V. Subramanyam@sAstri Hall (Safe) on Dec 08th,2011

[rajeshnat]

V. Subramanyam@sAstri Hall (Safe) on Dec 08th,2011
--------------------------------------------------

Let's have no empty talk from this assembly, let's get something done.
- Betty Williams


Vocal : V.Subramanyam
Vocal support(without mike) : By 3 vidushis (dont know their names)
Violin : RK Shriram Kumar
Mrudangam : Trichy Sankaran

Concert duration/Day : 1 hour and 55 mins/Thursday
Concert Type : Nirvana (open ended with no concert to follow)
Sabha/Hall : Safe /Satri Hall

1.vAthApi(S) - hamsadhwani - MD
2.TsAla kalla lAdu (raga sketch) - Arabi - T
3. sarasa sAma dhAna - kApinArayani - T

4. vAni brahmani suba varayam??? (R N S) - kalyAni - ???
5 mins alapana and 4 mins violin return
neraval in "neeraja dhala nibha rayanE" for 4 mins
swaras for 3 mins
5. sanandam kamalA manOhari - kamalA manohari - ST

We are all indebted a lot to Shri Semmangudi SrinivAsa Iyer, his musical innings was so long that it appears that no one would ever come close to it. There are quite a few disciples of him, who must have been partially eclipsed under semmangudi's halO . I have not heard many of their sishyAs and for a long time , I wanted to hear Shri V Subramanyam and alAs yesterday for the first time it indeed happened. The concert was also witneesed by a galaxy of musicians like TRS, PSN, MC,SugunA V, Amrutha venkatesh ,Arjun ganesh etal .

SAFE sabhA is a well established sabha and as customary with all sabhas they also have an inaugral function and they also have few awards . I am not sure who got awards in SAFE when I went 10 mins late for a scheduled 06:30 pm alloted slot , there was a speech by some one from Dina mani . It was turning out as a sunday morning thamizh tv channel , he was talking about how elders are not respected in general , i was thinking only in Carnatic Music sabhas ,elders are most respected aind in that respect many a times middle aged and young vidwans/vidushis get dissolved in that extreme appreciation.

After the chief guest spoke , the vote of thanks was ON and they requested V.Subramanyam and two other vidwans to speak . It was close to 06:55 pm. I was touched by what vidwan V subramanyam said , he said on behalf of three let there be just one person to speak as it is already late , still for few mins VS and TS spoke(as the organizers asked for) and it was apt. Atleast at that time i felt Shri V subramanyam was concerned more about the concert to follow , though he did not express that way I felt his body language was more of "let's get something done".

The vidwan started with a hamsadhwani rAga alApana, and followed with the numero one krithi in hamsadhwani vAthApi , Shri V S voice was bit rough and very flat and he was accompanied by 3 vidushis who took turn and at times even all three sang . After a bit of dry start, the Arabhi was #2 ,a traditional rolling fast number , my eyes was fixed on the toronto to trichy sankaran , I could see both his right and more important his thoppi left as I sat at that vintage spot. TS had just got started with a bit of fireworks , but VS curtailed by quickly wrapping the krithi. The next number was noteworthy, more for parama sAmbhava left thoppi of TS , and as before VS wrapped bit short .

The submain was a pracheena kalyAni, I have not heard this krithi vAni brahmani suba varayam??? , the alapana was nice and VS's buddy shri PSN seemed to enjoy a lot . KalyAni always strikes a chord for antha kAlathu vidwan's and vidushis is a fair statement. I have seen atleast two or three occassions of younger vidwans where when PSN arrives pankaja Lochana or some other kalyAni krithi starts. May be this vAni krithi in kalyAni was tuned by Shri VS , I do know he has tuned few numbers on shringeri dieties .

THe filler kamala maNohari was a short thriller because of roll of TS.Till then the concert barring kalyAni was not that rich in musical aesthetics .

