Abhishek Raghuram@NGS on Dec 31st,2012

[rajeshnat]

Abhishek Raghuram@NGS on Dec 31st,2012
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Vocal : Abhishek Raghuram
Violin : Mysore Shrikanth
Mrudangam : Anantha Krishnan

Concert duration/Day : 2 hrs and 5 minutes /Monday
Concert Type : Nirvana (No concert to follow)

1.Alarulu Guriyaga - shankarAbharanam - AC
2. janani Meye Bharati (R N S T)- bhairavi - ST
7 mins alapana and 4 mins violin return
neraval for 12 anupav(?m)ita kamalAvAse
swaras for
2B.tani for 4 mins

3. Satheli Dinamu (R)- nAganandini - T

Abhishek concert is always packed with sangathis that are driven primarily by his rich voice. THe day was the last year and personally I went to this concert as it started at 07:30 pm .Being a working day , despite the timing not suiting many rasikas it suits me. Musicians generally begin with a fairly big krithi when there is constraint of time and when he sang annamAcharya , his voice was indeed settling well , but to me I personally dont like that much AC krithi as it does not give a gait like a typical take off like say evarani nE(devamanOhari) like a T krithi. ShankarAbharam was just good

But from #2 Bhairavi he sailed with sangathis with real carnatic ganAm(weight),the weight only lifted and soaked me as a rasika.THe bhairavi alApana was structured beautifully and when he started the navarAthri krithi his paramaguru Semmangudi mAmA was in full swing for most of the times . The power and the emote with a real high charge in neraval(especially) and swaras was mostly semmangudish. OF course there was a bit of my not so liking touch , a bit too much convolution in sangathis especially one towards the end of neraval. But that just passsed away and did not come out after that

Naganandini is indeed a tricky raga , I think S KalyanaramaN brought it to limelight with his wonderful rendition. Abhishek bought so much charm in alapana and the krithi rendition was indeed well done.

[rajeshnat]

4A. RTP in sindhubhairavi
19 mins alAPana
15 mins Tanam
9 mins pallavi
4 mins swaras
pallavi line "mAl marugA murugA guha shanmughA magapathiyum?? vithiyum thozhum "

4B. 3 mins tani
5. krishnam vandE nanda kumAran - sindhubhairavi -???
6. pavamANa

About 3 years back when I went to annanagar to attend Abhishek concert (the review is here in the jungle), he started few sangathis of alApana in sindhubhairavi . I was the guy who stood and asked pallavi please and he obliged .That day he must have not planned for a pallavi for sure. But today the same pallavi in the same rAgA was planned and came in torrents . What a sindhubhairavi it was then and it was now both brilliant .Abhishek strength is always his alAPana , he has his voice obeying his musical mind and there were so much of sangathis in sindhubhairavi that I enjoyed . Personally I always think any Raga gets more polish when sung as a pallavi and it was indeed the case. TAnam was beautiful and incidentally shrikant began the tAnam. The pallavi was perhaps the lines from the popular sivan krithi of kArthikeya in tOdi and was sung beautifully . He did a very good trikAlam and the swaras were quite short but definitely nice. Overall for sindhubhairavi it was worth it.

Gnb introduced the tradition of perhaps singing a pallavi and then singing a tukkada of the same rAga.The last krishnam vande is a sampradaya bhajan (donot know the composer), it was a contrast of how much pallavi can elevate sindhubhairavi and how much sindhubhairavi can get diluted with a bhajan. The last number was OK .

Mysore Shrikanth played wonderfully for most of the time .THere was bit of roughness somewhere but overall well presented . Incidentally Abhi said prior to pallavi that he is dedicating to accompanist , sound engineers and also audience(who are his admirers and also those who offer constructive criticism).
Anantha is a real real star in the making , what patterns and what a variety. I like AA combo a lot and anantha had two tanis to offer each for about 4 minutes , but his play had so much intense energy. IT was tough to play with abhishek as he has to catch the manodharmam of abhi and immediately repeat the intensity with the violinist return.

