Prof. T.N. Krishnan - Triplicane - 18th Dec 2011

[bilahari]

T.N. Krishnan - Violin
Sriram Krishnan - Violin
Umayalpuram Mali - Mrudangam
Aniruddh Athreya - Khanjira
? - Ghatam [I'm sorry I couldn't recognise the ghaTam vidwan and can't find his name online either]

Triplicane Music Festival
Duration: 1.5 hours

Approximate Songlist:

01. vAtApi gaNapatim (S @ pallavi) - hamsadwani - Adi - MD
02. evaraNi - nAdacintAmaNi -Adi - T
03. samAnamEvaru (R, N @ paluku paluku, S) - kharaharapriya - rUpakam - T
04. Azhi mazhai kaNNa (tiruppAvai) - varALi - Adi - ANDAL
05. khaNDu dhanya (R) - bEhAg - rUpakam - PD
06. tiruppugazh (?) - sindhu bhairavi - Adi
tani Avartanam
07. vangAkaDal (R) - suruTTi - rUpakam - ANDAL
08. nI nAma rUpamulaku (mangaLam) - sowrASTram - Adi - T

Sri N.K.T. Muthu has started a music festival in Triplicane for the local community, and the festival was inaugurated by a former Gujarat high court judge whose name slips my mind. After the customary speeches, the concert began an hour behind schedule and was thus truncated.

TNK appropriately commenced with vAtApi, which had beautiful sarvalaghu swaras in the first speed. After a lovely evaraNi, TNK and Sriram shared an elaborate kharaharapriya alapanai. Sriram played some beautiful madhyama kAla passages that were straight out of TNK's book of tricks ending in the tAra panchamam, evoking applause from the packed hall. The neraval at paluku paluku was exceptional, with several moving passages in the first speed. Right at the end, TNK played some of those brigha sangatis traversing the octaves that MMI used to frequently sing, and Sriram added his own flourishes too to bring an engaging conclusion to the neraval. The kalpanaswaras were nice before they gave way to kaNakku, and I was not enthused by the fast cut-bowing conclusion Sriram gave to the kharaharapriya presentation. Throughout, it was fun to see Sriram trying to keep up with TNK during the fast passages, and he was generally up to the task too!

The bEhAg and suruTTi alapanais at the end were both beautiful, and the suruTTi in particular took some interesting twists and turns.

I was surprised that the tani wasn't given for kharaharapriya. There was a full bench of percussionists, who were all given chances to play individually during the manOdharma segments of the concert. TNK seemed displeased initially with the shruti (I think) of the mrudangam, but everything settled eventually. I personally thought there were too many percussionists, and didn't find any particular chemistry between them and the violinists, though they were all competent.

It was a short but engaging concert with a particularly beautiful kharaharapriya.

[srikant1987]

evarani is dEvAmrutavarShini (but Bilahari is double-correct. See #4 vvv ). http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.co ... chiri.html

Do you remember the tALam the tiruppugazh was set to? Maybe the tALam made for a more interesting tani ...

I unfortunately had to leave between the kharaharapriya and the varALi.

This concert was the very first in this newly-reborn sabhA, and the rendition of time-tested vAtApi gaNapatim surely was an auspicious beginning! Here's an article in The Hindu mentioning it: http://www.thehindu.com/arts/history-an ... 677239.ece

[hamirkalyani123]

It appears like Nada Chintamani is another name for the same raga...

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/list_al ... hintamani/

[srikant1987]

I have a janani ninnuvinA by TNK -- he played it in Gayana Samaja in 80s I think -- in which he announces the pieces he'd played earlier in the concert. Parts of this announcement are cut, but he apparently played an evarani in "nAdacintAmaNi". I'd been thinking there's another evarani in this "other" rAgam though I know the dEvAmrutavarShini evarani to be a favourite of his.

The former Gujarat High Court Judge is Sri Gokulakrishnan. Don't know the FULL name. You can find it in The Hindu of 18 Dec I think.

[bilahari]

Srikant, you use synonymous instrument names in your reviews, and I use synonymous raga names.