Abhishek Raghuram on JAYA TV

[sridrect]

Just watched the telecast of this young vocalist on JAYA TV.

WOW ! AMAZING !! BREATHTAKING !!! This young vocalist is going to rule ! No questions.

A child like smile that is infectious, a very flexible voice that just zips across octaves, a very high order of manodharma (given his background this is not surprising) and dressed in a simple manner (!)

He puts to shame some of the decked-up stars !!! YES ! Thematic or No-Thematic - he sings without notes / papers etc etc.

Great show young man !!!

[Sivaramakrishnan]

sridrect, I agree with you in toto.

What a wonderful presentation!

He answered a very pertinent question on 'imitation' and 'inspiration' and lived up to his views in letter and spirit. Yes, his music had 'inspired shades' of many great vidwans - past and present. An excellent celebration of 'isai vizha' outside the precincts of Chennai sabhas.

[mahavishnu]

Look forward to listening to the youtube version (courtesy VKailasam and/or Kamakotisankara).

[kunthalavarali]

Reminds of Manakkal Rangarajan (in the late 50s) and T N Seshagopalan (early 70s). They both arrived as shining stars and received similar approbation. Truly Abhishek is the brightest prospect in CM.

BTW who were the accompaniments?

[mahavishnu]

Just saw it on youtube. Brilliant performance.

It was impressive how he showcased several performer/vaggeyakkaras including GNB, BMK, TMT, TNS. I was however disappointed that he did not do a piece by LGJ, whose lineage and rich tradition he comes from...costly omission. IMHO no list of 20th century performer-vaggeyakkaras is complete without the redoubtable Lalgudi sir's varnams and tillanas (although Abhishek did include a disclaimer in the beginning that his sample was not exhaustive).

I also think that the responses to the Q/A session should be in the vernacular. Abhishek is still very young has many years to develop in this department. Sanjay's crisp responses in colloquial tamizh captured the interest and imagination of the audience. Sowmya is very good at this as well. I find the high-faluting answers of TMK, R/G and OS Arun are especially opaque and not relatable.

Kuntalavarali: The violinist is Avaneeswaram Vinu and the mridangist is Anantha R. Krishnan (Abhishek's cousin and grandson of the legendary PRR).

[isaiisai]

as someone above indicated, i too missed the telecast and found this youtube sample. the full version is not yet available.
the clip includes a quick ragam section-most likely edited by our friends at jaya tv- but does not fail to amaze. it's almost as though the tune up for his masterclass kalyani in academy was this jaya tv program.
niraval singing is simply outstanding, especially to withstand the duration of such a long tala cycle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ZY6AKMhWw

[Ranganayaki]

Was impressed, like Sivaramakrishnan, with his nuanced (and spot-on) explanation of the difference between imitation and inspiration. It's indicative of sensitivity and maturity. His understanding was not made of hand-me-down ideas, but seemed to come from his personal experience. Obviously he has given serious thought to the nature of artistic expression and has made well considered choices about the influences that shape his music.

[isaiisai]

here are the rest of the youtube links; they were just made available, fresh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_BpklGaJPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBTISkxgsgs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpa7tmNqxdw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ZY6AKMhWw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOlwNASkWUQ

[sankark]

Caught this broadcast y'day on Java TV. I was left distinctly underwhelmed, might be because all the praise in this forum has been setting up my expectations very high.

[MV]

So what did he say on imitation and inspiration. Only saw parts of the telecast

[CommonMan]

@sankark: This is exactly what I was fearing of....too much rave on an artist, especially of AR's age raises people's expectation way too much + adds a lot of pressure on the artist too.......we have already spoiled an artist by placing too much focus on him - so much so that he has started to take the same rasikas (and the art) for granted....lets learn from the mistake....AR is an extremely talented youngster with so much of promise - lets all pray that he continues to impress us with his performance, and also be in the learning curve....as much as he has so much in his arsenal, he also needs to improve in many areas - art is an ocean.......I think it is partly our responsibility to ensure that we do not place him in a pedestral that he starts losing his focus like the artist I refered to earlier....

