Smt. Sowmya: Toronto, Dikshitar festival Oct 20, 2012

[mahavishnu]

Smt Dr. S. Sowmya - vocal
Sri BU Ganesh Prasad - violin
Sri Neyveli Narayanan - mridangam
Sri KV Gopalakrishnan - khanjira

1. sarasUda ninnE kOri - Saveri varnam - Adi
2. manasu nilpa – AbhOgi - Adi - T
3. mAmava meenakshi – Varali - Dikshitar (R, N, S) Niraval @ syAmE sankari digvijaya pratApini
4. kalAvati kamalAsanayuvati – kalAvati (yAgapriya) -MD
5. nilOtpalambikayAm – Kannada Gowla (R, S) -MD
6. EkambrEsa nAyikE – KarnAtaka Suddha saveri -MD
7. nAti mAta maracitivO – dEvakriya - T
8. RTP – vAcaspati (Eesane sabesane jagadeesane un padam paninden)
Chatusra triputa 2 kalai (atita eduppu).
Ragamalika swarams in dhanyasi, Mohanam, surutti.
9. vAgaladi – Behag - Tirupati Narayanasawamy
10. mOra Topu – Sahana -
11. Kadhalenum theevinile rAdhe rAdhe – khamas - Subrahmanya Bharati
12. Kavadi chindu – Annamalai reddiar
13. tillAna - hamsanandi (engum nirai... tripura sundari?).
14. Ninama rupamulaku – Mangalam- Sowrashtram T

It would not be an exaggeration to call Smt Sowmya the most intellectual of the present-day musicians. Her music is scholarly, her method is diligent, her approach is refreshingly clever and her concerts, educational. A quick glance at the list would indicate what an amazingly interesting concert this was for the true music lover. Such gravitas packed in each carefully selected piece.

I always learn something new when I attend Vid Sowmya's concerts. She spends time to explain the fundamentals of what she does, but ensures that the performance has the flow, feel and spontaneity of a concert and not a lec-dem.

Here is a good example of how. Sowmya explained how Dikshitar's scheme referred to the ragam for EkambrEsa nayikE as (karnataka) suddha saveri. And suddha saveri as devakriya (as in Sri guruha tarayasumam). And just to show how Tyagaraja treated devakriya, she quite effortessly started "nati mata maracitivo" right after an extensive treatment of Ekambresa nayike. I can only imagine the years of scholarship and work it would take to deliver with such alacrity on stage. The nAti mAta reminded me of the late DKJ; few sing it these days. Coincidentally EkambrEsa nAyikE is also very DKJ!

Likewise, she explained all versions of kalAvati (as yAgapriya, in the sampUrna mEla and in HM) and gave a glimpse of these ragas.
Strong control of talam was seen in all pieces, exhibited most noticeably in her swarams at syAmE sankari digvijaya pratApini, where she varied the edam systematically at syame, sankari, digvijaya and pratapini. BUG's returns on the spot were quite impressive.

Talking of layam, the RTP was spectacular. It has been a while since I have heard an extensive treatment of vacaspati (bhushavati, I should say, if I learned anything yesterday).

I also enjoyed the kannada gowla piece of Dikshitar. The NilotpalambikAyam composition was a welcome break from the more regularly heard OrajUpuchu or Sogasu jUda taramA. This song is part of the nilOtpala vibhakti kritis all composed in ragas suffixed with -gowla. This piece never gets much airplay these days. It was very interesting to see Dikshitar's handle on kannada gowla, it is like he was focussing on a very different vista of the same ragam.

Of course, the trademark pieces like vAgalAdi and mOra tOpu (requested by yours truly) were dripping with melody. mOra tOpu is sahAna itself; every nuance of the rakthi ragam was overflowing in this presentation. Sowmya ended with the Dr. S.Ramanathan specialty kAvadi chindu after a customary Bharathi song that has also become her trademark.

Neyveli Narayanan was spirited throughout the evening. He built his rhythms in perfect continuity with the music making his mridangam blend with the vocal music. His accompaniment for the neraval in varALi with the cadence of misra chApu was lovely. He seemed to find all the relevant pauses and filled them with very intelligently placed short tIrmAnams. KVG had a quiet night, only to emerge during the tani. Narayanan played a very intricate korvai with acceleration patterns in the tani after a very extensive khanda nadai.

Attending a Sowmya concert (of this kind, it is not often that one gets to hear her for > 3.5 hours) is a delight for the auditory sense, but more importantly it gives the neurons of the frontal lobe a well-deserved workout. By way of this review, I would like to congratulate the vidushi yet again for recently receiving her PhD from the University of Madras.

My late grandmother who would have turned 100 this year summed it up best: andha Somwya romba gettikkAri (that Sowyma is really brilliant!).

P.S: Lakshman-ji, missed you at the concert. Do you know who composed the tillAna in hamsAnandi?

[MV]

Nice review, yet again Mahavishnu. Great list of songs-can imagine it would have been a great concert. What brought me here though is your Patti saying 'Andha Sowmya...' I can almost hear her say that - I know a few people who would have that style of saying it. Classic.

