k gAyathri@rAgasudhA on April 10th,2010

[rajeshnat]

k gAyathri@rAgasudhA on April 10th,2010
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Vocal : k gAyathri
Violin : chArulatha ramanujam
Mrudangam : B. SivarAman
Concert duration : 2 hours and 15 minutes
Sabha : rAgasudhA (SVK birthday celebrations)

1. vanajAksha - reetigowlai - veenai kuppaiyer
2. suguNamulE jeppukoNTi(N S) - chakravAkham - T
neraval in snAnAdi su-karmambulu vEda dhyAnambu for 6 mins
swaras for 5 mins

3. paralOkha bhayamu(R S) - mandAri - T
9 mins alApanai and 4 mins violin return
5 mins swaras
4.cittam irangAdadEnaiyyA(R) -sahAnA - psivan
8 mins alApanai and 6 mins violin return

5. ilalO praNathArthi - atAnA - T
6A. koniyADina nApai(R N S T) - kAmbOdhi - veenai kuppaiyer
12 mins alApanai and 7 mins violin return
10 mins neraval in "deivamu lEdA ninnuninchana" and 6 mins swaras
6B. tani 3 mins

7. bhairavi thAyai kaikkuvit tUdhi - (Plain + nata+ vasantha+ sAlaga + Ananda + sindhu + Ahir)bhairavi - sugunA purushOtaman
8. mana nilai aRiyEnaDi sakhiyE - bhAgeshri - neelA rAmamurthi

9. saPAshyat kausalyA - jOnpuri - tirruppayanam panchApakEsa sAstri
10. taruNam idhE vArAi eN swami - behAg - sugunA purushOtaman
11. nee nAma roopamulaku - sowrAshtram - T

Hearing K gAyathri live over the last 5 years or so in atleast 6 or 7 concerts that I attended ,she is turning out as a more and more accompolished vidushi , a sound paddantharam, sustained voice that has a high classical strength , very nice sequence of songs and above all she has a personal trump card.

She started with a some what slightly dissonant rendition of reetigowlai where the team appeared to go little tangential . From chakravAkham the concert came out beautifully with only dip in the filler AtAna where I felt she did not sing that well.

cakravAkham was nice especially with her neraval her voice blended excellently with the hues of chakravAkham. The submain was a cross of pantuvarAli and amrithavarshini aka mandAri , she sang with a right assertion and a charge that was very classical ,Liked everything in mandAri the excellence was even and well done

The contrast of sahAnA after a near rainy mandAri was very soothing and she brought in a very contemplative mood with a lovely alApana, sivan's krithi was sung at a pace not a pace that disturbed the inherent bhakthi of the krithi.The main was in KAmbOdhi and it is one of the finest krithis of that rAga perhaps she compensated veenai kuppaiyEr here after her early varnam dissonance of the same composer.KoniyADina with its round of cittaswaras and a detailed neraval is definitely a bit taxing krithi and she sang with a very high classical touch. Swaras were bit short but still went well.

And her personal trump card is that she being disciple of sugunA purushOtaman hence she has few great krithis of her guru in her kitty.This bhairavi rAgamAliga was a superb number smt sugunA has woven great words and chosen great rAgas , one of its kind that can compete or may overtake even few thamizh rAgamAligas like santhAnam's 'sArangan marugane' , somu's 'madurai arasAlum' , suryaprakash's 'devargal aRul seidha rAgangale',SKR's 'ranjani ragamALika' , the composition of bhairavi rAgamAliga was really top notch it was 'janaranjakam at its classical best' kind of a number that will turn more heads into classical .Smt sugunA delicately has balanced lyrics and musical aesthetics cleverly crafting the rAga names in there (perhaps need to write more about this composition of sugunA P little later if I have time), I just wish more musicians learn these rAgamAligas of sugunA p.

There was another thamizh number of pApanasam's cittam irangiya daughter neelA rAmamurthi's number 'maNaniLai aRiyEnaDi sakhiyE 'in bhAgeshri was excellent and gAyathri sang very well. The last sugunA P number in behAg was adapted completely from the famous irakkam varamal of GKB, kind of musical muse is the same as GKB's krithi, but words are different and was very good. The lift of Jonpuri could have been more loftier than what this vidushi rendered.

The violinist played very well and I liked all her returns she had the right proportion and never was obtrusive .B.SivarAman observing over last few concerts in the last year has to get more sound coming out from his mrudangam and also be more kAlapramanam conscious of krithis. Tani was very brief

There is always lot of confidence in this vidushi, a little more swarakalpAna magic would have been more well rounded.The concert could have been more than past 08:30 pm, it was a very good to excellent concert by this vidushi.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
It is always exciting to hear that a young musician grows in vidvat and presentation with time. You are right. With someone like Suguna Purushottam as her guru, what more does K. Gayathri need to develop into a consummate vidUshi?
As for the bhairavi rAga mAlikA, wish I could hear it sometime. I have heard Suguna Purushottam sing rAma bhakta hanumAn once. Her compositions, with her being a laya lioness too are worth listening to from vocalists other than her disciples too.
The rItigowLai varNam (one of my favorites) seems to be quite fashionable these days (from what I gather from the song lists).

[keerthi]

10. taruNam idhE vArAi eN swami - behAg - sugunA purushOtaman

This would be SP's translation of samayamide ra rA nA sami - the behag jAvaLi..

does its tune resemble that of the gkb song..?

[rajeshnat]

This would be SP's translation of samayamide ra rA nA sami - the behag jAvaLi..
does its tune resemble that of the gkb song..?

Keerthi
I have not registered deep enough the behAg jAvaLi samayamide , possibly lines and tune of javAli and the number of Smt SugunA may be a closer match than GKB's krithi. You may be right.

[rbharath]

the neraval line for koniyADina should be the anupallavi line 'ninnu minchina deivamu lEdani'

the bEhAg jAvaLi 'taruNam idE vArAi en svAmi' is indeed a translation of 'samayamidE rA rA nA sAmi'. i have heard it before..