[vasanthakokilam]

Caught this broadcast y'day on Java TV. I was left distinctly underwhelmed, might be because all the praise in this forum has been setting up my expectations very high.

I have pointed out this risk before, but in general, fans of artists usually do not take too well to that. They do not see the good intention behind it and take it in the wrong spirit that I am pouring cold water on their enthusiasm. Oh well.. It is really not about all the praise getting into the head of the artist, I am sure the artists have ( or should have ) enough people around them to ground them properly but it is the rasikas' expectations that get skewed beyond proportions. It is not a sprint, it is a marathon.

[sankark]

The thing is - I didn't know that AR was going to sing in Jaya TV and so it was a pleasant surprise when I saw him on TV (courtesy Thane). Whenever SSI sings bhairavi swarajathi or MLV's sarvantaryami or RV's mugattai kattiye plays - I get unconsciously turned to it whatever else I be doing. I didn't experience such a thing y'day. Didn't even feel like listening to the entire broadcast as I lost interest half way through itself. IMHO, that "aakarshanam" is missing. I am just one listener and as long as there are others it is no big loss for AR. Felt like I was listening to a semi or 3/4 classical concert rather than a full fledged classical (carnatic) one. He started with Hindolam varnam. Hindolam hasn't found much favor with me - lots of time I have heard it is a classic heavyweight - but mostly I come away with a semi-classical feeling.

[isaiisai]

all interesting points. as i think another rasika pointed out, the sheer exuberance of youth in abhishek raghuram is perhaps the point of contention here. his music has a verve which in recent past nothing compares to. in this effect, it is slightly different than the usual "bhavam and sowkyam" criteria which has become the xy coordinate system for pinning music and musicians. but, perhaps, his music is strong enough to change the coordinates or he'll wane away because the sampradaya of rasikas and a certain "tradition" of CM becomes too strong to accommodate his music. this we will have to wait and see. till then, all i can say is, every concert i have attended of his has ended in a standing ovation and throughout the concert, there is a silence. rasikas intently listen to what he sings and how he involves his accompanists. he has not had to ask rasikas why they leave a concert. a lot of them stay till the very end- most his concerts go well past 9pm-and go home with his music ringing in their ears eagerly waiting for the next performance.

[vasanthakokilam]

sankark, as a rasika, we should acknowledge that will happen occasionally with any artist. There will not always be that connection, which is fine. Many times, it is our own moods and circumstances rather than the artist.

More importantly, artists at various stages in their career have different strengths. If you demand a certain different aesthetic, there is an opportunity cost of losing his current strengths which may not be capture-able later. For example, he may not exhibit that same youthful exuberance in that kalyani RTP in 15 years. It may sound very different then. So enjoy what he offers now which is very good and let us see where he takes us in the future. That expectation is exciting indeed.

[eesha]

The audio & video of this (and all other Jaya TV margazhi maha utsavam concerts) are being uploaded by Dr Manjunath

Link: http://www.sangeethapriya.org/down.shtml
Video Album_ID: 03-C0662
Audio Album_ID: 03-C0663

[priyashekar]

I too agree that he has been overhyped.I always find his concerts more on kanakku and the melody is missing.I hear him recently sing a short raga alapanai which none of us could make out and he started Theruvil varaano.Only when he started we knew he was on distorted Khamas! Exhuberance and all is ok but where is melody.I saw the You tube but it was not enough to sustain me.Lets not make him out to another artiste who will sing RTP instead of varnam at start.

[mahesh3]

http://www.soundcloud.com/abhifan101
Listen to the sindhubhairavi in this. Beautiful.

navasidhi petralum uploaded online by someone from last week's concert: http://soundcloud.com/jananikamakshi/siva-bhakthi-1

Hopefully, the melody is good enough to sustain and perhaps even thrive.

[kartik]

I was left distinctly underwhelmed, might be because all the praise in this forum has been setting up my expectations very high.

Good.I was fearing that I was the only one who was left underwhelmed. I didn't think highly of the music alas. But it does happen, a section of the rasika crowd loves AS, another NM, yet another one may love AR. I am quite concerned by the deteriorating standard of the rasika.

