Suryaprakash at SIFAS 11/08/12

[bala747]

Meanwhile here's the song list.

Vallabha Nayakasya - Begada
Vijayambike - Vijayanagari (R, N@Gitarupini krupasalini, S)
Kamalamba Samrakshatu - Anandabhairavi (Navavarna)
Kaa Vaa Vaa - Varali
Meevalla - Kaapi
Thiruvadi Charanam - Kambhoji (R, N@ Adutthu vanda ennai.., S, T)
RTP - Revathi
Viruttam followed by Ayye Mettakadinam - Ragamalika
Kandan Karunai - Abheri
Mangalam.

This concert was held as part of SIFAS’s celebration of the centennial of Madurai Mani Iyer’s birth. The last concert I attended was also Suryaprakash’s last year, and I remember it being quite excellent, so when I heard he was performing again, I went, hoping it would be a great concert as well.

On the violin and mridangam were SIFAS’s own teachers, Sri K Sivaraman and Sri T R Sundaresan. There was a gentleman on the Ghatam as well but unfortunately his name escapes me.

The concert was a very good one, and from start to finish, barring a few issues during the Ragam Thanam Pallavi, it was a concert that would not be out of place in any major sabha. Both Sri Sivaraman and Sri Sunderasan gave excellent support. Sri Sivaraman’s handling of Vijanagari and Kambhoji were great, and a vast improvement from some of his previous concert where his playing seemed rather lacklustre. Sri Sundaresan remains one of the most underrated but brilliant mridangists I have heard.

Of all the pieces the one that stands out most surprisingly is not the Kambhoji, or the nearly 40 minute Revathi RTP, or even the not-oft-heard elaboration of raga Vijayanagari, but the rendition of the Kamalamba navavarnam in Anandabhairavi. I have heard two great krithis in this raga sung by Mani Iyer. The first was an elaborate rendition of the grand ‘O Jagadamba’ of Syama Sastri, and the second was this one. Hearing Suryaprakash’s rendition made me remember listening to that exact same krithi on my granduncle’s tape-recorder. The semi-brisk pace of the rendition, the occasional forays into the various vakra prayogas of Anandabhairavi mid-song, the high sruthi, and the adherence to diction, all reminded me of Madurai Mani Iyer. I was born far after he had passed away, and my memory of his music comes from the few records and commercial releases, and for the longest time I was convinced that he was a singer of pretty limited repertoire. It is only recently that I have had an opportunity to listen to more of Mani Iyer. Suryaprakash’s choices of items all showed that the Mani Iyer bani was more than just what I had been exposed to. All the krithis sung were not exclusive to Madurai Mani (with the possible exception of Kaa Vaa Vaa and Kandan Karunai) but what shone through in those pieces was the unmistakeable Madurai Mani style. Nowhere however was it more apparent than in that rendition of the Kamalamba navavarnam. While paying homage to his guru’s guru, Suryaprakash did not just attempt to sing what Mani Iyer popularly sang, but has truly kept the essence of the style intact. In fact had he added an alapana or a swaraprastara to that song, perhaps it would not have impacted me so much. Given also that it was held in an open auditorium, on a cool evening (or as cool as Singapore ever gets) it almost felt like I was listening to an MMI concert in Chennai. Less is more sometimes.

The Varali piece that followed the Anandabhairavi was brisk, and he took it up at the anupallavi, ‘Devadidevan mahane vaa..’. The swaraprastaras again were fast flowing, and sung with no obvious indulging of needless mathematics. Following that soon enough was the main item.

Kambhoji is one of the Big Five ragas, and many great performers have ‘owned’ their krithi in this raga. O Rangasayee was Semmangudi’s, Sri Subramanyaya Namaste was GNB’s, Kaana Kan Kodi was Madurai Mani’s, and Musiri’s was Thiruvadi Charanam. Suryaprakash’s alapana was of the highest order. The Mani Iyer’s trademark short phrases were interspersed by long essays into the intricacies of the raga. He spent a good 15 minutes constructing an elaborate Kambhoji, and Sri Sivaraman responded with a great effort of his own.

I was hoping Suryaprakash would take up Kaana Kan Kodi. He took up Thiruvadi Charanam instead. Now I know MMI has sung it many times, but in my opinion, you have not heard this krithi till you’ve heard Musiri’s recording of this, the one that starts at the anupallavi, ‘Marupadiyum karuvadaiyum kuzhiyil thalli, varutha padutha vendaam ponambalava!’ That recording is pretty much a masterclass in raga-bhava and sahitya-bhava.

This is not to say that there was anything wrong with Suryaprakash’s rendition. In fact it was very good. He sang it with great bhava and combined with the inimical pacing of the krithi that is unique to MMI, made for very enjoyable listening. The neraval and swaras again were excellent.

Following the thaniavarthanam (again a very good one, but probably had more for the laya-vidwan than for someone like me), he took up Revathi.

Now here I must honestly admit that this was the weakest part of the concert. Suryaprakash handled the raga and the thanam well. They spent a good 10 minutes on the raga and another 6 minutes on the thanam. Given the limited scope that a raga like Revathi offers, it was a very commendable effort. However at the pallavi, things started to drag a bit. The pallavi was ‘Madhurapuri nilaye, mani valaye’ in Tisra Triputa. Handling a raga with Revathi’s limited scope, and attempting a trikaalam over many cycles (especially in Tisra Triputa) meant that it went on too long and appeared lacklustre. The swaraprastaras too were rather underwhelming. Behag, Kedaragoula and Brindavanasaranga were the ragas, and while there wasn’t anything wrong with it, it just fell flat. Much as I would have liked to say I enjoyed every bit of the concert, I must say that I found the Pallavi rather underwhelming. Sometimes, less is more.

