Gayathri Venkataraghavan - Nada Inbam - 25th Dec 2010

[bilahari]

Gayathri Venkataraghavan – Vocal
Akkarai Subbulakshmi – Violin
Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan – Drums
Trichy Murali – Ghatam

01. slOkam and then sarasIjanAbha (varNam) – nATTai – Adi
02. srI mahAgaNapati (Sketch, S @ prakAsa) – gowLai – miSra cApu
03. pAhi parvana (R, tAnam, N @ naTapanci krupAlaka, S) – Arabhi – Adi
04. vruttam and then ADiya pAdamE – varALi – Adi (2)
05. vandE vAsudEvan – srI – khaNDa cApu
06. nI dayarAda – vasantabhairavi – rUpakam
07. SankarAcaryam (R, N @ paramA dhyAna, S, T) – SankarAbharaNam – Adi
08. sApasya kausalya – jOnpuri – Adi
09. kanakasaila vihAra – punnAgavarALi – Adi
10. bhAvayAmi gOpAlabAlam – yamunAkalyANi – khaNDa cApu
11. nI nAma (mangaLam) – sowrASTRam – Adi

GV started with a rare nATTai varNam that is interesting for its inclusion of D3. She sang the pUrvAngam in two speeds. It was nice to hear gowLai after a long time. GV’s Arabhi ragam was noteworthy for well executed repeating MPDP phrases and a beautiful glide to the tAra shadjam. The surprise came with an elaborate tAnam (with mrudangam accompaniment). I was very pleased to listen to a tAnam in Arabhi and GV and Akkarai both did a great job. In the Arabhi neraval, GV sang a gorgeous kArvai at the tAra shadjam and an evocative M,,,GR immediately after. The second highlight of the concert was GV’s varALi vruttam, which was elaborate and sung very emotively.The stops at the madhyamam and nishAdam were excellent. I’m afraid I didn’t take down the sAhityam. The subsequent krithi was also beautiful. NI dayarAda was also sung very nicely. GV’s SankarAbharaNam was thoroughly classical and had nice phrases like D,,PMGM – N,,DPMGM. Her brigha sangathis to the tAra shadjam were flawlessly executed, as was the kArvai at the tAra shadjam. Subbarama Dikshitar’s composition was sung well and the neraval and swaras were both quite detailed. I really liked the punnAgavarALi krithi. When GV switched to madhyama shruti, someone immediately requested bhAvayAmi (I wanted to ask for kAtrinilE myself, but she didn’t entertain more requests). But in all seriousness, her bhAvayAmi with the pallavi sung for a while as an alapanai, was really nicely done.

GV sang very well – she has a beautiful voice and good azhuttam. She is classical in her approach and sings with a lot of bhAvam.

Akkarai Subbulakshmi played very beautifully. Her manOdharma responses were all on the money and I liked her sensitive accompaniment for krithis as well. I really loved her tAnam responses and her SankarAbharaNam featured lovely phrases around the tAra shadjam played across the E and A strings. I think she has a really beautiful technique – mellifluous bowing and great fluidity in fingering. Her responses were also crisp (I know there have been complaints she plays too long).

Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan was – to be polite – loud and obnoxious. While his accompaniment to krithis was often tolerable, he banged way too much and it was entirely inappropriate in a small hall like Raga Sudha. His playing was also very poorly matched to GV’s sowkhyam. As Arvind noted, he has a tendency to play multi-avarthana tIrmAnams all the time – not just at the end of krithis but at the end of pallavi and anupallavi as well. The audience, as a result, clapped prematurely in gowLai and yamunAkalyANi, thinking the song was over because of the extended conclusion. His thani was impressive for the consistent increase in volume – if the intensity had been measured, the rise would have almost certainly be found best conforming to an exponential growth pattern. I hardly even noticed Trichy Murali’s presence amidst the percussion mayhem.

It was a perfectly good concert that was ruined by bad percussion.

[mahavishnu]

The composer of Sankaracharyam is Subbarama Dikshitar (not Subbaraya Sastry).

[srikant1987]

I was going to correct the composer too, mahavishnu overtook me !

As Arvind noted, he has a tendency to play multi-avarthana tIrmAnams all the time – not just at the end of krithis but at the end of pallavi and anupallavi as well. The audience, as a result, clapped prematurely in gowLai and yamunAkalyANi, thinking the song was over because of the extended conclusion

A way to combat this would be to begin the next part of the song without waiting for the tIrmAnam to finish. :$

I think V Sumithra did that with the caraNam in bAlagOpAla in her recent Bangalore concert.

[bilahari]

Yikes. Thanks for pointing that out, mahavishnu. It has been a long day and I'm way too tired. And yes I'm making excuses.

[bilahari]

Srikant - true, and I did feel GV was way too charitable to him. If I were her, I'd have pulled an Athira and resumed the main midway through the thani as well.

[VRV]

If I were her, I'd have pulled an Athira and resumed the main midway through the thani as well.

Bilahari,

You are Ha Ha funny

[mahavishnu]

Bilahari: I understand the semantic origins of the name displacement.

What marathon concert attendance and review writing! I appreciate your diligence. Look forward to more over the next few days.