Cleveland Festival 2011

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 27 Apr 2011, 06:10

Arasi, thanks for all your reports. I haven't followed any of the festival due to work constraints

Did our forumite Ajit play with Sri Ramani? I spotted him in the photographs, sitting just behind the maestro during the pancharatnams.

Did anyone see the BMK/Ravikiran concert?

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 27 Apr 2011, 06:52

Mahavishnu,
Only Gopi Sundaram. I don't know what Ajit looks like. Will take a look at the ArAdhana pics again.

I could only hear part of the concert of Amruta Murali and Vidya Kalyanaraman, a last minute replacement for V. Sumitra (Vedavalli's student) who couldn't make it to the concert. They sounded very good together. It was their duet debut in Cleveland!

Gayatri Venkataraghavan sang an enchanting varALi and a kharaharapriya. Dr. Narmada and Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan were terrific. . Sydney Balashankar was the other artiste on stage. He had some trouble at first with his mrudangam but he joined in and sounded very good.

I'm listening to the 'young' ninety three year old now. Shrikantan's sanchArams in the upper notes is something to be heard. A strong, crystal clear voice, even today. Tiruchi Sankaran is playing a super tani now and Shrikantan's sonorous appreciation of it adds to the sound of Sankaran's deft fingers.
......
Sundaram called him the pole star to those who navigate the seas of CM. A very touching tribute to the grand old man...

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 27 Apr 2011, 20:46

The late night free-for-all discussion on pataantaram/advances in CM/Guru selection/... with Q&A moderated by Neyveli/Nagai/Mannargudi/VVS/.. was delightful with senior vidwans participating..

Kudos to iCarnatic for transmitting it nicely...

suma · Post by **suma** » 27 Apr 2011, 21:21

mohan wrote:Kudos to the organisers for bringing out such a alrge scale event for Carnatic music. Was interested to find out who won the overall concert competition? I understand the winner will get concerts at the Music Academy and Shanmughananda Sabha.

Mohan, Sriranjani Darbar won. She is a student of Suguna Varadachari and is based out of Texas. Also learns from Vittal Ramurthy's sister (i forgot her name), who is local in texas area.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 27 Apr 2011, 22:07

Listening to Drs. Nirmala Sundararajan and Subhashini Parthasarathy as I'm moving around in the house. Haven't stopped in my tracks except to hear Anuradha Sridhar's violin reply to kharaharapriya AlaApanA. An appealing one, following Dr.Narmada's very good response to Gayathri Venkataraghavan's impressive exposition of the rAgam yesterday.To day, the singing did not capture my imagination, I'm afraid. Vocal duet isn't my cup of tea. That could be it. I have already heard Amruta and Vidya yesterday which was good. Two in a row is perhaps what it is.
Waiting for Anand's tani.

CML,
Yes, I agree with you. The lounge thing was very good--all that interaction, and the streaming was not punctuated by pauses or blaring ads! pATAntaram and bANi were the words tossed around. Do they mean one and the same? Should students (and musicians?) stick to pATAntaram without deviating from it? Should sangatis be put down as in the pancharatnams (heaven forbid!) and so on. NSG ruled. He is a treasure house of musical knowledge and anecdotes. His sense of humor is precious. MAE (another member here on Rasikas) kept the discussion alive. Nagai, Suguna P and Sowmya had quite a bit to contribute.
Another forumite was there. Hope he posts some reports--and those long awaited pictures

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 28 Apr 2011, 05:12

suma wrote:Sriranjani Darbar won.

Thanks Suma ... with two raga names in her name it is no doubt that she is destined to great heights in Karnataka Sangeetham!
BTW I think her surname is spelled 'Darbha' and was a winner last year as well. If it is the same girl I am thinking about I think she is very young - around 10 or 11?

