U Srinivas - Toronto May 26, 2013

[mahavishnu]

U Srinivas - Mandolin
U Rajesh - Mandolin support
Madirimangalam Swaminathan - Mridangam
Trichy Murali - Ghatam

1. vanajAkshirO - kalyani varnam - Poochi
2. sri gaNapatini - sowrAshtram - T
3. pavanAtmajA - nAttai - MD - RS
4. mOkSamu galadA - sAramati - T
5. garuda gamana - nAgaswarAvaLi - Patnam
6. varAlandu - gurjari - T
7. pAlincu kAmAkshi pAvani - madhyamAvati - SS
8. RTP chArukEsi - Adi 2 kalai (rAgamAlika swarams in reethigowla, ahir bhairav, bilahari & madhuvanti)
9. jagaDodAraNA - kApi - PD (audience request)
10. raghuvamsa sudhA - kathanakuthUkalam - HMB (audience request)
11. chittachOra - pIloo - bhajan
12. kurai onrum illai - rAgamAlika
13. tillAna - kAnada - LGJ
14. nI nAma rUpamulaku - mangalam + surutti sketch

I haven't listened to a live carnatic concert of Mandolin Srinivas for almost two decades now. I have seen him as part of the Shakti ensemble in various parts of N. America and with Peter Gabriel's world music tour in England, but somehow have not managed to listen to him during the music season or in a regular sabha for a long time.

I am reminded of the very first time I heard him in the early 1980s, around the corner from my old home in West Mambalam at the Ayodhya mandapam during their rama navami festival. This little boy of 12 was the talk of the town. Not only did he display his amazing talent that he had bucketloads of, but he demonstrated to Chennai audiences in that period that he was no flash-in-the-pan phenomenon. His music had depth, the stuff that we call people "genius" for. The term "genius" and "prodigy" are often abused in India, but Srinivas was truly all that and beyond. My grandmother was convinced that this was the soul of musical saint reborn.

There are only a handful of occasions when the carnatic world has been rocked by sensations of that kind. Pretty soon, Srinivas was everywhere. Shanmukhananda hall to the Berlin jazz festival to Montreux to standing-room-only crowds at the Academy, all before he turned 15. Many predicted that he was due to fade away soon; That he was a one-trick pony that played raghuvamsa sudha faster than the speed of light. But he proved them all wrong. That song is still requested almost thirty years after those days is testament to Srinivas's lasting presence on the carnatic firmament. To me, like the mythical Prahlada or Macaulay Culkin for that matter, Srinivas will always that little boy, the one who blew the minds of an entire generation of listeners.

Sadly, the fickle Chennai audiences have moved away from him. With the general trend among the Mylapore culture-vultures to move away from instrumental music, Srinivas' carnatic performances in Chennai are not as popular as they used to be. Some complain of loudness, some talk of lack of sowkhyam; whatever it is, the loss is entirely theirs. Srinivas gave an unbelievable performance in Toronto yesterday, displaying his genius, showcasing his masterly control over his instrument with a deeply cerebral treatment of music that is peppered with intellectually varied influences over the last three decades, that he has made his own.

So, how is the Srinivas of today different from the Srinivas of yore? He is still very much the shy genius. But the way he interacts with the listener now reflects the wealth of his own musical journeys, only a fraction of which are visible to the myopic Mylapore mavens (pardon the alliteration).

Take Gurjari for example. I hold S Ramanathan's version of varAlandu as the gold standard of this ragam (there is a commercial version with MSG, Karaikudi Mani for those interested). Today, Sowmya and perhaps Unnikrishnan are the only people who sing it, owing to the SR influence in their music. Srinivas's version had all the beauty of the traditional gurjari, but he was able to bring out completely new dimensions of this ragam. Gurjari (and even Mayamalavagowla and Vakulabharanam for that matter) have an eerie similarity to middle-eastern music. Although Bhadrachalam Ramdas had dealt with this scale, Dikshitar (in gunijanadhi) and Tyagaraja (in varAlandu) had probably taken the existing Gujjar scale that came from Hans/Chechens in Central Asia and made it their own. These two compositions are also present very different moods of gurjari. Srinivas's manodharmam gave a third and more original take on the rAgam, that seemed to blend the folk/foreign origins with the unrelenting classicism of the Tanjore delta. But when it came to Charukesi, he stayed with the established pidis and walked the straight path.

