Concert of Shri.R.Ashwath.Narayanan:RLKM,Bangalore on 25/09/

[csuresh]

Vocal :Shri.R.Ashwath.Narayanan
Violin:Shri.N.N:Ganesh kumar
Mirudangam:Shri.Sai Shivu

Venue :Shri.Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira Concert Hall :Bangalore

Date :25th September 2011

Concert Duration: 3 Hrs

Song List :

01-sarasija nAbha ninnu-varNa-kAmbOdhi-khanda Ata-swAthi thirunAL(short sketch of raga)
02 gajavadana bEDuve gauri tanaya dhanyAsi p.dAsa(Alapana and Swara)
03-manasA etulOrthune-malayamArutha-rUpaka-thyAgarAja( Raga Alapana,Niraval and Swara)
04-jaya jaya swAmin-nAta-Adhi-nArAyaNa thIrTha(Short sketch of raga)
05 rAman ezhundu arulinan bharatan mun sita Anandabhairavi Adi aruNachalakavirAyar(Raga Alapana ,Swara)
06 viDajAladurA nA manasu vinarA nA janaranjani tyAgarAja
07-ninnE nammithinayyA-simhEndhramadhyama-chApu-MysUru VAsudhEvAchAr(Raga Alapana ,Niraval Swara and Tani)
08 sarasijanAbha sOdhari-nAgagAndhAri-rUpaka-MutthuswAmi dhIkshithar
09 rAga tAna and pallavi :nATTakuranji(valamana engal nATTai kurunji enbAr) with ragamaliga swaras ( gowla, hindOLa, naLinakAnti) and short tani
10 Jo Achyutananda Jo Jo Mukunda kApi TALA COMPOSER
11-gOvardhana giridhara gOvinda darbArikAnaDa-narAyaNa tIrtha
12 nI nAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja.




Shri.R.Ashwath Narayanan is a third year Engineering student .Sishya of Shri.K.V.Narayanaswamy and Smt.Padma Narayanaswamy.
The concert started with short kAmbOdhi alapana followed by brisk varna.He could maintain this tempo throughout the concert.He has full open throat singing.
Dhanyasi alapana followed was very neat. Gajavadana that i'm used to listening in hamsadhwani had a twist. It was quite refreshing and he had good grip over swarasthanas.
Malayamarutam flowed like a gentle river.The niraval was very good and showed his talent and training from KVN school.
Ashwath sprang a surprise by taking up "nAttai"right in the middle of the first half after sub main"Malayamarutham".
(May be TMK effect).The nAttai swaras were too brisk.
KVN school is known for bhava full singing of tamil keertanais.The arunachala kavirayar ramanATaka keertanai "rAman ezhundu arulinan bharatan mun sita "
in Anandabhairavi followed next.the raga alapana,song and swarams were one of the highlight of the concert.
The varations he gave for raman and sita raman was pleasent to hear.
This song is one of the rarely heard song and it is good to see this was taken by this young singer.
Janaranjani was taken as a filler.
"simmendramadhyamam" alapana and mysore vasudevacharya keertanai "ninnE nammithinayyA"was presented as main item.
Tani avartanam was followed.
sarasijanAbha sOdhari was taken as second filler
RTP came in as a surprise.. as i assumed that the concert would end by 2.25 / 2.5 hrs with some more fillers..
The RTP in "nATTakurunji"was the main highlight of the concert.It really showed his determination to take up nATTakurunji as the raga for RTP and also he came out sucessfully.

The raga alapana,tana and pallavi was very good.The pallavi line was "Valamana engal nAttai kurunji enbar"made famous by Shri.TNS .Shri.TNS has taken "nAttai","kurunji" and "nAttaikurunji"( three ragas) and made use of appropritae raga in right place,for example he used to sing in "nAttai" raga when he sang"nAttai" etc
Even thoguh Ashwath used single raga"nATTakurunji",he really brought out the essence of the raga.The ragamaliga swars in"Gowlai","Hindolam" and "Nalinakanti" were awesome.

As a second thought after the RTP i thought Ashwath could have taken up 3 raga rtp . I think its too much to expect from an youngster.
Shri.Ganesh kumar violin was very supportive.His alapanas of "malayamAruta", "Simmendramadhyama" and nATTakuranji was good.
Sri.Sai Shivu ( an engineering graduate who has taken Mridangam as his career) also gave a good support.

3 long alapana, 3 neravals was much more than what I had bargained for as I decided to attend this concert. But it was worth the time I spent there.

Shri.Ashwath gave a very satisfied concert with variations and sure will be a front line singer soon.Best wishes for him and his team. This was also reflected in the audience who were were supportive at the end of each song and post concert appreciation that I overheard. Some of them even contemplated that he should get more opportunities to sing in Bangalore