[rajeshnat]

6A. gajavadanA (R N S T) - tOdi - kumarA ettendrA
7 mins alApana and 5 mins violin return
neraval in "vasudhAra samrakshana devi??" for 6 mins
swaras for 6 mins
6B. tani for 11 mins

7. smara sundAranguni - pharas - DS
8. Sankara srigiri - hamsAnandi - ST

9A. Adishankara's soundaraya lahari rAgamAlika slokham
vipancha gAyanti"- bEgaDa+
+ vibhaya tvayarathE - ???
+ tathiyai vAthuryE ??? - behAg
+ nigamveenAmvAni ?? - sindhubhairavi
9B. vishweswaru - sindhubhairavi - ST

10. nee nAma - sowrAshtram - T

Shri VS impresssed me a lot with his tOdi rendition, his voice did crack but sangathis were very classy , the fairly detailed rare tOdi krithi was sung with quite a lot of imagination and I liked his neraval a lot , swaras in tODi was not as good as neraval but still passable.

Pharas passed with good impact and I liked this rare hamsAnandi- swati jewel of tirunAl , a really nice number , his voice did not open out much but still it was very good.

The day's best was indeed the last soundarya lahari slOkham , there was a lot of aesthetics and his begada and behag were really well done , the finish in vishweswaru was oozing with good gnAnam.

RKSK violin was impactful , bit missed a melody quotient but all his alapana returns were noteworthy. The Tiger like pounding Sankaran Sir did not have even one exodus during tani and he started wonderfully in tani but did not give a roaring finish and just wrapped the tani bit short.His play always had a right nAdham and always had a wonderful kAlapramAnam. His toppi touch was visualized by me and I loved it . On a side note , this is the first time I am hearing TS without an upapakkavAdhyam.

Shri V.Subramanyam did create in me a feeling that his gnAnam and knowledge oozed bit more and in that proces there was also an aesthetic presentation gap in giving a wholesome carnatic concert.

Now coming back to the famous quote of Betty Williams "Let's have no empty talk from this assembly, let's get something done.”

I would not say that the talk was empty , but the tendency to talk in general just bit eats away the concert . Sabhas like Safe and patrons like Shri rAmabadran are wonderful hosts, but what they need to plan is to finish at the least on time or max 15 mins late. The concert roughly started 40 mins behind schedule , leaving music bit late. But kudos to Shri VS who stretched atleast till 9pm , in general 9pm is a cindrella taboo for most artists in chennai.

All said and done the team clicked , overall a good to very good concert for nearly 2 hours.

[mahavishnu]

Rajesh, thanks for your review. I wonder if this concert was the result of Sri VS and Sri TS interacting at the rasikas interactive session. Sri VS mentioned that although he has been on stage with TS on numerous occasions with SSI, he never had the opportunity to perform a concert with him. Fast forward 8-9 months and here it is and that too in TS's kalanidhi year!

>>> 4. vAni brahmani suba varayam???

It is also my guess that it is a composition of HH Chandrasekhara Bharati of Sringeri peetam. VS has tuned a number of his verses/compositions. Interestingly, so has RKSK (Sharade Karunanidhe for e.g.)

[thanjavooran]

I fully agree with Rajeshnat Avl. There were unwanted discussions about who would be the next vice chancellor and about Bharathiyar songs for more than 70 mts. This consumed a lot of time reducing the slot given to VS. I could not stay beyond first song. Thanx for the review.
Thanjavooran 10 12 2011

[ganeshkant]

I have heard VS's concert a few times in the radio.There was this musical debate once - Is Ahiri a janyam of Todi or VakulAbharanam ? While VS was on VB side it was RV who was on the Todi side and the judge was Dr.Srivastava.It was very nice.Again they discussed the various aspects of NeelAmbhari and VS beautifully demonstrated the different ways of using M in NeelAmbhari.A memorable programme.That day the programme was followed by a concert of SS exclusively on kritis on these 2 ragams accompanied by RKSRK.

