'Medai Vendra Methaigal' - A Unique Thematic Music Programme

[HR]

Medai Vendra Methaigal is a unique thematic music programme that focuses on great performing musicians who are also well known and loved composers.Conceptualized by Dr. Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam, the programme features a concert showcasing the rich repertoire of such compositions in the Carnatic Music inventory. A presentation by eminent Carnatic Music historian V.Sriram brings under the spotlight, the lives and times of these great stalwarts. The programme is organized by Narada Gana Sabha and is to be held on 11th February - Saturday at 6 PM.

Please find below, the invitation to Medai Vendra Methaigal - a celebration of creativity and a rich tribute to the performer – composer

[mahavishnu]

excellent theme. best wishes for the concert!

[hamirkalyani123]

True. Smt. VS always does something unique and different just like the Kshetras sangeetham. Good luck to her. Would be nice if someone posts a review of the concert.

[SabashBale]

Of course someone will post - Hindustani istyle mein !

[kssr]

Will be a nice idea if it can be performed again at some (South) Bangalore venue. Beautiful idea. I have heard Sriram's talk in Bangalore. It is information packed and coming from his fingertips (or tonguetip- Naakku nuni). Incidentally, has Dr.Vijayalakshmy performed in Bangalore in the recent past?

[hamirkalyani123]

Based on the information in her website (http://www.vijayalakshmysubramaniam.com/index.html), yes she did perform recently on

Sat, January 21, 6:30pm – 9:00pm
WhereKarenji Anjaneyaswamy Temple , Basavanagudi (map)
Description
Sri. HN Bhaskar - Violin
Shertalai Sri. Ananthakrishnan - Mridangam
Sri. Guruprasanna - Kanjira

[satyabalu]

* Not able to place the first two-First I guess MVC .second?

[hamirkalyani123]

>> Not able to place the first two-First I guess MVC .second?

I do not understand. What are you trying to say Satyabalu?

[hamirkalyani123]

Also, what does "Medai Vendra Methaigal" mean?

[rshankar]

Geniuses (mEdaigaL) who conquered (venra) the stage (mEDai)....

[sridhar_ranga]

* Not able to place the first two-First I guess MVC .second?

MVC as in Mysore Vasudevachar? I too was wondering about the first three musicians in the picture. Is one of them Muthiah Bhagavathar?

[mahavishnu]

L to R: Mysore Vasudevachar, Patnam Subramania Iyer, Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar... I guess we all know the rest.

[HR]

An outstanding evening on a very interesting theme ... a crisp talk (and informative anecdotes) on the lives of eight stalwarts of Carnatic Music that kept the audience in rapt attention ..interspersed with an enthralling concert (excellent combination of ragams , and rendered beautifully) covering compositions of these performers. That the eight performer - composers were covered in a regular concert format with a sub-main , main , thukkada shows that a lot of thought and meticulous planning has gone into the programme . The whole evening was a treat to those present , and look forward to the future episodes of Medai Vendra Methaigal.

[mahavishnu]

HR, could you please post the song list. I am very curious to see how she structured the concert.
Also, any additional details on the talk will be much appreciated. many thanks in advance.

[satyabalu]

* Had to miss the major part. Harini's brief write-up too small to know about the contents of the whole prog.
* She puts her wide repertoire to good use by presenting such programme covering Various vaggeyakaras past &present.
*Putting those nos in a typical Kutchery format is again a special feature of her progs.I agree with Harini .
*Kavikunjara Bharathi(Sriram said he was the grandpa of kotiswara iyer) composition in pantuvarali was a rare one.
*Mamakuleshwaram in Todi a MAGNUM OPUS of GNB (MLV/ TSK onwards popularising this no) being taken as "Main" shows her authentic padantara from GNB disciple Mr. Sankaranarayanan? of Mumbai.
*By including Mayavaram Viswanatha sastri 's "Jayathi Jayathi Bharatha Matha in kamas" Dr. VS brought us alive the immortal GNB where you experience the Gait of jawan marching. Sriram said the vaggeyakara won the best composer award in MA long back.This song stood as a strong contender for the indian national anthem before "jana gana mana".Nice gesture to have hosted his picture (What a tejas!)in the powerpoint announcing the caption of the songs (another speciality in her thematic events &her hi-tec initiative.)
* Sriram said hundreds of compositions of these vaggeyakaras go unattended.
Perhaps they are like old temples to be renovated in the safe hands of( I will call) archaeologists like Sriram &VS.
*" Let us look forward to the future episodes" (Thanks HR again to have sounded in advance) - I hope her GOGGLE calender hosted elsewhere in this Forum be updated to include the future episodes.By looking at the tight schedule (to be updated after march )one wonders how she trades off her time for these special programmes being offered in platter as largesse in short intervals of time.!

[hamirkalyani123]

mahavishnu,
Who is the last person ?

[sureshvv]

M.D.Ramanathan

[Sundarnrao]

Dear All -- Just realized that i forgot to append the write-up to the existing thread for continuity and instead, wrote-off in a separate-window. Apologies for the same.. I'm copying the write-up in this bigger chain for continuity..