Srinivas's manodharmam excelled in every dimension. His concert execution had the clinical precision of Lalgudi, the multi-octave flourishes not seen since the days of Mali/TNR. Although he uses an electric instrument he produces the gamakam and ornamentation of a grand vainika, using both sliding and the occasional pulling of string.

Rajesh's playing was adequate, although it was very clear that he is not anywhere near his brother in terms of raw talent and accuracy. That said, I prefer the two mandolins at work to having violin accompaniment.

The veteran mridangist Madirimangalam Swaminathan played extremely well, with excellent use of thoppi; one expects no less from a true descendant of the Pazhani school. It was evident that Srinivas has a preference for solid sarvalaghu, non-syncopative accompaniment. And Sri Swaminathan gave him exactly that, even during the tillana (which was a bit weird), but overall his kalapramanam and control over the rhythmic proceedings was excellent. Trichy Murali provided appropriate embellishments and played some very interesting korvais in the tani.

The concert was superb. I am smitten. in love with Srinivas's music all over again, just the same way I did almost three decades ago.

[mohan]

Thanks for the review Ramesh. Good to hear that U Shrinvas is still producing fantastic music!

[rajeshnat]

mahavishnu
Nice and lovely review . I am assuming in toronto the sound amplification was just right. I am not sure if we can characterize that Srinivas has been turned away by Mylapore . My assumption is Srinivas generally plays only for very big sabhas (not the nadopasana, naadainbam , ngs-mini,sastri halll types)and if you look at it most of the big sabhas apart from december they dont hold that many concerts . Also I am assuming his commercial terms are also quite high for many sabhas.
On a side note , I have had occassions to listen to him in a kalyana kutcheri of one of my NA relatives daughter . His play was nice and really as fast as his 1980's , though the amplification of sound was quite high. Good to see your review. He is one musician who has a great loyal fan base of 1980 to 1990's.

[arasi]

Mahavishnu,
Loved the review as much as I would have loved the concert...

You say it more eloquently and eruditely, but you echo my thoughts about Srinivas. As you say, he's not a superstar who fades away at some point of time. The magic he finds in music which he transmits to us is something else.

How well you trace his musical history and pepper it with the pronouncements of the Mylapore mavens!

To me, he's genuine stuff, blessed with the capacity for divine music.
I have been to a few concerts of his in the past fifteen or so seasons, and somehow did not relish the one much when he played with his brother (a good player, I don't deny that). With the violin, I have no problem 'except' when even the best ones sound like they are interfering

Interestingly, just recently, I thought of one of Srinivas's recordings where this happens I was listening to a number of Cleveland concerts in a row. When anusaraNai (sympathetic, supportive?) playing is missing on the part of the violinists, even the best among them can mess it up, I felt!

All the fine tuned singing of the vocalist was obscured by this not so sensitive playing and I started feeling restless, trying hard to concentrate on the vocal performance...

Back to Srinivas, what your grandmother said is not far from the truth.

Though I haven't heard him with Shakthi that many times as you have, I did make it to one!

[arasi]

Were Lakshman and Shantha there?

[rupavathi]

Dr. SR - Varalandu!

[harimau]

Mahavishnu wrote:

10. raghuvamsa sudhA - kathanakuthUkalam - HMB (audience request)

12. kurai onrum illai - rAgamAlika

10. raghuvamsa sudhA - kathanakuthUkalam - Patnam Subramania Iyer

12. kurai onrum illai - rAgamAlika - Rajaji

[harimau]

mahavishnu wrote:

The term "genius" and "prodigy" are often abused in India

Not at all.

