Carnatic music in Slovenia - Sikkil Gurucharan

[emilija]

Dear Rasikas,

some of you have been following happenings in the field of Carnatic music in Slovenia, where we hosted Chitravina N. Ravikiran, so I hope you will be interested again in reading the latest news.

I am happy to inform you about new Carnatic music event which was held in our small European country. Slovenia with population of only 2 million and the capital with 300.000 inhabitants warmly received a bright star of Carnatic music, Sikkil Gurucharan, who presented Carnatic vocal for the first time in Slovenia, on 22nd of October 2011 in the City museum of Ljubljana. He was accompanied by mridangam player Chidambaram Narayanan, currently based in Switzerland.

The evening started with the introductory speech of the co-founder of Gopuram, Institute for Vedic Culture, Vojko Kercan, who was the organizer of the concert, greeting the present members of the Indian Embassy, guests and musicians. After few kind and supportive thoughts shared by the Indian Ambassador as well, musicians took the stage.

Gurucharan gave lucid explanations on basics of Carnatic music before each piece so the audience could appreciate more the beauty and intricacies of this old music system.

He started off with the varnam in Todi and continued with Thyagaraja's piece in Bangala, Girirajasuta. The vocalist very aptly chose his next piece Kana vendamo in Sriranjani by Papanasam Sivan, which talks about gopuram, the architectural entrance to the temple. In this way Gurucharan expressed his gratitude to the organizer Gopuram for inviting him to Slovenia to present Carnatic vocal for the first time. He then moved to the main piece in Kiravani. He beautifully elaborated the raga and continued with Thyagaraja's Kaligiyunte. Leaving the audience in awe with his creativity and voice abilities, it was Chidambaram's turn for his solo on mridangam. The vocalist, after explaining the connection between Dikshitar and Western music, continued with composer’s Western arrangement in Shankarabharanam (Nottu-svara), Kamalasana. Nearing towards the end of the concert Gurucharan sang a bhajan in Hindustani raga, Yaman, that he performed in 2010 in the presence of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on the occasion of His 85th birthday, moving many to tears with devotion and serenity of the song. The last item of the concert was a peppy Thillana in Basant, which left everyone in high spirits.

The audience was spellbound by this music and showered musicians as well as organizers with compliments and praises. It was heart-warming to see that local public appreciated Carnatic music concert, despite the cultural, linguistic and musical difference, which is a sound proof that good music touches hearts and knows no boundaries.

The pleasant evening finished with small reception that gave way to tasting good Indian food and chai.

Some pictures from the event can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... e684962b27.

[mahavishnu]

Very nice, Emilija.
Best wishes to the nascent carnatic music scene in Slovenia.

[srkris]

All power to the Slovenes.

[arasi]

Emilija,
Good to hear from you again!Ravi Kiran's music opened the gates for CM in Slovenia.
Great to hear that Gurucharan's music touched your hearts. He chose apt songs for the concert, and managed to give such a good performance without a fiddle.
I hope that for your next concert, you will have someone play the violin too!

Do you know who Chidambaram Narayanan's guru is?

[maduraimini]

Nice to hear that CM is making big strides in foreign countries- not just the big cities, but small ones too. There was a time when you said ''Indian music' , people always thought of Hindustani music. Thanks to pioneers like Viswanathan and later ones like Ravikiran, our music is known around the world now and makes us all proud. Glad to hear about Gurucharan's concert and thanks for posting it. I am glad everyone enjoyed the concert. I am sure you are going to get more artists there.

[Nick H]

Nice to hear from you again, with news of this concert.

With the trinity pictures in the background, and a very authentic-looking carpet, the pics could be from Mylapore

[emilija]

I hope that for your next concert, you will have someone play the violin too!
Do you know who Chidambaram Narayanan's guru is?

Definitely we will have the violin on our next concert!
Here is some info about Chidambaram: http://www.mridangam.info/~chidu/zurich.html.

There was a time when you said ''Indian music' , people always thought of Hindustani music.

We are still dealing with this "problem" here, but hopefully we will slowly bring awareness of Carnatic music too... doing our best.

With the trinity pictures in the background, and a very authentic-looking carpet, the pics could be from Mylapore

Thank you all for kind words.

[Sam Swaminathan]

Hi Emilija

Well done and keep it up. The "get up" of the stage looks really authentic as much as the music would have been. Kind regards

[vasanthakokilam]

Emilija, thanks for the review. Very well written. A while back we had a thread about how someone did not like the violin intruding the pure vocal music they wanted to hear. Here is one occasion for them to find out how different it would have sounded. if possible and if allowed by the artists and organizers, share some sample recordings of this rare combination of just vocal and mridangam.

