Carnatica Brothers Concert in Houston Tx, April 1st 2012

[shruthicarnatic]

It was a blessing to attend the Carnatica Brothers’ concert in Houston Tx on April 1st 2012. They were accompanied by Shri.Nagai Sriram on the Violin, Shri. K.V.Gopalakrishnan on the ganjira and Shri.Srimushnam Raja Rao on the mridangam. It was an event packed day with the Carnatica Brothers and Shri R. Suryaprakash leading the local Houston group (teachers, local artists and vidyarthis) in the rendering of the pancharathna kritis. This was followed by a quiz program hosted by Shri. K.N.Shashikiran, followed by a presentation on Smt. T. Brindamma, this year being the centenary year celebration of Brindamma and two other stalwarts – Shri. Madurai Mani Iyer and Shri. Palghat Mani Iyer.

The much awaited concert began around 6:00 PM in the evening and the brothers warmed up the audience with a varnam in Nattakurunji (Chalamela). This was followed by a kriti in Andolika followed by Ardhanaareshwaram in Kumudakriya. This kriti in Kumudakriya set the tempo for the rest of the concert to follow with a roaring round of applause from the audience. The coordination between the artists on vocal, mridangam and violin was simply superb and resounding. Both the brothers have a very rich tonal quality and their coordination was just excellent. The highlight of the concert was a RTP in the ragam Paavani. What amazed me was the fact that this is a very rare ragam one can get to hear in concerts these days. This was a request from the audience and the brothers rendered it unmistakably and soulfully. The RTP alone lasted for 1 hour and 10 minutes. The last 15 minutes of the RTP incorporated ragams like Bahudari and Sindhu Bhairavi, again as demanded by the audience, to make it a colorful ragamalika. Shashikiran very well knows how to keep the audience engaged. The entire concert was very interactive and driven by requests from the audience. A song on Guru Raghavendra towards the end of the concert is another piece worth a special mention. The entire song was rendered to claps from the audience and the artists got three standing ovations during the entire duration of the concerts. The RTP in paavani was a true test to the artists’ caliber and all the artists surpassed the expectations.

Overall, it was an excellent concert of high quality that lasted for close to 3 hours.

Below is the list of songs rendered during the concert.

1. 01-Chalamela Varnam-Nattakurunji-Adi-RangaswamiNattuvanar.
2. 02-Sevikkavendumaiya-Andolika-Adi-MuthuThandavar.
3. 03-Ardhanaareshwaram-Kumudakriya-Dikshitar-Rupakam.
4. 04-Amba Kamakshi-Bairavi-MisraChapu-ShyamaShastri
5. 05-HariNarayana-Kedaram-adi-Purandaradasa
6. 06-RTP-Paavani Ragam.
7. 07-TarakaBindige-Tilang-Adi_Tisra-Purandaradasa.
8. 08-GovardhanaGiri-DarbariKanada-Adi-NarayanaTheerthar.
9. 09-GuruvaraBanthamma-Kanada - a kannada song on Sri Raghavendra Swamy.
10. 10-Tillana-Bindumalini.