IF there is something to crib(constructive criticism as abhi puts it):
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1. The concert started 10 mins late , both this and the previous sudha concert were seperately ticketed concert . But being the biggest sabha I atleast expected 2 and 1/2 hours of concert . Why it got to a close at sharp 09:45

2. Abhishek has a habit of singing quite away from mike , at times I cannot catch what he is singing?

3. This is perhaps most important . The bhairavi had a real nadaswara piDi but at times abhishek slightly overdoes it ,kind of loses its rakthi. He has to certainly watch on not losing the rakthi effect.

God bless shrikant- abhishek - Anantha (From left to right) and many many more Enta ROW mAHANUBHAVULU musicians a happy new year.....

The key takeaway was his sindhubhairavi .Overall an excellent concert for 2 hours and 5 minutes.

[mahavishnu]

Enta ROW mAHANUBHAVULU

Awesome Very nice review, Rajesh.
Here's Gayathri Girish's take on the same concert: http://www.gayathrigirish.blogspot.ca/ (thanks, Priyaram for the link from the V&V thread). She speaks very highly of the team and esp of the top class accompaniment by Srikanth and Anantha.

[sureshvv]

She speaks very highly of the team and esp of the top class accompaniment by Srikanth and Anantha.

Not meaning to make an odious comparison, but I find Anatha's playing lacking the naadham that other artistes from the same school such as Trivandrum Balaji or Kallidaikurchi Sivakumar bring to the instrument.

[mahavishnu]

Not meaning to make an odious comparison, but ...

but you just did.

[sureshvv]

Yes. Only because I am curious to know if this is just my personal experience or if others share the opinion.

[Rsachi]

Rajesh and other abhishiktas,
How I envy you.
I have to content myself with recordings.
Glad AR acknowledged constructive critics.
(see the 'fit' between AR-MVS-ARK combo and rasikas' preferences in the survey!)
Sachi R

[sureshvv]

The bhairavi had a real nadaswara piDi but at times abhishek slightly overdoes it ,kind of loses its rakthi. He has to certainly watch on not losing the rakthi effect.

Think I saw Rakthi running out of the hall through the parking lot as I was driving back from the academy

[mahavishnu]

Suresh, I think it is strictly your personal experience, and I can't argue with your perception or speak for others.

But, as someone keenly following the evolution of the kappi mridangam over 3+ decades, I must say that Anantha is one of the greatest exponents of the art. Keep in mind that this is a kappi mridangam and there are few that still play it at this level. I haven't heard this kind of crispness of sollus and thoppi sowkyam in any kappi mridangist (esp since the demise of Sri Raghu).

If you really want an example of beautiful nadham, listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI0DWbZkXJk
in a setting quite different from a typical vocal/Abishek concert. If you had headphones on, you would like it even more.

[mahesh3]

How does one describe his musical understanding? In a review - It is easy to say I enjoyed this, I liked that - Abhishek can do more of this. Mostly a waste of time, space, energy and braincells in describing a unique and SINGULAR musician.

Raga Naganandhini - in the hands of other artists I have heard, they usually just sing a memorized mess of shankarabharanam phrases and then sing bad sounding notes of the shatshruthi dhaivatham when it shows up. This is the structure of the ragam one will get if one were to follow all the so called "paddati" based schools of learning - memorization of patently wrong stuff. Naganandhini is simply not Shankaraabharanam with a shatshruthi daivatam. What Abhishek sang yesterday should be understood as a template for how raga Naganandhini should be sung - a brilliant form and structure that gives the ragam its own unique lifeform.

[Rsachi]

Suresh and Mahavishnu,
I do find a polarisation in mridangam playing techniques, of late. There are the guys who stress chapu and are-chapu, and also use left-right resonance and gumki effectively. And there are others who don't focus so much on these aspects but excel in rhythm patterns and musical accompaniment. The Pazhani school proponents inform me it is all in the training.
How I wish for a merger, though! (acronym UKS).
PS: the audio transmission/reproduction can significantly influence the final experience. ARK comes across more sonorous in CD recordings.

[anandasangeetham]

Abhishek has a habit of singing quite away from mike , at times I cannot catch what he is singing?

