Gurucharan for Kartik Fine Arts -9/12/13

[grsastrigal]

Sikkil Gurucharan
H.N.Bhaskar-violin
Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam-Mridhangam
Vaikom Gopalakrishnan-Ghatam

Venue- Narada Gana sabha
Event- kartik Fine Arts
Date- 9th Dec 2013

SarasUda Ninne- savEri- varNam- KV Iyer
He took a sudden neraval in saranam “dAnipai nenaruna ye vEla”. Finished in two minutes. Unusual but good.

BhuvanEshwariya- Mohana kalyAni- HMB- “long time unheard” kriti and beautiful swaram followed. (Remembered Maharajapuram santham who mesmerized this raga and kriti through one of his audio cassettes)

Kannada Gowla- sub-main followed by sogasujUda dharama- T- Swaram. Gurucharan somehow likes this rAga and kriti. His aplomb rendition of this kriti and neat swara pattern. “paisA vasool”

Nee vAdanE gAna-sAranga-T

varAli-RTP- vA vA kandA vA vA palzhani malai uRaiyum murugA- pallavi ragamalika- nalinakAnti, dEsh, Malaya mArutham,
sivaranjani, Br.Saranga.

Tani

Muruganin maRu peyar azhagu- behAg-Guru surajAnanda

Tillana-Desh-Mysore wodeyar.

Precision, perfection- he is always 9 out of 10. Though, there are no big rAgAs, which is a let down, and also no neravals in any of the kritis, his RTP in varAli fulfilled all my expectations.

Bhaskar’s violin was wonderful. I would say, he played better than Gurucharan’s rendering for varAli return. Especially his tAnam IInd stage -return showed his masterly class which reciprocated in the ovation he got from rasikas.

Iam not Bhaktavatchalam’s great fan. I feel he kills the mridangam ‘sunAdham”. He never “vAsichufies the mridangam”. He hits the mridangam very hard as I was hit by my teacher in school days The mridangam drum and my ear drum both tore yesterday. I heard there was a traffic jam outside NGS because of this noise. Vaikom tried to do the same. Poor guy, his ghatam could not produce that much sound…..

I think this is the problem with those, who play "ensemble" like Karaikkudi Mani, this person and even Karthick. They think every concert is "ensemble" and play as they like. 20 minutes tani was too much, if the instrument is blasted.

People clapped thanking them for stopping the blast (!!!)

Unfortunately, his shisya delhi sairam also does the same.

Wondering what Trichy Shankaran would be thinking sitting behind the screen, waiting for this next concert with Unnikrishnan.

[pattamaa]

What was the duration of this concert

I am not sure playing for ensemble and banging the instrument has any relation...it is just their way, like some vidwan singing too loud even with mike

[arasi]

Pattamma,
When he plays for TNK, his ability to play is highlighted. Is it because there is no noise issue there? I have heard him play for Surya, and I don't think he has been that noisy. There are a few other mrudangam vidvAns who fall prey to this hankering for 'something' which to the audience ears is sheer noise. Surely, it's not the sound system which is always the culprit!

Mahavishnu,
You are the one who can perhaps explain this phenomenon. Let's say the sound system is fine. Yet, why the bombardment? And that too, why from some fine players? In their noiseless playing, they appeal to me no end:) Otherwise, they make me reach for the ear plugs

[alpajnani]

Pattamma,
When he plays for TNK, his ability to play is highlighted. Is it because there is no noise issue there? I have heard him play for Surya, and I don't think he has been that noisy. There are a few other mrudangam vidvAns who fall prey to this hankering for 'something' which to the audience ears is sheer noise. Surely, it's not the sound system which is always the culprit!

Mahavishnu,
You are the one who can perhaps explain this phenomenon. Let's say the sound system is fine. Yet, why the bombardment? And that too, why from some fine players? In their noiseless playing, they appeal to me no end:) Otherwise, they make me reach for the ear plugs

Very interesting observation. Now that you put it the way you put it, I am reminded of similar instances. I have heard a whole series of concerts by the Mysore brothers accompanied by Bhaktavatsalam where mridangam accompaniment was exemplary. A few years later he accompanied some vocalists (Hyd. Brothers?) and it was very "noisy". I figure this is a function of how "energetic" / "challenging" a concert is (say a Abhishek or Mysore Brothers vs. someone more mellow)?

Mahavishnu - thoughts?

