Veena, violin @Milpitas CA

[thanjavooran]

Grand Veena Violin concert under the auspices of Shiradi Sai Parivaar on 19 02 20011
Nirmala Rajasekar Veena
Anuradha Sridhar Violin
Ramesh Srinivasan Mirudhangam

Viriboni Bhairavi
Jaya Jaya Purandaradasa Nattai R P S
Ramachandram MD Vasantha R P N S
Saraswathyam MD Chaya Gowla R P
Brovabaramma T Bahudari R P N S
Parakela S S Kedhara Gowla R P N S
RTP Poorvi Kalyani
Meenakshi MD
Enna thavam saidhanai PS Kapi P S
Sai Bajan Chakra vagam
Thillana Ramanatha Paras
Thiruppugazh Suruti

Few observations:
The entire concert was well planned and selecting kritis from Trinities and in other languages.
Veena vidushi sang at appropriate places with her pleasant voice.
The RTP was in Trivandram style with thanam fit to definite gathi and mirudhangam closely following it.
It was a ragamaliga thanam with Kanada, Thodi and Dharmavathi. For the pallavi she played MD"s gamakriya piece
For the first time I enjoyed the kriti of MD in Chaya Gowla a rare one.

Anuradha was on her best and her thanam in ragamalaga was excellent. The synchronisation of these two instruments was perfect.
There was initially a little problem with the mike arrangement of the violin which was was sorted out immediately.

Ramesh Subramaniam played well though there were fewlslipping in the varnam.
His thani was excellent.

There were nearly 80 rasikas . More children in the age group of 8 to 16 were seated on the floor closely following the concert by putting thalam. In genereal the whole performance was good. At the end all rasikas were offered Kesari, Lemon rice and dried fruits as prasadam.


Thanjavooran 20 02 2011

[srikant1987]

P = pATTu/song?

Was the tani for mInAkShI mE mudam dEhi?

For my taste, I would say MD is a little over-represented in the list, but to each his own.

[thanjavooran]

P is for Pallavi the usual code followed here.
Thani followed the kriti of MD in gamaga kriya.
The vidwan is a disciple of Vellore.

Thanjavooran 21 02 2011

[mahavishnu]

thanks for the review, Sri Thanjavooran. I did not know that you live in the bay area.
Anuradha Sridhar is extremely talented. One of the very best from the Lalgudi school. Is Nirmala Rajasekar also a California resident?

Srikant, 3 Dikshitar kritis out of 12 does not seem like an over-representation. Personally, I wouldn't mind an entire concert of Dikshitar kritis. So as you say, to each his own!

[Sreeni Rajarao]

http://www.nirmalarajasekar.com

Nirmala Rajasekar is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

[mahavishnu]

thanks, Sreeni.

[srikant1987]

Yes, I have seen Smt Nirmala Rajasekar provide veena support to Vidushi Kalpakam Swaminathan.

[jhankAradhwani]

This was by far the best veena concert I have heard in Bay Area over a long time.

There was an electric atmosphere, esp. as the concert progressed. Actually, there were more than 200 people for the most part. The audience gave a standing ovation at the end.

The essence of the Kalpagam baani is the depth that comes with precise pulls of the veena string. The artist could render that fluently even at higher speeds of playing.

The paatanthara was distinctive in many places. For example, in the Bhairavi ata thAla varnam, the swarams were fit to the taala in a different way than usual. Nirmala herself announced that the Bahudhari piece had distinctive sangathis. The less well known Diskhitar kritis are an asset of this school -- Chayagowla was well appreciated.

There were some lilting phrases in the Nattai and the rAgamAlika thAnam.

One notable feature was the sheer confidence and panache that Nirmala shows on stage.

Anuradha Sridhar's performance was quite notable, with the expected Lalgudi style. Her Vasantha, Bahudhari and Purvi were all excellent. The give and take between veena and violin was very pleasant. She accompanied the veena well in my opinion, not always an easy thing to do.