Sri. T.M. Krishna @Gayana Samaj, Bangalore on 01/02/2011

[squims]

Vocal: Sri. T.M. Krishna
Violin: Smt. Charulatha Ramanujam
Mridangam: Sri. Arjun Kumar
Kanjari: Sri. Guru Prasanna

1. Rama ninne namminaanu[S] - Huseni - Adi - Tyagaraja
2. Sadinchene[R] - Arabhi - Adi - Tyagaraja
3. Meena Lochana[R N] - Dhanyasi - Mischra chapu - Syama Sastri
Neraval @ gAmapAlini bhavAni candrakalAdhari
4. Paridhaanamichchitthe - Bilahari - Khanda Chapu - Patnam Subramanya Iyer
5. Raagasudhaarasa[R N S T] - Andolika - Adi - Tyagaraja
Neraval and Swarams @ sadAshiva mayamagu nAdOnkAra swara vidulu jIvan muktulani tyAgarAju teliyu
6. RTP (Chaturraagamaalika)- Shankarabharanam, Todi, Kalyani, Darbar - Adi(2 kalai)
Pallavi line: SankarAbharaNanai azhaitthOdi vAdI kalyANi darbArukku
7. Vagalaadi bodhanalagu (Javali) - Behag - Rupakam - Tirupati Narayanaswamy
8. Ososi (Padam) - Mukhari - Mishra Chapu
9. Venkatachalanilayam [R] - Sindhu Bhairavi - Adi - Purandaradasa
10. Sevikkavendumaiyya - Andolika - Adi - Gopalakrishna Bharathi
11. Vande Meenakshi (nottuswaram) - Shankarabharanam[the major western scale] - Adi
12. Mangalam - Sourasthram - Adi - Tyagaraja


It was a very patchy concert; Shruti, taala and laya mishaps aplenty.
Everything started out well. The Huseni was very pleasing in fact, but soon after that things started to go downhill.
The Arabhi was over before it even began. The Dhanyasi was strictly OK.
Andolika was a repeat for anyone who had attended BJ's concert on Sunday. It was hard to accept TMK's elaboration of the raagam, while Jayashri's far superior(in my opinion) exploration of the same was still fresh in my mind. The krithi rendition was weird. I lost track of the number of times the tempo changed arbitrarily. The taalam speed for the neraval went form super slow to super fast and then became slow again for the beginning of the swarams and by the time he was done, the taalam had gone haywire. Not only was the tempo wrong, but he missed the taalam itself, and the eduppu of the krithi line went for a toss as well. Couldn't even believe it!
The RTP turned out to be very enjoyable. The transitions in the raaga aalapanai and taanam were great. The pallavi was really refreshing too(I heard this was popularised by Ariyakudi?).
The Javali and Padam in the tukkuda section were welcome. TMK apologised for the repeat Andolika but said he had to fulfill a request that he'd avoided for a long time. The short Sindhu Bhairavi aalaapanai was just hopelessly out of shruti in the taara sthaayi phrases. I wish Krishna would refrain from these when his voice isn't cooperating. Nottswaram and Mangalam, and for the first time ever, I was happy that a TMK concert was over.
Now, I have deliberately withheld from commenting about the supporting artists so far, because I feel this concert warrants a detailed individual impression I had of each of them.
First things first, credit where it is due. Charulatha Ramanujam was easily the best thing about this concert. She is such a sensitive player. I felt that some of her aalaapanais were were an improvement over TMK's and her taanam playing definitely left me thirsty for more.
Guruprasanna on the kanjari did the best he could. No complaints. Was pretty impressed with his thani playing as well.
Now, to come to the WORST part of this concert... Sri. Arjun Kumar. He is, by a large margin, THE most intrusive mridangam artist that I've ever had the misfortune of listening to. I have listened to him on a few occasions earlier, and while I've always found him a bit too loud , nothing could have prepared me for the absolutely dismal show today. It was like he was playing a thani all through the concert. There was absolutely no correlation between what he was playing and the rest of the aritstes on the stage. He was doing whatever he wanted. Some unimaginably horrible tisram, khandam phrases etc. found their way into the krithis, neraval and swarams. He made his existence painfully obvious for the entire length of the concert. There is no excuse for an experienced artiste like him to be performing like this. Dismal.

Overall, with the exception of the opening Huseni and the RTP , the rest of the concert fell flat for me. A real disappointment.