[Rsachi]

mahavushnu ,
compliments. I would say there are three types of reviews:
1. a dutiful report, gives a flavour of the concert, makes one think, 'OK, I know how it went'
2. a loaded report, with information plus opinions and 'he/she could have finally/better...' -makes me think 'OK, Mr. reviewer is like....'
3. a report that fills me with the true flavour and uniqueness of the experience and wish I had been there, frontal lobe and all.
you know where you fit!

[mohan]

Thanks mahavishnu for the detailed review. Seems like it was a wholesome concert!

[arasi]

Mahavishnu,
Sounds like a treat of a three and a half hour concert.
A recent doctorate? I'm surprised--as if vidushi Sowmya needed any more credentials romba geTTikkArap poNNu! Your pATTi said about the young girl, with ample evidence, no doubt.

Lakshman will soon chime in, I'm sure. He would have been there yesterday as you expected. He wasn't in town.That's the reason.

[mohan]

How was the attendance to this concert considering it happened on the only weekend of Navaratri? I would guess a lot of the regular concert goers would have been busy with kolu visits.

[mahavishnu]

Mohan: It was a reasonably good turnout. I sent my family away to do social things, so I could listen to music in peace ]

RSachi: Thanks for your kind words. It is nice to see your regular posts on the forum now! The forum has gained much by your presence.

MV/Arasi: my pAtti was a very special lady. She learned veenai along with T Brinda (and others) from Krishnamachari, brother of Tiger Varadachari in the 1920s and early 30s. She would often talk with much pride (and a healthy dose of self-deprecating humour) about how Krishnamachariar would notice that she picked up some sangatis faster than Brinda and then chide Brinda about it. You can imagine the kind of pressure on Brinda, coming from the family she came from.

Well Brinda became the legendary Brindamma and my pAtti remained an amateur, and continued to teach veenai after starting a family of her own. She remained an avid rasika. Her big thing was listening to young and upcoming artistes, which she did for six decades! She had her ears glued to AIR's Madras A and B afternoon shows for years. And then she would look for these people in the afternoon programs at the Music Academy, meet them after the concert and give them plenty of encouragement and sometimes more advice than they needed.

She maintained the best kept collection of the academy's annual songlists from their souvenir. I remember her scrapbook that had all kinds of trivia dating all the way back to the 1930 music season, when she was 18 years old, a newlywed who had just arrived in Madras.

My pAtti noticed Sowmya's talent in the early 90s when she was already over 80 years old after listening to a concert at Krishna Gana Sabha. And incidentally, the person she made the "gettikkAri" comment to was none other than Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan, an old friend of hers. And not surprisingly Kalpakam readily agreed with the comment. And after a concert like we heard yesterday here, I can totally see why.

I miss my pAtti, especially during the navaratri season, but even more when I listen to a good concert by an intelligent performer.

[MV]

Mahavishnu... what a man thing to do-send your family away to do social things. Having said that, I have done the reverse, left the family home to go listen to music in peace

[cienu]

Ramesh - What a lovely review and the revelations about your Patti.. Amazing.

[Rsachi]

Mahavishnu,
Your grandmother embodies the TRUE Devi we should all worship. Navaratri is the season for it.
The unsung heroes of Carnatic Music are the ladies who pursue music as keen students, worship it in their hearts, and bless talent. They also seed it in our young hearts so we carry on the tradition.

WE SHOULD START A THREAD OF SUCH REMEMBRANCES!!!!!

PS thanks for your kind welcome. I learn a lot here.

PPS My mother, not a trained musician, was the quintessential rasika. She spent a princely amount on a Nelco 3 band radio in 50s and installed a huge antenna at home so she could listen to concerts aired from Trivandrum to Bombay. I owe my all to her.
She smiled happily to see MSS's photo with trademark bottu on a cassette cover- the last smile I saw on her.

[anonymityatlast]

It would not be an exaggeration to call Smt Sowmya the most intellectual of the present-day musicians.

I dunno. RK Shriramkumar, TM Krishna and Sanjay are all tremendously intellectual musicians. Why, one could perhaps say that intellectualism is "invading" mainstream Carnatic music these days like never before.

Coming to this concert, I feel Dikshitar compositions could be better represented in such a Dikshitar festival concert.

Sowmya explained how Dikshitar's scheme referred to the ragam for EkambrEsa nayikE as (karnataka) suddha saveri. And suddha saveri as devakriya (as in Sri guruha tarayasumam). And just to show how Tyagaraja treated devakriya, she quite effortessly started "nati mata maracitivo" right after an extensive treatment of Ekambresa nayike. I can only imagine the years of scholarship and work it would take to deliver with such alacrity on stage.

If Smt Sowmya sings naati maata like Smt Geetha Bennet plays it, it is totally dissimilar from ShuddhasaavEri, Karnataka or modern. By the way Smt Geetha Bennet is daughter of Smt Sowmya's guru Dr S Ramanathan.