[semmu86]

Shame i had to miss out on this concert. But whatever i have heard of VS in recordings is simply fabulous. There is a commercial SSI 1974 KGS concert with LGJ and VR, where VS sings a lovely SankarAbharaNam, egged on with besh's and balE's from SSI... Also in the 1988 SSI's MA concert video, he sings a couple of rounds of niraval in pankaja lOchana krithi, when TNK's violin strings come off.

Guess his accompaniment to SSI has somewhat shadowed and not made many realize his solo singing ability. Am a tad disappointed though looking at the list as i was expecting atleast one amongst "mArubalka, kSEENamai, bhairavi swarajathi or a kharaharapriyA".....

[bilahari]

Yeah, it is not a typical SSI list for sure. VS has also sung a passage of kalyANi in a Bombay concert from the sixties, with much appreciation from SSI. There is certainly a lot of azhuttam in his singing.

[rshankar]

By the way, is he also not a reviewer for The Hindu? I for one, am not a big fan of his reviews, especially after one where he pilloried a student for moving away from their guru's style!

[bilahari]

Yup, and that Sowmya incident from some years ago too.

[harimau]

Yup, and that Sowmya incident from some years ago too.

"That Sowmya Incident" was where Sri Subrahmanyam politely questioned the use of certain phrases by Smt Sowmya and attempted to clarify the distinction between Purnachandrika and Janaranjani and where Sowmya decided to go on the attack by quoting one varnam where the phrase in question was employed and then bolstered her case by stating that this is how her guru S. Ramanathan had taught her.

Fair enough.

In jumped T M Krishna, pointing out how Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Sri V. Subrahmanyam's guru (and supposedly his own as well), had employed the questionable phrase in a concert.

A classic case of why one should learn directly from a guru and not from a tape. What might happen in the heat of the moment in a concert is not necessarily correct but that was what T M Krishna was quoting.

Sri V. Subrahmanyam merely responded to some of the specifics on the raga lakshna but did not stoop to personal attacks or stridency in tone, if I recall correctly.

And that seems to have turned you off!

[bilahari]

IIRC, VS responded to Sowmya saying something vague along the lines of "well, this is how SSI taught me, so there". I thought she put forth her case reasonably and also cited MDR's use of the same phrase. I certainly would not describe it as "on the attack" - she was very even in her response.

Also, if SSI gets to use the questionable phrase "in the heat of the moment in a concert", why can't Sowmya?

See here: http://www.carnatica.net/sowmya/academy ... review.htm

[karthikbala]

I found his reviews to be among the better ones for their attention to detail, although the inclination towards pedantry (it has its place too, admittedly) was not to my taste. I cannot identify with the notions of "correctness" being imposed on artistes. The artiste's individual aesthetic must always take precedence. I doubt there are too many great performers who sing exactly "the way Sir taught me".

[sureshvv]

Sowmya decided to go on the attack by quoting one varnam

How would that be "going on the attack"?

Please refrain from passing off your ridiculously slanted opinion as recollection of fact.

Actually IIRC, Sowmya referred to the reviewer's own writing/teaching elsewhere to bolster her case.

[rshankar]

And that seems to have turned you off!

Why, absolutely!

[appu]

So unfortunate that a good review of a concert presented by veteran musicians has now become a place for V. Subramanyam's writing quality in the Hindu. Could the mods please open this as a different thread.

[jnanasoonyam]

Sowmya decided to go on the attack by quoting one varnam where the phrase in question was employed and then bolstered her case by stating that this is how her guru S. Ramanathan had taught her...

harimau, you have unfortunately twisted facts. The complete exchange between Sowmya & VS is documented completely on her website, referred by bilahari. It was a comprehensive rebuttal on technical points (with examples) and she concedes the reviewer's right to make subjective criticisms. There is no varnam among the Purnachandrika / Janarajani / Kedaram examples she has posted!!