Abhishek Raghuram@rathnagireeshwarar temple on Feb 15th,2012

[rajeshnat]

Abhishek Raghuram@rathnagireeshwarar temple on Feb 15th,2012
-------------------------------------------------------------
Vocal : Abhishek Raghuram
Violin Support: Vittal Ramamurthy
Mrudangam : Anantha R krishnan

Concert duration/Day : 2 hours and 30 mins/Wednesday
Concert Type : Nirvana (prime evening concert , no concert to follow)
Sabha/Hall : rathnagireeshwarar temple

1. thyagarAjAya namastE (Raga sketch)-bEgaDa - MD
2. sadAnanda tAndavam(RS,S) - bahudari - Achuta dAsar
swaras for 7 mins
3. chintayamAM (R N S) - bhairavi - MD
3 mins alApanai
neraval in mangalA karamanda hAsavadanam mAnikyamayakAnchisadanam for 13 mins
5 mins swaras

4. idathu pAdam thooki - kamas - papanAsam sivan
5A. parvathi nAyakanE (R S T) - shanmughapriyA - papanAsam sivan
raga alapanai for 12 mins and violin return for 6 mins
swaras for 11 mins
5B. tani for 10 mins

This was my third mahasivArathri celebrations concert that I am attending and abhishek made me happy and shaked me with his wonderful music. Brief Highlights were

# THe start in Begada was with a brief alapana, the krithi that followed was bit cautious ,a more of testing the mike and adjusting perhaps to the right pitch , in the sense there was no usual brigA fireworks in his presentation.Nevertheless bEgaDa being a heavy rAga perhaps opens the throat much. THe next was tandAvam , when he sarva sAdarnamA sang some exquisite swaras in bahudAri, it was not MMI way to have so much sowkhyam , nevertheless very well presented.

# The submain zoned into one of my favourite rAgas of Big 5 . I enjoyed it immensely , bhairavi has a tendency to generally take its time to warm up and Abhishek sang a beautiful classical krithi , the alApana was brief but nevertheless the krithi was wonderful, especially the neraval component was brilliant every phrase especially his unfliched clinging to mangala , indeed really manifested his manly voice that had so much of tonal perfections , who said voice is not important in carnatic music ?

# The kamAs did not have the nAtarAja dance, perhaps this time Lord nataraja also needed his valathu KAl bit more firmly , bit touch and go , nevertheless it passed quickly as a full stop . I was praying in rathnagirieeshwarar temple , running my mind I donot want a poorvikalyAni or kalyAni as it appeared imminent that prati is a main . Can I get AndavanE or why not shanmughapriyA pallavi , indeed it was shanmughapriya , had all its 6 facets: tonal clarity, a touch of melody, controlled aggression , sustained pitch , the face of abhishek and his cousin enjoying as the last two Arumugham . Though the alapana and swaras were bit short in mins (only 12 and 11 mins), dont get fooled with the intensity , he sang as though he gave his life for it . Lovely alAp and swaras and what a cascade of tani by anantha R krishnan.

[rajeshnat]

6. idhudhAnO thillai sthalam - behAg - GKB
2 mins alapanai
7. chandrachooda - darbAri kAnadA - PD

8. ardhanAdeeshwaram (R) - kumudhakriyA - MD
4 mins alapana
9. navasiddhi pEtrAlum - kharaharapriyA - Neelakanta sivan

10. chandrasekara eesA - sindhubhairavi - anai ayya
11. pavamAna


# For me the tukkadas brimmmed with more classicism than 95% or rather 98% of the musicians who have this tendency to watch the organizer and show hands and sing some tukkadas just to indicate how tired they are ? What a energy he showcased , while I have to say I did not like his excess hindustanization of chidambaram idhu tAnO , which was more a North Indian Cook trying his hand in idli - vada dosa. The chandrachooda in darbAri was intense that kind of negated his behag for its excess freewheeling

# I made up my mind that the best was shanmughapriyA , but I changed my mind when I heard his kumudhakriyA. What an outstanding rendition it was , the alApana was so intense , I thought he was heading for a pallavi .Initially I thought it was subhapantuvarAli and then later zoned to perhaps kumudhakriya, his rendition of ardhanAdheeeshwaram was beautiful .The pristineness of kumudakriyA was wonderful , there were some beautiful phrases in the krithi like "alankAram vishesa prabhAham" and indeed abhishek bought so much of alankAra vishEsha patterns that his paramaguru SSI must have not seen those patterns. KumudhakriyA was a really good testimony of his creative pursuit.

