Suryaprakash@NGS(Mini) on Dec 22nd,2013

[rajeshnat]

Suryaprakash@NGS(Mini) on Dec 22nd,2013
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Vocal : R Suryaprakash
Violin : M R Gopinath
Mrudangam : Mannargudi Easwaran
Kanjira : S Venkataramanan

Concert Type : Morning - 10:15 to 12:20 noon/ Nirvana concert (another concert to follow)
Day/Duration : Sunday / 2 hrs and 5 mins
Crowd : Non Ticketed concert - about 80 to 100 (capacity is 120)

1. brOva bA rAmA (RS, S) - bahudAri -T
6 mins swaras
2. gAnA amutha pAnam(RS) - jyothiswaroopini - KI

3. enta ninnE (R N S) - mukhAri - T
7 mins alapana and 4 mins violin return
5 mins neraval in "kanulAra sEvinchi"
swaras for mins
4. paramapurusha (S) - vasanthA - ST
5 mins swaras

5. AbhayAmbA (R S T) - kalyANi - MD
11 mins alapana and 5 mins violin return
12 mins swaras
5B. tani for 5 mins

6. AbHOGI RTP
10 mins alapana in two rounds with an intermediate 4 mins violin return
taanam for 5 mins

pallavi in two nadais composed by mannargudi shri easwaran
poorvangam in chatushram and utttarangam in tisra nadai
Pallavi line was sabhApathikku veru deivam samAnamAgumA thillai

swara ragamaliga in Abhogi + behag + sindhubhairavi
18 mins pallavi with swararagamaliga

[rajeshnat]

While musicians have to demonstrate music - like a cricketer who has to bat,bowl and field , we rasikas have to pay attention to the cricket ground and time. The grounds of carnatic music are sabhas and the time is in general the era that each of us are living atleast i call it 2008 to 2017 era. There are sabhas like music academy where every musician gets exactly 2 hours and 30 minutes irrespective of relative callibre in morning and in two evening slots . They are the finest facilitators without an iota of partiality in giving extra time .Hats off to them on that.Certain sabhas which i love more are Brahma gana sabha where they start sharply at 6 pm and those musicians who sing there are indeed lucky as chennai sabhas have a fire accident panic at exactly 9pm as no one sits.Where is the fire engine that i have no clue about ?

Certain sabhas like Bharat kalachar keep it 2 and half for most artists, but for certain artist they start at 06:00 pm to give more extra time . Last year i went to NGS main hall for a 7 pm thinking abhishek will sing 2 and half to 3 hours but he winded up exactly at 2 hours . Prime slots are best for musicians (prime i meant only in time duration and not just the evening or morning). I prefer musicians singing at skgs-mini or bvb-mini for 3 hours versus singing for 2 hours in NGS/CCA, though other distractions like canteen, commute,car parking and sound setup indeed have a say on why I attend.

I used to see kalarasana having one 4 hour concerts but after they moved from rani seethai hall to chetpat , they also have taken out those 4 hour concert- rani seetha hall has become RIP.While one can guess how each of the sabhas work with their preferences of their artists, it is evident as a rasika we are living in a reality of time constrained concert where musicians have to work in giving extra punch . The luxury of a semmangudi mama blowing his nose harder than TNK bows and UKS taps in the first half during the 1st hour during dinamani vamsa and then around 2 hour plus taking a bhairavi rtp where his taanam speaks of his extraordinary musical spark is gone and buried .

So Botttom line the challenge is slowly for musicians to get into a 2 hour reality but try to give atleast 2 and 1/2 hour concert . Suryaprakash has mastered this reality , his start was in bahudari with a rolling swaras in brova bA rAMA where the school of shri madurai mani was always showcased and from then on the mmi just came only in very few areas. The Koteeshwara iyer krithi was well sung with a feeling in rare jyothiswaroopini - he gave lot of azhuttam in every sangathi, azhuttam as in sangathi weight.

Mukhari raga is not taken that much by their prominent school. TVS and suryaprakash sings sharanam ayyappa and one more krithi that I forgot now . MMI is known to have sung mukhari but I am pretty sure the recording is not found and gone down with titanic. The mukhari alapana of suryaprakash had a nice dash of contemplative rasa and there was a surprise when he sang the krithi enta ninnE with neraval and swaras. The neraval with few jiva pidis just anchoring in kanulara was aesthetic , the swaras just tapered with just 3 or 4 rounds for just 2 minutes- but it had to be that way as the concert was just 2 hours.


