To me the chala nattai piece was mind blowing - a lot of credit should go to Nagai Muralidharan for that. Shashi Kiran sang along probably the best for that piece and the PDPS song I think. For most part he was sort of humming along with sometime being half audible - did not sound very good.

As for Konnakol, a few years back there was a jugalbandi by Ravikiran and (forgive me - I dont remember the other Hindutani artist).
Subashchandran played Konnakol sollus with Tabla, morsing and mridhangam taking turns for a long thani avarthanam. It was really enjoyable. This is the first time I am hearing it along with the singing - a lot of times (as harimau mentions about not being synced note wise) could not be heard properly.

As for your brief mention of the teachers, one of them has a long way to go - IMHO

[mohanakalyani]

Cacaphony was the word that came to my mind too. With so many instruments, there is so much that can be done, so many facets to explore, which are not possible to do in a traditional concert. Even the mridangam can be treated as one of the main instruments. Giving each instrument a piece of the song to play, and perfect synchronization to produce a piece that sounds as if only one artist was performing would have been great.

Since I bill it as an experiment by Shashikiran, I will give him few more chances before ruling him out. This is a very different skill altogether, and it will take a while to perfect. I am sure he has learnt a lot from this.

Guruvayoor honored the other artists by agreeing to share the stage with them. It was a pleasure to listen to the legend. Not sure if it was his Mridangam or his skill in playing the mridangam, or both, but the divine sound feels as though this is the sounds the gods hear in devaloka.

Bilahari,
The ragamalika raga is Nayaki, not Sri. Even I got it wrong, and didn't get the prize as Shashikiran corrected me later.

[srikant1987]

Yeah, nAyaki would fit the PDPS theme. Don't know about pUrNacandrika, though. But then for rAgamAlika compositions, it's customary to finish with madhyamAvati or shrI. Apparently in earlier times, there were some restrictions on what time of the day which rAga can be sung, and rAgamAlikas usually ended up violating that. Finishing with a madhyamAvati or shrI was believed to nullify those violations.

[srkris]

Bilahari, you have raised valid questions about the format and execution of the concert, but in the absence of someone in the know of what was planned that day, it looks like a one-sided tirade. Let's wait for someone to explain it.

You may be entitled to your displeasure, but I think probably it may not have been well thought out since it was put together at short notice and probably the organizers misread the mood of the audience. I can't say anything more since it will be empty speculation.

[srikant1987]

it was put together at short notice

I'm repeating myself, but a "usual" Carnatic concert can be "put together" at a shorter notice than a huge ensemble of several instruments.

[arasi]

srkris,
You have a point there. It was a last minute thing, no time to rehearse, so no time to fine-tune the performance.
Bilahari's take was that it was called a 'carnatic concert' which it didn't turn out to be, to the disappointment of CM lovers, some students at that, having to buy twenty dollar tickets for something which they didn't expect.
Sashikiran perhaps scrambled together a program at the last minute (knowing his energy level and enthusiasm, he is capable of it). Too many stars in their fields, too little time to showcase them. It's not that Sashikiran is not aware of the fact that there are many true rasikAs of CM in the area. It was just a last minute thing I guess and he pulled it off. He is the kind of artiste who is open to suggestions, and tries to work on new ideas.
Bilahari on the other hand voiced his opinion and that of other rasikAs who went there to listen to CM of a different kind. That's all. Wonder if student tickets were half the price with ID--many universities have this facility.

Bilahari,
Hope you are going to bring us more reviews.

[bilahari]

Srikant and Arasi, thank you for you hitting the nail on the head.

Srkris, if you have read my other posts on this forum, you might sense that I am not one for senseless tirades.

[bilahari]

Mohanakalyani, thanks for the correction. Someone else told me about my error as well.

Arasi, school is in session, but I will try to get out at least a review a day from all the concerts this weekend. Thankfully, they were mostly quite good, so there won't be any more "one-sided tirades".