# navasiddhi was wonderful , he has a knack of modulating his voice to the meaning of words (not that I care), but still appears so evident in his presentation (like accentuation of few words , like tAi tandai manam nOgha sheiginra guru drOhat-tanayargaL verum sAvi), where there is a touch of remorse :devil: till tanayArgal





and then verum sAvi ] , wonderful intersect and right spacing .

# I did not like chandrasekara eesa, only because I heard it last week in suryaprakash concert and to get the feel of great concerts getting over is not a good feel, and he wrapped with energetic sindhubhairavi and neenAma rupamulaku, the only T krithi. Madurai GS Mani and his guru PSN were there and I liked the talk of Shri GSM

About Accompanist
-----------------
# From the time about 6 months back when it was announced that happy shake is accompanying Vittal in US , i was longing to hear their combo, incidentally I had to skip abhishek in the season too. Vittal is a wonderful accompanist , he is one Big annA who at times amicably settles the fight of two brothers, never disrupting their creativity but really giving a right spacing , at times when violin goes at the same speed as abhishek the speed thrills and surely kills , but vittal was matured and wonderfully lifted the concert

# The sure and real hero was not just abhishek but his cousin anantha R krishan , Kind of Mark waugh is really as important as steve waugh . He has the right aggression ,right I just mean really right , that too when my memory is still there with the last two concerts in the temple where there were two extremes of mrudangam playing. Anantha R krishnan really gives solid support , there is real great speed in his play and understands perhaps the unpredictability of Abhishek.

Few Annoyances:
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# Abhishek at times brings too much of kanakku and brigas, bit reduction and a more sarvalaghu will really interest me much more .Few swara patterns that he sang was slightly chaotic but nevertheless it just fades away with his intensity. I wish he also sung a pallavi, that too when he sang shanmughapriya I could spot a lot of madurai somu.

I have to really mention that Abhishek takes all rasikas in a pursuit of listening to a very creative on the spot manodharma sangeetha concert, I am still in kumudakriyA mood . Shri GS mani prayed health and longevity with his Lord Eeshwara for this ensemble, I pray that Abhishek gets insight, so that he does not burn out and find ways to increase his musical innings as much as say even 3/4th of his paramaguru semmangudi mAmA.

Overall an excellent concert for 2 and half hours.

[mohan]

it was shanmughapriya , had all its 6 facets: tonal clarity, a touch of melody, controlled aggression , sustained pitch , the face of abhishek and his cousin enjoying as the last two Arumugham .

Nice!

[grsastrigal]

Rajesh's review is definitely better than mine. I thought of editing my review for posting it here. Then I decided to give it in full as the rasikas in this forum have lot of "patience" to read mine...

Ratnagireeswar Temple, Besant Nagar, Chennai
Date- 15th February 2012

It is part of Sivarathri celebrations. There are always concerts by eminent vidwans before
Sivarathri which falls on coming Monday.

I could not go to Sanjay, Gurucharan but yesterday, I made to AR.


Abhishek Raguram (AR)
Anantha R Krishnan-Mridangam
Vittal Ramamurthy -Violin

Shri G S Mani, Shri.PSN and Shri O S Sundar and few known sabha secretaries gathered for this
programme and GSM echoed our views in the concluding speech.

"AR has imbibed tremendous manodharma in his pAdandhram. While his right brain excels in
manOdharma, his left controls the Thalam and by God's grace, both get synchronised at the
right time and place and the result is ecstacy to rasikas.

As God created rAmanujam for Maths, He has created AR for present Carnatic Music and if
we want to reciprocate "thanks for your wonderful music", please pray everyday monring that
God should give long life and impeccable vocal power to this youngster (AR)"

As Shri PSN felicitated AR and other artists, the programme ended happily with the blessings
of the deity of the temple. Ratnagireeswarar...

This is the FIRST time, Iam listening AR live. I have read many of his reviews in this forum,
other forum and newspapers and listened couple of cassettes. Expectedly, all kritis of Siva.
Lyrics go like this.

