3.5 hours of blissful performance by Ranjani Gayathri

[Saramathi]

What a treat to listen to the Violist/vocalist duo.. Concert highlights is below.. Corrections welcome

>Prompt start to the evening with a Varnam in Naatai.
>Annamacharya's Vande Vasudevam in Shree.. with crisp chittaswarams was terrific
> To warm the audience further came an elaborate alapanai in Vasantha leading into Dikshitar's Ramachandram BHavayami
> Next, Gayatri gave a beautiful explanation of the story at Tiruppungur... Nandiyai nagatthiya Nandanar paatu - Vazhi maraittirukkude in Nattakurinji was a soothing switch to a slower pace. Loved how Ranjani lingered in the lower octaves, while Gayatri was reaching higher and higher up..
>The next 45 mins or more had the audience spell bound in Bhairavi bliss.. Thyagaraja's composition - Lalithe Shree.. scintallating neraval for Teliyani bAluda gada ...amba telivi ( Wonder if Bhairavi is the favorite of one of the local Detroiters.. Both Nityashree & R-G choose Bhairavi as the main ragam .. when do we get to listen to Panthuvarali, Todi, Karaharapriya, Kalyani, etc.. )
> Next came a not so commonly heard - PasupathiPriya - Galloping Sharavana Bhava of Harikesanallur Mutthaiah Bhagavathar.
> The bang for the buck for me was the soulful RTP in Hamir Kalyani.. with Gowlai, Revathi, Desh, Brindavani, Kosalam to Maand.. not quite sure of the transitions there.
Offcourse right as the concluded.. the audience requests poured in.. one of which was Viruttams.
> R &G known for their Bhakthi-filled, somewhat purists rendition of Viruttams, totally won over the audience with their viruttams in Karaharapriya, Mohanam and Hamsanandi.. leading into a soulful rendition of SreenivasaThiruvenkata...Absolutely heart warming
> Sure the next one was also an audience request.. perhaps for a Purandara Dasa keertana - so came - Hari Smarane in Yaman Kalyani
> proficient in singing Hindustani influenced Ragas, R & G next went on to sing the Sur Das Bhajan in Desh -Hey Govinda Hey Gopala
>Came a cry from the audience.. you cannot stop without an Abhang.. offcourse not. R& G concluded their concert with their very famous abhang "Bolava Vittala" in raagam Bathiyaar.

Violin and Mrudangam support from H.N.Bhaskar and Manoj Shiva was really good.
Bhaskar's violin dripped with melody throughout the concert and Manoj's crisp plays was wonderful.

Devotion, Creativitiy, Adherence to tradition, Fun, Melody, Technique, ... everything packaged nicely into a 3.5 heart warming concert to a packed audience in Detroit area.

[suma]

They gave a nice concert here in chicago last week. During an alapana Gayatri stopped and asked the audience not to walk around. Although they have performed here many times, this is the first time they showed this type of attitude on stage. During the pallavi, although they announced that they were going to do 2 nadai's, they switched to one nadai in the middle. I am not sure which artist said this, but was told that artists complained that people in the front rows were putting wrong talam that distracted the artists. This must have been a reason to switch as one needs concentration to do double talam on a complex pallavi. A bunch of children were sitting right in front on them on the floor and talking among themselves. That must have distracted them and Ranjani even made a gesture looking at the children and asked them not to talk.

Overall a good and a proper traditional classical concert. They are always a pleasure to listen to.

[hameerk]

I too liked the RG concert @ Chicago last week. I guess there was a reason why people moved around during one of the alapanas. Just an hour and half back on that day, Saketharaman sang an elaborate Shanmukhapriya & some of the rasikas were very disappointed by the choice of Shanmukhapriya main again by RG. Saw few of them leave/ move around during the alapana. The organizers should have casually mentioned to RG about the main in the previous concert is what few people felt.

[rshankar]

That may be, but still, IMO, not a reason to walk about...

[nadhasudha]

1. Sarasijanabha - Nattai - Adi - Varnam
2. Vande Vasudevam - Sri - Kanda Chapu - Annamacharya - S @ Sarasiruha
3. Ramachandram Bhavayami - Vasantha - Rupakam - Dikshithar - R, S @ Ramachandram
4. Vazhi Marathirukkude - Nattai Kurunji - Misra Chapu - Gopalakrishna Bharathi
5. Lalitha Shri Pravruddhe - Bhairavi - Adi - Thyagaraja - N,S@ Teliyani Baaluda, Thani
6. Sharavana Bhava Samayamidira - Pasupathipriya - Adi _ Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar
7. RTP - Hameer Kalyani - Khanda Jathi Triputa Thaalam

Ragamalika Swarams in Gowlai,?(Revathi sounding but with Gandharam and Dhaivatam),Brindavana Saaranga,Maand

Brindavana Gaana Lola Muralidhara Gopala Maam Paalaya
Purvangam - Brindavana Gaana Lola Muralidhara
Uttarangam - Gopala Maam Paalaya