[mahavishnu]

In my opinion, some of Sri Bhaktavatsalam's best work was when he accompanied MLV in the late 70s/early 80s. The tanis with Harishankar from that era are legendary. He also played some amazing concerts for TVS and Mandolin Srinivas in the 80s. His accompaniment for U Srinivas in the album (Rama-Srirama) produced by Peter Gabriel, is probably some of the best mridangam work I have heard (https://realworldrecords.com/release/73/rama-sreerama/). Superbly mixed as well.

Somehow he got into this loudness thing when he plays with male vocalists. He does tend to get carried away sometimes and it is a combination of a number of factors that contribute to loudness. Although there is clearly an intrinsic desire for loudness in his playing, a lot of it can also be attributed to poor mixing and monitor levels. When he plays with better sound levels in concerts in N. America/Europe, the loudness factor is not as pronounced. But of course, his playing can still be rapaciously aggressive (independent of volume).

Over the last several years, I find that Bhaktavatsalam is at his best when accompanying instrumentalists, esp violin duets/trios. His playing for TNK, Lalgudi, VVS and even the Mysore brothers (as alpajnani mentioned) are filled with thoppi sowkyam and very clever mathematical vyavaharam without being instrusive on the flow of the melody.

On the positive side, his instruments are always tuned perfectly and his sense of sruti alignment is one of the best in the industry. He has a strong kuchi ring that few mridangists have, save UKS and TS. I have even heard UKS praise his sense of tuning.

I have not heard him with Abhishek; he is scheduled to play with him at the academy. Fingers crossed for that concert It could really go either way :-w . That said, it is one of the concerts this season that I am most looking forward to!

[sureshvv]

The huge audience applause at the end of a noisy thani ending in a ear-splitting thunderous crescendo does not help.

[pattamaa]

that shows tremendous knowledge rasikas have

[appu]

Mahavishnu, Arasi and others,

I want to quote a sentence by the late Shri Vellore Ramabhadran. He told me in one of our informal conversations that playing Sarva laghu with multiple patterns was very difficult for many of the younger musicians, as they felt that something was missing terribly if they did not do peratals or vyavaharams.

Another thing to note is artists like TNK and the late Lagudi would not stand for the mridangam to be used as a DRUM. They would definitely put the pakkavadyam artist in place almost instantaneously. With that being said when the mridangist has seniority he definitely rules the stage.

An unfortunate tragedy to the music produced.

[ajsriram]

I think this is the problem with those, who play "ensemble" like Karaikkudi Mani .......... think every concert is "ensemble" and play as they like. 20 minutes tani was too much, if the instrument is blasted.

I do not understand what you try to infer with the words "play as they like" .. Have you listened to any of the concert played by Sri Mani sir before?

Do you think that Mridangam and other percussion instruments are there to maintain the groove during the concert ? If so i think you have completely misunderstood the role of percussion in the concert.

A Nam, Dhin, Tha alone will not make concert. If someone is playing JUST nam, dhin, tha thinking that they embellish the concert its shows their inability or if someone is forced to play nam dhin tha alone by the artists who sitting in the middle it shows they are not skilled enough to manage a good percussionists.

Forcing to play just nam dhin tha is the trend that is currently happening and it did not happen in the past decades. The skilled vocalists and the instrumentalist wanted the percussion artists to play freely and it did play a major part in bringing the CONCERT to limelight.

இந்தகாலத்துல வாஸிச்சா பிடிக்கலை...

shows tremendous knowledge rasikas have

Yes, RASIKAS have tremendous knowledge when it comes to Layam & its intricacies.

-
Carnatic Music Turns Me On

[harimau]

Forcing to play just nam dhin tha is the trend that is currently happening and it did not happen in the past decades. The skilled vocalists and the instrumentalist wanted the percussion artists to play freely and it did play a major part in bringing the CONCERT to limelight.

இந்தகாலத்துல வாஸிச்சா பிடிக்கலை...

Yes, RASIKAS have tremendous knowledge when it comes to Layam & its intricacies.

Nobody denies the mridangist his right to display his artistry.

The question is if that artistry must be demonstrated at high decibel levels that sometimes even drowns out the vocalist.

People are there to listen to main artist, be it vocal, veena, violin, dilrubha, nagaswaram, mandolin, saxophone, keyboard, flute or the didgeridoo.

The sound of the percussion must be a notch below that of the main artist if it is to embellish the music.

