Vijay Siva at bhairavi pondicherry on 13 march

[Ponbhairavi]

I may be excused for this delayed posting.

Uncompromising commitment to the art.

Among musicians, Vijay Siva is a different type. On the concert platform, once he settles down with his sruthi, his commitment to the art is sheer bhakthi and his concentration Yogic He brooks no distraction, be it from the press photographers or mike man. Even he forfeits the usual introduction by the sabha official as is the practice in moffussil concerts. In a way it is good, as any interruption usually creates ripples in the audience-behaviour and makes the highly enjoyable rakti ragas of the post thani session, as mere “sillarai”.
His concert at Pondicherry on Sunday the 13th march under the auspices of Bhairavi was pure classicism. Here is the list:
- Varnam- kanada
- Innum para mugam yeno,begada.roopakam,Duraiswami kavirayar.
- Siva siva siva yena-panthuvarali-roopakam Thyagaraja
- O Jagadamba-ananda bhairavi,adi, Shyama Sastri
- Narasimha Aagascha- mohanam,misra chapu, Dikshithar
- Oraju pochu-Kannadagowla.adi Thyagaraja
- Munnu Ravana- thodi, jampa,Thyagaraja
- Thani in misra jampai( 10 beats cycle)
- Thonru nigazhdadu-Tisranadai, Subramania Bharathi
- SriRanganathar OOnjal,ragamalika, Azhwar
- Karpagame-madyamavathi,adi. Papanasam Sivan.
- Naada vindu kaladhi chenjuruti tirupugazh Arunagiri Nathar
- As it could be seen, there is a judicious mixing of a number of composers(8),languages(-5 tamil),ragas(on the whole about 20 including those in the ragamalikas) thalas (adi,roopakam.misrachapu,jampa) and the deities invoked(Murugan, Sivan, Ambal Narasimhar, Ranganathar , Ramar Motherland), and the change of pace between consecutive songs. From this model, Upcoming junior artists could do well to learn a couple of lessons about concert composition.
- The main piece of the day was Munnu Ravana(quite infrequently heard)in thodi which did not impose too much challenge on the already bruised voice of the singer(in fact he had a bad cough which he however braved valiantly to give out the best). The thani, instead of the routine adi 2 kalai,was in misra jampai thalam (10 beats cycle) which Manoj Siva executed with atomic clock precision. Noteworthy was the fact that, unlike many mridangists, he did not ask the mike man to raise the volume for the thani. In fact at the beginning itself he asked the mike man to reduce the volume, so that the balancing was perfect which made the concert a pleasant hearing experience. Our special thanks to him! May his tribe increase.
- Bharathi’s “thonru nigazhdadu” was refreshing. The Jewel of the concert was Azhwar’s SriRanganathar’s oonjal. Siva adorned the presiding Lord of Srirangam with a beautiful garland of colourful ragas starting with kurinjee. This rarely heard piece stole everybody,s heart. Too bad that carnatic music concerts do not have provision for asking ENCORE and once more.
- Amritha Murali’s violin was unobtrusive and fully supportive. Her raga delineations though short were soaked in melody and her swara replies crisp.
- A highly satisfying concert.
-

[rshankar]

Sri ranganAthar Unjal I think was presented by Smts. MSS and Radha at the samprOkshaNam of the SrIrangam temple. I have heard Sri Vijaya Siva sing it in the same set of rAgas. Cienu, did Sri Venkataraman tune it?

[mahavishnu]

Ponbhairavi avl, thanks for your wonderful report.

Sri Ranganathar Unjal is a delight to listen to. Sri Vijay Siva excels in it, especially the bhavam he brings out in the moving lines about Ranganayaki. I heard him sing it at the Asthika Samajam during the December music season. Almost everyone around me (self included) had moist eyes at the end of the song.

[arasi]

Mahavishnu,
Yes, I've heard Vijaya Siva sing the Unjal too and it is moving ('swing'ingly so!).

Ponbhairavi,
A lovely review! Your poetic sensibilities can be seen here too! I'm now reading your translation of french poems through the ages (in the kavithaigaL thread). Though my french is sketchy, I'm enjoying them. Your translations side by side with the poems are a plus. I see what a natural you are in translating.
Going back to VS's concert, how fitting, his singing DK school's 'tonRu nigazhndadanaittum' in your town! BhArati's soul lingering around your place would have loved hearing it too, I'm sure

T's song is orajUpu jUchEdi nyAyamA.

