Kum. Aiswarya Sreenivasan, at KGS at 2.00PM on 11/12/11.

[CRama]

Eventhough much have been written in our forum about Kum. Aiswarya, the great grand daughter of legendery MSS and daughter of forumite cheenu, this was the first occasion I attended her music. Top class accompanists- RK.Sreeramkumar on the violin, Dr.T.K.Murthy and B.Sivaraman (Double Mridangam) were there to support her. She rendered all the songs of MS. (Any song rendered by MS will eventually be MS song). The list of songs.
1. Om Namah Pranavarthaaya- Slokam
2. Mathe- Daru varnam in Khamas-Adi- HMB
3. Narayanathe- Ragamalika- Adi- Annamacharya/Purandaradaasar
4. Ennaganuramabhajana- Panthuvarali- Roopakam- Bhadrachala Ramadas
5. Kovarakovajitho- Valaji- Adi- Yoganarasimham
6. Seethamma mayamma- Vasantha- Roopakam-Thyagaraja
7. Sarojadalanetri-Sankarabharanam- Adi- Syama Sastri
8. Ninnane paaduve-Ugabhoga-Hamsanandi-Purandaradasar
9.Aathana paduve anavaratha- Hamsanandi-Purandaradasar
10-Petra thaai thanai maka maranthalum- Virutham- Nadanamakriya
11. Aaraar aasai padaar-Nadanamakriya
12.Bhavayami gopalabalam-Yamunakalyani-Annamacharya
13.Kurai onrum illai- Ragamalika- Rajaji.

Aiswarya has got a very good voice- crystal clear, well tuned to sruti, good breath control all characteristics of her family lineage. Her performance showed her hard work even towards minor details. Raga alapana for Panthuvarali and Sankarabharanam were elaborate - for about 10 minutes with time tested sancharams and covering a vast canvas. The opening Daru varnam in Khamas amply demonstrated the quality of music that was to follow. The ragamalika Narayanathe namo namo set to ragams of Pancharathnam, - I have heard MS singing this many times. Eventhough it is a composition of Annamacharya, the mudra Purandaradasa also comes in the last stanza. I do not know how it is. The neravals at Raamachinuka (Panthuvarali) and Saamaganaanavinodini (Sankarabharnam) were very aesthetic. During the swraprasthara of Samaganavinodini she made enough sancharams in the mel gandharam. The post thani items were all rendered with due attention to the lyrics and the raga bhavam. RK Sreeramkumar provided excellent support. TK Murthy provided very good mridangam accompaniment. The joy of accompanying MS' great granddaughter was very much visible in the faces of RKSRK and TKM both who have accompanied MSS innumerable times.The thani was double mridangam- B Sivaraman also joined with TKMurthy. Given her potential and training, Aiswarya will definitely be a future star of carnatic music.

[arasi]

crama,
Thanks for the review. I stopped by for a short time. Heard the solid pantuvaraLi and SankarAbharaNam rAgam and a bit of sarOja dala nEtri. Aishwarya is focused, is a hard worker and as I said in the other thread, she isaiming for higher planes. She shows dedication. She is a very intelligent and sensitive youngster and is an able sportsperson. It seems to me as if she has promised herself to carry on the tradition

[Nick H]

It was with disappointment that I realised the concert was finishing. I could certainly have gone the "full" 2.5-plus hours, but, as I looked at my watch, I realised that the concert slot must be 2.00-4.00, and Aishwarya was finishing on time, which is professional touch in itself. In fact, I was set up for 2.5 hours, thinking that the tani must be coming "early" in respect of TKM's age (not that he shows any lack of energy!).

Aishwarya's performance was full of sparkle. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Talking to her father afterwards, I found I have been overestimating her age by at least two years.

[raghavt]

Very Good

[cienu]

A picture of the concert in progress

[vasanthakokilam]

Excellent. Great to hear about how well the concert went.

[VK RAMAN]

Great reviews from rasikas. We wish Aishwarya more and more kudos from the rasikas.

[rshankar]

Good job, Aishwarya! Best Wishes for your continued success!
Cienu - great picture!

[mahavishnu]

CRama thanks for your review. Congratulations to Kum Aishwarya on her successful performance (s).
Cienu, excellent picture.

[cienu]

Thanks to CRama for the review and to Rasikas for their comments.
Just to add that after Bhavayami, Aishwarya sang

* Suneri Maine Nirbalke Balraam of Surdas in Raga Sindhu Bhairavi

and then concluded the recital with Kurai Onrum Illai

[pattamaa]

I attended this concert, the alapanas need special mention, particularly shankarabharanam. The alapana had lot of weight and power packed, clear and clever usage of brigas. I am very happy to hear her performance. I am sure, her parents and grand mother will help her to focus on more learning, and sadhakam, and expose her to concert circuit on need basis only, so that we can get a well matured and talented performer in 5 to 10 years.