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 28 Apr 2011, 05:33

Quick impressions before vidyaarthi's concert:
A mixed bag of a day for me. Ramakanth was very good--his paTAntharam (last night thoughts continue!)and his voice were an asset. Yet, the voice wasn't steady at times. I loved his selection of songs. More from the Mysore treasure were included in his concert today--after singing with his father a concert of all Mysore composers krutis last night.
Then came the pallavi concert of Carnatica Bros. bhAvayAmi raghurAmam with SavEri and then the rAgamAlika following. Ganesh put his all into it, it seemed. Shashikiran somehow seemed distracted to me. Nagai was super in his support. Muruga bhoopathy and Gopaalkrishnan delivered, as was expected. Ganesh's singing had bhAvam.
The true bhAvam moments came to me when Manimaran gave his one hour concert. A no-nonsense bhAvam filled mini concert. Starting with shaNmukapriya (mari vEre dikku), rAma rAma rAma in vasantha, on to the emotive hindOlam (rAmanukku mannan). Wasn't around for the rest of the concert. His AlApanAs were emotive and Narmada's replies were dripping with bhAvam...
...
Listening to vidyaarthi's concert now. Started with palukavEmi nA daivamA and now he is immersing us in a varALi! nAgai and Sam's brother on stage. What an ensemble! Hope others are listening too. Please write your impressions.
This promises to be a great concert. Give me an NSG's concert any day...
....
mundu venuka durbAr majestically moved along and now is showered with a volley of flowers in svarams, nagai joining in to MAE's gentle beat .
....
Is finishing his AlApanai to SankarAbharaNam. What a grand glimpse for us into 'pedda' SankarAbhraNam ! I say pedda because I'm thinking of enduku peddala in the back of my mind! Let's see what he's going to sing, though I heard a gurgle of a tAnam somewhere!
NAgai getting into the act now.
....
Neither! It's manasu svAdInamaina!
....

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 28 Apr 2011, 06:51

AmarkkaLam (great excitement) at niraval (rAja rAjESA niranjana nirupamA). I say amarkkaLAm bcause kaNAkku wizards are bound to like it. Easwaran is having fun--I'm sure tani follows.
If I have any idea about NSG, he might be thinking 'EasvarA, nirupamA

Let me go back to the screen and see if he's actually making gestures to that effect!
NAgai is a treat to listen to.
It was a fine concert, NSG in good voice, taking us along on his musical journey with sowkyam--his hallmark.
....
The late night informal meet was rich with padams and jAvalis, nATya maNis dancing to them. I couldn't stay up for long...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 28 Apr 2011, 08:54

Why no reports from Cleveland?

suma · Post by **suma** » 28 Apr 2011, 20:07

mohan wrote: BTW I think her surname is spelled 'Darbha' and was a winner last year as well. If it is the same girl I am thinking about I think she is very young - around 10 or 11?

Yes, that's true. Sorry for the typo.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 29 Apr 2011, 03:40

Many thanks to TNS and the aradhana committee to permit the telecast of his Ramayana Musical program right now!

Sathej · Post by **Sathej** » 29 Apr 2011, 03:52

They've stopped it a couple of songs into the program ! Hugely indecisive, too bad..

Sathej

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 29 Apr 2011, 04:02

What a let down!
After Ashok Ramani's concert, the channel asked us to stay tuned with the announcement: ArAdhanA says it is okay to stream the concert if the artiste gives permission.
When TNS appeared on stage and we could hear his starting in such good voice, I was excited.
The asAveri and SankarAbharaNam were foretelling a super performance. I just placed myself in front of the computer when the screen turned off line and i could just about read the words 'change of mind'

Oh dear! All the beautiful start with intro about Kamban and TyAgarAjA...

Wait! It's on again! Please watch!

Sathej · Post by **Sathej** » 29 Apr 2011, 04:09

Yes, it appears to be on again ! Hope they dont exhibit their fickleness of minds again !

Sathej

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 29 Apr 2011, 04:15

They?
Well, thinking of his stature, that's fine

We are listening to the mukhAri (ElAvatAra). His voice in fine mettle.