[gs]

... a section of the rasika crowd loves AS, another NM, yet another one may love AR.

Is it because they adhere to sruthi?

I am quite concerned by the deteriorating standard of the rasika.

No questions there. We should all be. Because our grand parents didn't though deterioration started six or seven decades earlier. They allowed Ariyakkudi kutchery format to reduce to 30 mins of tukkada, 15 mins of Tani, 5 fillers one sub main one main and an RTP in two and a half hours which killed visranthi from our music. They let Master after Master get away with sruthi lapses and other voice problems. So much so the North Indians started calling it bEsur sangeeth. They were being philanthropic. They could have said "bEsur sugam sangeeth", actually. (I don't subscribe gamakam-upaswaram-sruthi excuse)

In all fairness, our grand fathers didn't have internet. We can probably do something about it.

Why do I get a feeling AR is angrier than me and he wants to change it?

[isaiisai]

mahesh 3, thank you so much. i had been searching for this clip on another thread. the karaharapriya is so touching. also, the switch to madyamam in the sindhubhairavi song is quite nice. his voice is so lythe.
in my observation, abhishek is one of the few vocalists who uses his voice as an instrument. carnatic vocal music is definitely getting a new "singing" angle because of this young man. he is bringing "music" to the focus. as much as his briga oriented singing technique is seen as "hurried" and too aggressive by some, i think the overall approach is very important. he provides a much needed jolt to the jaded sowkhyam and bhaava induced vocal community.

[mahesh3]

Thanks. You are right in that I think Abhishek listens to a lot of different kinds of music.

[sridrect]

mahesh 3, thank you so much. i had been searching for this clip on another thread. the karaharapriya is so touching. also, the switch to madyamam in the sindhubhairavi song is quite nice. his voice is so lythe.
in my observation, abhishek is one of the few vocalists who uses his voice as an instrument. carnatic vocal music is definitely getting a new "singing" angle because of this young man. he is bringing "music" to the focus. as much as his briga oriented singing technique is seen as "hurried" and too aggressive by some, i think the overall approach is very important. he provides a much needed jolt to the jaded sowkhyam and bhaava induced vocal community.

@isaiisai - Bingo ! Well said !! A real jolt to the hyper-JADED sowkhyam and bhaava (which puts one to sleep even without Neelambari !) vocal community !

[uday_shankar]

@isaiisai - Bingo ! Well said !! A real jolt to the hyper-JADED sowkhyam and bhaava (which puts one to sleep even without Neelambari !) vocal community !

YES ! BRAVO ! WHO NEEDS BHAVA INDEED ?! TYAGARAJA AND DIKSHITHAR, BIG TIME MUSICAL CHARLATANS! OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW ! WE ALL NEED TO PERFORM "ABHISHEK" ON THE NEW AND CREMATE THE OLD !

[mahesh3]

Gosh, the caps is cloying. Uday, why don't u comment on the music. Last time we checked, Uday Shankar and his pompous cronies did not have any monopoly on Thyagaraja and Dikshithar. Nice sleight of hand, to mention them - for the record, Abhi had a higher proportion of thyagaraja kritis in his concert than most other musicians. Take your shebang elsewhere.

[kssr]

Was there TMK in the MMU series. Did I miss it somehow?

[padavarnam]

Abhishek definitely has a lot of flair and talent amongst several of his peers. He is in a phase, where his voice and his virtuosity built over tremendous practice is being displayed. At this point of time, it is an experimental phase where he will learn what works and what won't work say 5 years down the line. Right now, he seems to be in the Virender Sehwag mode ( pls note in-form Sehwag). But he is an intelligent musician, who knows what he is trying to do and I am sure he will tone himself down in a few years given that he is just 25. But no point comparing him with TMK's or Sanjay's or anyone for that matter including Dr. BMK.
Every artist draws inspiration from some and till they establish a style, we will find shades of the icons they relate to.
I am hopeful that I too would hear a classic begada or dhanyasi too in his concerts like his concerts say when he was a kid more often.