In his concert at Rasika Fine Arts he used a headpiece mike and did not use a normal stand mike. this had two advantages - one whichever way his head swung he was always audible..second one could see his histrionics without the hindrance of the stand mike.....One problem though he had to swtich it off while interacting with his co-musicians.

he employs a lot of Madurai Somu's open throat singing which I enjoyed very much. His voice is superb and particularly very pleasing when he sings in the lower octave.

[rajeshnat]

(see the 'fit' between AR-MVS-ARK combo and rasikas' preferences in the survey!)
Sachi R

I particularly like when Vittal Ramamurthy plays violin then say akkarai or mysore shrikanth for abhishek. All 3 are great violinists .

[sureshvv]

Abhishek has a habit of singing quite away from mike , at times I cannot catch what he is singing?

The microphone at the Sivagami Pethachi auditorium was really good and could handle this well.

[Rsachi]

haven't heard Vithal w AR except in one CD. Akkarai is a phenomenon.
Abhishek and Srikanth jell often.

[sureshvv]

But, as someone keenly following the evolution of the kappi mridangam over 3+ decades, I must say that Anantha is one of the greatest exponents of the art. Keep in mind that this is a kappi mridangam and there are few that still play it at this level. I haven't heard this kind of crispness of sollus and thoppi sowkyam in any kappi mridangist (esp since the demise of Sri Raghu).

If you really want an example of beautiful nadham, listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI0DWbZkXJk
in a setting quite different from a typical vocal/Abishek concert. If you had headphones on, you would like it even more.

Thanks for the clip. Enjoyed it.

So should I gather that it is some kind of feature of the instrument itself? Don't all the artistes from this school use the same time of mrudangam? Pardon my lack of terminalogy but is the "tung" sound out of reach for the kappi mrudangam?

Checked out http://www.mridangams.com/2007/09/parts ... angam.html to get a better handle but it does not detail the functional difference between the types of mrudangam.

[mahavishnu]

I do find a polarisation in mridangam playing techniques, of late. There are the guys who stress chapu and are-chapu, and also use left-right resonance and gumki effectively. And there are others who don't focus so much on these aspects but excel in rhythm patterns and musical accompaniment. The Pazhani school proponents inform me it is all in the training.
How I wish for a merger, though! (acronym UKS).
PS: the audio transmission/reproduction can significantly influence the final experience. ARK comes across more sonorous in CD recordings.

Any shortcomings in this instance, I would blame on the PA system.

Sachi sir: But to address your greater point, a consummate musician can be all of the above (UKS, TS).
That said, it is not easy to amplify a good kappi instrument. It could appear that even Karaikudi Mani does not have the same ring/boom as a generic kuchi artiste, and that does him or his beautifully crafted instrument no justice.

haven't heard Vithal w AR except in one CD.

Vittal toured the US/Canada with Abhishek last year and they gave a large number of excellent concerts.
One of the very best Abhishek concerts of all time (IMO, and there are many) was at the Ratnagirishwar temple in Besant nagar (reviewed by Rajesh in Feb 2012) with Vittal and Anantha.

I actually really like Mysore Srikanth and the MSG style alapana development. Others who have excelled with Abhishek (but are not regulars like Vittal/Srikant/Akkarai) are Nagai Sriram and S Varadarajan. I have only heard Varadarajan once with Abhishek; this concert will be a collector's classic in a few years.

[mahavishnu]

Mahesh, your post just crossed mine.
yes all the mridangists from the Palghat Raghu school use the same style of mridangam. This includes TVM Balaji, Manoj Siva, Anantha, Bombay Balaji (in fact, they are even crafted by the same maker). The tone of their mridangams should be identical (in theory).

The other users of kappi include people from the TK Murthy school (J Vaidyanathan, B Sivaraman & others), Karaikudi Mani & followers and Srimushnam Raja Rao. Except for Raja Rao, most of the other mridangams are crafted very similarly to the PRR disciples.

All known recordings of PMI were on kappi and most of PSP's are on kappi as well. True descendants of PMI still around (Tanjore Ramdas, Kamalakar Rao, Rajamani) are all die-hard kappi users as well.

