Manasi Prasad, Cleveland, 2013-04-05

[ksharanam]

Smt. Manasi Prasad (Vocal)
Sri. Jay Shankar Balan (Violin)
Sri. T K Ramakrishnan (Mridangam)
Cleveland Sri. R Balasubramaniam (Khanjira)

Waetjen Auditorium, CSU, Cleveland, OH, USA
2013, April 5th, 1445-1615

1. Nee Bhajana Gaana Rasikula - Nayaki - Adi - Thyagaraja
2. Maa Jaanaki - Kambhoji - Adi - Thyagaraja (RNS)
3. Manasu Nilisu - Ragamalika - Khanda Chapu - Vijayadasa
4. Ennaaloorake - Subhapantuvarali - Misra Chapu - Thyagaraja (RST)
5. Maataa Paraasakti - Ragamalika - Adi - Subrahmanya Bharati
6. Bhajan - Meera

I'd encountered Manasi's name in news media, as an upcoming artiste who's striving to balance Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam and academics, but I'd never heard her live. I really liked her stage presence - there's a predominant feeling that women singers should sit like dolls on stage, and I'm glad people like Manasi are doing their bit to break the shackles of gender bias. After all, nobody asked Sri. Semmangudi or Sri. KVN to curtail their hand and head movements!

I also liked her Niraval at "Vaani Maatalaku" and her rendition of Ennaaloorake. She also took care to introduce the unfamiliar Vijayadasa-piece to the audience.

[arasi]

I am glad she did. She is a kannaDiga and it's a good thing for vocalists to popularize songs which are in their own languages. Cleveland interestingly (or for that matter, any place outside of India) is where songs in all languages will have an ideal audience which comprises of people from all parts of India (well, at least of those who come to listen to a CM concert).

Manasi is also into drama. A multi-talented young woman.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

ksharanam,

Thanks for writing about Manasi's concert! I was interested in knowing which items she presented.

[ksharanam]

@arasi, yes, indeed, although on the days I was there, the lingua franca in the corridors seemed to be Tamil, with only a smattering of Kannada-speakers.

On a similar note, I find Cleveland an excellent venue for artiste-artiste interaction. Presumably artistes in Chennai lead their own lives, but in Cleveland they're tied down to the venue for at least 2-3 days. The result is that the front row of any concert consists of other prominent artistes! This cross-pollination of ideas can only be good for music.

[carnatricks]

heard her in chennai once but not fully during the season. nice to see a review here. she looks like doing an interesting project.

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