My concerts during the season!

[rbharath]

I had a rather different season this time. Attended far few concerts this season than many previous years. And for some reason, forgot to write down songlists during some concerts and misplaced some of them sheets when I did write down. Originally one wasnt planning to make a post here and hence wasnt really keen on keeping lists, however, felt very bad for not being part of the group here and therefor, have a few full lists here and points/items from my memory for the others.

After Seshampatti Sri Sivalingam's concert at BVB, one took a long hiatus.

Heard Smt. Nanditha Ravi's concert at Ragasudha Hall. A well presented concert representing one of the old traditions of classical music. One then attended concerts of Smt. Suguna Varadachari and Smt. Ritha Rajan at Ragasudha Hall on the 17th and 18th of December 2012. Both were great concerts. As usual with the great vidushis, they were concerts of pure classical music out-and-out. Smt. Suguna's kalyani AlApanai and kAntimatim were both wonderful. The main of the evening, tuLasi bilva with neraval at karuNatO was so moving. Smt. Ritha's renditions of the shankarAbaraNam and bEgaDa padams (mAnamE bhUshaNamu and yAlapadarE) were both stunning and so was the nATTaikuranji jAvaLi (tArumAru). Earlier her suruTTi AlApanai and angArakam in the old-world-version in cauka kAlam were amazing.


Palkulangara Ambika Devi - Trivandrum Sampath - Syamakrishanan - Nerkunam Sankar
21 Dec 2012. Raga Sudha Hall

ninnujUchi - saurAshTram (S)
jaya jaya padmanAbha - manirangu
gAngEya vasana - hamIr kalyANi (R)
bhavathi viswasome - mukhAri - misra cApu - ST (RS)
pAlimparAvadElarA - Arabhi (R)
dEva dEva jagadIswara - pUrvikalyANi (RS)
ninnADa - kannaDa
ninne nammi nAnu - tODi (RNST)

It was a concert of a different kind. A music that touched heart and soul. A stirring hamIrkalyANi, touching mukhAri. An Arabhi that flowed like a pravAham with no frills. indeed a sublime tODi. kAmAkshi kanchadalAyadAkshi neraval left each of the 40-odd people in tears.


R Vedavalli - Dr R Hemalatha - K Arun Prakash - N Guruprasad
23 Dec 2012. Music Academy

srI rAjagOpAla - sAvEri (NS)
nEnendu vedakudurA - karnATaka behAg
brOvasamayamidE - gauri manOhari (R)
rAmAbhi rAmA - darbAr - misra cApu - T
nagumOmu - AbhEri - Adi - T (RNS)
srI abhayAmbhA - srI
nIvADa nEgAna - sArangA
RTP - kAmbhOji - kaNDa tripuTa (rAgamAlikA tAnam in varALi, rItigauLa)
ranganE tiruvaranganE unadu pAdam tuNai
OrilEn kANi illai - ragamAlikA pAsuram in shanmukhapriyA, sahAnA, sindhubhairavi, bhAgEsri
srikAnta engaishTu - bhAgEsri - Adi - PD

Was a classical concert. The grand beginning was so wonderful with srI rAjagOpAla. The gauri manOhari AlApanai was great. The classical AbhEri (that with suddha dhaivatam) was a grand affair with an elaborate AlApanai, neraval and svarams at 'jagamElE paramAtmA'. The kAmbhOji AlApanani was wonderful and the tAnam was very moving. It was a superb pallavi fitting the occasion of 'vaikunTa EkAdasi'



Heard Trichur brothers and Prasanna Venkataraman at Music Academy. Trichur brothers sang dAchukOvalEnA. Prasanna's lalitA was moving. Heard Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath at Kapali Fine Arts. She sang O jagadambA for submain and O rangasAyee for main. It was a well presented concert which ended with Ahiri padam. Sri T N Krishnan's concert at Raga Sudha began with kAmbhOji varnam. The teratIyagarAdhA was great. 'dinamani vamsa' and 'paridAnamicchidE' were played well as well. After listening to Smt. Vedavalli's kAmbhOji, Prasanna's harikAmbhOji and mOhanam and Aishwarya's kEdAragauLa (varNam) and kAmbhOji, TNK's kambhOji, harikAmbhOji and bilahari in quick succession, it was a long string of same and/or related ragams and one just couldnt sit anymore. I m told TNK played mohanam for main.



