Smt. Seetha Narayanan @ Ragasudha, 27.12.2012

[semmu86]

Seetha Narayanan- Vocal
Amritha Murali- Violin
Shertalai Ananthakrishnan- Mrudangam
Sukanya Ramgopal- Ghatam

1. vanajAkSi- kalyANi- Adi
2. prNamAmyaham- gOwLai- Adi
3. bruhaspathE- aTAnA- thisra triputa- (Raga sketch)
4. krupayA pAlaya SaurE-chArukEsi- Misra ChApu- RNS
5. yArukku thAn theriyum avan mahimai- dEvamanOhari- Adi
6. nEEdu charaNamulE- simmendra madhyamam- msra chApu- RNS
7. O rangaSayEE- khAmbhOji- Adi- RNST
Next couple of items sounded like bhajans. Neither the sAhityam nor the ragas sounded familiar.
8. MangaLam

At a complete loss of words. No adjective can do justice to the kind of sangeetham that transpired today @ Ragasudha. So exhilarating and uplifting was the music.

The uplomb with which she executed the thisram in the kalyANi varnam was so beautiful to watch and was even more beautiful to listen to, as not an iota of melody was sacrificed for the sake of mathematics.

Each and every item was rendered with so much of majesty written all over it. Especially loved the niraval and the kalpanaswarAs for chArukEsi, simmendra madhyamam and khAmbhOji. Mami effortlessly created diverse musical patterns spontaneously, on the spot, and yet always succeeded in completing them at the correct point in the tala cycle. This requires a great amount of skill and mastery over laya, not to mention that the resulting pattern itself should be pleasing to the ear.

Furthermore, while it is all too easy to make an exhibition out of such laya mastery, mami sang that in such an understated manner, always keeping it conversant to the larger musical picture.

Amritha Murali's playing was neat, especially in the chArukEsi and khAmbhOji pieces.

Shertalai Ananthakrishnan & Sukanya Ramgopal did an excellent job, though i felt the percussion to be a bit loud at times. Accompaniment was indeed very good and the thani with the thisram and the khanDa koraippu was played well.

Overall a wonderful concert. Wondering if there are any more concerts for mami this season.

[pattamaa]

I enjoyed every bit of this concert. Though i have heard her through recordings/radio, this is the first live experience for me... Varnam set the right mood, she sang thisram and chatusram 2nd speed. All alapanas were in right proportions. Kambodhi mel kala sancharams worth special mention, i loved them a lot. As semmu wrote, neravals were executed with lot of perfection. Her stage presence also needs a special mention. it is also to be noted that she didn't give much gaps between two keerthanas... A vintage concert indeed, a second one in that for me in same day...

[Always_Evolving]

I was there too until simhendra madhyamam alapana. Concur with Semmu and pattamaa. Understated grandeur and vidwat and nothing overdone. Should have stayed for the Kambodhi... sigh.

[harimau]

Semmu86,

I see that you edited out a line in your review.

It said the concert had majesty, gauravam, etc. Wonder what made you take that out because that succinctly summarized the music of mami. As Sri T K Murthy said in an interview (videotaped for archival purposes), concerts today lack "gauravam".

But we will make up for that in the future.

Gaurav Iyengar will be the singer in a concert; that will be all the "gauravam" contemporary audiences need! |(

[semmu86]

I see that you edited out a line in your review.

It said the concert had majesty, gauravam, etc. Wonder what made you take that out because that succinctly summarized the music of mami. As Sri T K Murthy said in an interview (videotaped for archival purposes), concerts today lack "gauravam".

When i read that after posting it, thought it sounded repetitive. Never mind though, for those who have experienced mami's music in her concerts, will know the gOwravam aspect for a fact.

But we will make up for that in the future.

Gaurav Iyengar will be the singer in a concert; that will be all the "gauravam" contemporary audiences need! |(