Sumithra Vasudev@oli chamber concert on Mar 04th,2012

[rajeshnat]

Sumithra Vasudev@oli chamber concert on Mar 04th,2012
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Vocal : Sumithra Vasudev
Violin : M Rajeev
Mrudangam : KV Gopalakrishnan

Concert duration/Day : 2 hours /Sunday
Concert Type : Nirvana (prime evening concert , no concert to follow)
Sabha/Hall : olichamberconcert/RasVihar, Sterling Avenue,Nungambakkam

I wanted to hear this concert from the beginning but personal work and heavy traffic made me come very late .
...
...

1A. kAnakANNKOdi(R S T) - kAmBodhi - psivan
swaras for about 10 mins
1B.Tani for 5 mins

2.ManiyE maNiyan OliyE - sindhubhairavi -???
3.mAnikkam kAtti vairam iDaikatti - neelAmbari - divyaprabhandam??

4A. viruththam suttum vizhi chudarthAn - chandarkowns +
shyamA + bhAgeshri + shuruTTi
4B. ended with a slokham in shuruTTi

Sumithra has one of the melodious voices and her shruthi suddham has a real manikkAm vairam perfection.I could listen only the second half of the concert , and I was really touched by her extremely wonderful renditon that touched the hearts of the 40+ rasikas there.

She had a mike and I am assuming that mike was only the video recording , what we heard was her unadulterated voice ably supported by KVG subtle playing and very very feeble touch of M rajeev.

KAmbOdhi spread was lovely, I just joined during the krithi and I thought as advertised there would be a neraval for the theme in the lines mAnikkam vairam. But there was just 9 mins of swaras that had lovely nuances of KAmbOdhi and there was no neraval.

Tukkadas were all jewels based , the sindhubhairavi krithi I am hearing for the first time , the neelAmbari oozed with a lovely sowkhyam . The viruththam was the best of all , start in chandrakowns was melody at its best , continuing in shyama and bhAgeshri she continued beautifully and wrapped in shurutti.

As I walked in , bharath walked out and I could just say hello to nick and crama, one of them should fill the songlist that I missed . Heard she also sang hiranmayeem in lalita which must have been a great miss.

Sumitra Vasudev's voice fidelity and shurthi suddham just remained perfect. It was just not the oli alone but also the OLi (right lighting ), that was wonderful with rasvihar adding so much of charm. A oliyum OLiyum without advertisements. . I think after the concert Smt Gowri ramnarayanan spoke.

Keep it going olichamber team .Overall a very good to excellent concert.

[Nick H]

A real gem of a concert. The acoustics of the room were excellent, and it took no visible effort for Sumithra to make us hear, not only every note and word, but also many subtle expressions and nuances in her voice that I am sure are completely lost in most amplified concerts. Rajeev's violin may have been feeble, and could perhaps have done with a little more volume, but, in this situation, feeble was better than overloud. His solos were perfectly audible. My imperfect ears never had to strain at all.

The mic-less concert is a challenge for artists and for audience. So far, this was the most comfortable and easiest to listen to of the current Oli series. I have no idea why the room worked so well: it was quite large, even for the sort of house that has large rooms, but was not furnished in anyway way to prevent reverberation, but it certainly did work. Also, despite the building being on one of the busiest roads, there was almost no interference from outside. I do hope that Oli are invited back there again!

Yes, the microphones are for recording only: there are absolutely no speakers used in these concerts (except the human ones that introduce and finish the program ). It would be nice if these could be done away with, at least for the vocalist, so we do not have that visual barrier between them and us --- but quality lavalier mics (that clip on the clothing) are very expensive, so we probably wont see this, I'm afraid.

I hope crama will provide his song list and write up.

It was nice to see so many more Rasikas.org friends there. The mic-less aspect, although the amplification was always kept subtle and well controlled, was lost from the Rasikas/Rasayana series of concerts. Due to diminishing hearing, I did not, and do not, complain about that --- but it is still a worthy experiment. Tonight, it was an experiment that worked completely: except, perhaps, for that violin, I cannot see how amplification, however good, could have improved the listening experience at all. It was a perfect evening.

Sumithra sings again soon: 7th (I think, please check before going!) at Raga Sudha Hall.

[srikant1987]

It was just not the oli alone but also the OLi (right lighting )

Spot lights deteriorate concert experience for me utterly. Another thing I observe is, yellow light (usually from the "hot sources" of light) seem to also cause me a headache without exception. I recently attended a lecdem by Sri RK Srikantan at Ananya, where they used very mild bulbs and were mostly lit by tube lights, but I still had a mild headache towards the end.

but quality lavalier mics (that clip on the clothing) are very expensive,

I haven't seen them used for music, even in well-funded light music programmes, and the singers have a hand-held "normal" mic so they can move around if they want.

[ganeshkant]

2.ManiyE maNiyan OliyE - sindhubhairavi -???

It may be from 'abhirAmi andhAdhi'.Just a guess since this comes in the film song 'sollaDi abhirAmi...

but quality lavaliere mics (that clip on the clothing) are very expensive,
I haven't seen them used for music, even in well-funded light music programmes

I have seen such mikes for musicians like Pt.BhimsEn jOshi in T.V.programmes
who have wild body movements , hence stationery mikes will not be of much use.I am absolutely clueless about the cost part though.

[sankark]

Ok, here I go with what I recollect for items before Kambhoji

1. A slokam Narayana in (Nattai, Arabh?, Mohanam, Varali) followed by Maragatha Mani Varna - Varali - Adi - Thyagaraja
2. Hiranmayim lakshmim - Lalitha - Rupakam - MD
3. Virutttam in Anandabhairavi, Saveri followed by Annai Janaki Vandale -Saveri - Adi - Arunachala Kavi (NS)
4. Sri Rukmini - Sri? - Adi - Misu Krishnaiyer

The concert wrapped up just all of a sudden, believe even KVG was expecting a surutti krithi.