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 29 Apr 2011, 04:29

I am also enjoying TNS's concert with his commentary on Sri Rama. Lovely!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 29 Apr 2011, 04:54

Suji,
I know you're busy with work, but whenever you see (hear), please share your impressions here.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 29 Apr 2011, 07:55

A four hour performance, almost! Rama kathA!
TNS kept our unwavering attention. We were expecting a concert from him. His voice was sweet, pliable and was willing to go anywhere he wanted to take it--he was ready for a full four hour concert. Yet, he chose to give us rAma kathA. How many rich quotes from kamban, vAlmiki, tyAgarAjA and others. At times, he sang entire songs--mostly, verses from them. But for ADa mODi and sarasa sAma dAna I think most of them were rarely-heard songs--from tyAgarAjA and rAma nATakam. paripUrNa swvarUpanE!, E panikO (asAveri), rAma rAmayani (sahAna), Emani mATlADitivO? in tODi, bhadrAchala rAmadAsar's appappA, rAma nAmamu in dhanyAsi...
His story telling was absorbing.
Our forumite MAE played beautifully all along--when he was nearly ready to put his mrudangam away, TNS came up with an impromptu pallavi! An intricate one which laya buffs can write about. I think the pallavi line was: rAma rAma enRa iraNDezhuttinAl nanmaiyum Selvamum nALum nalgumE.
Yesterday, his worthy SishyA NSG got our undivided attention. Today, the guru--and MAE played for them both!
Tomorrow, hoping to catch another student (and son) TNS Krishna. Haven't heard him in several years. pulikkup piRandadu pUnaiyAgumA?

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 29 Apr 2011, 19:26

Have been watching the lec-dem by Trichy J Venkataraman / Bharat Sundar /Narmadha / MAE on tala combinations. Most of it went over my head but was amazed at the complexities!

VRV · Post by **VRV** » 29 Apr 2011, 19:52

Mohan,

I watched the lecture too. Simply awesome. Talam in South Indian music has a range in complexities. All of what he said and did has to be mastered by music students at least to 80% perfection before getting up on stage. Not that all of those complexities should be delivered in the Kutcheri format. Like VVS said a student of music should strive to amass this knowledge from these seasoned veterans.

TNK once said you need at least a decade if not more to master one note on the violin. Given that a lifetime is just not enough to attain perfection with music.

How profound.......

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 29 Apr 2011, 20:18

VRV and Mohan: Can you please write about what was covered on the lec dem and the format used?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 29 Apr 2011, 20:44

Beautiful summary of TNS/MAE, Arasi.
The vidwath of TNs simply sparkles.
Actually MAE was indeed into it as a Rasika as well and his body language was admirable.

Later at night it was a rollicking time with Smt Thanikachalam with a medley of Raga-based film songs (many of the old ones which makes you feel nostalgic!). Smt Thannikachalam was almost dancing all the time to the songs joining in showing her 'showmanship' and our MAE was also into it in full. A thoughtful, relaxing light event and thanks to iCarnatic for letting us participate...
..A great effort of bringing Cleveland into our Living Rooms...

suma · Post by **suma** » 29 Apr 2011, 21:35

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R80pHuF1KgU

watch the first few minutes. Excellent Jatayu action.
If others have more videos of such brilliant action, please post

shankarabharanam · Post by **shankarabharanam** » 29 Apr 2011, 23:28

Definitel J Venkataraman's lecture was so knowledgeable... Enjoyed thodi rendition by Shertalai Renganatha Sharma.. Now Ranjani Santhanagopalam sang a nice Karaharapriya. Good to see her father and Guru Neyveli sir as an accompanist on the kanjira

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 30 Apr 2011, 01:32

Many thanaks to Shashank for letting us watch his playaing and of course iCarnatic is doing a greet job bringing to us home-bound all the best of the Cleveland season!
Accompanied by the great talented Akkarai and the seasoned Parupalli the show is just about to begin...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 30 Apr 2011, 01:38

Shankarabharanam,
Yes, Shertalai's tODi (T's karuNa jUDavammA) was very good. At the moment, it's tODi time of the festival. Yesterday, the master of tODi TNS sang it. As I'm typing this, his son is singing ST's sarasijanAbha murArE!