[arasi]

We know they will be 'ringside' sharing of delectable bits of your musical experience. Please take your time. Class work first

[bilahari]

I came home early from lab just to start writing reviews

[VK RAMAN]

bilahari is getting finicky

[knshashikiran]

Dear Rasikas,

While I appreciate the honesty of the original poster of this thread, there are a few technical points that need clarification.
I do respect rasikas' opinions about concerts and their writing about what they liked / disliked. However, before raising technical points, it would help if one understands the context. Also, it is hurting when someone questions the integrity and seriousness of the musicians in a concert. No true artiste would take any concert lightly -- be it in San Diego or any other part of the world, a sabha concert, marriage concert or temple concert. Why, even a practise session at home is not a fun fare!

With respect to this ensemble being a last minute thing -- you've got it all wrong. I had reasonable time and knew fully well the seriousness of the concert. Also, all the artistes involved are all professionals who don't sit on the stage for fun. For how much effort went into the concert, my hosts in San Diego and the organisers will vouch. The concept was well thought-out and planned -- I will substantiate my point. On the success or failure of an effort, I cannot comment. One can merely put in the required effort and hope for good results. I would have known the true outcome of the concert if the original poster and his friends hadn't stood up when we were being given a standing ovation. That is a meter that can be applied anywhere, unless those that don't like a concert leave it before it's over.

Now, ensembles are not new to Indian music. If you read a little history (or some of our treatises), you would know that the term 'kutapa' has been used to refer to instrumental ensembles; the compositions they performed were swara compositions composed specifically for instrumental music. These compositions are more ancient than the kriti and other concert forms that are popular today. So, there was nothing new about our effort; it was quite traditional.

With respect to my singing -- it was decided that since Carnatic music is very vocal-based, a vocal element would add value to the concert. This sentiment was echoed by the entire team. However, I realized that my role as a vocalist is different from the role I essay in my solo / duet concerts. So, instead of occupying center-stage, I took the violinist's spot. I did not sing on a whim at any point. I sang the sahitya part of the compositions and also highlighted certain 'punch-points', swara porutthams, pallavi trikalam, etc. Obviously, my role did not entail singing throughout the concert.

I shall write about the other points -- such as the choice of songs -- in my next post.

[arasi]

So nice to hear from you Shashikiran Thanks for letting us know that the concert was not a last minute thing. Sorry that I presumed it to be so. How I wish that other artistes were as communicative as you are when it comes to saying what they need to in order to enlighten the rasikAs! Since I was not there at the concert, I have no idea if the concert would have appeaed to me or not. Each to his or her own taste as you seem to understand very well. Your communicative skills and your amicability are something I do know about from my encounters with you. So, it does not surprise me that you have joined in the discussion! As I know Bilahari a bit too, I can say that he is a fine rasikA and a reviewer who for his age surprises me with his knowledge of CM. His writing style is excellent and it reflects depth and seriousness as well.

[knshashikiran]

Now to clarify the songs chosen and presented and the carnatic element in the ensemble.

I guess as the original poster himself has mentioned, his bias did not allow him to pay enough attention to the explanation I gave about the concept and how we had planned this program. I mentioned clearly that this was different from a regular Carnatic concert or fusion performance; nor was our ensemble a symphony orchestra, as our music had both creative and re-creative elements. I also mentioned that we would present regular kritis and also swara compositions specifically composed for this concert. I am still not sure what the non-Carnatic element was in this concert. The instruments used were all traditionally common Carnatic instruments, vocal music also being part of the system.

We started with a mallari -- a very tradional piece prevalent for several hundred years now set in an ancient tamil pann nattapaadai, the equivalent of raga gambhiranattai. This was performed in 2 speeds of chaturasram and 2 speeds of tisram. The next piece was the popular Dikshitar kriti Siddhi vinayakam in Shanmukhapriya rendered with a raga outline and kalpana swaras for siddhi vinayakam and prasiddha gananayakam. This was followed by the hamsadhwani piece in khanda nadai. This was a complex rhythmic piece for which maintaining tala itself would be challenging, let alone performing. Only Carnatic musicians can perform these complex pieces without scores of notations like our counterparts from the western world. This is again a traditional raga and had creative elements within the composition. This was followed by Shyama Shastri's bhairavi swarajathi, one of the 5 major ragas in Carnatic music with a brief raga outline by Thyagarajan. The sahitya parts I sang and for the swara parts, we had only instrumental music supported by konnakol to highlight the rhythmic beauty in misra chapu. Next was a piece in chalanata, a vivadi raga. This was a piece composed by Nagai Muralidharan sir. This had raga, tanam components apart from swara patterns also highlighting the thuttukarams in flute apart from a kalpana swara sequence with a makutam or crown to round up the piece. I did some humming to highlight the vivadi note, as we planned.This was followed by the swararanjani (a relatively new raga) kriti of Patnam Subramaniayyier wrongly stated as Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar. This was to highlight how some of our compositions are more suited for instrumental music apart from, of course, the tempo variation of having a racy kriti after a few sober numbers. I did not sing in this piece.

