Ramakrishnan Murthy CMANA NJ Concert Apr 7, 2013

[Sankar Narayanan]

It was a fulfilling CMANA concert by the upcoming and talented Ramakrishnan Murthy on 07-Apr-2013 at the Bridgewater Sri Venkateswara Temple Auditorium, New Jersey.

The team was as below:
vidwan rAmakrishnan mUrthy (vOcal)
vidwan v.v.s. murAri (violin)
vidwan arun prakAsh (mridangam)

The concert was fulfilling on many fronts - a) it was high quality with RKM's display of great techniques, his fearless stage presence while showing great respect for his accompanists, and his impeccable diction across multiple languages, b) the high profile of the pakkavAdhyam artistes, and c) the fact that RKM is an upcoming youngster who grew up in LA, USA during most of his formative years and now in his first major concert tour.

The song list is below:

1. varNam - kalyAni - Adi
2. jAnaki ramanam - suddha sImanthini - tyAgarAja - Adi (S)
3. evarani nirNayinciri - dEvAMRtavarshiNi - tyAgarAja - Adi 2 kalai
4. rAmanAtham bhajEham - pantuvarAli (kAsirAmakriya) - dIkshitar - rUpakam - (R,N,S)
5. kAlait tUkki ninRADum - yadukulakAmbhoji - mArimuttA piLLai - Adi
6. trilOka mAthA nannubrOvu - paraju - syAmA sAsthri - Adi
7. bAlagOpala pAlaya - bhairavi - dIkshitar - Adi 2 kalai (R, N, S, thani)
8. RTP in nAttai, nAttaikurinji, chalanAttai, dEsh - Adi kanda nadai. The pallavi line is as follows:
"pOtruvOm puhazhndhiduvOm india nAttai | mozhiyil sirandha nattramizhil"
(rough translation: "let us sing the praise of the country India using Tamizh the best among languages")
9. iDadu padam tUkki - khamAs - pApanAsam sivan - Adi
10. tharangam - suddh sArang - nArAyana thIrthar - Adi
11. jagadOddhArana - kApi - purandara dhAsa - Adi
12. dhiranA tanadhImta - cenjuruTi - vIna seshaNNa
13. rAmachandrAya janaka - kuranji - bhadrAchala rAmadas

RKM started with a brisk varNam in kalyAni. This was followed by 2 quick pieces - jAnaki ramanam in suddha sImanthini, and evarani nirNayinciri in dEvAMRtavarshiNi.
In jAnaki ramanam RKM did a short swaraprasthAram showing nice swara patterns such as gOpucchA which were well matched by Sri murAri's replies. In these 2 songs I felt bhAvA was compromised for speed, but I also felt RKM was settling down. He proved me right as what followed was sheer delight.

The rAmanAtham bhajEham in pantuvarAli (kAsirAmakriya) started with a beautiful portrayal of this rAgA. As I was looking for more bhAvA in the initial part of kriti rendition, to my pleasant surprise RKM started his bhAvA-laden niraval in kumAra guruguha viditam. The niraval was sophisticated and highly enjoyable.
Next RKM moved to mArimuttA piLLai's immortal yadukulakAmbhoji piece, interestingly starting with the anupallavi phrase of vElait tUkki. This song was done in an appropriate slow tempo and was very bhAvA-laden.

After a quick and brisk trilOka mAthA nannubrOvu in paraju, RKM started an elaborate AlapanA in bhairavi. Sri murAri matched him here in both the ascent and the descent, showing the VVS lineage as well as his own individualistic stamp. What followed was a KVN-isque soothing bAlagOpala pAlaya with a superb niraval in nIla nIrada sharIra. In this main song, RKM's respectful and patient tempo during the kriti was matched by his youthful and explosive swarAs in both slow and fast speeds. Once again Sri murAri showed his prowess in the AlApanA, the kriti, and the swarAs. Sri arun prakAsh's thani was delectable where he demonstrated that even basic phrases such as "tha dhin dhin nA" could have soothing and dexterous variations. He finished his thani with an explosive mOhra & kOrvai. Throughout the concert, his mridangam playing was done with full justice to the word 'mrid' (soft).

RKM immediately started an AlApanA in nAttai which we guessed was the beginning of an RTP. Both RKM and murAri presented a very enjoyable & energetic AlApanA and thAnam, touching many mystics notes of nAttai. The pallavi was rendered in kanda nadai Adi thAlam. We later learnt that the patriotic pallavi in tamizh was composed by Sri arun prakAsh himself. The presence of the word nAttai (which means country in Tamil) in the pallavi was cleverly used in rAgA selection - nAttai, nAttaikurinji, chalanAttai, and dEsh (dEsh means country in devanAgari!).

RKM rounded up the concert nicely with 4 thuKadAs – the mellifluous tharangam & jagadOddhArana sandwiched between the 'sollufluous' iDadu padam tUkki & cenjuruTi tillAnA!

Overall, RKM proved he is a rising start of tomorrow with all-rounded skills and techniques. My only request is that he includes layA variety thru kritis in misra chApu and kanda chApu. Otherwise, kudos to RKM for such an enjoyable concert in front of a knowledgeable New Jersey audience. And kudos to CMANA for continuing their unique and unmatched charter of promoting future super stars!

[rajeshnat]

8. RTP in nAttai, nAttaikurinji, chalanAttai, dEsh - Adi kanda nadai. The pallavi line is as follows:
"pOtruvOm puhazhndhiduvOm india nAttai | mozhiyil sirandha nattramizhil"
(rough translation: "let us sing the praise of the country India using Tamizh the best among languages")
....
RKM immediately started an AlApanA in nAttai which we guessed was the beginning of an RTP. Both RKM and murAri presented a very enjoyable & energetic AlApanA and thAnam, touching many mystics notes of nAttai. The pallavi was rendered in kanda nadai Adi thAlam. We later learnt that the patriotic pallavi in tamizh was composed by Sri arun prakAsh himself. The presence of the word nAttai (which means country in Tamil) in the pallavi was cleverly used in rAgA selection - nAttai, nAttaikurinji, chalanAttai, and dEsh (dEsh means country in devanAgari!).

Sankar narayanan
Looking at the list , the concert must have been atleast 3 hours. Just curious here , were 4 ragas sung for each of the segments like ragam, ,tAnam ,pallavi neraval and swaras. Thank you for your review, CMANA concerts are biggie ones , looks like the team rocked .

[rajeshnat]

10. tharangam - suddh sArang - nArAyana thIrthar - Adi

In a concert that i attended of ramakrishnan murthy , he sang kalaya yashOdhE in suddasarang.I am sure it was the same.

[Rsachi]

Despite Sri KSK's including RKM in the speed-hungry young brigade (cf. SRUTI) I feel RKM balances well with a mix of slow, sedate, majestic tempo songs and renditions with fast paced numbers.
I like RKM very much.

Sounds like a fine concert. Thanks!

[mahavishnu]

Sri KSK's including RKM in the speed hungry young brigade (cf. SRUTI)

RSachi, Do you have link to that review/opinion? It appears contrary to everything I have come to know about RKM's music.

[Rsachi]

Mahavishnu
Somebody showed me that article from Mar issue of SRUTI..

[Sankar Narayanan]

@Rajeshnat Sir: Yes, the concert went for about 3.5 hours. RKM did AlApanA in nAttai only, he employed all the 4 rAgAs in the tAnam, pallavi, and swarA segments. Regards.