[rajeshnat]

Lovely review Ponbhairavi (rajagopAlan Sir), there is a definite key takeaway from every VS's concert.

[Ponbhairavi]

Mahavishnu, Rajesh,
thanks
Arasi,
Noted the correction of Orajupu.My knowldege of telegu and its lyrics is entirely hearsay.
T he house where Bharathi lived in Pondicherry is less than 300 metres from our sabha school. We generally make it a point to request all artists to include one Bharathi's song.Of course this was not needed in the present case as Vijay Siva is so shrewd
Thanks for reading (or listening) my french poems translations. I have read your poems book recently released and if you give me your email address , would review that too.

[CRama]

That oonjal song is so enthralling and touching. I have not heard it sung by Vijay Siva but I have heard it sung by MS Amma. Apart from Sreerangam Samproshanam concert, she rendered this most soulfully in Rama Seva Mandali, Bangalore in 1988, IIRC. My sister's marriage took place in 1989 and I put this song as the Oonjal song in the Marriage Video.

[Ponbhairavi]

Is a recording of this unjal song by MSS available? I wish to listen to it. Can anybody help me to find it?

[Ranganayaki]

Thank you for that very nice review, Ponbhairavi! Very interested to learn that you've translated French poetry, I will check that out in the kavithaigal forum, which I rarely visit.

[CRama]

I have uploaded Thiruvazha sung by MS Amma. Pl find below the link for it.
http:/www.sendspace.com/file/9wvyu1

[CRama]

The above link is not correct. Pl see the revised link.http://www.sendspace.com/file/3llkbb

[mahavishnu]

thank you, CRama. What a lovely rendition by Smt MSS!

[MV]

Thanks for the link CRama. I have never heard it before and to hear MS sing it is double pleasure. Thanks for the review too. I heard VS at MMU 2010. He held audience captive with both his music and discussions

[Ponbhairavi]

Thank you C Rama for the link.First time I hear this by MSS As the saying goes( Is it a quotation from ??Johnson?) in the carnatic music field Smt MSS "did not leave anything untouched and she did not touch anything which she did not adorn". My only poignant regret is that how. such a strong votary of tamil isai movement that she was , she did not touch Oothukadu. If she had done carnatic music (thamizhisai) would have been much richer to-day.

[cienu]

Sri ranganAthar Unjal I think was presented by Smts. MSS and Radha at the samprOkshaNam of the SrIrangam temple. I have heard Sri Vijaya Siva sing it in the same set of rAgas. Cienu, did Sri Venkataraman tune it?

Ravi

Yes indeed. It was tuned by Kadayanallur.

[rshankar]

Thanks Cienu.

My only poignant regret is that how. such a strong votary of tamil isai movement that she was , she did not touch Oothukadu.

Cienu - In one of the programs for your mother's dance performances (with the announcement that Smt. MSS would sing the padams), I saw Sri OVK's 'tAyE yaSOdA' as one of the padams/compositions. Any chance of a surviving recording?

[Ranganayaki]

Ponbhairavi,
Thank you for undertaking the translations.. I did go through a couple of poems, and have sent you comments re. "Ballade" by Francois Villon privately, please check your email.

[arasi]

Ranganayaki,
I am reading them now. I like the selections and translations (which make it easier for me to appreciate the poems even more). Nice to know you are enjoying them. Mods, please move these posts to the KavithaigaL thread in the General Discussions section.

[Ponbhairavi]

ranganayaki,
I have not yet received your comments. send me again a copy to the following :
[email protected]
arasi
Your views assume triple importance to me 1 as a poetess (subject content)
2as a French knowing person and an experienced translator(though english) on the translation
3 as an author who has brought out a book recently on the get up and the audio CD
thanks in advance
any criticism from anyone else also most welcome. It is open to all.

[Ranganayaki]

Ponbhairavi, my original message to you may be in your spam folder, which is where I once found a message addressed to me via rasikas.org. If you do find the original and look at it even though I have forwarded the message to you again using your email address, you will find that in the re-sent version, I have edited out my first comment, which is in fact inaccurate. I was uncomfortable with my comment and felt more and more certain that I had misinterpreted your meaning, considering that I am not very strong in Tamil, and looked up the Tamil words and figured that that comment was not valid. I'll be looking forward to hearing back from you.

Arasi, my comments were rather detailed, and I wasn't sure if it would really be of interest to the wider community. So if PB decides to ask me to share it, I will post them, or he can post them too. What I wrote to him was limited to the first poem, "Ballade"