That, plus not interfering with the main artist's manodharmam by not playing intricate vyavaharams is what earned Sri Vellore Ramabhadran the accolade "Nadabhadran".

One can always highlight percussion by giving that the main role and let them play a 3-hour tani avarthanam.

The general public wouldn't show up in droves.

[rajeshnat]

On the positive side, his instruments are always tuned perfectly and his sense of sruti alignment is one of the best in the industry. He has a strong kuchi ring that few mridangists have, save UKS and TS. I have even heard UKS praise his sense of tuning.

I have not heard him with Abhishek; he is scheduled to play with him at the academy. Fingers crossed for that concert It could really go either way :-w . That said, it is one of the concerts this season that I am most looking forward to!

Mahavishnu
He was a stock mrudangam artist for maharajapuram santhanam. How can one forget that and if we benchmark that sunaadam to this day it is entirely different experience? Yesterday i went to attend abhishek concert at cca where bhaktavatsalam played . I have gone late for few concerts at CCA where I am listening only to second half , not much to write . I went to get a taste of their combo.

[mahavishnu]

Yes. Rajesh. My oversight. In fact Nagai and Bhaktavatsalam got a major career boost from accompanying Santhanam.

[ajsriram]

WARNING : Long post.

The question is if that artistry must be demonstrated at high decibel levels that sometimes even drowns out the vocalist.
The sound of the percussion must be a notch below that of the main artist if it is to embellish the music.

Agreed..

People are there to listen to main artist, be it vocal, veena, violin, dilrubha, nagaswaram, mandolin, saxophone, keyboard, flute or the didgeridoo.

Main Artist? What do you mean ? Artists share the stage to perform in front of crowd. People will listen to the music and no one is main and sub-ordinate on stage. When you say people are there to listen to main artist, there are many people come to listen to Mridangam or violin or Thani avarthanam or Thavil or only for Thani. You must attend the nagaswaram concerts atleast once to understand the crowd.

That, plus not interfering with the main artist's manodharmam by not playing intricate vyavaharams is what earned Sri Vellore Ramabhadran the accolade "Nadabhadran".

I am not interested and bothered to talk about this point.

One can always highlight percussion by giving that the main role and let them play a 3-hour tani avarthanam.
The general public wouldn't show up in droves.

I strongly disagree with you, let me give you some facts and numbers on the crowd that came for the thaniavarthanam in the last 20 Years.

• 1983/84 – Sruthi Laya ThanaiAvarthanam – Rani Seethai Hall
• 1988 – Sruthi Laya Thani Avarthanam - Air Manglore – Thani Avarthanam
• 1990/91– Sri Mani sir & HArishankar – Sasthri Hall
• 1992/93/94 – Palghat Sri Raghu, Dandamudi Sri Rammohan Rao & T.A.S Mani -
• 1993 / 94 – Moorthy Sir (Double Mridangam)
• 1994 / 95 / 96 – Sri Mani sir & HArishankar – Krishna Gana Sabha , Mangalore , Bangalore
• 1996 / 2009/10 – Sri T.V. Gopalakrishnan
• 1995 / 1999 / 2008 – Trichy Sri Sankarn
• 1996 – 2008 – Thani Avarthanam with Thavil, Chendai, Tabla, Ghatam
• 2010/2011/2012/2013 – Thani avarthanam by Palghat Sri Rajamani, Sri Kamalakar Rao, Sri D.A Srinivas
(Sabhas : MFAC, Anantha padmanabha swami temple, NGS, KGS)
• Sri GuruVayoor Durai Gave 2 SPL Thani Avarthanam program during the December seasons.
• Apart from this, Umayalpuram Sri Sivaraman has given more than 10 Thani avarthanams in the above said period.
• Sri Mani sir has given 21 Thani avarthanams with in INDIA in the last 2.5 years.
• A festival being conducted by Nerkunam Sankar in the memory of Late Harishankar and many young musicians are giving thani avarthanam programs.
• Young musician Anand (Grand son of Palghat Sri Raghu) With Amrit gave a scintillating Misrachapu Tani two years back.
• When Sruthi Laya started, Mani Sir Gave 27 Continuous ThaniAvarthanam concerts each for one Nakshatram.
• Pondicherry AIR created a concept of 72 Melakartha Thani avarthanam in which sri mani Sir and Sri Raghu sir played for complex talams, yet playing patterns for the specific talams (Not manipulating aadi Tala korvai to this talam) which is still ringing in the years of people who listened to it.
• There were initiative from younger generation mridangists by conduction drum festival in Chennai and the response was not like you described in your post.
• Thani avarthanam concerts - Concept More than two schools participating have been conducted more than 4 times in chennai and Class crowd did loved it.

