Ganesh Prasad - Violin
Patri Satishkumar - Mridangam
Jones auditorium, St. Edwards University Oct 16, 2010
Duration: ~3 hours 30 minutes
Song list:
1. gajAnanayutam - chakrAvaham (R)
2. neemadi callagA - Ananda bhairavi (R,Ss)
3. gaTTigAnu nanu ceyi - begadA (R)
4. srI vidyAm siva vAma bhAga nilayAm followed by
mAmava meenAkshi - varAli (r) - sub-main
5. kaNNAra kaNDEnE - mukhari (brief R)
6. vara rAgalya - chenchu kAmbhoji
7. pAlinchu kAmakshi - madhyamAvathi (R, admonition, N, S)
neraval at 'rAjamukhi syAmakrishna nuta'
8. heccharikagA rArA - YK
9. RTP-Saraswathi (r,tT with mridangam)
'saraswati namostutE paradEvatE saradindu sama vadanE'
swarams in mOhanam, dhanyasi, Arabhi and hindOlam (S, s, S, s)
10. molari javvanamuna pUvaka-khamas? - I could neither get the words nor the rAgam
11. smariso sarvada hariya - HK
12. takkuvemi-?
13. patiki hArateerE - surutti
devi narayani nomOstutE - madhyamAvathi
(RNST - elder brother, rnst - younger brother)
Let me get this out of my system first. Austin audience is rank bad. We have two CM concerts this fall. Why CM, we don't have any Hindustani concerts, so only 2 Indian classical music concerts. A whopping two concerts! And what do they do? They keep getting up all through the concert, paying no heed either to the other people or to the artists. And the stupid heavy double doors bang shut each time one enters or leaves. They don't even hold it and close it gently. Indians are clueless people, clueless as to what they hold in their hand.
This got so bad that Sreeramprasad stopped Ganesh Prasad from starting violin return after his (SP's) alapana, and said "Please don't get up during alapana or krithi singing. It distracts us. Please change your habit!" Ouch!
Knowing our tendency, they will anyway do it again next concert. I am not talking about elderly people. Everyone knows they cannot sit for long. It is the 0-60 crowd.
Concert:
It was an awesome experience. Both were in full flow and gave a wholesome concert. Patri was loud compared to his usual sensitive playing. I thought the brothers didn't get full support from the violinist. He didn't shadow them or reply them adequately (I recognized it in spite of my meager knowledge); but his solo essays were very nice.
Highlights of the concert were varali sub-main, madhyamavathi main and the RTP. The brothers started the concert with a brisk gajananayutam after a brief alapana by Sreeramprasad. They followed it with neemadi callaga. The first three items were good but they really warmed up during the varAli. Ravikumar's alapana was very touching in the way varAli does. Violin return was equally pleasing. The neraval at 'syAme Sankari' was fantastic. Sreeramprasad's upper sthAyi reaches were mesmerizing and very melodious.
The mukhAri and chenjukAmbhOji pieces followed. I wish they had taken up mukhAri for main. Are there any devi songs in mukhAri? The chitta swarams (?) in vara ragA laya were sung in many delightful variations.
The madhyamAvathi alapana was very soothing. I think SP would have done better had he not been irritated by banging doors. They did neraval at a new place, at rAjamukhi instead of usual kAntamagu pEru. This showed as SP faltered twice. After thani, he joined back with kAntamagu and stopped realizing his mistake :$ Ravikumar continued nonchalantly.
Ravikumar's Saraswathi alApana was excellent. I wonder how he could pack so much into this rare rAgam. Violin return was equally good. I like this rAgam though there are not many songs in it. The intricacies of the pallavi structure are lost on layam-less me. I concentrated on getting/enjoying the ragams in the ragamalika swarams and I think I got them all right this time.
A fine concert.