After Shertalai's sedate, even-keeled performance, Sriranjani Santhanagopalan came on stage. She started with a Slokam about mahA periyavar (her father's composition?) and Sri Sankara guruvaram followed. Energetic it was, from this young singer who is endowed with a sweet and powerful voice.
Kharaharapriya was chosen by several performers in the festival. Gayatri Venkataraghavan sang a very good one. Sriranjani also opted for the rAgam and sang p(r)akkala nilabaDi. It was a rich presentation. Amruta Murali's violin reply was top notch.Then came a moving viruttam in mAND followed by rAmanai bajittAl. Here, Sriranjani's singing was excellent, with her father's patent bhAvam. In the very first concert of hers that I heard, she sang a bhajan which was remarkable in its bhAvam .
She only had an hour to pack all her talents in. The two hour concert that I heard in the season was first class. Her today's khanjira accompanist (her dad) is always there (she might say, he's too busy!) to guide her in her singing, especially with the bhAvam we found amply in her singing that MAND song. Let's not forget her mother in all this. She takes care of two musical careers in the family--even playing the tambura at times. That's the only time she is able to sit down in her hectic life! Wait till her son starts playing mrudangam in concerts

....

sruthi · Post by **sruthi** » 30 Apr 2011, 01:51

Renganatha Sharma also sang a rare ragam / kriti - Naganandini (mela 30) / sattalEni dinamulu
Very interesting ragam: just a different dhaivatam changes its colour completely from Sankarabharanam.

Overall, his concert was of high quality.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 30 Apr 2011, 02:21

Yes, sruthi. I forgot to mention that striking nAgAnandini.

What a follow up!
Now, it was the young woman's father's guru's student (and offspring) TNS Krishna's turn to give a performance! We saw him on stage with his father yesterday. A young Seshagopalan occupied the same stage in the early eighties and sang in the evening slot for about five hours, Sundaram said after the concert. Here was a reflection of that performance, he added.
Yes, virtuosity is the name. A pantuvarAli AlApanA poured out of Krishna as soon as he started his concert. Siva Siva Siva enarAdA was the song. Then a viruttam in SAma followed by tAyE, tanayan Sei pizhai poRuppAyE. I guess it is TNS's composition. Had SEsha and Sankara (guru's name) in it. May be not. Then the tODi, sarasija nAbha murArE. I came back to listen to him and caught up with his performance when he was singing the ShaNmukhapriya RTP and rAgamAlikA to follow. That karNaranjani was enticing.
What a talent!
....
Yes, very nice of Shashank to let us watch (and hear) him! A big thanks! Performers by now know that generosity on their part brings back rewards too. Goodwill, increasing number of listeners and better sale of their music.
Shashank started with Bhairavi varNam viribONi, played a beautiful chandrajyOti AlApanA and is playing bAgAyanaiyyA. Akkarai gave a lovely response. He is lingering on with the svarams now. This haunting rAgam is one of my favorites. SaSi vadanA is another beautiful kruti in the rAgam. Are there any more? I do not know ofany other...
Have to leave my seat now. Will someone else continue?

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 30 Apr 2011, 18:19

2011 Competition results at http://www.aradhana.org/competition/results2011.html
Congratulations to all the winners (hopefully it doesn't open another can of worms like in previous years!)

Was happy to note my former student who moved to US won the pallavi junior category!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 30 Apr 2011, 19:30

Mohan,
Congratulations to you and to the contest winner!