[CRama]

The venue was RasVihar -a Jewellery Shop and the theme of the concert was Manikkam Vairam. The theme suited the venue and the ambience in the hall. A show case with exquisite diamond jewelley formed the backdrop for the concert. As per the theme of the concert. verses and songs containing the names of the precious jewels, or describing lord seated on a throne decked with precious jewels or sleeping on a manikkam decked oonjal etc were chosen. The concert had lot of slokams matching with theme rendered in lovely beautiful rakthi ragas giving an elaborate portrait of the raga. After the slokam in the beginning, Marakatha mani varna was sung and elaborate neraval in the pallavi line marakatha mani varna was done and without swaras. Next hiranmayeem was rendered which also contains the words marakatha manimayavalayam. After this another slokam in ragams Anandabhairavi, Kedaragowla, Saveri. Each ragam was rendered very elaborately and with the best of aesthetics woven in. This was followed byAnnai Janaki vandale by Aruachalakavi. Elaborate swaras in two kalams were rendered. Next song was Sree Rukmini in the ragam Poornashadjam, a composition of Meesu Krishna Iyer. In fact, in last week, in a concert of Vedavalli Mami in AIR, I heard this for the first time and I wished that Sumithra should sing this today and I was happy that she did that. It was a very nice song.

Kambodi alapana was elaborate and had very nice sangathis. I also felt that she should have done neraval at Manikkam vairam for Kana kann kodi.

Chuttum vizhi chudar thaan - the entire song was rendered in the form of virutham- very nicely rendered and I enjoyed a very claborate chandrakauns followed by Sama and Suruti.

I do not know how many people noticed- For Hiranmayeem, roopaka talam was put in the way it is described in text books or how it is taught to students while learning alankaram.- i.e, one beat, one waving of hand, one beat and counting three fingers. Presently,while singing kritis, it is done in a different manner, two beats and one waving of hand. I recollect that TMK, in his Academy speech this year questioned about this change. Sumithra chose to put roopaka thalam as it is taught in the alankaram. To me, even the other way looks quite appropriate to the music. But I leave it to more knowledgeable rasikas.

It was a good concert which lasted less than two hours.

[rajeshnat]

Chuttum vizhi chudar thaan - the entire song was rendered in the form of virutham- very nicely rendered and I enjoyed a very elaborate chandrakauns followed by Sama and Suruti.

IIRC there was also a bhAgEshri sandwiched between shyamA and shuruTTi. In this song there was emphasis or special rAga bhAva alankAram in the line "nal vairam paditha"

Shrikant1987
The lighting was just right it was certainly not a case of any high intensity bulbs . Also it was very thoughtful for the organizers to close the main door which faces busy sterling avenue and let all the rasikas come thru the backdoor. We all rasikas were more ;( and hardly

[Nick H]

It was also an amazingly quiet audience. The only thigh slapper was, occasionally, Sumithra herself and, while I don't think it a positive addition to music, at least, when the artist themselves does it, it lacks the truly annoying aspect of "noises off" that draw the mind away from concentration on the music.

The unique aspect that my limited knowledge was able to put a name to was the extent of slokam/virutham in the program. There was more than I can ever remember experiencing. I remember a concert in London, years ago, where the artist sang some such and some alapana before every song. That was unique too, and I'm afraid I can't remember the name of the lady artist. Anyway, Sumithra's presentation was a different way of experiencing the music.

[srutilaya]

Could you pl confirm the venue and timing of the next Oli chamber concert? The post I saw showed the time as 6 am. Is it 6 am or pm on March 10?
Thanks.

[Nick H]

In the leaflet we were handed at Sumithra's concert yesterday, it is shown as

6.15pm, on 17 March

I suggest you email them direct, [email protected], so as to get on their mailing list anyway.

[olichamberconcerts]

Dear Friends

We are delighted to invite you all to the second Oli event for March 2012.

Sri Neyveli Santhanagopalan - Vocal
Sri Vittal Ramamurthi - Violin
Sri B Ganapathiraman - Mrdangam

on 17th March, 6:15 pm at
1-A Vibha Apartments
12A, Orur Olcott Kuppam Road,
Besant Nagar
Landmark: Rajaji Bhavan

[arasi]

Good to hear about Sumitra V's concert.
For once, Nick did not object to noisy tALam!

Our Vidyaarthi's concert comes next.

Travel weary, I wondered about the prefix to these chamber concerts. The jewelry shop venue with diamonds in the background made me wonder if the word was oLi! The next concert is at a rasika's (??) home--so, it's Oli (sound) chamber concerts, after all! Sigh...

[Nick H]

(With thanks to Mrs Nick for the translation)

Sumithra's concert was full of light. I didn't look at the small amount of jewellery on display, but the music would have outshone it whatever

(By the way... the venue did not have the feeling of being a shop at all. It is just a big house with beautiful rooms. The only commercial touch was being handed some leaflets along with sweets on the way out. Less intrusive than many a sponsorship banner hung behind the musicians on many a sabbha stage!)

I did communicate with them about microphones, which are there for recording only: how nice it would be to see the main artist, at least, unhidden by the mic and stand. They entirely agree, but budget is at its limit, so investment in expensive clip-on mics is not a practical possibility.

[varsha]

how nice it would be to see the main artist, at least, unhidden by the mic and stand.

You should like this clip . Even the accompanists are seated behind the main artist .
And this voice - at 7 minutes - is after recovering from a Stroke !!!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4chg93rN3oI

[rbharath]

one did attend this concert.
a wonderful concert and a great place too.