[annamalai]

There is a beautiful CD recorded by Vainika R. Visveswaran on Ragas of dual identity - A must listen to CD.
I have listened to this so many times - where he talks about and ragas of Thyagaraja school and Dikhitar school

Paripathamu - Manohari (DKJ used to sing this ofen)
Neemuddumomu - Kamalamanohari (SKR has sung this in concerts)
Sankaram Abhirami Manoharam - Kamalamanohari

Sree Guruguha murthe - Udayaravichandrika (delectable rendition Prof RV)
Entanerchina - suddhadhanyasi (very popular)

Saraswathi Manohari - Saraswathimanohari (DKP used to sing this krithi)
Enthaveduko - Saraswathimanohari (popular)

and a wonderful rendition of

Maye Twam Yahi - sudhaTarangini

I heard Prof. RV performance a year and I still remember a superb rendition of Jayathi Siva Bhavani .

[rshankar]

Ramesh..lovely review.
Arasi, Dr. Sowmya has come by her title the right royal way...in another thread, Ramanthan had posted a while back that her thesis had been submitted and she was waiting for the defense and completion of other formalities...glad to see it has happened.
I agree that the current day musician is an extraordinarily intelligent performer,and many of them have PhDs to boot.
Having said that, I really am very jealous of Toronto-vAsis - they were really given a fantastic fare.
And talking of golus, Mohan, how did yours turn out?

[mohan]

Ravi - we didn't have kolu this year and a stomach virus swept through the family, preventing us from attending many houses too. That was even before eating the sundal!

[rshankar]

Ravi - we didn't have kolu this year and a stomach virus swept through the family, preventing us from attending many houses too. That was even before eating the sundal!

That's unfortunate indeed.

[mahavishnu]

Arasi: Here is a link to the dicussion on Sowmya's PhD from the Vidwans/Vidushis thread http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 4&start=63

Mohan: Sorry to hear about you missing out on all the sundal this year. Hope all's well now.

Here's wishing all rasikas a wonderful Saraswati Pooja and Vijayadasami. May all our lives be filled with music and learning!

[Rsachi]

Thanks and wish you the same, Mahavishnu!

When we were young, we would go round the SamI tree in the temple and recite this Sloka:

SamI Samayate pApaM SamI SatruvinASinI
arjunasya dhanurdhArI rAmasya priyadarSinI

On Vijayadashami, it is said that Arjuna lifted his bow and fought and won the virATaparva war and on the same day, Rama won the war over Ravana and got Sita back.

[MV]

Ravi - we didn't have kolu this year and a stomach virus swept through the family, preventing us from attending many houses too. That was even before eating the sundal!

Mohan- the bug obviously travels the Tasman Sea. Quite a few people in NZ are down with it which unfortunately means there is more sundal/kesari to go around for the rest of us-people wanting to pack boxes too! Hope you all recover soon before Diwali hits.

[arasi]

Mahavishnu,
Thanks for the link. I was also thinking of a pazhandamizh topic. Still, as VK points out, the topic goes well with her scientific background.

[rshankar]

Ravi - we didn't have kolu this year and a stomach virus swept through the family, preventing us from attending many houses too. That was even before eating the sundal!

Mohan - I am sorry to hear that. Hope you are all feeling better - especially, the little ones and the older generation!

Mohan- the bug obviously travels the Tasman Sea. Quite a few people in NZ are down with it which unfortunately means there is more sundal/kesari to go around for the rest of us-people wanting to pack boxes too! Hope you all recover soon before Diwali hits.

Hopefully different from the bug that has decimated the Tasmanian Devils!!

[Lakshman]

mahavishnu:
Sorry I had to miss Sowmya's concert. I am still out of the country but managed to get on the net just now. The tillAnA is by GNB.

dhIm tadhIm tanana. rAgA: hamsAnandi. Adi tALA. Composer: G.N.Balasubramaniam.

P: dhIm tadhIm tanana tiranA tiranA udana tanana tanOm tanana nAdhrutAni
A: tom dhru tAni tom dhrudhirutAni tom tarikiTa taka dhittillAna
tAmkiTa jham tillAnA tAmkiTa jham tAmkiTajham
C: engum nirainda EkamAna nitya mangaLAkAra shrI mahA tripura
sundari shiva manOhari shankari santatam karuNai tandaruLa vENum
(sholkaTTu)
tAm tadhimi dha ga ni , dha ma ga jhaNutari dhitlAm sA sa ni dha ni nI tlAm kiTatOm tlAm kiTatOm

[mohan]

Thanks everyone - all family members recovered in time for Saraswati puja and Vijayadasami!

[mahavishnu]

mahavishnu:
The tillAnA is by GNB
dhIm tadhIm tanana. rAgA: hamsAnandi. Adi tALA. Composer: G.N.Balasubramaniam.

Thanks, L-ji. I hope you are enjoying your travels.

[nadhasudha]

Mahavishnu - Nice review from you as usual. Was busy with Navaratri and just checking the forum. Sowmya's music appeals to me exactly for the reasons you have stated above.

Nice to read your reminiscences of your pAtti - a vainika and a classmate of Brindamma. We are a lucky generation to have had the experiences with our grandparents. With the move to North America our children are deprived of these day to day interactions and relationships.