[thenpaanan]

I have never heard of TMK losing Sruti in a concert. Is this a new thing or has this been observed in past concerts of his? Obviously he takes a lot of risks and sometimes things come out pear-shaped but this case seems a bit different. The concert itself is very traditionally organized if you get past the beginning Huseni piece, which is unusual for TMK these days. Was he trying to do something radical with the changes in kAlapramANam in rAgasudhArasa or was he just having a very bad day?

-Then Paanan

[muvvagOpAla]

I have to begin by congratulating squims for a very frank review. Sri TMK's kAlapramANam was really arbitrary today. Blips in shruti were comparatively fewer, but by no means negligible (sadly). Regular attendees of Sri TMK's concert may agree upon the fact that he generally tends to really speed his mElkAla neravals and swarams up and somehow miraculously returns to the pace of the original piece. It's just that today he totally oversped! And yes, the last swaram in AndhOlika was a dhrutam off. However, for folks like me who didn't attend Smt.BJ's concert, AndhOlika was a welcome main piece, though I personally feel that the rAgam is too scalar to deserve that spot (To each his own, I agree). I didn't like the RTP all that much either - just a big juggle of rAgams while compromising on the sowkhyam of each. I felt that his dhanyAsi was amongst the better pieces in the concert. As a padams fan, I was not happy with the mridangist's treatment of the padam at all. Even the rendition wasn't much to rave about, though I loved the fact that he acknowledged a padam request at 8:55pm. Really sweet of him!

Mention MUST be mention of Sri Guruprasanna. He was exquisite during the tani, and at one stage, reminded me of the revered Sri Harishankar in his response to the mridangist. It is very nice to see a very good set of young khanjira artistes offlate. Sri Guruprasanna really was the take-home for me from the concert. That said, Smt. Charulatha was her ever-fluid amazing self. Everything was "served fresh" and was perfect. She very much defined the role of an accompanist, and as squims correctly mentioned, left the rasika wanting for more. I have to again concur with squims on the mridangist. The lesser said, the better. It was interesting to see Sri TMK pick out quiet a few of those who were recording his concert! A gentleman behind me got "caught", and didn't sound too happy about it!!!

Personally, though I would write this off as an off-case for Sri TMK, I have all along thought that he needs to "mellow down" his extreme rush of adrenalin and pump in more sowkhyam where necessary.

[Enna_Solven]

I didn't like the RTP all that much either - just a big juggle of rAgams while compromising on the sowkhyam of each.

This ragamalika RTP sung/played by KVN/TNK is a treat. Both are CD tracks, hence I cannot share. No hurry, each of the big one is well done.

Personally, though I would write this off as an off-case for Sri TMK, I have all along thought that he needs to "mellow down" his extreme rush of adrenalin and pump in more sowkhyam where necessary.

It would be interesting to know what people said of SSI when he was young and sang the way he did. Boat Mail speed! Refer his 1940's concert from Sangeethapriya. I think TMK is still young; if he mellows down now, he will be vendaikkai vadakkal in vilakkennai (ladies finger-okra fried in castor oil) when he is older

[Enna_Solven]

There was absolutely no correlation between what he was playing and the rest of the aritstes on the stage.

Antidote: Enjoy VR's playing for the mAnji piece:

http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... &start=165 link by mahavishnu

[srikant1987]

squims, it is kanjira, not kanjari.

[arasi]

srikant,
Now, are we going to say sAdam/sORu is not anna? vINai is not vINe and tambura is not tamburi??

Thanks all of you for your discerning comments. Yes, the husEni was a very pleasing opener for me (no, I didn't hear BJ). The old (familiar to me) RTP was energetic and very appealing. The transitions were smooth. There were some 'sabhAsh' moments in the concert but it was an uneven concert in tempo and tautness. sAdhincanE is a gem. Yet, I'm not keen on listening to any panca ratnam kruti in a concert (my quirk). Yes, his vagalADi and OsOsi were enjoyable.
I needed two AndOlikAs for sure! I had a tiring day, but since I hadn't heard TMK in a while, I was keen on going. Though I know my AndOlikA, I had a mental block about it when he started singing it, and as if addressing me (I'm sure there were others who could have made him comment on it), TMK sweetly counseled: yOcanai paNNa vENDAm, santOshamAi AndOlikA kELungO! Don't fret over it, enjoy your AndOlikA
As for Charulatha, she excelled. Yes, a true accompanist.
Yes, Arjun kumar can be intrusive in that he plays without a stop.Yet, he added liveliness to the concert. I feel that way because where I sat, it wasn't loud either. Guru Prasanna's playing pleases me no end and yes, how emphatic his strokes and how evocative!

