SugandA kAlamEgham@Alliance Francaise on Aug 03rd,2012

[rajeshnat]

SugandA kAlamEgham@Alliance Francaise on Aug 03rd,2012
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Vocal : SugandA kAlamEgham
Violin : RK Shriram kumar
Mrudangam :KA Arunprakash

Concert duration/Day : 50 mins /Friday
Sabha/Hall : Alliance Francaise is in College Road , Nungambakkam
Occassion : DVD release of Kavi Kunjara Bharathi

1. swamin gajamukha(S) - KAnadA - KKB
2 minutes swaras
2. KOlamighum(Raga Sketch) - sarangA - KKB??

3. Senthil Atheepan(R N S) - ShankarAbharanam - Koteeswara Iyer??
5 mins alapana , 4 mins each in violin return and neraval
2 mins swaras
neraval in sivanAr ArulprakAsam mouna chittarkku?? vAsan

4. ivan yArO aRiyEn(Raga sketch) - kAmbOdhi

Have heard smt sugandA once , it was put in the Friday review sheet that Smt sugandA is singing followed by DVD release of KKB.

SugandA has a voice that has a lot of maturity and I could say her voice is ageing right. Her concert was too brief , the kAnada start and the sAranga were quite good . THe pick was the sbharanam where there was nice display of aesthetics. KAmbOdhi followed shankarabharanam and the more popular ivan yAro was briefly sung.

The accompanists were quite good . RKSK had nice azhuttam , arunprakash played good , in the last kambOdhi I felt there was just too much of pause in Arunprakash play.

Post the concert , there was a brief function where descendants of KKB released the DVD . Some one by name Prof Mohan(descendant of KKB) was the main anchor for the show.He is based out of France and he introduced the film maker who spoke French and he translated .

There were snippets of DVD shown. Kavikunjara bharathi's native village is Perungarai (which is near manAmadurai ).Snippets of perungarai temple was shown with the KAnada krithi swamin in the background .Then IIRC two krithis of KKB were also shown one sung in sahana(Vandu sEruvOr??) by Smt vasundara rajagopal and the other by Jaya (I think she sang a begada krithi malaikuravanji). This is the first time I am hearing the musician jaya

I wish there was more musical content in the concert . Smt sugandA kAlamEgham in my opinion is a fine musician , but there are seldom few opportunities to hear her. She had a very nice matured voice with a fine sense of shruthi.Overall a good concert

[rshankar]

Rajesh..thank you for that review. She was based out of Delhi the last I heard. Is that still true?

[Lakshman]

Both items 2 & 3 are by KKB.

[kssr]

I have got an invitation from BTM Academy for her concert in November 2012. As rightly pointed out, we seldom get a chance to listen to these artists in Bangalore.

[HarishankarK]

Yeah she is a knowledgable artiste but very underrated. She has a rich voice and full of bhava and also her raga renditions even if brief sketches are redoubtable.

[arasi]

Thanks Rajesh for bringing us a review on a rarely heard artiste like her.
I don't remember her being featured in last year's season. I've heard her once several years ago and have wondered why she isn't heard that much at all.
A very satisfying experience it was, listening to her.Hope I can catch her this season, somewhere.

[mohanfra]

yes I do live in France and am a descendant of Kavi Kunjara Bharathi. This project to creat a DVD of Kavi kunjra bharathi songs was instigated by our association Trimourthi, based in france and the Region centre which is very active promoting relationships between tamilnadu and This region.
It was very kind of Mrs Sugandha to accept to sing at this event and I agree that the time slot was short.
Evidentlly I liked all the songs but I have a preference for Saranga.

In the DVD, there is a nice neraval by Sugandha in the Ivan yaro song at the charanam...

Mr Jacques Merlaud, from France, a film producer, cretaed the DVD based on the opticals that I gave him.

If you are interested in the DVD, you can find it at the shop near Kapali temple (not Giri traders, the other one whose name I don't remember !)

Good listening !!

[Purist]

Just a request to Rajeshnat.. Is giving ' minutes and seconds ' duration of alapana, nereval and swaram serving any purpose.
Its only making the list of songs more cumbersome to read

[mohanfra]

I refer to the song sendi adhipan in Sankarabharanam. its by Kotiswara Ayyar with the Mudrai Kavi Kunjara dasan. This song is sung in my family on all aupicious occasions !
The idea to bring out the DVD and a CD by Shri N.Gopala Ayyar (he was a musician and Guru , a fourth generation descendant of KKB) is to make people listen to these songs and get youngsters singing them.

The DVD and the CD called Azhahar Kuravanji are available at Sri Vidya Book store, 7 Sannadhi Street, opp Giri Traders Mylapore.

We may organize a music competition of KKB compositions next year.

[keerthi]

mohanfra,

Have all the compositions of the azhagar kuravanji been sung in the CD?

[mohanfra]

Unfortunately not all. For some songs the musical notations are not available. It will need some research ! It can be a good project.

[rshankar]

Moha,

This Kuravanji was part of Sm.t Vyjayantimala Bal's repertoire - according to reports, it was presented by her in a lavish manner, which means that musical notation for the songs should have been available - does the DVD include the songs that were part of Smt. Bali's presentation?

[mohanfra]

I do not have Mrs Bali's notations.
I have a book written by one Kotiswara Ayyar's grandson.

All the songs in Azahar Kuravanji do not have notations.

The book is available in the library behind IIT - its a private library with gr8 books ( I don't remember the name !).

There are even books by Kotiswara Ayyar himself who talks of his grandfather !

Happy reading!

Mohan