Sumithra-Disciple of Vedavalli @ Nadasurabhi , Blr-19th Dec

[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, 19th December 2010 at 4.15 PM

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

Grand Vocal Concert by

Vidushi Sumithra Vasudev Vocal
(Senior disciple of Sangita Kalanidhi Smt.R.Vedavalli)
Vidwan B.K.Raghu Violin
Vidwan B.C.Manjunath Mridangam
Vidwan S.N.Narayanamurthy Ghatam


All are Welcome

Smt. Sumithra has been learning all the facets of carnatic music from senior musician Sangita Kalanidhi Smt.R.Vedavalli for over 20 years. " I have taught Sumithra the proper traditional way of rendering various kritis and I am confident that she will carry forward this perfect bani to the next generation", declares the proud guru. Sumithra is an A Grade artist of AIR. She has won several awards, prominent among them being Sangeet Natak Academy's "Yuva Puraskar", "Yuva Kala Bharathi" from Bharat Kalachar and "Nada Oli" from Nada Inbam. Being a post graduate degree holder in Sanskrit, Sumithra has set to music several Sanskrit slokas including those of Kalidasa and used them in her performances. She has also accompanied her guru to several countries on concert tours. She has several CDs to her credit. Also, she performs regularly in AIR and various channels of television.

[kssr]

It is this Sunday @4.15 pm. All bangloreans can attend. Promises to be a solid traditional kacheri with a young voice.

[srikant1987]

nerajANa - sAma - Adi - KVI (varNam)
shrI mahAgaNapati - gauLai - cApu - MD (S)
sItamma mAyamma - lalitA - rUpakacApu - T
hariyE sarvOttama - bEgaDa - khaNDacApu - PD (R, N @ nAgashayana ..., S)
yatra yatra raghunAtha kIrtanam - ranjani shlOkam
praNavAmyaham - ranjani - mishra tripuTa - Mysore Vasudevachar
nannu viDici vadalaku - rItigauLai - cApu - T (R)
kanaka vEla - shrI - Adi - Koteeswara Iyer (?)
bAlagOpAla - bhairavi - Adi - MD (R,N @ nIla nIrada sharIra krShNa, ST)
kastUri tilakam - viruttam in sAvEri, kIravANi, behAg and karnATaka dEvagAndhAri
gOkula <something> - KDG - Adi
pavamAna sutuDu - saurAShTra - Adi - T

The varNam uses mainly MD(D)S, instead of MPDS.

Swarams at gauLai were good, the violinist accompanied ably. Sumithra avoided monotnously singing RGM all the time, and use many RM, and MRs, especially in tArasthAyi.

bEgaDa AlApanai by Sumithra was absolutely awesome and thrilling. Raghu's bEgaDa in general was so-so. He seemed to run out of ideas, and used PD PS PR PG PR PS quite a few times, from AlApanai through neraval through swaras.

The ranjani shlOkam was really well done.

Sumithra's rItigauLai was very good, though I some initial slow parts a little boring. Raghu's rItigauLai AlApanai was good too.

bhairavi rAgam was developed pretty much ideally by Sumithra. Every bit of it was enjoyable and meaningful. I especially enjoyed the ni-pivoted phrases, which made me expect rakShabeTTarE. Indeed, just the previous Sunday, I heard such phrases in one Smt Gayathri's gOTTu-vadyam concert, and expected rakShabeTTare then too. And then too, I had got bAlagOpAla only. |(

Raghu's AlApanai of bhairavi indicated a nutritional deficiency in chaste music. He definitely showed himself a capable violinist in the way he followed Sumithra's AlApanai phrases, though he could have been more active during her AlApanais, I felt. He just needs some good nutrition.

I thought Raghu's bEgaDa neraval didn't show sAhityam, but I thought that was because it's an unfamiliar piece. But his nIla nIrada neraval wasn't sAhitya-indicative either. Again, in swarams, he was initially picking the nIla nIrada as pdn instead of with ni itself, so I think he isn't familiar with this krti either. Probably goes to show the lack of exposure.

Manjunath was very able and showed good anticipation. He participated actively in accompanying the songs, and was well supported by Sri Narayanamurthy. Many times I felt the need for gentler, simple sarvalaghu strokes, though. The tani was good, but rather longish. At times (especially during the koraippu) Manjunath's intention was rather vague. Narayanamurthy's kOrvais were shorter and more elegant, I felt. khaNDa naDai was explored in addition to the catushram.

[gardabha_gana]

Nice concert - devoid of theatrics - enjoyed it. My only request is the vidushi should explore the lower octaves more. The bhairavi was really good - and hadn't heard seethamma mayamma in lalitha before.

srikant - were you the guy with glasses who shifted from the left half to the right half during the concert ? I was the guy with the yahoo T-shirt.

[srikant1987]

srikant - were you the guy with glasses who shifted from the left half to the right half during the concert ? I was the guy with the yahoo T-shirt.