Apart from this, the Top vidwans have given Spl. Thani avarthanam concerts in various sabhas during december season and it reflected a House Full scenario and nothing else.

There is always a difference between MASS crowd and CLASS Crowd when it comes to Thani Avarthanam and the current generation "RASIKAS" have tremendous knowledge when it comes to Layam & its intricacies . Infact "RASIKAS" can teach the percussionist on how to play and how now to play... huh!

I have give only few concert list which came to my mind and there are many more thani avarthanam concert held which was greeted well by the crowd and not as you said.

Few comments on Stage by Vocal Artists on mridangam accompaniment:
Bombay Chembur Fine Arts 1983 - DKJ - LGJ - KRM - Harishankar (Thani in Misra chapu) - நீங்கள்ளாம் குடுத்துவெச்சுருக்கேள் ... பாதி பேருக்கு குடுத்துவெக்கல

Mayavaram & Anandathandavapuram - 1980/81 - SSI - TNK - KRM - நீ வாசிக்கரத தான் கேக்க வந்துருக்கா ... விஸ்தாரமா வாஸிப்பா
(Reason being, many of the Real RASIKAS asked SSI for long thani avarthanam to be played on that day's concert), We from 18 Gramam still cherish the
SSI - Mani sir, SSI - Sri Raghu Sir , SSI - Sri Sivaraman concerts. A sudden rush occupying the concert pandhal during thaniavarthanam can never be forgotten by the RASIKAS and the vidwans.

Venus Colony 1979/80 - SSI - VVS - KRM - VN - while playing மேல்காலம் for the song ... அப்டியே வாசிடா ரெண்டு ஆவர்த்தனம் .... ஸொகமா இருக்கு

I am just quoting three instances... and there are many many instances of vocalists and violinists encouraging many percussion VIDWANS on stage. This generosity is completely lacking with the current generation artists, who wish to showcase themselves as the "so called" main performer. If and only if the artist who occupy the centre stage "change" their attitude then there will be real challenge in the concert otherwise there will always be "Namitha [Nam Dhin Tha]" group who will live and lead their life as a Groove players in the concert.

-
Carnatic Music Turns Me On

[CommonMan]

Am sure we all are discussing very important points...but can someone fill in on how the concert was? Thread after thread I am trying to gather info on this - but unsuccessful.....it would immensely help if we can stick to reviewing the concert.

[sureshvv]

Concert was great. I mentioned it on a different thread :-/

[arasi]

Apologies, Common man, because I'm responding to ajsriram's post here

Sriram,
Are we discussing a pATTu kachEri or a tALa vAdya kachEri here?
Generous it is of vocalists and of 'main artist'-instrumentalists to praise the accompanying artistes. Yet, the vidvAn/vidUshi who occupies center stage is the main performer as I see it and I'm not alone in this!

We have plenty of examples of the Nandi of mrudangam, PMI in all his humility (not getting carried away with all the adoration of rasikAs) expressing that he is an accompanist, and no more. He also played in proportion, not indulging in his own greatness. He did not ever play on, however brilliant his playing, robbing the main artiste of his time.

I can understand laya buffs wanting to laud the merits of percussionists, but a vocal concert is just that. A vocalist does not tailor his/her singing to suit the accompanists! It's great if he does show appreciation for what they do, but the fact is, the concert is centered around him/her.
And, if his his accompanists 'help', a good concert gets better. There is no doubt about it.

I for one would certainly feel cheated if I go to a vocal concert which turns into an instrumental main course!

I still can remember the disappointment I felt when a respected vocalist ended up with very little time to sing because the percussionist was honored that day, and after all the delay of speeches, took a big chunk of time to play the tani! Gracious as the vocalist is known to be, he didn't utter a word! I did feel piqued, because I sat through endless speeches patiently,waiting to hear the vocalist, and he barely got a chance to sing. The tani was so long too! Wondered why the organizers just did not think of giving the award and then ask the honoree to play with other percussionists, his occupying center stage

[rapper]

This concert can be viewed for a few days at www.cmana.org for people who want to catch the action and can be accessed for a fee

[harimau]

ajsriram,

I suggest you readhttp://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=22531