Yesterday's production of KishkindA and Sundara kANDA was something I thoroughly enjoyed. Anita Guha's choreography was pleasing to the senses. Our own Vidyaarthi's music was full of the bhAvam we always find in his music. On his part (as can be expected), he worked in tune with what was depicted on stage rather using it as a vehicle for showing off his vidvat. The music would have appealed to children as well as grown ups. The rAgams and his lyrics spoke such a simple language, though it was all couched in his tremendous capacity as a musician. Then again, how the star singers sang and the orchestra played! I only wish the camera had turned on them once in a while. The orchestra was beautiful sounding as before. Ranjani's violin and Thiagarajan's flute and Bhargavi's chitra vina gave the music such sweet strength in every one of the productions. The mrudangam of Nagai Narayanan played a vital part in the fight scenes. The dancers were an asset too. HanumAn was played with such vigor and devotion.
Every composition of NSG had sukham--what else? The rAgams flowed, bhAvam being foremost. Seemingly simple, yet powerful words moved the story along. There were many songs which endeared themselves to us. That kuntalavarAli tillAnA of the vAnarAs was a tantalizing piece and I can't wait to listen to it from NSG himself, Sriranjani, Gayatri V and Nisha in concerts. I don't like to give chits in a concert. So, here is a request well in adavance to all--hope I've a chance to listen to it at least once!
It was Neyveli's hour, starting from his concert a few days ago. Then, Sriranjani's concert for which h played the khanjira, then this music for this grand production of two kANDAs which, with the finely handled dance direction from Anitha Guha was such a pleasing affair...
Looking forward to Ravikiran's finale this evening...

....
Could not catch the Allied Ragas program, unfortunately. Heard that it was of high quality, Sowmya leading the discussion with ample examples--singing with Vidya, K.Gayatri, Bharat Sundar and Ramakrishnamurthy. Narmada on violin, Sivakumar, Narayanan and Gopalarishnan on percussion. Those who watched please write about it...
...
I have not seen Carnatic Idol programs. Just came to the computer to hear Raghavendra Rao (winner of the contest this year) who sang a very good AlApanA of kharaharapriya (another one this Cleveland season!). Amruta Murali gave a fitting repy. He's singing jAnaki pathE.
Where else but in Cleveland is it possible for fledgelings to be accompanied by senior vidvAns! MAE on the mrudangam, Gopalakrishnan on the khanjira. I hope those who watched him on the TV program will comment...

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 01 May 2011, 07:13

Breathtaking performance of Yuddhakandam. Kudos to CAC for putting up and supporting such a brilliant show.
Credit goes to Ravikiran and his musical collaborators (especially Anahita who stole our hearts in the Idol program) and to Radha for the excellent choreography.

Now the details will be commented by our Arasi who has taken over as our official Cleveland Aradhana commentator.

CM is in good hands with VVS leading CAC with dedication. God bless him and his team.
Finally thanks to iCarnatic for letting us homebirds to share all the events even broadcasting those unannounced (TNS) and may their glorious service to CM continue in all other arenas...

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 01 May 2011, 09:54

I have been in Cleveland for the last 24 hours. It has been wonderful catching up with a number of friends, extended family members and forumites including VKV sir, Uday and Ajit.

I will try and post a couple of concert reviews in the kutcheri section, when I get a moment.

Could not catch the Allied Ragas program, unfortunately. Heard that it was of high quality, Sowmya leading the discussion with ample examples--singing with Vidya, K.Gayatri, Bharat Sundar and Ramakrishnamurthy. Narmada on violin, Sivakumar, Narayanan and Gopalarishnan on percussion. Those who watched please write about it...

Arasi, the allied ragas concert was spectacular. I learned quite a bit, mostly because we seldom hear similar ragams juxtaposed next to each other in a concert.

Sowmya did an excellent job piecing this concept together and it came across much more like a "kutcheri" than a conference presentation.

After singing the navaragamalika varnam, which has a number of allied ragas [kedaram, begada, kamboji, yadukulakamboji], they sang Sama/Arabhi (with a detailed Annapoorne followed by swarams in Pannagabharana and similarly structured swarams in Pahi parvata nandini).

This was followed by a very good exposition of Narayanagowla/Surutti/Kedaragowla followed by the pallavi from Saraguna Palimpa, anupallavi from Geetarthamu and charanam from Sri Ramam. They also presented Natabhairavi/Saramati/Margahindolam/Amritavahini. Narmada on the violin was just spectacular on Amritavahini.