R Vedavalli - RK Shriram Kumar - K Arun Prakash - N Guru Prasad
25 Dec 2012 Raga sudha Hall

entarA nItanaku (NS)
subramaNyEna - suddha danyAsi
nIkEla nAyaDa - dEvamanOhari
EtAvuna nErchitivO - yadukula kAmbhOji (RS)
nenarunchi nAnu
EkAmbrEsa nAyaki - shanmukhapriyA - Adi - MD (RTNS)
rAgamAlikA tAnam in bEgaDa, varALi, rItigauLa
tani
srI guruguhamUrtE - udayaravicandrikA
OsOsi - mukhAri
mOdi jEsevElarA - khamAs
tillAnA - hamsAnandi

a grand concert. The yadukulakAmbhOji and shanmukhapriyA were both so moving and sublime.


Rama Ravi - RK Shriram Kumar - K Arun Prakash
28 Dec 2012, Raga sudha Hall

intha mODi - sArangA
vinarAdanA manavi
srI sukra bhagavantam
Ananda naTana prakAsam (RS)
brOvasamayamidE - gauri manOhari
kAmAkshi gauri - sAvEri - Adi - PS (RS)
krupajUchuDaku vElarA
dalachina vAru - danyAsi
pAlayamAm pArvatIsA - kannaDa
raksha bettarE - bhairavi (RNST)
tArumAru - nATTaikuranji
bAla vinavE - kAmbhOji
paripOvalarA - bilahari
dalachu koNTE - kuranji
dAsaratE sri rAma - khamAs - Adi - BR
harismaranE mADO - yamuna kalyANi

A great concert. The kEdAram was wonderful fitting the occasion of 'ArudrA darisanam'. the vAra kriti was well presented. The sAvEri and bhairavi were both wonderful. dalachina vAru was moving. The kAmbhOji padam was superb and the kuranji padam was just out of the world was a really rare treat. A touching concert.


Thamarakkadu Govindan Namboodri's concert at Raga sudha hall was awesome. His mAkElarA was perfect and superb. The danyAsi Alapanai and mAyuranAtam were both so wondeful. The aTANA AlApanai and srI kumAra nagarAlayE were awesome. The main was mari mari ninnE left one spellbound. Indeed a great concert.
Thanks to bad health, that was the last concert for me this season.

Its my bad that i missed noting down concert lists and don't remember what was sung in many of them. Hope to have a better season next time. Hope floats!

[arasi]

Hope floats, in boats.
I say this, because I was in the same boat as you

Your intro could have been mine--
Didn't write down songs every time.
Even the ones I wrote, I misplaced--
I fell sick too, like you!

Glad that we could meet, sad I missed some others.
Happy that I could be at Raga Sudha a couple of times

[srikant1987]

Thamarakkadu Govindan Namboodri's concert at Raga sudha hall

VV Ravi - Fiddle
Trichur Narendran - Mridangam
29 Dec 2012

Rough list:
sarasija (varNam) - Arabhi - Adi (sketch)
?
mAkElarA - ravicandrika - Adi - T
mAyUranAtham - dhanyAsi - cApu - MD (RS)
shrI kumAra nagarAlaya - aThANA - Adi - ST
? - kAmavardhani - Adi - ST
maRi maRi - kAmbhOji - Adi - T (RNST)
manasi - Ahiri - cApu - ST
bajAO muralI tuma - durgA - Adi - ? (sketch)
suraTi tillAna (requested by some awesome rasika)
mangalam

The Arabhi sketch was definitive and awesome. The dhanyAsi was a little slow, and gamakams sometimes seemed too stretched. Sri VV Ravi's reply included some briga phrases which were very appropriate imho.

Neraval, all swarams were very nice, and brought out rAga swarUpam all the time. The tani was engaging and of very appropriate length too, keeping in mind both the majesty of the composition and the duration available for the concert itself.

Even the durgA Alapanai was so definitive, and the bhajan rendered with so much discipline and rigour. The bhajan included a mudra and I noted the composer's name in a paper but lost it.

