V Shankaranarayanan: Toronto July 1, 2013

[mahavishnu]

Sri V Shankaranarayanan - vocal
Sri Vittal Ramamurthy - violin
Sri Gowrishankar - mridangam
Sri Karthik Venkataraman - khanjira

1. innum en manam - cArukesi varNam - LGJ
2. tatvam ariya taramA - reethigowla - PS (S @ madisekaran maganE)
3. sri RAmam - nArAyanagowla - MD
4. enna gAnu rAmabhajana - BhadrAchalam RAmdAs - kAmavardhini (RNS; N @ prEmamIra bhadrAdi dAmuDaina)
5. tillai stalam eNRu - sAma - GKB
6. pAlaya sadA - nalinakAnti - ST
7. gAna malinchi - kalyANavasantham - BMK
8. cakkani rAja margamu - kharaharapriyA RNST
9. dvirAga RTP - mOhanam/ranjani (un darisanam kiDaikkumO mana mOhana, kapAli) khanda triputa khanda nadai
ragamAlika swarams in behAg/BahudAri/KApi/rEvati
10. rAmakrishna gOvinda - Bhadrachalam Ramdas - brindAvani
11. Tillana - misrasivaranjani - LGJ
12. Eru mayil - Tiruppugazh (Bagesri, Nagaswaravali, atana, surutti)
13. mangalam - Sowrashtram


I was very pleased to see V Shankaranarayanan open with the Charukesi varnam, although he had sung it in a concert just the other day. I really love this varnam and I was actually hoping he might sing this. Shankar's voice settled down very well by the kalyanavasantham piece and he was able to explore the higher octaves with much ease. In fact, his reach in that range is shockingly good. Reminded me of a '70s TNS, with his forays into the upper dhaivatam and then at a few points he hit the upper shadjam. He sang sustained passages in this range, which were both technically and aesthically pleasing.

His handling of brighas were reminiscent of TRS, although one could see other inspirations in his music as well. His kharaharapriya was particularly nice, with grahabedams to tOdi and senjurutti. I was hoping Vittal's returns would have these features as well (like Lalgudi would have done), but he chose to stay low-key for most of the concert, although his violin support was rock solid. I especially enjoyed the neraval @ kaNtiki sundarataramaku rUpamE, even though this has been done so many times before, Shankar's version had a unique nascent flavour to it.

The pallavi was certainly interesting, both in terms of the way the ragams were explored and also as a rhythmic exercise, although it felt a bit pedantic in parts.

The other thing I liked about V Shankar's music is the use of "poruttham" and symmetry in his kalpanaswara singing. He has a fluent and almost poetic way of structuring the swarams in a delicate arrangement with the landing swaram perfectly placed to take advantage of the sahityam's swarasthana location. I imagine this is also a technique that he has picked up from TRS. Lalgudi and of course, GNB before him almost perfected the art of doing this, and it is good to see this feature of V Shankar's music.

V Shankar is a well on his way to becoming an excellent musician. I think he would do even better if he took a few more risks. He has an amazing vocal range and a voice that seems to obey his every whim. So, if he avoided the occasional hesitation, he will be truly remarkable. As I mentioned earlier, Vittal played an excellent supportive role. The percussionists added their bit to enhance the concert. Gowrishankar's tani was competent and crisp.

Overall, my impressions of V Shankar are indeed very positive. Look forward to hearing more from him through the years. I wish him the very best!

P.S: On a personal note, this will be my last review from Toronto. As some of you already know, I am moving to the west coast later this week to take up a new faculty position at the University of California and will be living in the SF bay area. I will certainly miss Toronto, Prof. and Mrs. Sankaran, the Bharathi kala manram and the intellectually inclined music community here. I am sure we will continue to get updates from Lakshman-ji, Prof. Pasupathy, Abhishek Iyer and others! :-ss

[Pasupathy]

Will surely miss your learned and insightful comments, MV! Wish you the best ! Keep in touch!

[arasi]

Mahavishnu,
What Toronto is losing, California is gaining.

As for Rasikas.org, we are going to be better off too, because you will be listening to more concerts in CA and will be writing about them! Bilahari relocated to the East for his rigorous studies and the San Diego concerts go unreported now. The Bay area concerts aren't written about as much, though they have more concerts than most places in the US.