Write-up:

Exclusive theme, empyrean crooning, edifying vignette (by Sri. V.Sriram) and enthralled audience denoted a special adumbration of “Medai Vendra Methaigal” Concert series (dated: 11-feb-2012; Venue: Naradha Gana Sabha - main hall) .

Velvety voiced Dr. Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam spirited the concert with a caring rendition of kanada based ata-tala-varnam. With a rare combination of pitch-perfectly tuned and titivated vocals to the drones of tanpura, Smt. VS enunciated striking strokes of alaap and sargams during her second presentation pranmamyaham set in Ranjani. Smt.VS carried the rasikas into the trance during her detailed alaap of sahana as part of her third presentation Rama-ika-nanna. She marveled all the hidden splendors of sahana illustrations with baroque adornment. Known to be the mastero of ‘aprachalit’ ragas & compositions, smt. VS delivered a class-par-excellence vijayanagari based bandish Vijayambike and demonstrated the framework of raga(through sargams) with and elegant ease and serene simplicity.

Exquisiteness to the musical evening was remarkably notched when smt. VS registered Mamakuleswaram (todi) as her main-presentation. Her dedication to music and her unified capacity (creative, mental, divine, soul, musical and vocal) to present unique and yet, the entire structure of todi was far beyond words. She took extreme heeds in forging superb badhat, fantastic bol-baant, bol-banavs, sargams (in all speeds and across many sub-patterns), taans and laykaaris. Accompanists (Shri. Ganesh Prasad on violin, Sri. Madirimangalam Subramaniam on mridangam; Sri.Chandrashekar Sharma on ghatam) equaled their magic with Smt. VS and created a delightfully detailed presentation.

Puriya dhanashree based Adharkulle enna was the sixth rendition by Smt. VS. Her ability to invoke the tastefully tuned notes of the raga along with demonstrable sense of aesthetics signified the specialty to this presentation. She then moved up the concert chain to deliver the nation-wide popular cheez Jayathi jayathi (set in kamas) and pearled nuantic improvisations on bols besides attesting her tonal capabilities to balance the voice-culture on HM also. Thillana set in Amrithvarshini was the concluding presentation for the evening. Starting with an artfully crispy alaap, Smt. VS authenticated her many years of specialized tayyaris on thillana-syllables by singing with phenomenal clarity at varying speed. She also displayed a beautiful comprehension of how these thillana-bols can get the deserving raagdhari without disturbing the concert ambiance all through.

Unassuming person that she is, Smt. VS took care to sign-off with a gratitude speech to thank organizers, Shri.V.Sriram, accompaniment team and also rasikas for their patronage to encourage thematic concerts like these. Smt. VS also hinted about upcoming series of MVM during her thanksgiving speech. May she continue to keep up her services to promote pure classical music and persist herself to revive/re-live all the treasury rare-gems of carnatic music.

[satyabalu]

"raagdhari" is the new HM word used in this summing up.!

[hamirkalyani123]

Thanks, Sureshvvv. I never expected it to be MDR for I only know the old face of his always.

Is Puriya dhanashree == Pantuvarali?

It would be nice if HR (Harini?) could post the complete song list... Thanks.

[Sundarnrao]

Dear Satyabalu sir -- "Raagdari" refers to the production of extreme command and creative craftmanship during the raga elaboration.

Dear Hamikalayani123 -- You are right. Puriya dhanashree (Thaat: poorvi; Samay: Dusk/evening; Vaadi: Pancham; Samvaadi: Shadaj) is the HM equivalent of pantuvarali.

[HR]

• 1. Varnam - Kanada - Ata Talam - Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar
  2. Pranmamyaham - Ranjani - Misra Triputa - Mysore Vasudevachar
  3. Rama Ika Nannu - Sahana - Rupakam - Patnam Subramania Iyer
  4. Vijayambike - Vijayanagari - Adi - Harikesanallur Muthaiah Bhagavathar
  5. Mamakuleswaram - Todi - Tisra Ekam - G N Balasubramaniam
  6. Adarkulle Enna Padhattam - Pantuvarali - Misra Chapu - Kavi Kunjara Bharati
  7. Jayati Jayati - Khamas - Mayooram Viswanatha Sastri
  8. Thillana - Amrithavarshini - Adi - Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna

A few things that made the programme really unique --- it was conversation interspersed with music , with Sri.V. Sriram setting the context by talking wonderfully about these stalwarts - presenting trivia and information that we may not have the oppurtunity of knowing otherwise, Smt. VS seamlessly taking the audience virtually to the era of the performer - composer with the rendition of each song , a presentation on each song / performer projected to the audience providing visual aid , very nice contrast of ragams , pace , and execution in a typical concert format.... ofcourse there were many more things that made the evening of music unique --- that which could only be experienced ... it was a treat to those present.

[hamirkalyani123]

Thanks, HR for the details.