Abhishek Raghuram for IFAS, 21/12/2013

[sankark]

Vittal Ramamoorthy violon
R Sankaranarayanan mridangam

calanEla nAttajurinji
srI pArthasarathi suddha dhanyAsi
Ananda batana prakAsam kEdAram
ninnuvinA marigaladA rItigowlai now nereval for rItigowlai, nA madhilO - dragging IMO

[sankark]

Crisp swarams though
manaviyala with express swarams
now a grand thOdi AlApanai followed by kArthikEya gAngEya, swarams and tani
brhadIsvarO (gana sama Varali), sIta kalyAna vaibOhame and then thillAnA (niri niri gama gari sa)

[sankark]

Some other thread mentioned R Sankaranarayanan in the loud/beater camp. This concert didn't give that impression - it was strong on laya I think but not harsh on ones ears.

[Rsachi]

I have heard R Sankaranarayanan a few times and found him uniformly good, with good anticipation, tuneful laya embellishment and sensitivity.

[CommonMan]

Wanted to attend this concert, but physical constraints....

I have heard R Sankaranarayanan a few times and found him uniformly good, with good anticipation, tuneful laya embellishment and sensitivity.

I have heard him twice. anticipation - perhaps, yes. laya embellishment prettty normal....concert sensitiveness is pretty low - I remember him play for Palghat Ramprasad last season (forgot the place), where he used up 25 minutes of a 2 hr concert for tani + few minites after he finished the pallavi.... the other time I think I heard him play for AR, where he was okay - but loud and goes on and on..aesthetics lacks as like many of the current mridangists.....

[isaipriyan]

Sorry Commonman, You are in fixed mind set it seems. are you want to justify what Palghar ramprasad did that day? and that concert you have mentioned, i have attended fully to listen Palghat Ramprasad, that day the concert duration was 2.30 hours sankarnarayanan and kanjira guruprasana played for 17 mins thani avartanam in misra chapu. the talaam was vilambam both of them played variety of korvais in such slow to fast patterns. i have the recording of this beautiful concert where aftere thani Ramaprasad rendered fast ragam thanam after thani . just tell me one thing presenting RTP in 15-20mins is not satisfied to many since time remaining is short, one should plan accordingly. it happens on stage artiste, they may have planned earler to sing RTP but the vocalists should present if time permits , After RTP he renderred a kriti too i remember. SO WHY HURRY???? why are you focussing just Sankarnarayan's Thani ???

[isaipriyan]

the place is at RK swami Hall,the sivaswamy school auditorium and it was organised by Parthyasarathy with Carnatica. Regarding aesthetics he is ofcourse good than many other, he has the sound control and clarity in his playing. i have listened to him several times in various venues and i beleive he is one among best in left hand mridangam players, ofcourse he may be loud at times but that was rare but no one can deny that he is one among best artiste and well in demand beacause of good his playing. as a rasika we can enjoy and analyse the music they give, BUT DONT COME TO A JUDGEMENT and FIXED STATEMENT, it is true that tastes differs, if you dont like his play well just leave it, dont keep on shocase that This artiste is okay, this artiste is not good!!!

Since all of us here are sharing our thoughts as rasika and not a mere critic, even criticism should do justice not to marr any artiste's name/fame/feeling!!! this is my humble request to you as a rasika!!!!!

[isaipriyan]

the place is at RK swami Hall,the sivaswamy school auditorium and it was organised by Parthyasarathy with Carnatica. Regarding aesthetics he is ofcourse good than many other, he has the sound control and clarity in his playing. i have listened to him several times in various venues and i beleive he is one among best in left hand mridangam players, ofcourse he may be loud at times but that was rare but no one can deny that he is one among best artiste and well in demand beacause of good his playing. as a rasika we can enjoy and analyse the music they give, BUT DONT COME TO A JUDGEMENT and FIXED STATEMENT, it is true that tastes differs, if you dont like his play well just leave it, dont keep on shocase that This artiste is okay, this artiste is not good!!!

Since all of us here are sharing our thoughts as rasika and not a mere critic, even criticism should do justice not to marr any artiste's name/fame/feeling!!! this is my humble request to you as a rasika!!!!!

[CommonMan]

That I like Palghat Ramprasad's music is no secret in this forum (as much as I also like "erstwhile" TMK or AR or Sanjay)....The reason I talked about the poor sense of proportion of Sankarnarayanan was mainly because the thani the other day was definitely over 20-25 minutes, and it stood so much out (not in a great way) and that is why I still remember.
FYI I am big fan of mridangam - be it sollu's or korvai or the mere meetu chaapu - so I have nothing against mridangists per se. Neither am I obligated to justify why PRP sang an RTP for 25 mts: if at all anyone has the incentive to do it - it has to be him, if he is reading these posts. After all this is a forum where we talk about how we liked or disliked a performance - there ends the deal. I brought in Sankarnarayanan's playing into fore because that was the topic of discussion in the previous thread. I guess I am free to express my opinion on an artists performance - sir! And I am not such a scholar or an influential guy to mar any artists name or fame merely because I write on how I felt about the artists' performance.

[thathwamasi]

Dear Isaipriyan

There are a few things I disagree with. First of all, I reviewed that Ramprasad concert in question. Please find the review here.

http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=20589

Firstly, the concert was certainly 2 hours. (7 to 9).
Secondly, the thani was not in Misra Chapu. It was in Adi thalam (paramathmudu). And the thani lasted for atleast 20 minutes, hence the observation in my review. I don't think commonman is trying to justify Ramaprasad. And there is no need for justification. The pallavi sung by Ramaprasad that day was in Kanda Nadai. I am sure the Mridangist himself would have preferred to play a thani in regular adi thalam rather than kanda nadai. And Ramaprasad, did a great job that day to abridge the RTP and present it with in short time.

Bottom line is, I don't think any of us here are trying to criticise an artist and hurt is name/fame/feelings. People merely present what they observe, and if some disagree with it, they can present their opinion as well. But facts must not be distorted.

On a seperate note, how did you manage to get the recording of the concert? Because I am pretty sure the concert wasn't recorded by Ramaprasad. And are you sure it is the recording of the same concert as you have observed that the thani was in Misra Chapu. So it could be a different concert?

Regards
T

[Vyuptakesha]

Less of a review of the concert here unfortunately