Vanakyala Ramanamurthy and Jayachandra Rao - Mridangam
11 August 2012
for Vadya Vaibhavam @ Gayana Samaja, Bangalore
sAmi ninnE - shrI - Adi - Karur Devudu Iyer (sketch)
haMsadhwani AlApanai shared by Nagaraj and Ganesh
vAtApi gaNapatim - haMsadhwani - Adi - MD (RS)
Anandabhairavi by Kumaresh
The programme for the day was to begin by 6 ... I must have reached by around 6 20. Sri MSG was conferred first with the title Nada Sri. He gave a concise and yet heartening acceptance speech. The sabha and artistes (and the audience) were so fortunate to enjoy his presence in the proceedings.
There was also a speech by the Acharya of Shankar Math. Among other things, he said that like studying Vedas and Shastras, the study of music is also an involved, difficult process which takes a long struggle, and that Sri MSG is a sAkShi for that.
He also mentioned a Sanskrit quote saying that a king enjoys respect and popularity in his kingdom, where as a vidvAn enjoys them everywhere. It was nice to hear that.
It was an eyesore to see complacence -- either 'genuine' or feigned -- in the concert later.
The decibel levels were predictably high. I was protected with cotton balls, but still experienced minor discomfort.
What I did like about the concert was that it seemed spontaneous rather than rehearsed. The shrI rAgam varNam was rendered well and gave a good start. The haMsadhwanI rAgam was also done somewhat tentatively, but sincerely nonetheless.
The krti became a little noisy ... having listened to other versions just a couple of days back, when I just marvelled at what a sukha bhAvam the krti has ... there is a divinity which ONLY sparseness can bring out from it.
Some parts were enjoyable, like two of them playing half a line and leaving the other half of the line for the other two (in the madhyamakAlam).
The swarams were good overall, and had interesting patterns.
The part of Anandabhairavi I heard as I left was also reasonable. The initial phrases (even after the gmp) suggested dhanyAsi, but that's totally understandable.
I particularly liked Sri Nagaraj's playing ... he seemed 'at home' with it, and neither intimidated nor made complacent by the occasion.