1)ThyagarAjAya namastE- Begada- Dikshitar- rupakam

2)Bahudari- a short sketch of rAgam- sadAnandha Tandavam-Adi- Achuda Dasar- Swaram in
"muttarum siddharum" -

3) Bairavi-five minutes rAgam followed by "Chintaya mAkandhamoola kandham" - another beautiful
kriti of Dikshitar- Interestingly, he did neraval in "mangalakara mandhahAsa vadhanam, mAnikya
maya kAnchi sadhanam" and swaram in "uttungamanEya vrushaturangam".

4) idadhu padam tooKi- kamas - pApanAsam sivan

5) rAgam-Shanmugapriya followed by pArvathi nAyakane- PapanaAsam sivan-adi & swaram
in "sArvabowmane shankarane"

7) Tani

8 ) Idu dano tillai stalam-GKB- BehAg.

9) Kumdakriya - rAga for 4 minutes followed by "ardha nAreeshwaram" -Dikshitar.

10) nava sidhi peRRAlum- Neelkanta sivan- karaharapriya

11) chandra chooda- Darbari kAnada - Purandaradasar

12) Chandrasekhara eesa- Sindhu bairavi- ??

11) mangalam-pavamAna.

As a starter, he took the vibhakti kriti of Dikshitar's masterpiece of Begada. From this,
till mangalam, his energy had never come down. Such a volley of sangathis, swarAs and rAga
alapana of Bairavi and Shanmugapriya are no match for any of the present day musicians

The swaras in "Muttarum" made me think, what MMI would be thinking listening to his patented
swara rendered by this youngster ?

Bairavi-How could one person bring the beauty of this kriti in 5 minutes. Yesterday, I witnessed
this listening. Starting itself, he went to the complicated rAga delienation of this rAga.


Two things I observed.

When he sings "mel StAyi", he never looks up the celing as done normally by our artists. Even
keeping his face down, he could reach the highest octave. Oophs.

While rendering swaRas, complicated sangathis, he keeps his left hand fingers as "playing
veena/sitar" and the fast his fingers- fast his brigas. I could watch this since I was sitting
close to him. sort of "electric fingertips" music..

Man...- he is a phenomenon. As GS Mani sir said- here is a gift by God to take our Carnatic
Music to the next level.

I fel that he would carry on the concert for 8 hours non-stop without losing his energy.

It is unfair that AR has not been given third accompaniment like Ghatam and Ganjira and the
burden of "full play" fell in Ananta krishnan- another disciple of Sri.Raghu. His tani and
sowkyam with which he closely followed AR was really class. First time I listended to this
vidwan. Hats off to him. Long live Anantha krishnan...!!!

Vittal Ramamurthy is another icon to watch. True that he could not reproduce all the volleys of AR, but
definitely justified his part. Such a senior person might have found his "mate" yesterday.

End of the concert- I asked the following questions...

Does his concert fill with sowkhyam ?

Ans: No. Over brigas really kill/killed the sowkhyam. Why he did so much brigas in begada
kriti-idu dhano. It was a simple kriti run for 4 minutes max. He took it as it is a "nuclear
war" and slaughtered the rAga...

Brigas, for me, are beautiful where it is needed. For ex- navasidhi kriti- where the words-
verum sAvi, perum pAvi at the end of each sentence- the brigas, in karaharapriya, are needed
and if rendered correctly, it is a delight to listen. I have listended at least a dozen senior
artists rendering this kriti. None could match AR's rendering. Such a stream of "prayogam"
of K.priya. But Behaga- it was a waste of energy.

Does his concert have sAhitya clarity ?

Not really. He missed two lines in "idadu padham" in anupallavi- (tarikita timikita tom ena
ThrumAl...) and also mixed up "navasiddhi kriti lines. He loves to render more brigAs than
kritis. Better he controls this.

If tomorrow, he has another concert, will I go to him ?

No- I cannot take 10,000 volts daily. Iam a 100 Volt guy. I need a week's break before I go
to him again.

Even brigas in pavamAna ---- "konjam over"

Overall, I shudder to think what he will be after 4-5 years ? As one old man, while leaving,
said, entaro mahAnubhAvulu antariki vandanamu... AR may be younger to him, but his music is
older than this old man. So his "vandanamu" is "real".

After each and every kriti, whether he sipped hot water or not, the rasikas sipped hot water....