It's hard to leave friends behind, but at your age, what could be better than to travel (even move) and widen your horizons!

The best to you and to your family. May the new work place and surroundings be pleasant and fulfilling to you...

Glad to hear that Sankar gave yet another very pleasing performance. Yes, tamizh varNams have their own charm...

[cmlover]

Ramesh
A beautiful and insightful review!
VS is yet another star in the CM firmament. Your observations are on the dot.
What Ottawa lost Toronto gained. Now what Toronto loses SF is gaining. But we at the Forum always gain!
I wish you good luck with your career as a promising young scientist.
CM and Science mix very well. My blessings!

[bilahari]

The Bay Area is rich with music and your musical cravings will not go unfulfilled, Mahavishnu! Also, please do consider taking at least one road trip down to San Diego to catch a concert there - you will not be disappointed. Chitravina Ravikiran will be playing in San Diego in the fall with Trichy Sankaran, and if that's not bait enough, I don't know what is.

Best wishes to you and your family for the move, and here's to a great future for you at U.C. Merced!

On the subject of VS's music, he has worked incredibly hard on his voice culture over the years, and his range is now truly impressive. He also has great modulation of tone, and does indeed draw plenty of inspiration from TNS. I am surprised you found his music short on risk, since I have never found it wanting in manOdharma!

The cArukEsi varNam is one of the first I learnt, and certainly a favourite. The swara patterns especially in the uttarangam are both challenging and interesting, as is always the case with LGJ's varnams.

[mahavishnu]

Thanks CML, Arasi, Pasupathy and Bilahari for your kind words and wishes.

I am really looking forward to CM in the bay area.
Bilahari, yes. I can't wait for the Ravikiran concert with TS! They are performing in SF also in early November.

[rajeshnat]

mahavishnu
V Shankar has cerainly imbibed a lot of TNS in a manaseeka fashion . Nice review. Toronto reviews from you were all lovely , I guess in general I seee the concerts of Toronto are 3 to 4 hours . California in the last few years are having quite a few combo concerts, hope they revert to one big concert for 3 to 4 hours then having combo concerts.Nevertheless you will have more concerts to attend at CA.

Good luck in your career , For sure your family and you will certainly have a better weather to start with.Best wishes on your Toronto Chill to Bayarea sun transition. That reminds that toronto abhishek iyer has to write more about toronto concerts , hope he was there for this concert.

[CRama]

Ramesh, That was a review of high standard as I can always expect from you. (Your review of Mandolin wizard tops). In VS music, I had also noticed influence of TNS and TRS. It should be appreciated that he is balancing his career and music very efficiently.
Wish you all the best in your new assignment.

[mahavishnu]

Thank you Rajesh and CRama.
I appreciate your kind words.

[Lakshman]

mahavishnu: Just got back from holidays. We will miss your super reviews and I will particularly miss meeting you at the concerts. As others have said we will now have an opportunity to enjoy your reviews from the west coast. I wish you the very best at SF. Hope you keep in touch with us.

[mahavishnu]

Lakshman-ji. Missed seeing you at the concert! The loss was entirely mine.
Thanks for your warm message. I will certainly stay in touch. Hope to see you in Cleveland or during the music season in the near future!

[PUNARVASU]

Mahavishnu, hope to see you on my next visit to the Bay area. Of course , I am not sure when it will be. Best wishes on your new job.

[mahavishnu]

Thank you, Punarvasu. Look forward to meeting you in CA.

[rshankar]

Ramesh - best wishes for the move, and welcome back to the USofA!! Once you are settled in, I can share my sister-in-law's contact information - she is very active in the temple activities (including the CM scene) there (and she's another KV-IITM alim to boot!)...And I look forward to meeting you in person when I do make it there (I owe them a visit)..

[mahavishnu]

Thanks Ravi. Look forward to it!

Back to the topic of the thread...
I hope we hear from V Shankaranarayanan also. It would be illuminating to get his thoughts on what he had planned and how it went from his perspective. He has always been quite open to constructive interaction on this forum.

[cmlover]

I hope so too!