Raghu himself played kuchi for a really short time in the middle, before switching back. The recordings from this short era are absolutely priceless.

Most other major players, Sankaran, UKS, TVG, Easwaran, Bhaktavatsalam all use kuchi, even though they have all played kappi in the past. Many of them are strong users of the arrai-chapu with a strong ringing sound (think UKS) which is quite hard to produce in a kappi. But if you listen to old recordings of PSP, it appears that he is able to produce a vast array of arra-chappus on a kappi instrument. So, I don't think the ring is out of reach, but it is qualitatively different. Practicing mridangists like J Balaji or Semmu might be able to add further to this.

[Rsachi]

Excellent comments, Mahavishnu. I concur.

With my limited exposure, I feel kucchi mridangam is easier to play, Kappi has a deeper sound, and PSP was the best in sound production on a kappi.

Kucchi has one downside though.., it can someimes produce a reedy (I feel it's cheap) type of sound except in expert hands like UKS's.

[varsha]

What Abhishek sang yesterday should be understood as a template for how

I find AR interesting for another reason , I have noticed a large number of musician friends , of all hues and sizes , following his concerts with regularity . Making it a point not to miss his concerts . That to my mind , speaks of a dimension, many of us , ordinary rasikas , may not understand much about.

[mahavishnu]

well said, Varsha.
And the person who attends almost every one of AR's concerts, is his guru. PSN often says that he is AR's biggest fan. That speaks volumes too.

[vsarmaiitm]

Abhishek Raghuram@NGS on Dec 31st,2012
1.Alarulu Guriyaga - shankarAbharanam - AC

it should be Alarulu Kuriyaga
a rendition by Priya sisters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfT9U8ShxNM

3. Satheli Dinamu (R)- nAganandini - T

It should be Satta lEni dinamulu
see link
http://sahityam.net/w/index.php/Satta_Leni

BTW, how old (young) is he ? 27 ??

[ragh_avan]

Think I saw Rakthi running out of the hall through the parking lot as I was driving back from the academy

Agree with Suresh; Bhairavi alapana was spent most time in the upper notes and the krithi was sung super fast (considering that this kirthi is best sung in chowka kaalam). The swaras were fast and very confusing and with his introduction of katri swarams felt that I was listening to a S.Janaki light carnatic film song; also the talam was lost in places. I think AR is losing the plot with going overboard with his virtuoso.

[kalyani_ragam]

An extremely knowledgeable musician witha great voice. If he controls the speed, it will add to the beauty more!

[kappi]

nice discussion on Kappi mridangams.
Just a few clarifications.
@Mahavishnu:
I don't think PSP played in Kappi. He played exclusively in Kuchi, All his concerts that I have heard were on Kucchi and we can find no disciple of him playing in kappi, which could almost be because he never played in kappi. I would like to know about this still, since frankly I have not heard PSP as much as the other kappi starlwarts.
There is a famous commercial recording of PMI (playing khanda Ekam I guess) in H-kattai Kucchi mridangam--probably the only instance of him playing in Kucchi. Also his famous youtube video for Alathur--It's quite hard to tell if that mridangam was kappi or kuchi; it should most possibly be kappi only, but one can clearly observe the kucchi-like chapu sounds in it. So I am still not sure about it.
TK Murthy has played both in kappi and kucchi. In fact since he doesn't use Muzhu chappu at all, it is hard to delineate whether his mridangams are kappi or kuchi and hence that doesn't affect his style or quality of playing. But in fact he has played a lot in kucchi too, though, personally I know that he doesn't like to admit that he plays in kucchi. His Guru, Tanjore Vaidyanatha Iyer used to play in mridangams without kappi or kucchi -- so it's a mystery as to the tone his mridangams used to have !

[mahavishnu]

@Mahavishnu:
I don't think PSP played in Kappi. He played exclusively in Kuchi, All his concerts that I have heard were on Kucchi and we can find no disciple of him playing in kappi, which could almost be because he never played in kappi. I would like to know about this still, since frankly I have not heard PSP as much as the other kappi starlwarts.

