Suryaprakash@STSVS(Mylapore) on Apr 22nd,2013

[rajeshnat]

Suryaprakah@STSVS(Mylapore) on Apr 22nd,2013
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Vocal : Suryaprakash
Violin : MA Sundareswaran
Mrudangam : Shertalai Ananthakrishnan
Kanjra : S Venkataramanan

Concert duration/Day : 2 hrs and 45 mins /Monday
Concert Type : Nirvana (no concert to follow)
sabha/Hall : Sadguru Thyagaraja sangeetha vidwath samAjam , mylapore
Occasion : Sadguru Thyagaraja Jayanthi

Expectedly all compositions was by sadguru thyagarAjA

1. shree raghukula(R,S) - Hamsadhwani
2 mins alapana and 5 mins swaras
2. nannu vidachi- reetigowlai

3. enta muddO enta sogasO - bindumAlini
3 mins alapana and 2 mins violin return
4 mins swaras
4. jnAna mosaga rAdA(R N S)- poorvikalyAni
7 mins alapana and 5 mins violin return
neraval in "paramAtmuDu jIvAtmuDu padinAlugu lOkamulu" for 7 mins
swaras for 7 mins

5. seethA vara sangeetha (R)- devagAndhAri
5 mins alapana and 3 mins violin return
6. manavyalakincharA (S) - nalinakAnthi
6 mins swaras

The samAjam has nearly a 100 year history with a bronze idol of the bard and atleast 3 sangeetha kalanidhis as founders. I just also notice that the samAjam has improved with a fresh set of speakers that look fairly new and also the sound mixing board appears new, it just appears perfect. I hope no one donates money and builds an AC hall.

Putting that aside,In general I keep wondering the contributions of sadguru thyagarAja as a vaggeyakkarA . For sure all the musicians will generally learn most of carnatic music thru T's krithis. And when they learn they also polish their musicality with sadguru T krithis as they sing more. And with more and more polish over years ,perhaps the intense classicism is soaked the most with sadguru's krithis.

The start in hamsadhwani was sparkling with some really nice swara dose , a typical hamsadhwani takes a rolling speed and the team gelled well and got the rhythm right. The contrast of nannu vidachi in a vilambit was well received , a kind of strong voice with nice modulations did bring reetigowlai its usual delight that it intrinsically possesses.

The enta muddO in bindumAlini was rendered brilliantly and particularly the concise alApana and the swaras were just in line with the contemplative mood of the composition(I just hope one day I hear bindumAlini being sung as a pallavi)

The submain in poorvikalyani is perhaps the most popular submain and he sang it well , the contrasting style of MAS was very noteworthy .The neraval in the line was very nice but the swaras were a notch higher especially when there were short burst swarakalpana patterns that landed alternatively in paramAthmudu and jeevAthmudu

The vilambit seethavara was lovely and devagAndhari's lazy gait was indeed there , and what a contrast when he moved to 5th speed nalinakAnthi. I have heard him singing nalinakAnthi many times but this one was just carnatic sprint at its classical best. Infact the organizer who spoke just mentioned that this speed was one of its kind that he has not heard and I agree with him.

[rajeshnat]

7A. inta sowkya(R N S T) - kApi
15 mins alapana and 7 mins violin return
neraval in "svara rAga laya sudhA rasa mandu" for 10 mins
swaras for 14 mins
7B. tani for 10 mins

8A. slokham "vaidehi sahitam" - behAg - ???(Ravi or Lji help me with the composer)
+ vIrAsanE susthtitam - neelAmbari
8B. ennaga manasuku - neelAmbari

9. nAdupai - madhyamAvati
10. mangalam (pavamAnA)

Suryaprakash sings kApi exceptionally well. The voice was indeed tempered very well and reached high level of clarity and kApi sounded so beautiful. Every aspect of kApi was well done . The swaras and neraval was just exceptional . What a brilliant vaggeyakara was T , the lines were uniform swara raga laya rasa manju and with such short uniform syllables it was juicy full tosses for both the vocalist and violinist to exhibit high dose of manodharmam.

At the end of tani , the sad news of mahavidwan maestro LGJ was announced and the concert kind of wrapped with a vaidehi slokham and two short numbers .

THe concert was extremely successful because of the team . Vidwan MA Sundareswaran did not intrude at all(many a times he does that), and his play in nalinAkanthi reminded me of his illustrious chittappa , his style was so MSG'ish and his speed was amazing especially in nalinakAnthi. Also in kApi MAS he played alternately in quick succession on both sides of violin producing a bass tone like a cello and a sharp tone was superb. Certainly MAS is a vidwan who is keeping the parur glory especially MSG sir(I am not that much aware of his dad ms anantharaman or his grand dad sundaram iyer as much as MSG)

Shertalai ananthakrishnan gelled well and had a consistent clear naadham, at times he was bit off in adjusting with the right kAlapramAnam but overall he was very good. I guess the intensity of kApi and nalinakanthi was bit too dense that too when he had to play for both violin and vocalist it was bit taxing for shertalai ananthakrishnan. The kanjira artist venkataramanan was bit docile in the first half but from kApi and tani ,he contributed very well to the success of the concert.

It was a well presented concert and appeared a case of an extremely competent team performing and gelling well. There was a brief silence to mourn mahavidwan maestro LGJ's demise and a brief announcement of next day's event.

Overall an excellent concert for 2 hours and 40 minutes.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
Suryaprakash, MAS and kApi are a winning combination. No doubt about that...

[braindrain]

(I just hope one day I hear bindumAlini being sung as a pallavi)

Rajesh, If you haven't seen this...

http://www.sangeethamshare.org/tvg/UPLO ... Vizha_1989

[vasanthakokilam]

As a coincidence, just a few days before you wondered about Bindumalini, Priya Sisters sang an RTP in that raga.