Sikkil Gurucharan @ Fine Arts Chembur Mumbai on 15th August.

[priyashekar]

Sikkil Gurucharan -Vocal
S.Varadharajan - Violin
Umayalpuram SIvaraman - Mridhangam
Giridhar Udupa -Ghatam
G.Krishnan - Thambura

Viribhoni - Bhairavi
Shri Vaatapi ganapathiye - Sahana - Papanasam Sivan ,Swaram at shree vataapi
Ninnu Vina Marigaladha - Reethigowlai - Shyama shastri
Eesanukkinda ezhaikku iranga -Chakravaham - ?? - Alap and Neraval at jagadeesane
Orajeppu - Kanada gowlai -Thyagaraja - Swaram at orajeppu
Manadai orumai paduthi - Vasantha -Chidambaram Natesa dikshithar
NaaJeevadhara- Bilahari -Thyagarajaa - A,s
Sarasijanaaba sodhari - Nagagandhari -??
RTP - 4 kalai - Simhendramadyamam "Taraka brahma swaroopini tamarasa vilochini " S Kalyani & Kosalam,Hindolam & Surya ,Madhyamavati & Revati.
AAduvome Pallu - Maand -Bharatiyaar
Virutham Kunitha puruvam followed by Aaandava darishaname - Jhonpuri-?
Thilaana - Lakshmeesam - Tamara (not sure ) - kapi an unique thillana
Nirai madi
Nee nama rupamu and vaazhiyaa bharatham - Mangalam

A brilliant magical 4 hour concert by Sikkil Gurucharan.
It was wonderful concert and he sang many tamil songs which pleased all of us as we could identify the words.

The song manadai orumai was brilliant and if some one can give the words it would be helpful as it was meaningful.

Starting in with viribhoni in 2 talam he was in full form in the 4 hours kutcheri.
Never did the tempo drop till the end.
Shri vatapi was beautifully rendered followed by Ninnu vinaa -reethigowlai .
Then came the beautiful chakravaham alaap with Vardharajan bowing a brilliant return for alaap and neraval .Both of them were in
sync.Orachepu followed swiftly with a grand swaram.
Bilahari was fully unfolded with all its nuances and Varadharajan equally adding lustre the song.
The song Naa jeevadhara was sung soulfully with Varadharajan supporting well in neraval,
The the longish thani by UKS and Udupa.It lasted for 25 mins.Wonder why Udupa was so subdued - I was told by friend that UKS will not allow
others to overshadow him .if it is true it is indeed sad.

Gurucharan then started the 4 kalai RTP pallavi .The alapanai was short and thanam was perfect .The pallavi was so nice .In the end he explained that the ragas for swarams were chosen in a pair which differs by a note.If some experts explain it would be more clear.

AAduvome and aandava darisaname were sung beautifully.

Then came the grand Laksmisam thillana .The talam was beautiful to look at as it was told that it had 23 beats.
I would need some elaboration on the words and the talam.My son jokingly commented why was Gurucharan signalling 4 as a cricket umpire does
in a match!! I had to explain it is talam !It was pleasing song to look and hear.

He followed with nirai madi and mangalam.

Never in the 4 hour concert there was drop of energy.Gurucharan was brilliant.

Varadharajan was outstanding and proved his mastery.
Giridhar Udupa was subdued may be on instructions from UKS but he showed his mastery.

Now UKS - he may be a grand master but why does he speak in middle and spoil the tempo.
And we overheard on the mic before the start saying increase his mic level to same as Gurucharan.luckily the sound system was perfect for us and mridhangam dint drown violin .

When the curtain opened he was needlessly patting his instrument as if to show that he was on stage which was very funny.A padma vibhushan behaving so childishly to grab attention.Luckily he dint bang his instrument but was pleasant through out - small mercy!

Overall A BRILLIANT 4 hour concert by Gurucharan except for UKs childish irritants after the RTp .

A concert to cherish for a long time!

[jodha]

Overall A BRILLIANT 4 hour concert by Gurucharan except for UKs childish irritants after the RTp .

UKS excels in tani no doubt but his playing for songs leaves a lot to be desired.It will be better to have another humble accompanist for songs (along with UKS)who will put tALam during tani.I don't mind being called "gnanasoonyam" for this opinion of mine.

[Lakshman]

sarasijanAbha sOdari is by Dikshitar.

[rajeshnat]

priyasekhar
With a 25 minute tani which is quite ok for a 4 hour concert ,There is no vistAramAna main krithi in this concert. WIth you saying there was speech interruption and not a vistAramAna krithi, it looks more like a 3 hour concert advertised as a 4 hr concert.Thank you for the review, nothing to take away from sgc .

