Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.2010

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kssr
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Joined: 30 Nov 2009, 15:28

Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.2010

Post by kssr »

Nadasurabhi Cultural Association, (Regd.)
662, 6th Cross, 17th Main , 3rd Block, Koramangala, Bangalore.560 034.
Phone: 25539368. Email:[email protected]

Cordially invites you for the monthly Programme on
Sunday, 15th August 2010 at 4.15 PM

Venue: The Indian Heritage Academy Hall,
6th Block, Near Police Station, Koramangala, Bangalore. 560 095.

A Concert on Special Compositions of
Muthuswami Dikshitar by

Sangeetha Choodamani Kalaimamani
Vidushi Suguna Purushothaman Vocal
Vidushi Charulatha Ramanujam Violin
Vidwan Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma Mridangam
Vidwan Vyasa Vittala Khanjira

All are Welcome

Smt. Suguna Purushothaman is a prominent musician from the Musiri Sishya Parampara. An uncompromising singer of the pristine style of Carnatic music, her career spans over 40 years. Her style of singing incorporates the Bhava laden manodharma of Musiri Subramania Iyer and the sparkling authority of Semmangudi Sri .R.Srinivasa Iyer. A specialist in the rendition of Ragam Tanam Pallavi, Smt.Suguna Purushothaman specialises in singing rare and difficult Pallavis including Dwitala Avadhana (singing with 2 different talams on either hands) which has fetched her numerous accolades from eminent organizations all over the world. She is an A-Top artist with AIR, a respected and beloved performer, a successful guru and a prolific composer. She has won numerous awards from Central and State governments. Awards from Madras Music Academy alone include those for Vaggeyakara (Composer), Bodhaka (guru), Best Senior Musician, Best Pallavi- 4 years and MLV award. She has to her credit several musical productions as well.

For detailed reviews, news and articles on Carnatic
Music visit http://nadasurabhi.org

kssr
Posts: 1596
Joined: 30 Nov 2009, 15:28

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by kssr »

Concert review of Vidushi Suguna Purushothaman.

Sangita Choodamani, Kalaimamani, Vidushi Suguna Purushothaman was at Koramangala to present a concert on Special compositions of Muthuswamy Dikshitar, for Nadasurabhi on 15th August 2010. Her specialization in kritis of various vaggeyakaras was reason enough for presenting a program on Dikshitar’s compositions. As she said, each one of the composition of Dikshitar is special in its own way. Yet some are marked as special due to specific reasons, like they are group kritis like the Navavarana kritis, Vibhakti kritis, Abhayamba kritis or they are special because they are styled in the Hindustani raga pattern or in a particular raga that is the only kriti available and so on.
ImageShe started with Sri Mahaganapathiravatu maam in raga Goule which marked as an invocation, for, this is the song with which Dikshitar starts his Navavarana kritis with. Next she presented Akhilandeshwariyai in Arabhi raga. This is one of Dikshitar’s Devi kritis. Here Akhilandeshwari is the diety for Trilokya Mohana Chakra. Sree Swaminathaya namastein Kamach followed next. This was on lord Subrahmanya composed at Swamimalai. Next piece was in Hindolam a song composed in drupad style by Dikshitar. This was due to his training in Hindustani ragas and long exposure to North Indian music when he was at Kasi. He was also deeply influenced and impressed by the melody of Hindustani ragas. Vidushi Suguna presented the raga alapana using the sancharas that were documented in Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini of Subbarama Dikshitar, as how Dikshitar originally meant the ragam and the song was also presented in the same way in a slow tempo filled with melody. Muraharena Mukundena is supposed to be the only composition in Suddha Mukhari which the artist presented with a neat sketch of the raga, which is a janya of 1st mela – Kanakambari, which takes all sudda swaras. And she said the presentation was already certified as perfect by the stalwart vidwan Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer many years ago! Demonstrating that Dikshitar did not just ahere to the usual Adi, Rupaka and Chapu talas, she presented a kriti in Matya tala which was in praise of ambal. The kriti was Balambike paahi in Manoranjani raga, once again a very rare raga, yet another speciality of Dikshitar – to compose in rare ragas. Raga mukhari was selected as the main for the day. She chose Pahimam Ratnachala Nayaka –requesting the lord of Ratnachala to protect his devotees. This was followed by swaraprathara and a neat tani avartanam by Vidwans Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma (mridangam) and Vyasa Vittala (khanjira). The artist was very well supported by Vidushi Charulatha Ramanujam on the violin. The concert concluded with Paduvome, a song of Subramanya Bharati. The program was well attended.
At the back was a video show of the details of the kritis presented like, the lyrics, the place where it was composed, the diety in whose praise it was composed and the chakra it represented and so on. This was a good job done by Smt. Kumuda and Sri Sampath.
-Written by Smt.Harini Raghavan