8. Viruttam AnAda Selvattu arambaiyargaL tarchoozha(Kulasekhara Azhwar Pasuram) in kharaharapriya, Mohanam and Hamsanandhi seguing into Srinivasa Tiruvenkatamudayan by Papanasam Sivan

9. Hari Smarane Mado - Yamuna Kalyani - Puranadara Dasa
10. Surdas Bhajan in Desh
11. Bholava Vittala - Bhatiyaar - Abhang


June 1 st was predicted to be a very wet day for Metro Detroit and true to the forecast it was raining. It was a welcome respite from the very hot weather we had experienced the week before. It turned out to also be a musically drenching evening for Carnatic music rasikas of Metro Detroit. Detroit Rasikas were treated to very high quality music by Ranjani Gayathri Sisters. The concert was gripping from the get go. The sisters have matured into seasoned performers and seem to be able to read well the pulse of the audience. There was not a single moment which was dull. Every piece was rendered with a combination of skill, power and finesse.

The sisters took turns with alapanas and swarams and the exchange was invigorating. They complement each other very well and some instances come to mind. In the Nattaikurinji piece, Ranjani was singing in the lower octave while Gayathri sang at the higher octave creating a mesmerizing effect. Of the two, Ranjani's music is more of an understated elegance while Gayathri's is all about flamboyance and exuberance. That their vocal chords go where their creativity and imagination takes them is a testament to their asura saadhakam. Their hindusthani touch for certain raagams such as Hameer Kalyani, Yamuna Kalyani, Desh was exceptional and revealed their training in that aspect as well. And they ended their concert with an abhang - a crowd favorite and a request. During this piece I started hearing the sounds similar to a Khanjira . On closer observation, I could notice Gayathri using her bangles to create that effect - how very creative!!

My personal favorite was the RTP which was given a very detailed treatment with Anulomam and Thisram. For the Maand swarams, Gayathri sang a round of swaras to land at Muralidhara Gopala - a very nice and creative touch reminding us of the krithi in that raga.

Accompanists H N Bhaskar and Manoj Siva lifted the concert to greater heights with their excellent support.

All in all a very memorable concert!.

[mahavishnu]

Nadhasudha, Thanks for your report. It is interesting that R-G concerts almost never deviate from their fixed/consistent structure. And I suppose it works for them every time. And to top it all off, they get inundated with requests for the HMB song in pasupathipriya and more noticeably for their tukdas.

I am glad to see the Lalgudi pancaratnam, Lalithe Sri pravriddhe on the list. It is such a beautiful composition. I have never heard a neraval on "teliyani bAluda" before, since "kannatalli subhavadane" with its elegant eduppu makes for such a natural neraval line.

That may be, but still, IMO, not a reason to walk about...

Well said, Ravi. That is a terrible excuse for bad crowd behavior and poor attention. Every artiste's interpretation of a ragam is different. One pays attention to the music out of respect for the art form and the artistes and not because it suits one's recent listening history.

I think N.American audiences have regressed to their old habits. Screaming kids (parents' fault, not theirs), people visibly putting wrong talam, people conspicuously walking in and out of the first few rows, talking during the violinist's turn, loud humming, loud raga guessing (often times wrong), etc. have become all too common. I have even seen people answering their cell phones.

Fortunately, the walk-out during tanis which is very common in Chennai is less prevalent here.

Some of these things can be controlled by the organizers when making seating arrangements. Some of this discipline is built over time by fostering a good listening culture.

[Saramathi]

Nadasudha.. I wondered too if that was Revathi.. in the RTP.. I liked how you noted - Revathi sounding but with Gandharam and Dhaivatam. Any idea what that ragam was. Also before they landed in Maand, I thought they were lingering somewhere in Kosalam.. You noted Brindavana Saranga.. are there any similarities between Kosalam & Brindavana Saranga .. I wonder. gotto go back and listen to those..
The RTP was mesmerizing.. what a great choice - Hamir Kalyani !

[rajeshnat]

During this piece I started hearing the sounds similar to a Khanjira . On closer observation, I could notice Gayathri using her bangles to create that effect - how very creative!!

So for US tours we have a upapakkavadyam too !!!

[nadhasudha]

Mahavishnu - After they started the Bhairavi alapana, I was thinking that perhaps they will render Bala Gopala or Amba Kamakshi. However they chose to render Lalithe Shri Pravruddhe - Yes the choice of the neraval line was rare as well. I enjoyed it very much.

Saramathi - As far as I can recollect there was no Kosalam - Kosalam is a vivadi melakarta raagam pratimadhyamam (71 st mela). Brindavana Saaranga is Kharaharapriya janyam and is a Shuddha Madhyama raagam. I could not decipher any pratimadhyamam in the rendition of that portion of the Pallavi and it was Brindavana Saaranga to me.

Rajeshnat - Yes an accessory that doubles as a upapakkavadyam