RK.Sreekantan in Music Academy 24 Dec 11

[CRama]

RK.Sreekantan presented the concert in the Academy at 9.15 PM slot on 24 Dec 11. He was accompanied by S.Varadarajan on the violin, Yella Venkateshwara Rao on the Mridangam and an artist from Bangalore on the Ghatam (I could not note down the name of the vidwan). The list of songs
Varnam in Devamanohari-Adi
Karikalabhamukham-Saveri-Adi-Deekshithar
Anandasagara-Garudadhwani-Adi-Thyagaraja
Ragarathnamalikache-Reethigowla-Adi-Thyagaraja
Devadideva sadasiva-Sinduramakriya-Thyagaraja
O Rajevaksha-Arabhi- M.Chapu-Thyagaraja
Thappagane vachuna-Sudhabangala-Roopakam-Thyagaraja
RTP-Keeravani-Thisajathai Triputa-2 kalai
Pallavi- Paradevathe sivasahitheLalithe Mahithe
Hange irabeku samsaradalli-Mohanam-Adi (Tisragathi) Purandaradasa
Mangalam.

This varnam in Devamanohari and the kriti Anandasagara are new to me. Karikalabhamukham, made famous by GNB was presented neatly with some nice pattern in the swarams in both the kalams. The raga alapanas of Reethigowla, Arabhi and Keeravani wre elaborate bringing out the nuances of the raga vey effectively. Neraval at Bhagavathothulanu koodi was done for Ragarathnamalikache and the neraval at Maavarasaguna for O Rajeevaksha was very captivating. Thappagane is also rarely heard song in the concerts. Keeravani for the RTP was given the gouravam it deserves for the RTP. The pallavi was in Tisra Triputa 2 kalai and was presented with elaborate rounds of neravals, swarams. Thani was given after the trikaalam before taking the swara exercise. The tail ender Purandaradasar kriti had very philosophical ideals intervowen in the sahithya which Kannada knowing people would have savored. But it stood out for the raga bhavam as well.

Uday has written a lot about RKS in the Hindu. It was really amazing to see the octogenarian sing with perfect sruti sudham and strict adherence to the patantharam. His voice do not reflect his age. Perfect planning. His son Ramakanth also played a very important role in maintaining the concert in a high order. His swara exercises, neravals and alapanas were all in his father's mould and outstanding. Varadarajan played vey well- in his solos and returns. Yella also played with anticipations and his filling up of the gaps were done with interesting strokes. The thani was appreciated by the audience with repeated applause. The huge Academy was almost full for the concert.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Thank you for your report! It was probably a 9:15 am concert?

It must have been a treat! I noticed that I am not familiar with Four of the nine items performed!

I would love to hear this concert - I hope a recording becomes available!

[Radhika-Rajnarayan]

It was really amazing to see the octogenarian sing with perfect sruti sudham and strict adherence to the patantharam.

Small factual mistake. It should be Nonagenarian!!

[bilahari]

Thanks for your review, CRama.

Sri R.K. Srikantan's concert was dripping with classicism, and I enjoyed it. In particular, as CRama has observed, RKS still sings in a full open-throated manner and has impeccable shruti shuddam.

I have not heard this dEvamanOhari varNam before (palumAru ninnE, I think), and it was beautiful. I have enjoyed listening to several rare varNams this season and I hope the trend continues, though I am always up for a viribhOni or nera nammiti too. KarikalAbha mukham had beautiful sarvalaghu swaras, especially in the kIzh kAlam, emphasising all the important gamakas in the ragam. I have heard the subsequent garuDadwani kriti from NSG before, and I hoped RKS would also append kalpanswaras to this piece, but the composition alone was really beautiful too.

The rItigowLa presentation was the highlight of the concert for me. RKS sang a moving alapanai, complemented by some nice brighas in the upper reaches by Sri Ramakanth, and I particularly enjoyed the neraval in rAgaratnamAligacE too. The Arabhi was very succinct. RKS's gamaka-oriented approach really brought out the beauty of the raga, and the kriti was a great choice.

The kIravANi RTP was a treat. The rAgam and tAnam were both concise, and I thought the pallavi was nicely designed (eDuppu three aksharams from samam) and executed, with a thorough neraval and trikAlam. I liked RKS's idea of allowing the tani after the trikAlam and returning to kalpanaswaras at the end. The tani seemed to be an organic part of the entire exercise, rather than a mere addendum.

Yella also took the cue to present a beautiful tani with the ghaTam vidwan. I was ambivalent about YVR's accompaniment that morning. I thought he played really beautifully for some parts of the concert, such as the sAvEri and rItigowLa, but other times, I sensed a slight discord between his strokes and RKS's singing. The ghaTam vidwan was very much in the background throughout the concert, but played well during the tani Avartanam.

Varadarajan played beautifully throughout the concert. He was very understanding and his raga alapanais were crisp. He added several flourishes of his own in his raga responses, and his brighas in rItigowLa were interesting. His kIravANi alapanai also used flat notes in an interesting way. His neraval and kalpanaswara responses were very chaste to the vocalists' ideas.

I was also ambivalent about the vocal accompaniment. While I enjoyed Sri Ramakanth's brighas in rItigowLa, I thought his singing really contrasted with RKS's approach because of (1) his tendency to croon at times, as opposed to RKS's gambIramAna open voice, (2) his almost purely brigha-oriented approach, as opposed to RKS's elegant gamaka-oriented singing. In particular, I thought Ramakanth overdid the brighas in Arabhi. While he still had the occasional shruti lapse amidst brigha cascades, his shruti was pretty good that morning compared to the previous occasions when I've heard him. Also, I thought his kalpanaswara singing really did fall in line with RKS's singing, and I enjoyed his contributions there.

I really appreciate RKS's presentation of rare kritis and unusual manOdharma exercises (I don't think I have heard many rItigowLai neravals). Of course, there is not much to add to what others have said about this vidwan's singing. It is a rasika's honour to be able to listen to a musician with such sincerity, classicism, and dignity.

[CRama]

bilahari thanks for your review and value additions