My comments: Quite unfortunately, Smt.Suguna had a serious throat problem on the day of the concert. It was however obvious that they had made serious preparation for the special programme, evidenced by the slide show by her daughter Kumuda, going side by side with the concert. Without doubt mami's vidwat did shine through her difficulties. Especially note worthy was her amazing sense of humour, which kept the interest going among the audience. There was also a very good attendance. Some of her humour pieces:

1. "Ida vida normalla nanna paaduven" (with a smile)- Normally I will sing better than this!
2. After a brief alapana in one of the initial pieces, " Ragam paadalle- thondaiyai clear pannikkiren"- I am not singing Ragam- I am just clearing my throat!
3. While starting aaduvome paalu paaduvome- " Audience um sernthu paada koopida vendiyathu thaan" - I may have to ask the audience too to join in the singing!
4.After Aaduvome Pallu Paaduvome, " Inda vayasule kooda aadidalam pola irukku; paada thaan mudiyalle"- Even at this age, it appears that it is easier even to dance, than to sing"!

Very sportive lady. Highly knowledgeable and compensated for her throat problem with anecdotes, details about the kritis and her experience with her gurus Musiri IyervaaL and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by rajeshnat »

kssr wrote:Next piece was in Hindolam a song composed in drupad style by Dikshitar. This was due to his training in Hindustani ragas and long exposure to North Indian music when he was at Kasi..
Was the hindOlam krithi neerajAkshi .

kssr
Posts: 1596
Joined: 30 Nov 2009, 15:28

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by kssr »

Yes it was Neerajakshi Kamakshi. The Hindolam ragam she sang was very special and quite unlike what we normally hear. Interestingly, Charulatha's reply was in our traditional style.
After singing the pallavi Smt.Suguna explained how the opening line should be sung in an ascending scale in a flat way without gamakam. The song was indeed very soothing and meditative.

ragam-talam
Posts: 1896
Joined: 28 Sep 2006, 02:15

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by ragam-talam »

Sounds like a great concert. Suguna mami's vidwat is top-class.
So many rare kritis and ragas! kssr, do you know if this concert was recorded at all?

mahakavi
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Joined: 29 Dec 2009, 22:16

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by mahakavi »

You want a bootlegged one--right?

hariniraghavan
Posts: 170
Joined: 15 Mar 2010, 20:48

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by hariniraghavan »

Yes. We recorded the concert. But owing to Mami's troubled throat condition, it is not appealing to listen to it, and I think we should not expose this to others, Mami being such a senior and learned artist.

Harini.

cienu
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Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 11:40

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by cienu »

Nice to hear about the concert from kssr and Harini.
Suguna Mami is truly an ocean of knowledge. Nothwithstanding voice problems, artists of Mami's calibre, still manage to do a neat presentation.

ragam-talam
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Joined: 28 Sep 2006, 02:15

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by ragam-talam »

Harini, I understand. I haven't heard shuddha mukhari before, hence the question. Is an audio clip of this ragam available anywhere?

kssr
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Joined: 30 Nov 2009, 15:28

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by kssr »

ragam-talam wrote:Harini, I understand. I haven't heard shuddha mukhari before, hence the question. Is an audio clip of this ragam available anywhere?
I remember one more joke from mami. She mentioned that this song by MD is the only one known to her in shuddha mukhari. The other mukhari is also a good mukhari (nalla mukhari), she quipped :)

The recording, I think is available with the organisers, in audio cassette form. After taking permission from mami, I will see if I can organise to pass on short clips to interested people. First the conversion to mp3, etc., may also take some time. Those interested may send a request to me thro' rasikas ( what specifically they are interested in). I think the procedure is known.

hariniraghavan
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Joined: 15 Mar 2010, 20:48

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by hariniraghavan »

Ragam-talam, I will try to do the needful. It may take some time.
Harini.

arunk
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Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by arunk »

r-t: You can also search for muraharena on sangeethapriya.

