Sikkil Gurucharan @ Fort High School, B’lore, 20th Apr. ‘12

[SabashBale]

Sikkil Gurucharan @ Fort High School, B’lore, 20th Apr. ‘12
Violin – K V Krishna
Mrudangam – K V Prasad
Kanjira – N Amruth

1. Neeve Gati, Nalinakanthi Varnam (Raga outline)
2. Neethu Mahima, Hamsanandi (Raga outline, S)
3. Maru Balka, Sriranjani
4. Avadaru Ragupathi, Khamas (R, N)
5. Yeti Yochana, Kiranavali (S)
6. Rama Bana, Saveri (R, S, T)
7. Bhajare Re Manasa – Abheri?/Bhimplas?/Devagandharam?/Karnataka Devagandhari?
8. RTP in Kosalam
9. My Exit

This is my first live concert attendance of his and it was great all the way till my stomach’s tani made me hurry back home for dinner.

If it took me a few phrases of Nalinakanthi to realize it was that, I got Hamsanandi pretty much at the first syllable. And they say TNS was almost single-handedly responsible for promoting Hamsanandi up the order, but Gurucharan played it one-down and I was pleasantly surprised. The swarams were excellent! Sriranjani lost a bit of femininity with a full-throated Maru Balka. It was announced that Avadaru Ragupathi was an Annamayya composition set to tune by who else but Nedunuri K. It had a different flavor of Khamas than say, Brocheva or Sitapathe. And oh yes! – the word Sitapathe figured in the composition, which he repeated a couple of times, each time with a different combination of notes, and the one time he sang it exactly like ‘Sitapathe’ of ‘Sitapathe Namanasuna’. There was a good neraval. No swaras though 

The kiranavali item was presented with a going-through-the-motions kind of swaras. And then came the best part – the Saveri alapana, which brought out Saveri’s yearning (‘thara tharannu kaadha pidichundu izhuthunda vanda maadhiri’). Some unexpected twists and endings in the various phrases. Absolutely fantastic! Thyagaraja’s questionable Rama Bana followed. Apparently the words mean that Rama’s arrow saves whereas one would expect the opposite! What the heck - if a 1 ft x 3 ft ad. of McDowell's (United Spirits Ltd.) could be juxtaposed with a larger-than-life portrait of Anjaneya right near the stage, Rama’s bana could prorably ‘save’. Anyway, there was no neraval at Bama Gasa (once mis-pronounced by Gurucharan as ‘Sasa’ ). Instead the swaras were sung for the pallavi with all the bells and whistles. The tani was hi-decibel, long and electrifying! Both played at incredible speeds and it had my head spinning!

Bhajare Re Manasa was a request, before the RTP quickie. (It was all over in only 25 mins.). The Kosalam alapana was extremely good although it lasted only about 5 mins. or so. The tanam was beautiful and made up for the shortness of the alapana. I forgot the pallavi line, which sounded uncomplicated. I think the talam was Khanda Jati Triputa talam. The swara segment sounded like Kalyani in many places probably because he didn’t hover much around the vivadi notes. And then when I thought he had just began the ragamalika swarams, he ended it! He started with Nalinakanti and I was wondering why he was repeating a raga until I somewhat tardily realized (tubelight!!!) that he was sailing right through the list of the evening’s ragas in one clean sweep. I guess nobody could have told when the Sriranjani ended and Khamas began. It was like something hit you and before you could realize it, it was gone! Having satisfied my musical thirst, I had to leave to take care of my hunger …

Wonderful concert!!!

By the way, there is now a Tamilnadu-style caterer providing ‘tiffin’ at the venue. Wai, Wai – there are still only two restrooms though!

[badari]

RTP Line: mangalam kosalEndrAya mahanIya guNAtmane...
Im poor in tala.. could not recognise it.. it was a patterned beat in ADI TALA format

[rajeshnat]

RTP Line: mangalam kosalEndrAya mahanIya guNAtmane...

Was it because of the pallavi line that sabash bale hit the exit at the end of RTP thinking the concert is over . Just kidding Sabash Bale , Nice review . I am bit surprised that even kv prasad mrudangam sounded bit too hard, usually he is gentle .I guess amplification was the thief. :devil:

[squims]

I guess amplification was the thief.

The sound systems at Fort high school are an intolerable pain! In almost all the concerts the accompanists seem to completely overshadow the main artiste, or else, the volume of the entire concert is ear shatteringly loud, even when I sit at the back.