There was a detailed pallavi in Todi with a tanam in allied ragams from the Netra chakra (Senavati, Hanumatodi, Denuka, Kokilapriya, Natakapriya). Unfortunately, I didn't take any notes, so I don't remember the pallavi line. Since I attended several concerts after this one, I can't recall if they sang rupavati or not. There was a tani avartanam after this.

Next was a viruttam (OorilEn kAniyillai) in Saranga and Hamir Kalyani, leading to the thiruppavai "Thoomani madathil".

They concluded the concert with Karpagame in Madhyamavati (allied with the lone Sri ragam from the Navaragamalika that finally found another free radical to bind with).

Neyveli Narayanan on the mridangam was superb and I don't mean this lightly. His mridangam sings. He was well supported by KVG on the khanjira and also Kallidakurichi Sivakumar.

A+ for this lec-dem style concert. I really wish I had taken notes...The younger musicians Bharat Sundar, Ramakrishnan Murthy, Vidya Kalyanaraman and K Gayatri are all excellent. I am happy to see them participating in intellectual ventures like this which are not new for the veteran vidushi Sowmya.

More soon!

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 01 May 2011, 10:44

Oh and it is VKV sir's birthday today!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 01 May 2011, 12:39

Thanks Arasi, CML and Mahavishnu for all the reports. Sounds quite exciting. The format they adopted for the allied ragam concert is quite imaginative and interesting.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 01 May 2011, 13:20

Happy Birthday, VKV Sir

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 01 May 2011, 18:36

VKV,
Many many more healthy, happy ones! We need your kind around for a long long time!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 01 May 2011, 19:50

Happy birthday VKV and many more happy returns.
Nice to see you hosting some of the excellent programs at Cleveland.
Not only are you the right hand of VVS you are also our Rep there!
Pl convey to the CAC that this year's porgram stole our hearts!
Thanks to one and all of you!

seemohan · Post by **seemohan** » 01 May 2011, 20:23

Numerous photos taken by me at the 2011 Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana are in the albums http://bit.ly/CTAAnu http://bit.ly/CTA11p http://bit.ly/cta11P Even though these are Facebook (FB) albums, they could be viewed by non-FB people also. If you are in the photos and would like to get tagged either tag yourself or send me a Facebook friend request (go to http://bit.ly/CMFace). Feel free to forward the links to others who might be interested in seeing the photos. If you are on Facebook, you can comment on the photos or on my wall even if you aren't my friend. More photos will be added to these albums.

For older photos from numerous events in India and USA, please follow the links at http://bit.ly/RasPh2 http://bit.ly/RasPh1 http://bit.ly/dnMz55

For those wondering who won the competitions, the results are posted at http://bit.ly/CTAres

Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Mohan

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 01 May 2011, 21:15

Watched Rhada's perfrmance. Goose bumps-giving peformance! The essence of vazhuvUr bANi was given in a timeless capsule. I saw the little Rhada in the shadow of her sister, then her sister herself as the young vibrant dancer and on this day, I did not see her any older! Her years of experience and expertise blossomed into every moment of her being on the stage Arai manDis, no signs of tiring at all (even the young ones show it). On stage, she was nothing but a young dancer in her energy, footwork, hand gestures and facial expressions!
Even in the tillAnA, she showed no signs of fatigue! Her krishnA nI bEganE was a class in itself.
Thank you Rhada! You not only showed your prowess today but brought that little krishnA to Cleveland. As for me, a double treat because it's the birthday of one of my grandchildren. We celebrate our gods in the form of children and children in their innocence bring krishnA and murugan to us.
May your tribe of dancers increase, your life dedicated to the art being an example for them.
Your gesture of such a generous donation to the Cleveland festival honors your guru and helps in keeping the festival solvent!
I hope Ravi (rshankar) is watching. He and other experts here on dance will write a detailed and a poetic version

about Rhada's performance with all the intricacies of the aDavus, abhinayam and all.