Yes. I went there because a few people left after Sumithra's bhairavi AlApanai, and I could get a chair closer to the performers.

Sorry, I don't remember seeing a Yahoo T-shirt there. :$ Where were you sitting?

kssr, did you attend this concert? Or were you in Madras with fellow rasikas.org members?

My only request is the vidushi should explore the lower octaves more.

Very astute, gardabha_gana! I was wondering, why a concert with rakti rAgas, sung with such sincerity, didn't hit that pinnacle of saukhyam as often as it was otherwise bound to -- this could be the reason, indeed! Her voice too, at the shruti she had chosen, seemed very comfortable in the mandra sthAyi ...

[MeghaShyam]

For those like me who are missing the chennai season ( I moved to Bangalore recently ), this concert was extremely gratifying. It was pure music and a reminder that concerts could be sustained for a good 3 hrs or more with chaste music without gimmicks. Sumitra's ragams were apt to the kritis that followed. I was hoping to listen to a few more thukkadas..but the concert ended..although the organisers were I guess ok with it.

Although the violinist ( Raghu ) was good at times, his lack if seriousness to play chaste music was evident in both his playing and body language. The percussion support was good.

Wish we get to hear more of Sumitra's soulful music in Bangalore.

[srikant1987]

his lack if seriousness to play chaste music was evident in both his playing and body language

He didn't come across to me as insincere, somehow.

I did notice that he didn't refuse the beverage offered to him, though.

[kssr]

I was there. In fact I was in Chennai the previous weekend and so could not make it to the rasikas.org meet.

I felt that Seethamma Mayamma was a "strange" Vasantha. It did not strike me that it was Lalitha. Probably if she had given a raga outline, even I might have recognised. Overall it was a very satisfactory concert. Sound system also worked without any hiccups or harshness.

I was also quite impressed by the pakkavadhyams . Obviously they are not the best in the world. But they were very sincere and worked hard to give their best. I noticed that in Reethigowlai the violist repeated the same phrases over and over again. But most of the time he followed Sumithra very closely. Mridangam was bubbling and quite good. Even at this stage, if these young artists get an opportunity to learn from senior artists for a couple of years, I am sure their performance will acquire that much more polish and finesse.

I expected a Tiruppavai from Sumithra, this being Margazhi and she from the Vedavalli stock. Especially yesterday was "aazhi mazhai kaNNa" and in varali, that itself is a masterpiece.

[rshankar]

Ms. Sumithra's guru (Prashant, correct me if I am wrong) sings sItammA mAyammA in lalitA (presumably the rAga the song was originally composed in). Similarly, she and her disciples sing Sri AK's yAro ivar yAro in sAvEri and not bhairavi (so do Sri TNS and his disciples).

[srikant1987]

Ms. Sumithra's guru (Prashant, correct me if I am wrong) sings sItammA mAyammA in lalitA (presumably the rAga the song was originally composed in). Similarly, she and her disciples sing Sri AK's yAro ivar yAro in sAvEri and not bhairavi (so do Sri TNS and his disciples).

Yes yes, Ravi. I've already heard sItamma mAyamma from Sumithra earlier. I think it was requested before this concert (I saw someone give her a chit and she smiled looking at the request).

I would have liked ArO ivar yArO, because sAvEri and bhairavi have so little in common that there's bound to be a lot more substance in getting to hear that one.

It occurred to me to ask for it after she finished sItamma mAyamma -- it also occurred to me to ask for a tAnam after rItigauLai. But I wasn't in mood for a lot of shuddha rishabha, what with a mild headache since morning! The tAnam probably wouldn't have gone well with the kriti either (a baDalika dhIra or cEra rAvadEmi might fit better after a tAnam).

In addition, they also sing cEtulAra shrngAramu in khpriya, nagumOmu ganalEni in AbhEri (that is, with D1), and so on.

I liked the way Sumithra sang the mangalam yesterday. The nee was stretched and "nAma" came a little later on -- with the nA contracted -- perhaps making nAma sound more like one word. Similarly, there's a different pAThAntara for kaNakaNa ruci rA (believed to be more traditional) etc.

[hariniraghavan]

The violinist of course made a sincere attempt in giving a good following. He needs training from a senior artist, particularly for neraval. However every one has his own capacity. Both in Ritigowla and Bhairavi his sancharas were highly repetitive. His Begada was good. Most of these youngsters are not full time artists, they have a job and therefore are not able to concentrate fully on music. Much more of training and listening may be helpful.
Harini.

[srikant1987]

SO MANY OF US attended this concert!

Probably we should all meet up around the next Nadasurabhi monthly. Maybe we should have had those Rasikas ID cards here too, eh?

[kssr]

Saw following reviews

http://kpjayan.wordpress.com/


Also,

http://www.jagrancityplus.com/storydeta ... &cityid=11