R. Suryaprakash at the Lotus Temple, Fairfax, Va,

[Ranganayaki]

Vocal concert by Suryaprakash Ramachandran
Srikant Mallajosyula - Violin
Vijay Ganesh - Mridangam
Sowmya Narayanan - Ghatam

1. Sri Raghukula Mandukutti – Hamsadhwani – Adi Taalam – Thyagaraja (Swarams @ Anupallavi)
2. Seethamma Maayamma – Vasantha – Rupaka Taalam – Thyagaraja (Brief Alap)
3. Venkata Ramana – Lathangi – Papanasam Sivan (A, N, S)
4. Viruttam: Pachhai Maa Malaippol Meni in Brindavana Saranga followed by Sri Soundara Rajam Aashraye – Rupaka Talam – Muthuswami Dikshitar
5. Sarasa Saama Daana – Kapi Narayani – Adi Taalam – Thyagaraja
6. Ramanukku Mannan Mudi – Hindolam – Adi Taalam – Arunachala Kavi
7. Nagumomu Ganaleni – Abheri – Adi Taalam - Thyagaraja
8. Mahalakshmi Jaganmata – Shankarabharanam –
9. Viruttam in Behag and Hindolam – Nagaril Pugazhai (possibly from the Divya Prabandham) followed by Deva Devam Bhaje – Khanda Chapu – Annamacharya
10. Venkataachala Nilayam – Sindhubhairavi – Adi Taalam – Purandara Dasa


This was a nice concert overall, with a very intimate feel as it was held in a small make-shift temple that is yet to be properly constructed. Suryaprakash was gracious, to sing with obvious enjoyment and enthusiasm in spite of the rather small audience that was collected there and that was a pleasure. The Lotus temple is a Vaishnavite temple, which explains the song selection, though I think there is a lot to be said for variety in the deities for a more varied experience within the concert. I was grateful for the single sparkling Muthuswami Dikshitar kriti.

My first impression was the strength of his voice and fluent kalpana swarams. I arrived a few minutes late and caught the concert at the Anupallavi to Sri Raghukula. The Lathangi and the Abheri alapanas were enjoyable, and I particularly enjoyed Srikant Mallajosyula’s sancharas around Dha (Lathangi), though I found this alapana a little hurried.
I particularly enjoyed the viruttam in Brindavana Saranga with Pachai Maa malai with a very sensitive rendering of Sri Soundara Rajam. It was a pleasant surprise, everyone had probably assumed it was going to be Rangapura Vihara.

I was a little disappointed with his choice of Abheri for the main piece as BMK had sung the same song as his main piece the previous day. Both percussionists had accompanied BMK too, so if there had been any chatter among them before the concert, he may have heard about it. Suryaprakash was trying to fill rather large shoes for those who had attended that concert, and I just wish he had left Abheri alone for me to just remember BMK’s. There was a miscalculation in the final swaras in which he completed his korvai with the space of two aksharas to spare for which he added an extra “ga ma“ to finish and of course, he didn’t let it go, but restarted his korvai and finished it correctly with a sense of triumph  and to applause.

I was a little thrown off by the second Hindolam kriti, and he seemed to realize it from the audience reaction. Venkatachala Nilayam seemed to have been added as an afterthought to fix the error.

Suryaprakash spoke to the audience and said we Virginians were lucky to have such wonderful talent among us (the accompanists were artists living in the area), and he was overheard complimenting Srikanth Mallajosyula on the way he tended to play on the lower strings and said that we need more of that. I agree heartily with that and so did a small girl who sat with me, who disliked the squeaky high-pitched tones of the violin in most concerts, especially with women singers. The speaker at the end of the concert complimented the violinist as “Suswaram Srikanth”.

Wish I could say more about the percussionists, but their tani avartanam was nice with good laya control, crisp playing without blurring.

[arasi]

Ranganayaki,
Thanks for the review about Suryaprakash''s concert. I'm waiting for a review for the Cleveland Festival one while I wait for the video of it!
I'm glad you went to his concert.

Nice to hear of the good accompanists from your area. Will look out for their names from now on.

I'm sure, had Surya known about BMK taking up AbhEri (nagumOmu) the previous evening, he would not have repeated it

That R in his name stands for Ramachandran. Not Ramakrishnan. Please change the thread's title to R. Suryaprakash...

[Ranganayaki]

Oops, sorry about that error. In fact, I started typing Ramachandran! I was in something of a hurry though.

[mahavishnu]

Ranganayaki, thanks for your balanced review!

Glad to hear of Surya's continued success on this tour. I am very pleased that he got featured in a high-visibility slot at Cleveland; hopefully MMA will follow.
BTW, it is "sri raghukula manduputti", not kutti Although, I am sure when rAma was a baby, someone must have called him that!

BMK's nagumOmu is one of a kind; tough act to follow. I suppose double-checking the main item with organizers is always a good thing.

[Ranganayaki]

Oops again , cute as that is, Ramesh, that was a typo too.

In the concert, that word reminded me of the discussion about vowel pronounciation. It was pronounced as Mandu poti (rhyming with koti as in kotisuryaprakasha ) I thought it would have been nicer if he had stressed on the ttti to make it Mandu putti

[rajeshnat]

8. Mahalakshmi Jaganmata – Shankarabharanam –

Ranganayaki
tx for the review. Mahalakshmi jaganmatha is by papanAsam sivan