The usual term used is 'fraudigy'.

[uday_shankar]

Superb review Ramesh and I share your sentiments about Srinivas and his music.

One little advisory to use language with care, since it only reinforces deeply held misconceptions in the Carnatic world about how instruments work...

Although he uses an electric instrument he produces the gamakam and ornamentation of a grand vainika, using both sliding and the occasional pulling of string.

I think if you changed the word "although" to "because", it would convey the truth better.

The endless sustain (especially while sliding across frets) availed by an electric guitar (or electric "mandolin") is precisely the reason why the slides are possible, even easy I daresay. Pulling too is made easlier, although the construction of the fret board and the typical string tensions preclude a traversal beyond a few semitones.

All of rock guitar and the characteristic plaintive wailing tones are due to this sustain (imagine trying to do that with an acoustic guitar). While David Gilmour of Pink Floyd often uses a Tremolo/Whammy Arm, many others, including Eric Clapton, slide and pull and create effects without the aid of the tremolo bar, a la Srinivas .

Even in an acoustic instrument like vina, chitravina or acoustic guitar, a contact microphone (with or without a guitar amp) greatly improves the perceived sustain in a hall. Hence Vina Balachander pioneered the use of this in Carnatic music concerts, whatever he may have done in private practice. Many of the awesome patterns he wove as he descended after a great pull, say like in the Ahiri kriti, may not have been well perceived by the audience in a concert hall if he didn't have his contact microphone. But all this comes at a price ... loss of the rich original acoustic tones of the instrument. At some point, the contact microphone and/or the guitar amp produces diminishing returns.

[mahavishnu]

Uday, point noted.

[mahavishnu]

Arasi, I did not see Lakshman-ji. But the hall was packed, so I might have missed him.

[Lakshman]

I had a difficult choice to make between Srinivas' concert and Anand Bhate's HM concert. Anand's concert was super. If you had closed your eyes, you would have sworn it was a young Bhimsen Joshi singing.

[Rsachi]

Mahavishnu,
Agree totally that CM and Indian music as such have become much richer with the advent of this one of a kind musician.
Every time I hear him live or on recording, I am amazed how much of great music Shrinivas has internalised and found a way to express through his instrument.
This morning AIR Bangalore broadcast his music perhaps a CD. His Hamsadhwani, Goula and Kiravani were simply mind blowing.
Thanks for bringing all this up. We have posted some fine concerts of his in Parvathi also.
Sachi R

[mahavishnu]

RSachi, thanks for bringing Srinivas' concerts at Parvathi to my attention. That site is such a treasure!

My assumption is Srinivas generally plays only for very big sabhas (not the nadopasana, naadainbam , ngs-mini,sastri halll types)and if you look at it most of the big sabhas apart from december they dont hold that many concerts . Also I am assuming his commercial terms are also quite high for many sabhas.

Rajesh, I think you are right. He is probably priced beyond the range of many smaller organizations today.

Rupavathi: Thanks for that clip. In fact, that is the commercial recording that I was talking about. I'm surprised that they (soundcloud) haven't told the user to take it off.

I had a couple of short demo clips on soundcloud (including the opening line of Sowmya's mOra tOpu for e.g. to illustrate appoggiatura effects) and I received a polite email requesting me to take it down. I was quite impressed with the efficiency of their auto-detection system.

[mohan]

I wonder if Soundcloud got a complaint from someone which triggered them to alert you to take the clip down, or whether it is an auto-detection system?

[mahavishnu]

Mohan: the email said that it was an automated system check. Here is the text of what I got from them. I promptly took it down, since it was only used as an illustrative clip in another thread.

Our automatic content protection system has detected that your sound "Appoggiatura moratopu" may contain the following copyright content: "Mora Topu – Sahana – Misra Chapu" by Sowmya, owned by Swathi Soft Solutions. As a result, its publication on your profile has been blocked.