The surutti tillAnA was fantastic.

Wonderful concert.

[arasi]

srikant,
Another vocalist I've been meaning to listen to, but missed (the same as in my missing a chance to meet you, though we were both at the Academy for Vedavalli's concert

[bilahari]

I don't believe I've heard a suruTTi tillAna. Whose composition, do you know?

Arasi, I've been meaning to listen to this vidwan too, and there isn't even much on YouTube... Another hidden gem.

[rshankar]

Bilahari, there are at least 2 tillAnAs in SuruTTi I am aware of: one by mysUru Sri Vasudevachar (this is one of three tillAnAs sung by Smt. MSS, and it has also been sung by Sri Vasudevachar's students, Smt Mani Krishnasvami, and Sri D. Pashupati), and another one by Madurai Sri N. Krishnan, sung by Smt MLV for the danseuse Smt. Krishnaveni Lakshmanan (the caraNa sAhityam is an absolutely beautiful one on the reigning dEvi of Mylapore - mA mayilayail mAtavam seida mA mayil tAyE, umA mahESan manamagizhndavalE, mAdhavanin sOdariyE, gAnam iSaitta kayilai nAthan karuttil ninra karpagamE)

[prashant]

another one by Madurai Sri N. Krishnan, sung by Smt MLV for the danseuse Smt. Krishnaveni Lakshmanan (the caraNa sAhityam is an absolutely beautiful one on the reigning dEvi of Mylapore - mA mayilayail mAtavam seida mA mayil tAyE, umA mahESan manamagizhndavalE, mAdhavanin sOdariyE, gAnam iSaitta kayilai nAthan karuttil ninra karpagamE)

DKJ used to sing this very beautifully...

[varsha]

DKJ used to sing this very beautifully..

.
http://www.mediafire.com/?om67o8fpehdv1bs

[varsha]

there are at least 2 tillAnAs in SuruTTi I am aware of: one by mysUru Sri Vasudevachar.... and it has also been sung by Sri Vasudevachar's students,... Sri D. Pashupati),

http://www.mediafire.com/?gtrlbj4fcrrq4am

[varsha]

there are at least 2 tillAnAs in SuruTTi

A third one
http://www.mediafire.com/?nwpb2armr05n602

Not sure if it is by Oothukadu

[rshankar]

Thank you Varsha for those exquiste ones!
I have heard Sri DKJ sing Vidvan Madurai N. Krishnan's tillAnA - I singled out the MLV version because it has far more sangatis than would be sung at a typical vocal concert (as I understand is the case for tillAnAs for dance) - and each one of them is a distilled essence of SuruTTi.

[srikant1987]

I don't believe I've heard a suruTTi tillAna. Whose composition, do you know?

It was the Vasudevachar tillAna; the Madurai Krishnan tillAna is in trishra gati.

[VISHNURAMPRASAD]

The suratti thillana in Thisra gathi with "Maa Mayilalyil " charanam lines was composed by Madurai T.Srinivasan and Not Madurai N.Krishnan. My mother had the oppurtunity to learn this directly from DKJ as she was one of his students during the 80s.

[rshankar]

Thank you for the correction. I got the information from a cassette cover - (and, I do acknowledge that these jackets are riddled with erroneous information)!

[Rsachi]

Varsha,
I distinctly remember the third one featuring in some movie or dance drama...have seen it performed a few times in fact I think! Kalakshetra? Vyjayantimala?

[rshankar]

Sachi - if you mean the one in tiSra gati, it would have been Kalakshetra - Smt. Krishnaveni Lakshmanan was the principal of Kalakshetra - Noe, it could also have been Ms. Bali, because hse has worked extensively with Adyar Sri Lakshman (who was from Kalakshetra)...

[Jayalakshmi]

I think My pick of the season would be these...Sanjay Subramaniam's Music Academy Kucheri...REally enjoyed his pallavi in Arabhi ! Carnatica Brothers Shashikiran and Ganesh's kucheri at Naradaganasabha...The way they came up with the ragams for tanam based on audience's choice was just amazing and I thought their music sounded so tranquilizing ! Yet another wonderful concert was of Sudha Ragunathan, early December for Karthik Fine Arts !