[rajeshnat]

Shri G S Mani, Shri.PSN and Shri O S Sundar and few known sabha secretaries gathered for this
programme and GSM echoed our views in the concluding speech.

2)Bahudari- a short sketch of rAgam- sadAnandha Tandavam-Adi- Achuda Dasar- Neraval in
"muttarum siddharum" -

...
The swaras in "Muttarum" made me think, what MMI would be thinking listening to his patented
swara rendered by this youngster ?

GRS
To the best of my knowledge I dont think Abhishek sang a neraval for bahudAri, there is a contemporary artist, suryaprakash who sings beautiful neraval and swaras in bahudari , I will pass that to u if u are interested, have about one or two versions of it, that too the neraval in muddarum siddharum following with volley of swaras.

When he sings "mel StAyi", he never looks up the celing as done normally by our artists. Even
keeping his face down, he could reach the highest octave. Oophs.

While rendering swaRas, complicated sangathis, he keeps his left hand fingers as "playing
veena/sitar" and the fast his fingers- fast his brigas. I could watch this since I was sitting
close to him. sort of "electric fingertips" music..

Great observation, he also was keeping the mike more like a hindustani musician kind of syle, that way we can also see his full face in action.Suji in her seattle review referred that as hindustani spatials about his fingertips .

It is unfair that AR has not been given third accompaniment like Ghatam and Ganjira and the
burden of "full play" fell in Ananta krishnan- another disciple of Sri.Raghu. His tani and
sowkyam with which he closely followed AR was really class. First time I listended to this
vidwan. Hats off to him. Long live Anantha krishnan...!!!

It is unfair, but definitely OK at times too much of rotation and a longer tani hurts concert vocal music and sags , hope the mridangist be blessed first and then the vocalist.

Delhi is another icon to watch. True that he could not reproduce all the volleys of AR, but
definitely justified his part. Such a senior person might have found his "mate" yesterday.

He is Vittal ramamurthy and not delhi sundarrajan

End of the concert- I asked the following questions...
Does his concert fill with sowkhyam ?

Ans: No. Over brigas really kill/killed the sowkhyam. Why he did so much brigas in begada
kriti-idu dhano. It was a simple kriti run for 4 minutes max. He took it as it is a "nuclear
war" and slaughtered the rAga...

But Behag- it was a waste of energy.

I agree on the behAg, I said too hindustanish and you say too much of briga- We both are saying the same, yes at times I really forgot what he was singing in behag. But definitely one cannot characterize there was lack of sowkhyam ,for me it was there.

But i also presume that ooze of overdoing behAg perhaps , did put him in the zone of intense creativity. He then gave one of the finest kumudakriyA what a thrust and it was an extra-ordinary rendition.Very very original that had very fresh ideas.You forgot to add what GSM sir said "kumudakriya pAdi pattan AthOda sramam theriyum, bayangarama vazhukkum(the raga kumudakriya is a slippery raga , when you sing you do know how difficult it is)

[rajeshnat]

GRS
I could not see Abhishek in full view , By any chance was he wearing white pyjamas instead of dhoti. Not sure about that , may be that was why behAg never came to thillai and stayed in kAsi .

[mahavishnu]

it was shanmughapriya , had all its 6 facets: tonal clarity, a touch of melody, controlled aggression , sustained pitch , the face of abhishek and his cousin enjoying as the last two Arumugham .

Nice!

Very nice!

[mahavishnu]

Just heard a recording of this concert. Simply mind blowing. The bhairavi and Shanmukhapriya were both top class.
I am definitely a 1000 volt person; I can eat this music for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then again as a teatime snack. I thought that his begada and khamas had all the dimensions of sowkhyam that I was looking for.

Vittal's Lalgudi style came through clearly even in the recording. There were pidis in bhairavi that are so characteristic of his school. Anantha's accompaniment requires special mention.

[Thalaivarda]

I listened to him a month ago for the first time. for his age, he is a phenomenon. Should see how he shapes up in 5 or 10 years time.

[arasi]

I like the young man's music in parts. I agree with some of what Rajesh and gsastrigal say.

Mahavishnu,
I don't think gsastrigal means that there is no sowkyam in Abhishek's singing. I' d say that the sowkyam element which is there gets easily bulldozed by the speed factor!