Following this he took up a viruttam followed by Gopalakrishna Bharati’s Ayye Methakadinam. Kandan Karunai and the mangalam finished off the concert.

Overall, a very good concert, I thought. While I did find the Ragam Thanam Pallavi rather flat, the Kambhoji and Vijayanagari alapanas were excellent. The krithis were all rendered well, and considering that this was a free concert, it would not have been out of place in any major concert venue anywhere.

[mohan]

Thanks for the song list Bala. If it is a long review, its always good to write it in a Word file where you can save it locally and then copy into rasikas.

[srikant1987]

I'll recommend Notepad (on Windows -- GEdit on Linux) for that. It's loads simpler, and will result in smaller saves. It won't underline Indian-language words and names in red either.

Thanks for all the pains you're taking to share your experience with us all, bala747!

[bala747]

Okay.. Review's up.

[Nick H]

bala, I'll be there for a few days soon: any more concerts this month?

[arasi]

bala747,
Good to hear from you! Some weeks ago, I just happened to read the thread about Reviewing on our forum and read your post (s?). Singapore does not have that many concerts (hope Nick lucks out) and I was thinking of you and wondering how you were faring.
Dinosaurs like me are known for losing their posts repeatedly while typing, and I could empathize!
Anyhow, a very decisive, original (not cliche-ridden) review from you as expected.
It rings true--what you say about the similarities you found in MMI and Surya in singing tiruvaDi saraNam. You say: he sang with great bhava and combined with the inimical pacing of the kriti that is unique to MMI, made for very enjoyable display.

I find it agreeable to listen to RTPs in not so conventional rAgams along with the heavies.
However, Revathi wouldn't be in my list, though I like the rAgam.

Hope there's a concert for Nick to attend while he visits Singapore. Had he been there for Surya's concert, both of them would have been happy!

[Nick H]

He would have been surprised to see me! Last time I was there I saw TNK play.

[rajeshnat]

Kandan Karunai - Abheri
...
...
I was hoping Suryaprakash would take up Kaana Kan Kodi. He took up Thiruvadi Charanam instead. Now I know MMI has sung it many times, but in my opinion, you have not heard this krithi till you’ve heard Musiri’s recording of this, the one that starts at the anupallavi, ‘Marupadiyum karuvadaiyum kuzhiyil thalli, varutha padutha vendaam ponambalava!’ That recording is pretty much a masterclass in raga-bhava and sahitya-bhava.

This is not to say that there was anything wrong with Suryaprakash’s rendition. In fact it was very good. He sang it with great bhava and combined with the inimical pacing of the krithi that is unique to MMI, made for very enjoyable listening.

Bala747

1.Kandan Karunai - is in bhimplas (not Abheri) and is by guhan

2. To an extent there is not enough recordings to showcase mmi's tiruvadi saranam . But I remember reading few years back , his disciple Tiruvenkadu jayaraman has narrated an incident where MMI sang an outstanding tiruvadi saranam for an hour or so and that KAmbOdhi was one of MMI's fantastic kAmbOdhi. That recording is not available . I agree with you that Musiri's tiruvadi is a fantastic rendition. We dont have enough MMI's tiruvadi to get a feel of how he sang . For the record I have only one tiruvadi saranam of MMI which is for 21min :56 sec(My collections are from VKV and BaluMMI sir) .

3. Looks like you had a peak experience in anandabhairavi kamalamba(were you there kamalAmba ID).

Thank you for your usually candid review . In future ,SAVE SAVE IN NOTEPAD and then copy and paste.

[shripathi_g]

rajeshnat - there's a longer version of Thiruvadi Charanam available. Accompanists are Mayavaram Govindaraja Pillai, CS Murugabhoopathy and Alangudi Ramachandran. I'll see if I can get a hold of the recording. CSM's mridangam, especially the thoppi, is amazing in that concert.

[ramarama]

Ghatam was played by Shri Mahesh Parameswaran.

And (most importantly, as Hon Secy Dr. Kasinathan declared, even if as an afterthought) mellifluous tanpura playing with azhuttam, sruti suddham (loved the modulated plucking of the panchamam at appropriate places) and delightful nods and shouts of appreciation that engaged the artistes and the audience by Shri Sudarshan Narasimhan

[kapali]

Sripathy, Has anybody uploaded MMI's longer version of Thiruvadi charanam with Govindaraja Pillai in the net? Infact I have this version only in my audio cassette and that too from Niraval to the swarams only. It happens to be a favourite of many of my relatives. The violinist's accompaniment in this concert was also memorable.

[shripathi_g]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/t6bx2l

Here you go. I converted it from tape to digital more than 10 years ago. I don't think I did such a good job but I had only a half-decent walkman and a half-decent computer back then.

MMI's Thiruvadi and Thookiya Thiruvadi with MGP are both classics. In Thookiya Thiruvadi, MMI effortlessly alternates between upper and lower octaves during swaras.

[kapali]

Thank you, Sripathy.