You can dispute this report, if you believe the copyright content has been mistakenly identified or if you have obtained all the necessary rights, licenses and/or permissions to upload and share this material on SoundCloud.

Please do so by filling out our dispute webform at the following link: https://soundcloud.com/settings/disputes/6770613

If you would like to learn more about copyright, please visit our copyright information page.

Thanks,

The SoundCloud Copyright Team

Interestingly, we discussed how Indian companies were behind on the whole CDDB tagging in this thread. http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 41#p234741

It appears that Swathi soft is much further along than most others! The S.Ramanathan gurjari piece was released by Magnasound, which went bankrupt. Copyrights on individual items went to other companies like Saregama.

[Rsachi]

Know what, my own past experience tells me these music/movie sharing sites use computers with Shazam and CDDB type of software to automatically scan and compare each upload. Their detection is not infallible and one can try and fool them by cropping, resampling and retagging. No intervention from the original copyright owner is warranted.

[vasanthakokilam]

Fantastic review Mahavishnu. Thanks. I also think of him as 'as that little boy'. It will take a little getting used to seeing him now on stage and refresh my image of him. I hope I get a chance.

[cacm]

uday_shankar: Quote from his post

One little advisory to use language with care, since it only reinforces deeply held misconceptions in the Carnatic world about how instruments work...
"Although he uses an electric instrument he produces the gamakam and ornamentation of a grand vainika, using both sliding and the occasional pulling of string."

I think if you changed the word "although" to "because", it would convey the truth better.
The endless sustain (especially while sliding across frets) availed by an electric guitar (or electric "mandolin") is precisely the reason why the slides are possible, even easy I daresay. Pulling too is made easlier, although the construction of the fret board and the typical string tensions preclude a traversal beyond a few semitones.
All of rock guitar and the characteristic plaintive wailing tones are due to this sustain (imagine trying to do that with an acoustic guitar). While David Gilmour of Pink Floyd often uses a Tremolo/Whammy Arm, many others, including Eric Clapton, slide and pull and create effects without the aid of the tremolo bar, a la Srinivas .
Even in an acoustic instrument like vina, chitravina or acoustic guitar, a contact microphone (with or without a guitar amp) greatly improves the perceived sustain in a hall. Hence Vina Balachander pioneered the use of this in Carnatic music concerts, whatever he may have done in private practice. Many of the awesome patterns he wove as he descended after a great pull, say like in the Ahiri kriti, may not have been well perceived by the audience in a concert hall if he didn't have his contact microphone. But all this comes at a price ... loss of the rich original acoustic tones of the instrument. At some point, the contact microphone and/or the guitar amp produces diminishing returns.

I just wish to comment on S.Balachander's use of Contact Mike as I had bought him his first one when I was living in NYC in late 50's. I had discussed the plusses and minusses of the Mikes available at THAT TIME. They were pretty poor but like Uday has pointed out he made the trade-offs FULLY realising the choice he decided to make because of the CORRECT VIEW that the mikes used at that time- I DO NOT SEE TOO MUCH improvement in this area in Chennai Concerts even now- were not up to the mark. He just felt he was adding a new dimension to the sound produced while sacrificing even the sonic depth of the Veena sound. Actually as there are enough experts who are also musicians also I WISH there is a discussion on the SOUND SYSTEMS used in carnatic music concerts in this forum. For starters the mike is the FIRST Transducer in the chain & with the poor Quality encountered in most carnatic music concerts NOTHING can capture the original Sonic Quality produced by a M.S. or M.M.I.- I have been fortunate to listen to them without ANY electronic amplification-.
Actually AMBISONIC MIKES that were specially developed to capture the sound thru' close to electronically 50 mikes simulating the 360 degree sound distribution based on trying to reproduce the GREEK THEATRE SONiCS(CONSIDERED TO BE IDEAL) were ideally suited to our music & THERE ARE A COUPLE OF RECORDINGS OF Srinivas & Ramani are with me. I am still hanging on to my ONKYO Amplifier as it is the only one that can process the AMBISONIC SYSTEM after 40 years! It comes closest to what PMI said- NO Amplification is the BEST SYSTEM to reproduce the original sound!-.....Also the SUBJECT of digital vs analog is a MAJOR subject unto itself. All the Blue tooth schemes etc are improvements compared to the existing terrible systems in carnatic music concerts in reality can be categorised mostly as GIMMICKY.....Now I am ready to receive the brick bats! I hope a technical session by experts can be held during December season in the Academy season where just using gimmicky things like Bose Systems are being used etc do not dominate the discussions on QUALITY of public address systems and their alleged greatness....VKV