[kunthalavarali]

I understand that many had to return as the hall was full. They could not even enter the auditorium!

[muvvagOpAla]

It would be interesting to know what people said of SSI when he was young and sang the way he did. Boat Mail speed! Refer his 1940's concert from Sangeethapriya. I think TMK is still young; if he mellows down now, he will be vendaikkai vadakkal in vilakkennai (ladies finger-okra fried in castor oil) when he is older

They'd probably said the same thing? I'm sorry I didn't understand the ladies-finger parallel here, but yesterday's rush of swarams in AndhOlika was at the speed of light, far faster than whatever I've heard from Sri TMK so far!

I understand that many had to return as the hall was full. They could not even enter the auditorium!

Yes, that's true! I was amongst the luckier ones that way!

There were some 'sabhAsh' moments in the concert but it was an uneven concert in tempo and tautness.

That, in my opinion, succinctly sums up the concert! A one-line review, if you will.

[squims]

squims, it is kanjira, not kanjari.

The Kannadigas call it Kanjari and since I've grown up calling the instrument kanjari, it has stuck.

Antidote: Enjoy VR's playing for the mAnji piece:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=242&start=165 link by mahavishnu

For lack of a better word, that is MUSIC to my ears! Hehe

I'm glad to see that others agree that it was a bad day for the artistes, because some of the maama maamis went 'First class pa. Kekkave vendaam!' when I spoke to them after the concert.

[arasi]

Language alert: 'kEtkavE vENDAm!' is just an expression which means 'unquestionably' and here it means, unquestionably a first class concert.
Those who are not that familiar with tamizh, please don't transalte it literally and think that the concert wasn't worth hearing

[squims]

Haha didn't think about how it could be interpreted that way Arasi ma'am!

[gardabha_gana]

My 2 cents (or paise):
I went to the concert with low expectations. Of late - I don't enjoy TMK's concerts as much as I used to as they are not in the traditional format. IMO - this was more of a traditional concert than the recent ones I have attended. The Huseni starter was nice - seems ages since I heard a starter varnam from TMK. I enjoyed the Dhanyasi alapana and thought Meena Lochani was slower than the few other renditions I have heard. My wife was bothered by the LOUD mridangam during the piece. I enjoyed BJ's andolika more than TMK's. Somehow his neravals have become predictable with weaving through the octaves. The RTP was indeed nice - and charulatha's violin accompaniment was outstanding. squims - I am sure KVN's RTP is out there on the web - I have seen it for sure. I hope given his talent and superb voice range Vidwan. TMK channelizes it in the right direction. I could not help notice that there were no pratimadhyama ragas elaborated (other than the kalyani in the RTP).

[muvvagOpAla]

Somehow his neravals have become predictable with weaving through the octaves.

That's probably Sri TMK's style, I guess.

I have a feeling that based on where one sat, the mridangist appeared too loud/sufficiently loud. Could it also be because the mic volume was louder than it should have been?

[harimau]

srikant,
Now, are we going to say sAdam/sORu is not anna? vINai is not vINe and tambura is not tamburi??

As Purandaradasa himself said: "Tamburi meetithava bhavabdhi thatithava".

[squims]

I have a feeling that based on where one sat, the mridangist appeared too loud/sufficiently loud. Could it also be because the mic volume was louder than it should have been?

Like I've already said, the loudness wasn't the only problem (and I was the farthest possible from a speaker anyway). His playing of unwanted phrases that felt like jerks during the kriti renditions were the problem.

[ananthapuram]

The "emperor" has no clothes and the veil is coming off as well. He has spies watching for picture takers in the audience.

[Enna_Solven]

I'm sorry I didn't understand the ladies-finger parallel here, but yesterday's rush of swarams in AndhOlika was at the speed of light, far faster than whatever I've heard from Sri TMK so far!

veNDaaikkAi is going to be slimy when cooked, if we use castor oil it is going to be even more so. Likewise I said he will become too smooth in course of time if he is not crisp now.

"veNDaikkAi-cooked-in-castor-oil" was used by vAriAr in one of his upanyasams.