Sangeetha Swaminathan@ayodhya mandapam on Apr 27th,2013

[rajeshnat]

Sangeetha Swaminathan@ayodhya mandapam on Apr 27th,2013
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Vocal : Sangeetha Swaminathan
Violin Support: Karaikkal Venkatasubramanian
Mrudangam : Sumesh narayanan

Concert duration/Day : 1 hour and 50 mins/Saturday
Concert Type : Non Nirvana (there was another concert that followed)
Sabha/Hall : Ayodhya Mandapam , west mambalam
Occassion : Rama Navami celebrations

1A. slokham "rAmachandrO??" - nattai
1B. ninnE bhajana (S) - nAttai - T
2. rAmA neepai (S) - kEdAram - T
4 mins swaras
3. yArO ivar yArO - bhairavi - AK

4. shree rAmachandrO rakshatumAm (R N S) -shree ranjani - MD
10 mins alapana and 7 mins violin return
neraval in sItA kalyAna mahOtsava vaibhava for 4 mins
7 mins swaras

5. nirupama sundarA karA - pantuvarAli - OVK
6A. enthukO nee manasu (R N S T) - kalyAni - T
11 mins alapana and 7 mins violin return
neraval in for 4 mins
swaras for 7 mins
6B. tani for 6 mins
7. rAmanai bhajithAl - mAnd- psivan


It is almost 4 years since I heard a concert in ayodhya mandapam after listening to a vijay siva concert where palakkad raghu sir and abhishek were supporting in percussion. Ayodhya mandapam has its charm amidst the noise , the charm where lot of rasikas listen intently with a passion (Tambras crowdsourcing at its best), the recurrent noise in both aarOhanam (11 H bus that hits iyappanthangal from broadway)and the avarOhanam (49 series that goes from thiruvanmiyur to iyyapanthangal).Amidst the discomfort of traffic snarls there is always great music.In the last concert that I attended at Bangalore rama samajam there was practically very less eye contact of performers to rasikas , where as in a place like ayodhya mandapam the closer association of rasikas and artists indeed adds a tangible exuberance from the artists.

Sangeetha swaminathan I am assuming is still settled in US and has possibly come for few weeks to give few concerts in India. Her start in nAttai slokham in praise of Lord rAmA with a very sampradaya touch and a lovely ride in ninne bhajana just kalaikuttafied the concert from word go.

Rama neepai was the best in the concert , she presented with that right pace as a typical #2, the swaras were very chiseled to perfection. The bhairavi start in yarO ivar yArO was from anupallavi but certainly the concert continued well with her aesthetic style that impressed me a lot.

The submain raga alapana in shree ranjani was really superb, she showed so much of MLVian style with a real nice usage of brigas that were very creative . The krithi of MD was a rare one , certainly it was a surprise as I was thinking of a popular T krithi. The MD krithi in chApu tAlam was sung quite well and the neraval line with sita kalyana vaibhavam phrase was very catchy for the ayodha mantapam rama bhakthas.

Without a prati madhyamam when she sang nirupama sundarAkara in pantuvarali as a filler I was thinking that she did that only to perhaps jump again to a sudda madhyama main . The OVK krithi was quite good. But only kalyani came as the main. She sang very well ,she had to rush a bit because of time constraint , but her neraval and swaras were well done . I wish the violin returns were a bit shorter so that sangeetha had more space to sing a little more vistaramana kalyani. The last number in mAnd was well received and she played well to the gallery (I meant only in good sense).

The violinist karaikkal venkat could have tuned his strings bit more better , the tone was not that pleasant and may be a little reduced violin return would have been better . Sumesh in mrudangam was brilliant , while I could spot MLV of 80's in sangeetha music , Sumesh appeared as a young mannargudi easwaran or a tiruvarur bhaktavatsalam (I think sumesh guru is shri bakthavatsalam)of 80's.He had amazing speed and consistently kept his excellence . It was personally very satisfying to see a young mridangist playing well in an era where there is a lot of demand for good percussionists .

My personal present favourite vidushi is Smt raji gopalakrishnan and I hardly hear her nowadays . I see Sangeetha swaminathan also having a great voice like raji .Sangeetha swaminathan's voice has a touch of intense serenity and as her parama guru the brigas are swift and concise and she is fairly effortless as her parama guru.

I do know sangeetha is also a disciple of Sudha raghunathan. But I get more touch of MLV from her which at times is a bit of ouch with many female musician(s).

Overall an excellent concert for 1 hour and 50 minutes.

[mohan]

Thanks for the review Rajesh. I hear more Sudha than MLV in Sangeetha Swaminathan's music.

Sri Ramachandro in Sri Ranjani is a kriti made popular by MLV and her sishya paramparai. Sudha has sung it on a commercial album of Rama kritis and I have heard A. Kanyamumari play it too. TMK has sung it on the Sri Ramam album!

[rajeshnat]

I hear more Sudha than MLV in Sangeetha Swaminathan's music.

Mohan
About 7 or 8 years when sudha sang a pallavi in natabhairavi @MFAC the touch of Sudha with mlv was very close . But in the last year when I heard Sudha in the second half from pallavi onwards , I could spot her brigas were not falling as much as a typical MLV. May be Sangeetha Swaminathan kind of sings more like sudha of 80's or 90's.

Can you elaborate bit more when you say that you hear more sudha than MLV please , just curious there.