Abhishek Raghuram at Santa Clara, CA on October 30, 2011

[mssnlayam]

Vocal: Abhishek Raghuram
Violin: Vittal Ramamurthy
Mridangam: Trivandrum Balaji

Organizer: South India Fine Arts
Venue: Santa Clara Convention Center
Date: Oct 30, 2011

1. Varnam - Saranga - Adi
2. Gana Sudha Rasa - Nattai - Adi - Dr. M Balamuralikrishna (S)
3. Bala Kanakamaya (Ela nI dayarAdu) - Atana - Adi - Thyagaraja (RS)
4. Nikela Dayaradu - Sarasangi - Khanda Chapu - Ramaswamy Sivan (RS)
5. RTP - Kanada - Trishra Triputa, Sitapate Napai Nikabhimanamu Leda, Neraval Ragamalika in Kanada, Kamas, Hamsanadam, Bahudari, Ganamurthi; Thani; Swaram
6. Chandra Chuda Shiva Shankara - Purandara Dasa
7. Ramanai bhajittal - Maand
8. Kalyana Gopalam - Sindhu Bhairavi - Khanda Chapu - Narayana Tirthar
9. Mangalam

It was a high quality concert. Abhishek had great aesthetic sense and
amazing voice control. He was flowing, one phrase after the other, one song
after the other. Vittal Ramamurthy and Trivandrum Balaji gave him great
support. Balaji accompanying the Pallavi's neraval was outstanding.

5/5 stars.

[Sindhuja]

I believe the raga in the RTP swarams that you've mentioned was Ganamurthi and not Chandrajyoti.
And to complete the list: Ramanai bhajittal in Maand/ mishra maand after Chandrachuda. There were parts of the song where he emphasized the ni2 that made me doubt if it was really maand, but I got it confirmed with him. Never heard those usages in maand before...

The concert was outstanding. The detailed Sarasangi was fantastic and being one of my fav ragas, I was elated. Although the krithi rendition and neraval/ swaram were brilliant too, my only grouse was that after that elaborate, beautiful alapanai, I was expecting a slower krithi but it turned out to be a fairly fast-paced one. The RTP was fascinating - especially when in the middle of the alapanai, he neatly enounced the tune of the charanam in the song Poo maalai from the movie Sindhubhairavi - that was a pleasant surprise for me (and at that point he paused and told the audience how he thought that tune was a musical interpretation of a conversation: one person asks the other, "Did you know about this?"; and the other says, "idhu kooda theriyadha" ) I felt the ragam was handled a bit unconventionally, which I really liked: the ga and the ni were not repeatedly sung with excessive gamakam as they usually are. The swara patterns that followed were interesting too - they seemed like a tribute to Thyagaraja; with the swara in each raga starting/ ending with the tune of a thyagaraja krithi: bantureethi in hamsanadam; brovabharama in bahudhari; ganamurthe in ganamurthi; and of course brocheva (the charanam: seethapathe) in khamas (which happened to be a non-thyagaraja one..) I thought it was curious that he sang Darbari Kanada after Kanada; but later learnt from him that he did that with the intention of highlighting the similarities and differences between the two closely related ragas.

Overall, very enjoyable and the accompanists were very good too.

[vasanthakokilam]

Glad to read the reviews of other concerts of Abhishek. I intentionally did not read the reviews of his concerts in other cities until I heard him at my location.

Sindhuja, what you say "after that elaborate, beautiful alapanai, I was expecting a slower krithi but it turned out to be a fairly fast-paced one." was my feeling too for a couple of songs in the concert I attended. The transition can be smoother ( poruththam is a better word ). May be some one can ask him at the next venue about this if the conditions are right for such interactions. I have a feeling that it is intentional.

[arasi]

VK,
I have wondered about such a thing in a few concerts. I suppose it has something to do with the song list a performer has in mind (or not!). Something to do with one's whim to sing in a particular rAgam that evening, but it enters his mind that he should take up a different rAgam for elaboration. Then, I guess the rAgam is followed by a kruti which we like to be treated in detail. The artiste is keen on giving special attention to another song (possible that it is a spur of the moment thing), and so rushes through this, and we feel a bit let down. The performer's imagination rules there!

[kvn_bhakta]

The Kanada RTP was indeed outstanding. Is there any better experience on the concert stage today than listening to Abhishek in full flow in alapanai? He sang it so beautifully and creatively, with gentle phrases, toying phrases, forceful phrases, fiery brighas up and down the scale - the full gamut! Tanam was outstanding too.

Some cribs - to me he over-indulged in laya variations. The swarams flowed endlessly but I sometimes wished for less . Also the swarams for the RTP came after the tani, which was unexpected and also not that impactful - sometimes as a listener I feel I'm not able to keep up with Abhishek's intensity and was ready for tukkadas by then . Even after the Sarasangi he could have given us a break with a filler piece, but the youngster jumped in to Kanada! Not a light raga either.