The next piece was in Hamsanadam, a pratimadhyama janya raga in misram. This had some beautiful swara porutthams and kuraippus apart from 2 speed variation of the composition. The rhythmic swara porutthams set by Dorai mama were not simply random up and down movements in the scale as pointed out by my friend rather nonchalantly. This too had raga sketch interwoven in the composition.

Next was the PDPS composition - a swarakriti composed by Chitravina Ravikiran to highlight the various subtlities in our raga system with the way we handle similar set of notes -- but in the context of how it occurs we have 5 beautiful carnatic ragas emerging... begada, anandabhairavi, purvikalyani, nayaki and purnachandrika. How could a serious rasika call nayaki as sri also when knowing this is a PDPS compostion and make brash statement on the context and positioning of this raga in the composition! Here too each raga was briefly delineated to highlight the gamakas and I was asked to sing too.

Next was an RTP lasting for about 45-50 mins. The pallavi was from the popular Tyagaraja pancaratna kriti Endaro Mahanubhavulu in Sri ragam. You can decide if it seems like piece-de resistence. The raga was rendered by Nagai Muralidharan sir and Tyagarajan sir and lasted for about 5 mins. Thanam and Kalpana swaras had all the other 4 ghana ragas and the swaras had kuraippu patterns till 1/8 cycle and a korvai combining all the 5 ragas. I joined in the anuloma and viloma and tisram also to highlight the sahityam and the piece had the tani too.

The post tani pieces were an Annamacharya piece, a Purandara Dasa padam, a Bharathiyar song, an english note and a tillana of Swati Tirunal. The programe concluded with Desh. Even the tukkadas had short raga essays and creative elements were infused in chinnanchiru too and english note had seconds.

I now leave it to the rasikas to decide if this could be put together without any thought process or planning particularly when the compositions are new and also with intricate rhythmic challenges.
Anyways how they sounded, I shall not write my opinion.

Now with respect to the b'day song for VVS, it was done to honour him on the request of the organisers who wanted Sundaram sir one of the pillars in making this festival happen, to be wished musically. And all of us decided that we would do a short RTP in Shankarabharanam wishing him happy birthday in Carnatic style. This was not one of the concert pieces as mentioned. But pls note even this was done in Carnatic style.

Anyways, all these are only to clarify to several responsible rasikas who are here and some of whom asked us what was all this about insulting Carnatic music. I do understand he did not like the programe but to say we musicians who have worked for decades painstakingly insulted carnatic music is very offensive and disturbing to say the least. I dream live and cherish music and am a rasika too first and foremost , then a student and finally a performer apart from also being an organiser and a teacher.

A random thought about the 20$ that was wasted on this show. Just imagine most of us have heard several great concerts by legends and artistes of today which were given to us free in many sabhas. Did we ever go and tell or pay the organiser money saying my god this memorable concert should not be given free or atleast did we pay the artiste? Students and adults watch several movies which are disappointing to us for reasons best known to us, imagine getting a refund for all of these. Just a random thought and not a defense to the concert in context here.

I am extremely sorry if any of my words or tone has hurt anybody's sentiments knowingly or unknowingly. I am only trying to make the point that because you didnt like a programe dont say efforts were not put or the event should have been termed frivolous fun. Would you like it if I questioned your work ethics?

Sorry about the typos -- I've typed in a hurry.