[braindrain]

Take Gurjari for example. I hold S Ramanathan's version of varAlandu as the gold standard of this ragam (there is a commercial version with MSG, Karaikudi Mani for those interested). Today, Sowmya and perhaps Unnikrishnan are the only people who sing it,

Recently, Shreekantham Nagendra Shastry, sang this preceded with a 4-5 mins alapana and closed with 4-5 minutes of Kalpana swara.

[pvs]

There is a Madurai Somu LP on SangeethaPriya at http://www.sangeethamshare.org/vijayago ... am_Old__LP.
No alapana or swaram but good like Somu always; oddly, he sings 'sEya' as 'sAya'.
Doubtless, S.Ramanathan held/holds the patent on this kriti.

Gunijanadi (Dikshitar) as rendered by DKJ with swaras gives a different flavour to the ragam. Do the Dikshitar and Tyagarja schools describe it differently or is it my lack of music grammar?

[mahavishnu]

Pvs: Good question. While the scales are the same, a key difference comes from the use of the R1 G3 D1 P prayogam in Dikshitar's version. The jump from G3 to D1 gives it a wake-up feel that is not seen in the Tyagaraja version. This is just my lay opinion after hearing DKJ's version of gunijanadi.

Perhaps Keerthi and/or others can provide a more scholarly take on this.

[pvs]

Thanks, Mahavishnu! This forum is a ready repository of answers.

It's amazing how contemporaries like Dikshitar and Tyagaraja varied in their interpretations of the same scales in many ragas. I wonder if that is based on their manodharma (to be later cemented due to sishyas) or firmly based on grammar of their separate lineages (even considering they unearthed many ragas on their own), or an artifact of time and the oral tradition. Not an easy answer but something that interests me no end!

Back to S.Ramanathan: My aunts learnt from him in Triplicane when he was predominantly a vainika, yet to venture big time into the vocal circuit. I have heard from them that his lessons were fresh in their mind even after four decades! Gurjari, MMG and Khamas were their pick of his numerous favourites.

[mahavishnu]

Essentially, the scale was foreign to the system, but the similarities to MMG must have been extremely apparent to them. It is unlikely that they came across folk music from as far away as Central Asia. The influence of the gujjars on the music of the north is probably more direct. However, it was absorbed into the Todi thaat.

So, in my opinion, it was really their individual interpretations that made all the difference.

I think the version of gunijanadhi that is around is probably very true to the SSP version (since it came from TL Venkatarama Iyer to DKP/DKJ). As to how much changed from Dikshitar's time to SSP (1908) is anyone's guess!

Prof. Ramanathan had the best of the influences of both T (through Patnam-Tiger) and MD (through Ponniah Pillai). However, I have never heard him sing gunijanadhi. I will check with Smt Geetha Bennett and/or Smt Sowmya.

P.S: If you take MMG, the treatment of the metric content (meter) makes a huge difference, for e.g in Bhadrachalam Ramadas' garudagamana rA rA, the middle eastern cadence is manifestly discernible.

[mahavishnu]

I just wish to comment on S.Balachander's use of Contact Mike as I had bought him his first one when I was living in NYC in late 50's. I had discussed the plusses and minusses of the Mikes available at THAT TIME.