[mahesh3]

KVN Bhaktha: you are right...none better than abhi today!
The issue of laya variation is that even a full fledged knowledgeable
Crowd in chicago were clueless to what he was doing.. He was improvising
on the korvai as he went - he probably built 7-12 sub-korvais if i may call them - adding variable aksharams , and he still landed perfectly in a breathless whirlwind finale...and this was simply adi taalam!

Anyway let's not trouble him...he is the epitome of "Think Different":)

Buoyant, crazed, musically awakened standing ovations everywhere from
MIT to Chicago have been the norm for our dearest
Abhi. Thanks for your review!

[Sindhuja]

In his defense, his explanation for why he sang swaras after the thani was because otherwise the thani would have come too late (I think it was already more than 2 hours into the concert when he finished the pallavi). But yes, it takes quite a bit even for a listener to catch up with his energy levels!

arasi, with respect to this particular concert, my crib was not that the kriti was not dealt with in detail - it very much was. It was only with respect to the mismatch of pace between alapanai and kriti...

[rajeshnat]

The RTP was fascinating - especially when in the middle of the alapanai, he neatly enounced the tune of the charanam in the song Poo maalai from the movie Sindhubhairavi - that was a pleasant surprise for me (and at that point he paused and told the audience how he thought that tune was a musical interpretation of a conversation: one person asks the other, "Did you know about this?"; and the other says, "idhu kooda theriyadha" )

Sindhuja
I was expecting your clean slate conscious review of his Sandiego concert , nevertheless still happy, may I know what exactly you state here , did he sing phrases of Sindhubhairavi in the middle of Kanada Alap , I just dont get it.

[Sindhuja]

rajeshnat, I didn't attend his concert in SD, I only attended the one in SC. Flattered anyway, thanks
In the 1985 classic Tamil movie titled Sindhubhairavi, there is a song composed by Ilaiyaraja in Kaanada, which starts with "poo maalai vaangi vandhaal". In the middle of his ragam, Abhishek sang (not just once but 2-3 times) the exact same tune as the charanam of poo maalai. The swaras of that line go, ni,, ni ni,, ni ma da ni ri sa ni,, --> and this line according to Abhishek is like person A asking person B the question; and the next line which goes, da ni pa pa pa,, pa ma ga ma da ni pa; which is like B replying. What I understood was that it was just his interpretation of how those two lines together sound like a Q&A.

[ramakriya]

I attended the concert too and enjoyed it - missed the beginning and the ending parts. Sarasangi AlApane had a lot of hindustani Nat Bhairav phrases- lot of varjya and dATu prahOgas ( Not a complaint, but an observation! I think in rAgas without a huge amount of compositions, it is necessary to experiment with them within the framework of the rAga. I really liked the Sarasangi rendition.

The swara patterns that followed were interesting too - they seemed like a tribute to Thyagaraja; with the swara in each raga starting/ ending with the tune of a thyagaraja krithi: bantureethi in hamsanadam; brovabharama in bahudhari; ganamurthe in ganamurthi; and of course brocheva (the charanam: seethapathe) in khamas (which happened to be a non-thyagaraja one..)

The reference to those compositions were intentional in my opinion, but there was one thing amiss. As I pointed out my opinion on Twitter, some other rAga than Ganamurti (keeping up with the Rama theme - banTu rItikolu, brocheva and brovabhArama , gAnamUrti became an odd choice, but that's just me!) could have fit the bill better.

-Ramakriya

[mahesh3]

where's the twitter link? by the way, how does one embed a video clip on here?

[mahavishnu]

Kvn_Bhaktha: I'm glad you got a chance to listen to Abhishek in your neck of the woods

[ramakriya]

where's the twitter link? by the way, how does one embed a video clip on here?

Mahesh3,
No Twitter link - But we've been having lot of fun/music on Twitter. It's quick, to the point, and don't have to follow threads - Not that it is a substitute to the Rasikas forum, but an addition.

If you would like to join the fun, you can follow me, and then rest of the gang- I am @hamsanandi on Twitter.

-Ram

[Sindhuja]

The reference to those compositions were intentional in my opinion, but there was one thing amiss. As I pointed out my opinion on Twitter, some other rAga than Ganamurti (keeping up with the Rama theme - banTu rItikolu, brocheva and brovabhArama , gAnamUrti became an odd choice, but that's just me!) could have fit the bill better.

It was definitely intentional since the swaras very evidently reflected the krithis. I didn't realize Ganamurthi was the odd one out and don't mind it either But I can empathize with you on that.

Agree that Sarasangi was hindustani-ish. What added to that feel was the fact that he played a swarmandal sound a couple of times on his shruthi box. I didn't know there were shruthi boxes that came with that setting and found it interesting.

[sureshvv]

It was only with respect to the mismatch of pace between alapanai and kriti...

On a related note, frequently he sings khanda chapu kritis as main (mostly in 2 hour concerts), and I find these very invigorating.