[rajeshnat]

RTP - 4 kalai - Simhendramadyamam "Taraka brahma swaroopini tamarasa vilochini " S Kalyani & Kosalam,Hindolam & Surya ,Madhyamavati & Revati.
...
followed by Aaandava darishaname - Jhonpuri-?

Priyashekar,
You meant kalyAni and kOsalam, the "s" was a typo

Aandavan dharisanamE is by HMB

[mahavishnu]

#3 is "eesanE indha ezhaikku iranga innum thAmadhama" in Chakravaham by Papanasam Sivan.
And the tillana in Lakshmisam (5+4+4+4) is by Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar. Unfortunately, it does not get much airplay these days. It is a brilliant composition. I'm glad that Gurucharan has resurrected this classic.

As Rajesh said, I also think a 25 minute tani by UKS is just fine, given that it was a 4 hour concert. I can't comment on this particular concert and his stage demeanor here. But there are many (self included) who would attend the concert just to hear UKS play.

UKS excels in tani no doubt but his playing for songs leaves a lot to be desired.

Again, I wasn't at this concert... but I have to disagree with this statement in general. There are few in the field that can match UKS's song accompaniment style, general anticipation, characteristic pauses and brilliant tIrmAnams between verses. His arrai chapu alone can lift the quality of any piece.

[mohan]

I too am very surprised at the comments about Sri UKS. His play in general just supremely uplifts any concert.

[priyashekar]

Rajeshnat : by S I meant Swaram kalyani & kosalam.
I would like more explanation on why SGC said it was used in pair so that I can learn more.

Our ( many of us in the audience) main grouse against UKS was he did not allow Girdhar Udupa to play and he hogged most of the time.To be honest there was nothing great in his play that day which seemed to uplift the concert in any manner.On the contrary we felt as if UKS had stiffled Varadarajan and Udupa! Still SGC and Varadarajan gave a brilliant display . May be we youngsters want equal freedom of musical expressions to all.
It was a 4 hour concert for sure bilahari was sung in vistaram and chakravaham was sung in vistaram and both had Varadarajans brilliant returns .
Honestly we would not have liked UGC hogging some more time as he already wasted time 3 -4 minutes with his needless speech after rtp! Not to mention at the end of concert he again bored us with his speech!

[priyashekar]

Mahavishnu - can i get the words for the laksmisam thillana?Thanks for the help.

[aditya]

I was at this concert in Mumbai and it was a brilliant concert by the whole team. Unlike what is being written here there was great coordination between the team on stage. Just wanted to clarify some of the points that have been raised in the forum here:

a. UKS in fact allowed Giridhar Udupa to play for all Gurucharan's kalpana swarams thro' the concert for most songs. He mostly accompanied Vardarajan for kalpana Swaras and together they combined brilliantly. Just asking a uppa pakavadyam to play only in tani is not true enough. UKS did this a lot in the concert. UKS in fact encourages and to know how UKS encourages Giridhar Udupa & allows people like him to blossom, pls see this you tube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhRDfYi-y2Y. It is a father- son like domination that you can see here. Udupa, in fact eggs UKS to play more speed at his age! UKS simply loves it!

b. The sound check was done half hour before the public entered the auditorium. UKS was there about an hour earlier for sound check! There was a sound lag between feedback system and speaker outside and hence UKS was playing the instrument again and again to get this right. Also, his sensitivity to play a shade below the Sikkil's Gurucharan's volume was just brilliant. In fact the sound check helped the audio system of concert in an incredible manner. Also, at no point in the concert, did UKS even ask for increase in volume of his instrument - not even once. He was totally engrossed in accompanying Gurucharan.

c. UKS spoke at the instance of Sikkil Gurucharan to explain the mohra & korvai as it was a unique chustra/tisra mohra which he had composed in memory of his guru Palghat Mani Iyer. Also, the organizers asked to him speak and felicitate Sikkil Gurucharan. He in fact heaped praises on Sikkil Gurucharan's vidwat and nothing more.

d. I am amazed to read here that he stifled Varadarajan! Both of them combined so beautifully in my view as a rasika and in fact Varadarajan- UKS combination on kalpana swaras for a old listener like me was like a MC-UKS, VVS-UKS, MSG-UKS combination.

e. Finally the point there was nothing great in the way he accompanied for songs is so untrue and completely biased. I also like KRM, PR & TS and it would be unfair for us to even write things like this about such great vidwans. His accompaniment for songs was just brilliant. He is nearing his 80s and the energy with which he played for the songs was too good to be true. I agree with Rajeshnat/Mahavishu, it was only a less than 20-25 min tani in a 4 hr concert and in an era when people play for half hour in 2.5 concerts. Also, to mention that he does not uplift songs pains me as a true carnatic rasika - Look at this accompaniment to Semmangudi ( 1968 Music Academy Concert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge1a9H_q_X8

f. He may have been a bit emotional and nostalgic as he has not played for members like us at Chembur fine arts for a decade now! He remembered some old pandal concerts which he has accompanied Semmangudi, Madurai Mani Iyer, Lalgudi etc. So, let's give him that benefit to bask in glory. To me it is a mark of respect to such a great person and vidwan.