VKV sir, You never cease to amaze me with these. I think the music of the 20th century could not have become what it is in the absence of maharasikas (to borrow RSachi's term) like yourself.

[arunk]

The fact that I can discuss David Gilmour and Pink Floyd with him next time tickles me

NO Amplification is the BEST SYSTEM to reproduce the original sound!-

vkv sir but what is original sound? Isnt everything we hear depend on ambient atmosphere? Does PMI's mridangam in a mic-less environment sound the same as in a temple as well as someone's house?

Arun

[rshankar]

vkv sir but what is original sound? Isnt everything we hear depend on ambient atmosphere? Does PMI's mridangam in a mic-less environment sound the same as in a temple as well as someone's house?

This sounds like a very metaphysical question!!

[arunk]

- Ravi yes but it wasnt meant to be. I meant that ambient atmosphere is there between the sound source and the ear, and it is not neutral w.r.t. sound dynamics

Arun

[rshankar]

- Ravi yes but it wasnt meant to be. I meant that ambient atmosphere is there between the sound source and the ear, and it is not neutral w.r.t. sound dynamics

Arun, I was merely being mischevious!!

[arunk]

[cacm]

vkv sir but what is original sound? Isnt everything we hear depend on ambient atmosphere? Does PMI's mridangam in a mic-less environment sound the same as in a temple as well as someone's house?

NOT REALLY. VARIOUS OTHER FACTORS GENERALLY CLASSIFIABLE AS "REVERBERATIONS" WILL MAKE IT SOUND DIFFERENT BUT THAT CANNOT BE HELPED IN REAL TIME LISTENING. BUT THAT SOUND IS THE BEST THAT CAN BE DONE@ & IT IS DEFINITELY SUPERIOR TO A TYPICALLY AMPLIFIED SOUND. The ABILITY of the brain to filter out unwanted sounds generally is credited with being able to BLOCK OUT reverberations in these circumstances. I can personally attest to the fact(as I felt it) that being on stage in the direct proximity of the sounds produced by the greats like MMI, MSS,PMI, PALANI & MALI etc made a HUGE DIFFERENCE & at least took me to a different plane of PERFECTION.
Dear Arun, What I define as the "original sound" is being able to listen DIRECTLY to the music produced by the ARTISTS themselves without any AMBIENT SOUND due to partial reflections from walls etc. Actually it has been experimentally found that the ORIGINAL Greek Open Air Thatres (they still EXIST!) have been CONSIDERED PERFECT by MOST EXPERTS as the PERFECT REPRODUCTION. Almost all the famous music halls like Royal Albert Hall, N.Y.Philharmonic Hall, Carnegie Hall- efforts were made to make it so by various techniques-, Sydney Opera House (where Flute Ramani has played for example) which was specifically DESIGNED for the famous Australian Soprano Dame Sutherland have tried to get closest to the IDEAL GREEK THEATRE by even taking into account the reflections from the seats, audience, and the walls etc. It has been shown that the AMBISONIC Mike system produces the closest to the perfect sound by RIGOUROUS COMPARISONS made by DUETSCHE GRAMAPHONE RECORDINGS of BACH'S CONCERTOS RECORDED in the same church in Germany where the immmortal BACH himself played.
You may recall that Yamaha had an amplifier where you could by turning a knob produce the music as it would be from VARIOUS famous halls of the world.
Unfortunately even in the west VOLUME has WON & all these efforts to reproduce PERFECTION HAVE BEEN DEFEATED!...VKV

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Yes, Srinivas is among the very few who could offer Carnatic music in all its grandeur. His raga delineations are model packages for any music aspirant.

[puru00047]

Has anyone heard Mandolin Srinivas or Prasanna play 'Nayaki'. I am a guitarist and i have tried most of the gamakas. only the nayaki Ga and Ni are beyond me.