Mahavishnu,
Thank you for coming in and writing about Vegavahini's concert. Yes, her voice was not in good shape but how she moved me! I was one of those old timers you did not see, with tears in her eyes!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 01 May 2011, 22:13

Folks,
I enjoyed my immersion in music and dance the past ten days. This was almost like the Chennai season madness for me. No, even better--in the comfort of my own home, putting many chores on hold, I watched and watched , listened to endless music. I missed being in Cleveland in a way, but could take in more of it by staying home. Thanks to Icarnatic, I could do it!
I wouldn't have gone on and on as I did. Of course, I was excited to share my experience with others. Hardly anyone posted in this thread. I was waiting for those who know more about music and dance to share their impressions. Since that did not happen, I carried on. All I know is my love for music. I'm a good rasikA and beyond that, I have no other qualifications!
I hope that next year experts are going to take over and let 'impressions' folks like me keep a low profile!
Trying to write between all the watching and my every day work, I wrote hurriedly, missing the point at times. One of the many examples of my ignorance: Ravikiran had announced before the final episode of the Ramayana that his new rAgam sanjivini was going to make a debut in the program. I could not recognize it. Was it the one which sounded to me like paTdIp? this again was an excellent production like the bAla kANDA which he composed the music for. aiyyanE, nINDa panniru kaiyyanE in kambOdi, ivarum oru kaNavarO? in kApi, and several other songs were so appealing.

Special thanks to Dr. Sudha Seshaiyyan. I'm going to miss her. Her introduction to each episode of the Ramayana and her highlighting some of its outstanding characters was a treat. She brought in the poetic beauty of kamban and vAlmiki's lines--great grains of truth sparkling in a just a few words. Her clarity in thought and her simple but striking delivery was a moving experience. Can't wait to catch one of her lectures in Chennai this season.

Uday,
Back to Ravikiran. Can you help? What is sanjivini like? Why do folks like you say very little? You may say you have better things to do

niRai kuDam taLumbAdu!
You were very busy then, but do write about the festival.
Speaking about Ravikiran brings his talented live wire brother to mind. When someone who is an expert in CM pointed out that the pallavi which Shashikiran sang with Ganesh was intricate and was difficult enough even for seasoned rasikas, I went back to my post on the Caanatica Bros concert to see what I had written about it. I apologize for writing about a pallavi concert without knowing the abc of layam!

Mahavishnu,
I wish you had been there in Cleveland that day to write about the details of that pallavi.

Shashikiran, fellow forumite,
if you happened to read my two lines, sorry!
The majority of folks in a concert hall are not experts. I am one among them. Knowing you and your energy, you would have put in a lot of work which would have been obvious to those who understand the finer points in a pallavi.
What I can learn from my little slips is that I shouldn't open my big mouth on everything. Then again, I'm the biggest mouth around here. Look at the number of my posts

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 01 May 2011, 22:43

Here’s a list of performers I saw/ heard. Most of the time their music was in the background while at work.
Watched playback singer Shankar Mahadevan perform a CM concert. He sang a good vakulAbharanam. He also sang a few bhajans. Though I am not a bhajan person, this one I enjoyed.
Some of the other concerts I partially heard were Mambalam sisters, Pattabhiram Pandit, Sumitra Vasudev, Gayatri Venkataraghavan, RK Srikantan, Thiagarajan-Flute, Ramakanth and Ashok Ramani.
Then the surprise came…. I thought they were not broadcasting TNS. I had accidentally left the channel on and heard the tuning for mridangam while at work.. I was so delighted to see TNS on stage. If I had known they were to broadcast I would have left for home to watch the whole program in one piece. I was stuck at work and could watch for only 2.5 h. It was late and I had to get home.
Other concerts I enjoyed were Shertalai Renganatha, Sriranjani, TNS Krishna, Manimaran, Nisha Rajagoplan and Savita Narasimhan, a few others and Shashank. Also heard Raghavendra-carnatic idol..
Sashikiran and Ganesh (he was great!) gave a scintillating RTP!

The Raga of the Cleveland festival was KAMAVARDHINI. I heard this raga at least 4-5 times. Kharaharapriya and tODi were predominant too.