In my view, it was brilliant concert and the teamwork between SK-SV-UKS- GU was fantastic. It is a great concert to remember for mumbaikers.

[mahavishnu]

Aditya, thanks for your post. It clarifies a number of things.

can i get the words for the laksmisam thillana?

Priyashekar: I do not have the lyrics. Perhaps Lakshman-ji can help.
I have a recording of this tillana sung by Trivandrum RS Mani that I have uploaded (http://soundcloud.com/ramesh-balasubram ... llana-kapi).

kalyani & kosalam.
I would like more explanation on why SGC said it was used in pair so that I can learn more.

Kalyani and Kosalam are different only in the use of R2 and R3. However the difference between the two ragas is not trivial. The R3-M3 combination in Kosalam gives its eerie vivadhi feel, which distinguishes it from Kalyani, at least in its more scalar form.

[priyashekar]

Thanks Mahavishnu for the link and explanation .

I still maintain what i said .I have no bias and it is a fact that Udupa was subdued.

Uploading old link will not change what happened that day .

Anyone who saw Sanjay /Varadharajan combination in the same venue in Feb this year will vouch for the uncomfortable body language of Varadharajan that day.

Fine arts is known for its starting event on time and no speech.Even in the recent Nrithyotsavam festival conducted by them for a week audience were allowed 45 mins before dance started.Where as that day we were allowed at 5 25 for a 5 30 concert and made to stand out side saying sound check was going on. No one was allowed before 5 .25. When asked about unusual delay the sound man clearly said they were having problem ! Credit goes to sound engineer for toning down mridangam mic and make it pleasant on ears!

I mentioned that the concert was briliant and uks playing was pleasant and concert to cherish.

As a RASIGAI I am entitled to my views. I am not going to comment any more.

Like last year in the 15th aug 4 hour concert Abhishek did not include RTP ( he sang thaye yashoda for nth time)we did comment to the office bearers .I am a AR fan but I have a right to call spade a spade and not go gaga over my favourite!
I

[sureshvv]

I was told by friend that UKS will not allow
others to overshadow him .if it is true it is indeed sad.

Please refrain from making such statements in a "review". We don't know who this friend is and what their level of credibility is (it seems you are not quite sure yourself).

What is "indeed sad" is your attempt at baseless allegations without any actual evidence while hiding behind "friend"s.

[grsastrigal]

Last year SGC-UKS-SV played in infosys hall, T.Nagar, Chennai- one of the December kutcheris. Bilahari was the main and the same kriti. SatynarAyanam -SBV was the sub-main. Shri. UKS is always comfortable with SGC and together they certainly lift the concert level. There was a mini-talk before the tillAna and UKS was explaining tAlak koRvai (exactly don't remember now). He concluded like this - "all these intricacies of this koRvai should be known to the vidwans but now (present generation of vidwans), it is better not to know". I could see a frustration in his speech.

I am unfit to comment on his vidwat. A genius like him who worships his art is a rare to find in now a days. But I still don't understand why he made that comment and why he can not be seen accompanying many other artists except like SGC, Saketharaman etc., ?

Iam adding SureshVV's comments that Shri UKS is very generous in encouraging younger ghatam/khanjira artists. He is indeed great in encouraging artists.

[CHIGO]

This is with specific reference to grsastrigal's observation. Even I do not remember to have seen or heard him accompany several top ranking vocalists, whose names are obviously known to cm lovers. Trichy sankaran and karaikudi mani do accompany some of them. But the top rankers do not prefer UKS as it clearly appears. Last year there was an incident involving malladis and UKS in KGS and there were avalanches of defenses and offenses. The final conviction or acquittal apart, what does it indicate? UKS is by and large seen only in the company of promise-looking youngsters. The matter is really intriguing irrespective of the briefs forthcoming.

[mohan]

Chigo - Some of it comes down to economics too!

I have heard so many concerts of Sri UKS with top senior artistes like TVS, Trichur Ramachandran, OS Thiagarajan, etc. Even in Australia we had UKS with TM Krishna a couple of years ago.

[CHIGO]

Mr.mohankumar thanks for the first brief. I am clearly not talking about 2 year old stories but about the current time. Are Sanjay, TMK, vijay siva and their ilk preferring him? Since this is a public forum not everyone will divulge what all he or she knows. The intention is not to insult a maestro of UKS's calibre but view certain facts in their perspective, of course, dispassionately.