TK Murthy has played both in kappi and kucchi. In fact since he doesn't use Muzhu chappu at all, it is hard to delineate whether his mridangams are kappi or kuchi and hence that doesn't affect his style or quality of playing. But in fact he has played a lot in kucchi too, though, personally I know that he doesn't like to admit that he plays in kucchi. His Guru, Tanjore Vaidyanatha Iyer used to play in mridangams without kappi or kucchi -- so it's a mystery as to the tone his mridangams used to have !

I heard from Trichy Sankaran in conversation that PSP had played kappi for a while. Sankaran mentioned (with much admiration) how PSP produced a unique ringing tone from a kappi. However, from the recordings that I have I have been unable to determine the nature of the instrument.

I am intrigued by your comment on TVI's mridangam's that are neither kappi nor kuchi. Any idea how they are built? Are there any known recordings of his?

[VijayR]

... ; also the talam was lost in places. ...

Are you sure? I was not at the concert, but somehow I am very skeptical about this claim. It is well-known (even among his fellow musicians) that Abhishek's grip over layam is unbelievably strong.

[mahavishnu]

but somehow I am very skeptical about this claim.

And you should be for good reason

[semmu86]

Many of them are strong users of the arrai-chapu with a strong ringing sound (think UKS) which is quite hard to produce in a kappi.

I always look up to this recording (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaniMI9QF6s), when talking about the usage of arai chApu in a kappi vAdhyam. Its just one of its kind. After a lot of deliberations and discussions, came to a conclusion that usage of kappi-kuchi amongst mrudangam artists seem to be bordered on one major factor- Convinience. The kappi mooTu is bound to last a little bit longer than kuchi does (Which comes in handy on tours), and even the black patch comes out by one or two, it is still manageable in kappi, whereas in kuchi you are bound to get a distorted tone (The technical term being "Virusal" :: ) which can be irritating some times to the ear.

At the end of all this, one is bound to go by his Teacher's/ School's style in which he got trained. I have heard some people telling me that kuchi Mrudangam produces too much nAdham and that is very "alpamAna vAdhyam" (Roughly translates into "cheap sound"), whereas he told that the kappi mrudangam has a certain sense of gowravam and manliness. This sounded like a pile of nonsense to me.

What intrigues me at times is the inability of the musicians (Especially percussionists in this case) to think/ appreciate people having difference of opinions outside their school. And to make it worse, they sometimes even dismiss them as musically illiterate. At the end of the day, be it kuchi or kappi, mrudangam at the hands of an expert will sound like a "nAdha vAdhyam" only and not just as a time keeper. No wonder UKS Sir calls it as the "rAja vAdhyam" (The king of instruments).

[kappi]

I heard from Trichy Sankaran in conversation that PSP had played kappi for a while. Sankaran mentioned (with much admiration) how PSP produced a unique ringing tone from a kappi. However, from the recordings that I have I have been unable to determine the nature of the instrument.

ic. So that is not a strong enough proof for considering PSP to have played in Kappi. All the recordings I have of PSP, clearly are of Kucchi and that is well discernible. Also I don't think PSP's strokes and the fingering style would suit Kappi mootu (and vice versa)--they are more suited for kucchi. I think, unless I hear a direct recording or from anyone from PSP's shishya parampara about it, I would stick to the belief of PSP as a kucchi-player.

I am intrigued by your comment on TVI's mridangam's that are neither kappi nor kuchi. Any idea how they are built? Are there any known recordings of his?

The build of TVI's mridangam is the same as that of any other mridangam. It's just that there wouldn't be kucchi or kappi inside the meetu thol. The tone hence should have been very bland. In fact I can accept it, because if we can imagine TVI's playing to be exactly the same as TK Murthy's, then kappi or kucchi is not necessary since the concentration of their style itself is on the intricate and complex inner-chatham fingerings and not on the chappu or the overall timber of the instrument.
I can nevertheless, get more information on this.

[mahavishnu]

At the end of the day, be it kuchi or kappi, mrudangam at the hands of an expert will sound like a "nAdha vAdhyam" only and not just as a time keeper. No wonder UKS Sir calls it as the "rAja vAdhyam" (The king of instruments).

well said.