[rupavathi]

TKM accompanying a female artiste! Interesting... what a name connection can do

[advaitam]

Kum Aishwarya's concert was like a breath of fresh air from the humdrum of concerts this season. Her style and bent of mind are pure vintage! She has not been corrupted by the modern concert forces that turn young promising artistes into egotistic show-pieces. She sings purely from her heart and adheres to the traditions in which she has been assiduously trained. She doesn't sing to merely tickle or titillate the intellect. I attended her concert at the same sabha during the gokulashtami series this year, and I'm so happy to note the great changes she has wrought in her music in so short a period of time. Ofcourse there is always scope for improvement and that ever illusive "perfection" that is the driving force for all great musicians till the very end. But for one so young, she showed a level of precocity that completely mesmerised me! She carried the concert with aplomb, not getting bogged down by the presence of the senior-most mridangist in the field accompanying her. She met the challenge with great confidence and passed with flying colours. Her meticulous attention to detail in her kriti renditions, in her alapanas and neravals is very touching indeed. She is clearly quite familiar with the accompanying techniques of the "giant" Dr. T.K.Murthy, as she continuously kept acknowledging his special pharan-s and podi kanakku-s with a charming smile. I have already mentioned earlier that her greatest asset is her voice. I'm very glad to note that she exploits her vocal abilities with clever precision, never over-doing anything, a testimony to the highly evolved aesthetics in which she has been trained. She could work some more on her swara-kalpana presentation, working towards greater rhythmic precision. But overall she has the makings of a great musician indeed. While she was rendering "Bhavayaami Gopalabalam", Murthy sir became very emotional listening to her pitch-perfect rendition and could not continue playing for some time. He later told me that it was purely because she rendered it in such an authentic manner, reminding him of when he accompanied her great-grandmother for the same song. His spontaneous reaction on stage resulted in quite a few tears shed among the audience, which was also greatly due to the wonderful music of Aishwarya. I pray to Sadguru Tyagaraja Swami to bless this wonderful child with sangeetha "brahmaanandam"! May she rise to the highest echelons of Carnatic music!
Here is a photo of the legend accompanying her, clicked during the concert

[advaitam]

TKM accompanying a female artiste! Interesting... what a name connection can do

Murthy sir has accompanied a lot of great female artistes, notwithstanding Smt MSS for whom he was a set accompanist for 55 years! He was one of the earliest top accompanists to shed the old chauvinist outlook on "pombanaatti paattu" (women's music) - a pejorative manner in which the female vocalists of yore were referred to. There is nothing surprising in that he accepted to play for young Aishwarya, considering the lineage in which she comes and the exacting musical standards she adheres to.

[mahesh3]

Best wishes to Kum Aishwarya. Great reviews, and heartwarming to read about the doyen, Sri TKM's accompaniment.

[advaitam]

One thing I forgot to mention was that the instrument Murthy sir played on was one of the instruments with which he used to regularly accompany Smt MSS. He told me that after he stopped playing for her many years back, he had never used that mridangam, until he was asked to play for Aishwarya! A true gift indeed!

[devan]

tk.moorthy has not played for any lady artist after ms.and so is karaikudy mani.ramabadran played for lady artistes after got his sk.

[VK RAMAN]

Is there anything wrong following the legacy of ones great grand mother? We wish Aishwarya all the Blessings she can muster from her great grand mother.

[rupavathi]

Murthy sir has accompanied a lot of great female artistes, notwithstanding Smt MSS for whom he was a set accompanist for 55 years! He was one of the earliest top accompanists to shed the old chauvinist outlook on "pombanaatti paattu" (women's music) - a pejorative manner in which the female vocalists of yore were referred to..

Sorry to disagree... I was at a Sampradaya event about a year ago where the same TK Murthy made disparaging remarks about the laya capabilities of women singers. It was very much the old chauvinistic outlook on 'pombanaatti paattu'. Let us remember that some of the best laya exponents today are women... Suguna Purushottaman Mami or a Manda Sudharani, to name just two. And please also enlighten us as to which other female artiste he has accompanied. The sexist bias in Carnatic Music is one of the great taboo topics, unfortunately...

And yes, there is nothing wrong in following one's g-g-m's legacy. But ultimately one has to use the legacy as a guiding light and chart one's own individual course...

[Nick H]

Let us have controversy; it is one of the spices of life.

Discrimination (in its negative sense) is a worthy controversy indeed. Awareness leads to a better future. I too have have felt some pleasure to see senior accompanists on stage with lady artists in recent years.