[srkris]

Or you could invite the vocalist who accompanies himself on the violin.

[mohan]

Emiliga - nice to see Carnatic music spreading its roots into Eastern Europe. Congratulations to you and your fellow organisers for making the effort to promote this music in Slovenia.

Gurucharan must be used to singing without violin since he regularly performs with pianist Anil Srinivasan.

[rshankar]

Or you could invite the vocalist who accompanies himself on the violin.

Or herself..or themselves...

[arasi]

As in Ranjani and Gayathri, Amrutha Murali?I can see their raising their eyebrows...
(We are not one -woman band, you know...)

[rshankar]

As in Ranjani and Gayathri, Amrutha Murali?I can see their raising their eyebrows...

Yes..they are the ones I meant.

[rajeshnat]

emilija
Wonderful and crisp review . THis song kAna VendamO that describes gopuram is the temple town of Chidambaram. Quite a good choice considering mrudangist name takes part of the name. Let slovenia rock with soccer and CM.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
You can meet emilija at the Rasikas meet! He's coming to Chennai and wants to be there. He comes to India with his love for CM. He's not bringing his soccer ball, to avoid rasikas making a beeline for the school grounds

Welcome to the music season, emilija. Hope we can meet somewhere. A Ravi Kiran's concert, perhaps?

[smala]

Arasi, take a look at this pic of Emilija - this was posted earlier in the Re: Chitravina N. Ravikiran in Slovenia thread.

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article981400.ece

[Nick H]

Woops.

Somehow I had thought that she was a he!

:$ :$ :$

(Maybe because of her brother? I don't know ... but thanks for the link: it is a lovely picture)

[arasi]

Thanks smala!

Nick,
You are not alone in mistaking her identity! Yes, a lovely picture of her.

Emilija,
Now I can spot you in a concert!

[emilija]

if possible and if allowed by the artists and organizers, share some sample recordings of this rare combination of just vocal and mridangam.

We have few short videos. Once we arrange them, I can post the link. Overall, Gurucharan did a terrific job without the violin and you should also know this wasn't a typical 2-3h long concert. This was more a gentle introduction for the local audience with some explanations of CM as well, so it worked perfectly well.

Welcome to the music season, emilija. Hope we can meet somewhere. A Ravi Kiran's concert, perhaps?

I will try to attend one of his very few concerts this music season at the Music Academy on 18th... if only I manage to reach Chennai by that time.

Thank you all, for support...
and thank you Smala

[chitravina ravikiran]

Emilija started out as a passionate student of CM but soon evoled into a passionate promoter of it as well. No praise will be too high for her almost single-handed efforts to spread the beauty of CM in her country. Having visited the country last year and seen for myself its rich interest in diverse cultures there, I feel very positive that her efforts will bear very good results in the next few years.

On another note:

one of his very few concerts this music season at the Music Academy on 18th...

I have taken a break this season due to certain pressing composing deadlines and the Academy concert is the only exception. However, my Ramayana (Bala Kandam and Yuddha Kandam) will be staged by Krishna Gana Sabha on 14th and 19th and I do hope to see all of you there too...

[Radhika-Rajnarayan]

A while back we had a thread about how someone did not like the violin intruding the pure vocal music they wanted to hear. Here is one occasion for them to find out how different it would have sounded. if possible and if allowed by the artists and organizers, share some sample recordings of this rare combination of just vocal and mridangam.

Here is a link (copied from a post on the Veena Dhanammal Family on the Vidwans and Vidushis group)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aolej5dISvE
Can't get purer and more authentic than this I guess! The tambura does an excellent job here, and is sufficient. There is no need for any violin or other accompaniment.
I would also like rasikas to note the simplicity of their demeanour - that left arm and hand is still, on the lap, not waving frantically around!

[vasanthakokilam]

Radhika-Rajnarayan, Thanks for referring to that link. I agree.

[arasi]

Radhika,
Thank you for letting me start the day with this 'lofty' rendering of mEru samAna. Not only a favorite song, but here's a clip which I have heard several times and it is so soothing to hear every time.

Chitravina Ravikiran,
Your two Ramayana productions were excellent! I watched the streaming from Cleveland. If the line at the box office at KGS is not too long, I will catch one of the productions again.

[vasanthakokilam]

Radhika, Arasi, yes, that 'mEru samAna' is so soothing every time I listen to it. In fact, after clicking on that link I saw it was something I had seen already but decided to listen to it again. Glad I did since I enjoyed listening to it even more than before. Smt. Brinda's sruthi matched the sruthi of my flute and I was inspired to play along with her. I never learned this
song but playing along with her even in the most imperfect manner is so enjoyable to me - she was carrying me along.