I like bringing in another word here: trupti. This comes after the concert and not during our listening experience. As we walk out of the hall, do we have a feeling of trupti (satisfaction, fulfillment)? I also like to take that feeling home.

[mahavishnu]

Arasi, I don't think speed and sowkhyam have to trade-off or live in reciprocity. They can co-exist, resulting in trupti.
As someone much wiser that I (which means you) said, loko binna ruchi. Different strokes for different folks

But I do grant that seeking the thrill of the ride might not be everyone's cup of tea.

[arasi]

Mahavishnu,
Wish I were that much younger to ride the Matterhorn or whichever one the amusement parks call the king of rides.
Having said that, I'd say yes, it's not all gobi manchurian--there is also the flavor of avial, appam and atirasam (Harimau-inspired)in his music. Let's wait and see how much more he grows. He truly is a star of great promise.

Yes, MV, on top of it, tastes differ
It's not a bad idea to say it every now and then in the Reviews Section!

[mahesh3]

What a kumudhakriya, what a bhairavi and what a shanmughapriya - and then Navasidhi Petralum - sabash! G S Mani mama had this to say after the concert, "Both Sri PSN and myself are of the same opinion - "Edo oru Eashwara Sakthi padindrukku, adukku nanga enna solithardu". Their credible opinions are the only ones worth one looks at!

[grsastrigal]

Rajeshji- Stand corrected. Made the changes. . (He was wearing Dhoti...to clarify your doubt !!!)
As arasi says- sowkhyam is missing in many places because of his importannce in swarAs. I envy mahAvishnu (1000 V). Again, thinking of the concert (he made me to think more about him..- (like kamal in his film "guNa" chanting "AbhirAmi, AbhirAmi"), some more points merit mention.

-He neve lost his energy after he finished. While acknowledging accolades, just smile, nodding his head.
-He was murmering something, while tani was playing. May be putting tAlams.
-Is he a leftee, while acknowledging, he was keeping his left hand to his chest, as the artists normally do ...
-In all the reviews, of AR, here, in this forum or the discussion I had with many people, they like and also dislike. Nobody likes him 100%. It is unique for
this speedster.
-Vidwan like Shri PSN is worried how to preserve this youngster for future ? Genuine concern. I was also thinking. who guides him ? How about his family ?
- Looks like innocent lad, Not very much concerned about what is happening around. In the concert, singing like "JAMBHAVAN" .....

The only person whom I could compare AR was Shri TNS. Inquisite to know What TN Seshagoplan would have been at this age ? Few of others would have listened live or recording.. How was he in Swaras, Alapana ?

I attended Malladi brothers yesterday at vAni mahAl only to bring myself to normal. Sort of "JeerA rasam and Paruppy thogayal", after a heavy diet.. I write this review separately.

[arasi]

grsastrigal,
'jIrA rasam and parupputh thugaiyal'--
A solid no fuss fare from the Malladi Bros!

We can't drift away from what we hear from Harimau, can we?

[annamalai]

-In all the reviews, of AR, here, in this forum or the discussion I had with many people, they like and also dislike. Nobody likes him 100%.

Is there any artist now who is uniformly appreciated by all music fans ?

I have attended one or two concerts of AR, he is talented no doubt, very high pedigree - PSN, Palghat Raghu, ...
He is experimenting to identify his own style, which is natural for a youngster and it would take a few years identify that zone.
Some of the high comparisons, which are not necessary now.

[annamalai]

Just heard a recording of this concert.

I am impressed. I presume you are out of India and to get almost instant recordings of concerts of Music Academy or Ratnagiriswarar temple ... you must have good sources

I am definitely a 1000 volt person; I can eat this music for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then again as a teatime snack.

I like this music for breakfast, lunch, dinner.

[arasi]

And not as tea time snack?

[MV]

it was shanmughapriya , had all its 6 facets: tonal clarity, a touch of melody, controlled aggression , sustained pitch , the face of abhishek and his cousin enjoying as the last two Arumugham .

Yes, very nice

Mahavishnu.. I was wondering how you heard it so quickly too. Really jealous..Your sources must be good. I think I should make you my source

[mahavishnu]

Annamalai, MV: Yes, I am indeed fortunate to have family in Chennai who go to these concerts and promptly send me recordings. It gives me the pleasure of vicarious attendance (in a time zone where the event hasn't taken place yet!).