[srikant1987]

Indeed, it cannot be disputed that mallAri is a traditional form, or that cAmara, bhairavi, shankarAbharaNa, bEgaDa, Anandabhairavi, pUrvIkalyANi, nAyaki or any of the five ghana rAgas are anything but traditionally Carnatic. However, when it comes to a concert performance, one expects more manOdharma, and more of the kalpita to be with sAhitya (varNams, krtis, padams, jAvaLis). Even in a purely instrumental rendition, full of unknown songs, a krti and an "instrumental composition" have markedly different aesthetics and structure: the seasoned Carnatic ear would generally prefer the former.

Besides, in San Diego, live concerts of Carnatic music are very rare, where as these days recordings can be obtained almost universally. And the component of concerts, and Carnatic music in general, that really shines out in live concerts is the manOdharma. This being the case, a somewhat heavier proportion of manOdharma would have been welcome.

[harimau]

[quote="srikant1987"]

In the one concert I've heard with konnakol, I haven't heard konnakkol accompany the songs, only as part of the tani.

[quote]

Konnakkol is /was considered as much a rhythmic accompaniment as mridangam, ghatam or khanjira. That is why it used to be performed when the vocalist was singing.

That is why I said that the sollus at every point must agree in swara with the swara used for the sahityam.

That is why konnakkol artists need to know even more about krithis than other percussion artists.

Hearing konnakkol performed alongside vocal music is a rare experience... as I said, you here it once in a decade at a lec-dem.

[karthikbala]

I attended a couple of concerts last year where the kanjira player also provided konnakol accompaniment. I will try to upload snippets if I can access the recording.

[kssr]

Quite simply put, the lessons to be learnt by organisers and artists are

a. Try to gauge the expectation of the audience well and
b. In the case of CM, DO NOT experiment too much in one go. A concert should remain a "standard" concert, with minor experimentation. When the minor experimentation starts, just explain what it is about. I have seen that such an approach makes the audience enjoy the "new stuff" even more.

Now coming to Konnakkol, Tamil cine goers may recall the movie Tiruvilayaadal, where Sivaji Ganesan splits up into many Sivaji's (supposed to be Lord Siva), each one playing a different instrument. The song is "Paattum Naane Bhaavamum Naane- Paadum Unai naan Paada Vaippene". Here Konnakkol Sivaji is used as one of the thala vaadhyams playing for every swaram sequence the main singer Sivaji sings. Quite nice.

[bilahari]

Sri Shashikiran, I do appreciate your very elaborate response but steadfastly stand by my impressions of the concert. Leaving aside opinions about the concert, I am sure we can agree that it was a learning experience for all of us. I wish you the very best in any future foray into similar programs.

[knshashikiran]

Dear Bilahari
As I mentioned, I did not post to influence you to change your impressions in anyway. I only posted in order to mention the technical details and facts about the history of ensembles for the benefit of students of music and the other rasikas, who were not present to know what the concept was. As I mentioned, you are entitled to hold on to your views and I have no problems with it. I have been in the music field for over 3 decades to know that we cannot satistfy everyone in a concert. But I would like to add that a concert is not for merely (pls underline the word merely) knowing and catering to what the audience want. Our understanding of Carnatic music is based on only 75 -80 years of recorded or live concert music. But as a reseach scholar of music, I have understood that many aspects of our music, that were prevalent before our times have changed in several hundred years. But we have to approach it with an open mind and as a student this great art form.
Thanks for your wishes and dragging me to post here . Keep up your good work of writing your honest views.

[arasi]

Shashikiran,
Thanks for bearing with my misconception and for proving that you are the kind of sport I take you to be
We hope you do take part once in a while in the forum to 'enlighten' us (my! I am getting to like this expression as much as Uday 'likes' the word rendition!). I mean, to teach us about things here and there from the fund of knowledge you have from having lived a long musical life (for such a young person). May your zeal and hard work continue!

[kssr]

But I would like to add that a concert is not for merely knowing and catering to what the audience want.

If a concert is NOT to cater to what the audience want, it is better to render it without an audience!!
It must be fully understood that all of us in the forum,incl the reviewer himself, have great respect and regard to all the musicians who were on stage that day. Also cacophonic concerts, even without the ensemble, are not new to any CM rasika. Just a mridangam and Khanjira/Ghatam can puncture the eardrums at times!! So, just let us leave it there. Hope to have less of mismatch between performer and listener, the next time around.