(How about the discrimination of rasikas.org, that won't even let us write the great "censored word?" )

So let this controversy rumble on, in the hope that, one day, it may be history, and, even then, we will have to take care not to deny it or gloss over it. What I am slightly less comfortable with is attaching it to a thread concerning one particular artist and one particular performance.

And yes, there is nothing wrong in following one's g-g-m's legacy. But ultimately one has to use the legacy as a guiding light and chart one's own individual course...

I guess that one follows the tradition of one's guru[s], whether related or not, and, later comes the development of more freedom, personal and artistic. Seeing Aishwarya in command of the stage it is hard to remember that she is --- a school girl. She is going to be called a "young" artist for a decade or so, and has many, many decades ahead of her: lets postpone "ultimately" for twenty years or so!

[vasanthakokilam]

alright folks, those other topics are worthy of discussions but in a different context/thread, let us stay on topic here please. Not fair to the young singer Aiswarya to take the focus away from her concert.

[Nick H]

Practical moderation: open new thread, take all appropriate posts from old thread and move them there.

Whilst there will always be someone who won't like anything about their posts being chnaged, they will come to live with it. Mostly, though, everybody will be happy, because threads that should be to-topic stay that way, and other conversations do not get cut short.

It is the way most popular forums work. Let's do the same!

[Sivaramakrishnan]

By and large, Aiswarya's music appraisal seems to 'sandwiched' between the MS legacy and veteran TKM's accompaniment.
Advaitam's first post seemed to be objective but he gave in immediately after.

The discussion soon drifts to stale and silly topics!

Thanks to Vasanthakokilam and Nick H for calling the shots.

[advaitam]

Sorry to disagree... I was at a Sampradaya event about a year ago where the same TK Murthy made disparaging remarks about the laya capabilities of women singers. It was very much the old chauvinistic outlook on 'pombanaatti paattu'. Let us remember that some of the best laya exponents today are women... Suguna Purushottaman Mami or a Manda Sudharani, to name just two. And please also enlighten us as to which other female artiste he has accompanied. The censored word bias in Carnatic Music is one of the great taboo topics, unfortunately...

Ok, since you asked for a clarification here it is: Murthy sir has accompanied many lady vocalists, apart from Smt MSS, including Smt DKP, Smt MLV, Smt Mani Krishnaswami and, going back a generation, Smt Bangalore Nagaratnammal & Smt KB Sundarambal. Please don't "quote" what he said at the Sampradaya programme, if you do not remember the entire context. I was there too, and you do not need to tell me what was or was not spoken there.
Here is a video recording of Murthy sir accompanying Smt Mani Krishnaswami: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfW76yldCeA
Here is a concert where he accompanied Smt DKP (KGS, 1975): http://www.mediafire.com/?n54mkzwavb8u9
I end my remark here. I wish there is no more discussion on this topic. Rupavathi, if you wish to discuss this topic anymore, then please shift this discussion to the thread under T K Murthy in the Vidwans and Vidushis section. I request the moderators to please close any further commenting in this thread.

[srkris]

Hi Viswanathmysore, if you can add any value to the thread, you are welcome to. I am constrained to delete any posts that are indicative of trolling.

[cienu]

Kindly find below a picture taken immediately after the concert.
Murthy Mama, Aishwarya, Shri RKSK & Shri Y Prabhu

[raghavt]

Hi All,

Please check this URL :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFdMk2So ... ture=share

This contains a footage of this concert wherein Aishwarya sings Seethamma Mayamma - in Vasantham. Please check the accompaniments:

RK Shriramkumar - Violin
TK Murthy and B Sivaraman - Mridangam

It really requires steel nerves and lots of confidence to sing so easily and vividly in the presence of great masters like TKM sir. I think, she has it in her...

[MaamiAtHeart]

Thank you so much for the link Raghavt. Her shruthi sudhdham sparkles throughout! Looking forward to great things from her, God bless!

[Ranganayaki]

Very nice singing.. enjoyed it.. thank you, Raghavt.

[maduraimini]

Very glad to hear about Aiswarya's concert. Thanks for the picture and details. Best wishes !

[kssr]

I like the name maduraimini. Very interesting and imaginative. Conveys a lot. Like "Thondaradippodi" , "Thillai vaazh andaNar tham adiyaarkkum adiyen", etc., Sorry for moving away from the topic.

Greetings and best wishes to young Aishwarya.

[arunk]

I like the name maduraimini.

I always thought this was the best moniker on this board !

[arasi]

Arun,
Because it sounds musical, mimics the jAmbavAn's name, and is easy on the tongue and is easy to type
Certainly, a change from names with gobbled-up vowels
srkris, Krishna and others, are you listening?

And I do know that maduraimini is a very likable person as well