And HATS OFF to all the women Violinists- Amruta Murali, Narmada, Ranjani, Anuradha Sridhar, Akkarai Subbalakshmi. Did I miss any of the ladies? WOW! They were fantastic. And so were VVS Murali and Nagai Muralidharan.
Enjoyed all the mridangists- especially MAE…
Watched Balakandam and Ayodhya kandam partially… Yuddhakandam I watched completely. I enjoyed the live music so much as the dances themselves.
One thing I noticed was Parent –offspring performances! There were three of them who performed together as well as individually. How lucky to be born into a musical family. Off course one must appreciate the hard work that goes into becoming accomplished artists.
I missed many a fine artists due to being on west coast and timings which did not suit me. Nevertheless each one I could catch up was of high quality.

THANKYOU iCARNATIC so much for bringing Cleveland Aradhana into our homes/(work)!

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 01 May 2011, 22:54

seemohan wrote: For those wondering who won the competitions, the results are posted at http://bit.ly/CTAres

In the link above I could see Abhishek Iyer name winning the first prize in pallavi and another prize in neraval . By any chance is that our forumite from toronto who writes reviews and who is also a student of the birlliant vidushi smt raji gopalakrishnan.

Abhishek
If you are the same , 2 power 4 congrats to you.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 02 May 2011, 01:03

Seemohan,
So nice to see all the kids who took part in the festival. Photo # 11 is so sweet--with all those pint-sized ones. How engrossed they are in the music!

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 04 May 2011, 03:07

THANKS to every one for their best wishes. VKV

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 May 2011, 03:19

The Cleveland Festival participation this year is literally global through the telecast by iCarnatic.
We have not heard from the silent watchers (including those from India). The webcast was quite Ok in NA though with some audio problems and some jitters. These can be ironed out and in future we can look forward to a large enthusiastic participation. CAC should factor this in their future planning.
Except for the Competitions the vast majority of the Rasikas will be global watchers. The reevenue can be susbstantial. Let us get a feedback from those who watched iCarnatic about the quality ( and the views of CAC in permitting all programs being telecast)....

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 04 May 2011, 06:02

cmlover - I managed to watch the free-telecast of the morning sessions on a few days. These happenned late at night Sydney time. Most of the other events occurred in the middle of the night or very early morning for me, so made it hard to watch and hence I didn't subscribe to the service.

Of what I saw, I was happy quite with the picture quality although the overall froze on a few occasions requiring a brwoser refresh or restart.

Its great that this technology is being used. Just on the weekend, I was able to watch online a friend's wedding which happenned in Chennai - everything from the vratham, janavasam, nichithartam, kalyanam and reception - all in the comfort of my living room in Australia. Only missed out on the kalyana sappadu! The service was provided by http://liveibc.com/

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 04 May 2011, 06:16

That is a very good service, Mohan. Thanks for the link. With 3G getting its foot hold in many major markets, services like this are possible without depending on any internet facilities at the kalyana chathram. How was the quality?

In a different context, I have a business idea for courier companies which is even lower tech. Take a camera ( still or video ) with them and take a picture/video of the person(s) in the household as they receive one's gift and send the picture/video back by email as delivery receipt. Would you pay an extra dollar for still/two dollars for video? Just curious.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 04 May 2011, 06:24

vk - I connected a laptop (showing on full screen) to my big screen LCD TV and still the picture was very good.

sumram_99 · Post by **sumram_99** » 04 May 2011, 19:58

Some more links to pictures taken by me at the CLE Aradhana:

https://picasaweb.google.com/narayanaya ... rIOkipCbEQ#

https://picasaweb.google.com/narayanaya ... directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/narayanaya ... directlink

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 May 2011, 20:07

Thanks Mohan
The PAID broadcasts were even better than the Free ones possibly due to the greater banwidth available dut to reduced Net Traffic. Would you consider the Sidney Festival Telecast globally perhaps with some improvements?

Let us also hear from folks in India as to the quality of the 'reception' ...