Suryaprakash sings fast fillers exceptionally well , i could not spot that level of usual excellence , i think his voice had a little bit of athattal during the first half during krithi and the mrudangam was not rolling that fast . IN second half from the point of swaras the team completely gelled with easwaran getting into top gear. At times shorter concerts also delights me especially when kalyani ragam is taken. There were no sleeping notes at all in kalyani .It was a flurry of brighas in alapana for 11 mins the content was so dense . Out of all krithis in kalyani , the kalyani krithi of abhayambA by muthuswamy dikshitar is very very special . Muthuswami dikshitar has taught ragas and with so much of orientation of sangathis covering lot of gamut of kalyani swaroopam it was really top notch . He came on his own in swaras where i could spot an intense originality in kalyani swaras , quite a few longer jaarus where he was conscious of aligning in shruthi with nishadam pidis were exceptionally creative .

The pallavi was dwinadai in AbhOgi . I remember there was a review of this pallavi in our forum where he sang it in cleveland , if I am right Toronto gowrishankar played for him(I have not heard him play directly but he was there in the crowd) Then easwaran sir was in the hall at cleveland .Yesterday it was easwaran sir playing for pallavi with Toronto Gowrishankar seated as a rasika. I have no idea of how the pallavi went in cleveland . The rtp was about 30 to 35 mins and he sang with a same level of intensity as a typical antha kalathu pallavi , alapana in two phases where the second phase moving smoothly to taanam(taanam was sung by vocalist and a minimal touch by violinist). The pallavi in two nadais was lovely with a real nice anticipation with a high quality mrudangist really anchoring exceptionally well . The swara ragamaliga in behag and sindhu bhairavi were expanded mmi sarvalaghu it contrasted well with the pallavi which is more heavy on layam.


Few words about MR Gopinath and Mannargudi Easwaran:
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Proportion proportion proportion was MR Gopinath. Also during play there was no intrusion and in general high shruthi suddham .For kalyani too he gave a contrast to what Suryaprakash sang . WHen mrudangist reach a fairly senior artist status many times in their assertion to show the seniority that too in a tier 1 sabha like NGS,the kutcheri in total goes for a toss. Easwaran sir played beautifully without an iota of bang , his tani was just not nam dhim ta 5 mins and it indeed had its share of rhythymmic excellance . ALso when the pallavi ended he took a minute or two to play few teermAnams to really show his callibre without merely being submissive to the vocalist for the pallavi excellence . Easwaran Sir is just a gem of a mrudangam artist. S venkataramanan in kanjira was given enough oppurtunity from even the first number- his tani part was understandably very short.

In essence quite a demonstration of how to intensely pack a 2 and 1/2 hour content in a 2 hr concert. This is a template with a "heavy pragmatic dose" of this era's reality which is year on year going to get more and more widespread. The slight athattal (excess assertion) for few sangathis during vasanta krithi was not good and certainly not aesthetic .

Overall an excellent to outstanding concert for 2 hours and 5 mins.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
How did I miss you?

Not feeling well the past few days but was glad that I could make it to this concert.
A thoroughly enjoyable concert it was--and yes, that mukhAri and the kruti came as a very pleasant surprise.

There were two forumites on stage, both making us proud....

[rshankar]

Rajesh, the first song should be a question - brOva bhAramA..? (is it burden [bhAramA] for you to protect [brOva] me?), and not a call out to rAmA (come [bA] to protect [brOva] me, Oh rAmA).

[vasanthakokilam]

Ravi, your post makes me think that a sahitya line like "brOva bhAramA brOva bA rAmA" makes sense and can be chiseled to fit into same desAdi thala

I rarely send out chits to musicians but I recall two times when I did that, both when the artists asked for our preferences. One of them was Suryaprakash and my choice was Mukhari. He sang an excellent Mukhari.

[rajeshnat]

wrong thread moving to ma thread

[Nick H]

Rajesh,
How did I miss you?

Arasi, how have I missed you? Everywhere! Not one sighting since the meet

[arasi]

Rajesh,
I lingered on for ten minutes after the concert, wondering if I could meet you and a few others. No luck. Was happy to greet MAE though.

While many (younger rasikas too) have succumbed to the effects of the Chennai season healthwise, we are no exceptions

How many concerts have I missed! The gods have been unkind to me in letting someone cast an evil eye upon poor me (and I used to think I did not believe in such things!).

Well, a lesson unto me, reminding me that I should not forget the gift of music I've enjoyed all these seasons--something many global rasikAs haven't been able to experience...