Vighnaraja's concert at Unnati Bangalore on 11 sept 2011

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The child prodigy, who sang kalpana swaras at the tender age of three, is ,Sampagodu S Vighnaraja who hails from Sringeri, in Karnataka,and now the head of Instrument Section teaching carnatic vocal and flute at The Temple of Fine Arts, Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia, who enthralled the August audience on the 11th of September,at SGBS Trust,Unnathi Centre,Bangalore.
It was a concert lasting for two and a half hours, a treat to the rasikas,who enjoyed every aspect of it,a dexterous and mellifluous voice,and a grand rendition full of technical skill in both raagalapana and swaraprasthara.

Vighnaraja commenced the kacheri presenting the aadithala varnam in raaga kalyani composed by Sri Rakthi Veerasami Pillai.The varnam was sung most brilliantly,in six speeds.The first half of the varnam was in chathurashra,khanda,and thrishra gathis,both in vilambakaala and madhyamakaala,ie.,4,5,6,8,10 and 12 letters per 2 beats.The second half of the varnam was in chathurashra and thrishra madhyamakaala keeping up the melody and the precision in laya.It was indeed a scholarly presentation on the stage rarely done by any expert in the carnatic music world.

The Ganesha Sthuthi was 'Gajanana Yutham' in raaga Chakravakam,a master piece by Sri Muthuswami Dixithar sung with brisk kalpana swaras at 'Kunjara Bhanjana'.Jaya Jaya Jaya Janaki Kantha',a popular composition by Sangitha Pithamaha Sri Purandhara Dasa,then followed.
The submain piece of the concert was in raaga Bahudari,'Brova Bharama Raghurama',by none other than Saint Sri Thyagaraja.It was a beautiful raaga rendition in effortless 3 octaves and also intricate kalpana swaras.

The next number was ,'Maa Ramanan',in raaga Hindolam,by Sri Papanasam Sivan in Rupaka Thaala. This was followed by a rarely heard Dixithars composition,'Bruhadambikayei' in raaga Vasantha and Mishra chaaputhaala.

The main item of the kacheri was a detailed elaboration of the Shankarabharana Raagam,which was unfolded gradually from slow tempo to top speed that the singer could accommodate with ease.It was followed by 'Swara Raaga Sudha Rasa',a great composition by St.Thyagaraja,with a beautiful neraval and energetic kalpanaswaras at the charana sahithyam 'Muuladhaara'.

'Chinnanjirukkiliye',a famous krithi by Sri Gopalakrishna Bharathiyar, a raagamalika enhanced the beauty of the concert.
The concert culminated in' Himagirithanaye'in Udayaravichandrike by Sri Muththayya Bhagavathar and a devaranama 'Bandhanene Ranga'.

The violinist Vid Sri B K Raghu followed the main artiste like a shadow and coloured the kacheri.A wonderful thaniavarthanam by Vid Sri Arjunkumar was one of the highlights of the concert.
Dr.S Varadarangan, a musician and a musicologist in his vote of thanks analysed and described the concert in great detail appreciating the various technical and aesthetic aspects exibited by Sri Vighnaraja.

SGBS trust organises Monthly concerts at Unnati Bangalore
http://www.unnatiblr.org

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Thank you for the report!

Which rAga was "bandanEne ranga" sung in?

There are some clips of Sri. Vighnaraja on YouTube.

[rshankar]

A clarification and question:
1) cinnanciru kiLiyE is by mahAkavi Subrahmanya Bharati and not Sri Gopala Krishna Bharati
2) Sri HKMB's composition on the daughter of the snow-capped mountains he describes as a golden creeper (himagiri tanayE hEmalatE) is set in Suddha dhanyAsi, right?

[eppramod]

A clarification and question:
2) Sri HKMB's composition on the daughter of the snow-capped mountains he describes as a golden creeper (himagiri tanayE hEmalatE) is set in Suddha dhanyAsi, right?

I think Udayaravichandrika and Shuddha Dhanyasi are one and the same,see below link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udayaravichandrika

Pramod

[kssr]

After reading a report in rasikas about Vignaraj's multi speed singing, I listened to several of his youtube pieces. Something that caught my attention was that he has a natural briga laden voice unlike a trained or forced briga presentation. This is quite a rarity. I wanted to attend the concert but could not.
Did any forum member attend? Your views?

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http://youtu.be/gMoK-eW9abI
This links to the video of Himagiri tanaye hemalathe by Vighnaraja