This raga is interesting from a historical perspective. In the oldest mela texts "mukhari" was the first and foremost and said to employ all "suddha" swaras - the suddha swaras of the grama system (so a raga with the name "muklhari" was considered important even in the grama system i.e. pre-mela era).

Once mela system came the suddha-swaras were R1, G1, D1, N1 (i.e. including the vivadi G1 and N1) - this happens in Ramamatya's work itself which is one of the earliest. And thus there is a suddha-mukhari which was assigned these making it the precursor to kanakangi/kanakambari. Later on it became under it in the asampoorna system and Dikshitar who followed it dutifully, composed a song in it.

But there is a much higher probability (and all probability if one uses math and consonance principles) that the suddha-swaras were closer to kharaharapriya and thus the old mukhari was perhaps closer (but not necessarily same) to today's popular mukhari than this suddha-mukhari, which could have been a product of theory. The reason for postulating this discrepancy is that there is a "gap" in our recorded history between the tail-end of the grama system (Sangitaratnakara and commentaries on it e.g. by kallinatha) and the early mela ones (ramamatya, vidyaranya). Although it is still perplexing, it is almost like the early mela-authors did not know precisely the nature of old suddha-swaras of the grama-system, and almost like "rediscovered" them on the veena, and simply assigned the suddha label to the "first" swara of that kind (i.e. first rishaba, first gandhara etc.). It is either that or there is no inconsistency i.e. original gramas used R1/G1/D1/N1 vivadi-and-all, and that the math+consonance-principles that points to the old swaras being closer to kharaharapriya is somehow incorrect/misapplied.

Arun

Lakshman
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Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by Lakshman »

There is a shuddhamukhAri rendition here:

http://sangeethamshare.org/sunil/gurugu ... thaman.mp3

MV
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Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by MV »

Sounds like an interesting concert-really enjoyed Arun's analysis as well.
Yes,I would be interested in a recording and No, I don't know the procedures.

kssr
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Joined: 30 Nov 2009, 15:28

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by kssr »

MV wrote:, I don't know the procedures.
On the left panel, there is an envelope sign near my name kssr. If you click the envelope, you can send a message to my email. Pls. let me know which portion of the concert you want.

kssr
Posts: 1596
Joined: 30 Nov 2009, 15:28

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by kssr »

You can download from here.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ftdbsrgfllanvgy

Min 29-50 Hindolam
Min 50-61 Suddha Mukhari

Our thanks to all for their permission.

ragam-talam
Posts: 1896
Joined: 28 Sep 2006, 02:15

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by ragam-talam »

kssr: Thank you so much! Suguna mami is in very good form. The manoranjani and shuddha-mukhari are gems.

Can someone explain matya thalam please? (this is for the manoranjani kriti she sang)

bilahari
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Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by bilahari »

I believe matya talam is 1-0-1; i.e., a laghu followed by a drutham followed by a laghu.

hariniraghavan
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Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by hariniraghavan »

Yes. I-0-1. One chaturasra laghu one drutha and another chatutasra laghu.
Harini.

rajeshnat
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Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by rajeshnat »

kssr wrote:You can download from here.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ftdbsrgfllanvgy
Our thanks to all for their permission.
kssr and harini
Thanks for sharing the recording . I had a chance to hear the first 2 songs , voice depleted but I really liked her hindOlam(musiri's poignant touch) . Appreciate and kudos to Smt SugunA P for sharing thru you , despite her voice problems

ragam-talam
Posts: 1896
Joined: 28 Sep 2006, 02:15

Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by ragam-talam »

bilahari and harini - thanks for the info.
I also found this video that provides a visual explanation for matya: http://youtu.be/KKyuUJ7WX9U

I wonder why this talam is not that widely used in kritis.

vasanthakokilam
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Re: Suguna Purushothaman @ Nadasurabhi, Bangalore on 15.8.20

Post by vasanthakokilam »

r-t, it is not just matya. Other than the common ones, Adi, Rupakam, Kanda chapu, Misra chapu and to some extent Ata, rest are not widely used. Kanda Chapu can be likened to Misra Jampa and Misra chapu can be likened to Tisra Triputa. That is pretty much it. Rest of the 30 are relatively rare. I find a few Adi songs to be a better fit with tisra matya.

In that youtube video Anirudh nicely shows the kriyas for Chathusra matya and then plays to it. But I have a suspicion that he can play the same thing and consider it misra jampa. Mridangists do not seem to give much significance to the anga structure of the thala. What is important to them is the gathi and avartha count.

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