Sudha Raghunathan @ Murdock Hall (ASU), Tempe, Arizona (27

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 28 Oct 2006, 13:48

Organized by the Fine Arts Association of Arizona, concert by

Sudha Raghunathan - Vocal
B Ragavendra Rao - Violin
Neyveli Skanda Subramanyam - Mridangam
N Raman - Morsing

Song list:

01 evarI bOdhana (varNam) - AbhOgi - Adi - paTnam subramaNia iyer

02 slOkam (gajAnanam bhUta sEvitam) - hamsadhwani

03 pAhi pAhi bAlagaNapathE - hamsadhwani - rUpakam - mazhavai chidambara bhArathi (swaram at ?)

04 endarO mahAnubhAvulU - srI - tyAgarAjA (started at "antariki vandamu")

05 naTanala bramayaku nA manasA - lalithA - ?? - annamAchAryA (aalaapanai, swaram at "endunu srI venkateswarA")

06 bhAvayAmi raghurAmam - rAgamAlikA - rUpakam - swAthi thirunAL

07 nee irangayenil - aTAnA - Adi - pApanAsam sivan

08 kArthikEya kAngEyA - tODi - Adi - pApanAsam sivan (main peice: long aalaapanai, neraval at "purunagai thamizh ArumugavEl maravum amalar kara kamalA" and swaram at "vEl maravum amalar kara kamalA", tani - mediocre)

09 slOkam (namastEsu mahA mAyE) - subhapanTuvarALi (with mridangam!)

10 aikagavAhini mOhini (bhajan?) - subhapanTuvarALi (?) - ?? - mukoor srInivAsa varadAchAryAr

11 chinnan chiru kiLiyE - rAgamAlikA - ? - subramaNia bhArathi

12 bArO krishnAyyA - rAgamAlikA - Adi - kanakadAsA

13 slOkam (vAdinEn vAdi varundhinEn) - rAgamAlikA

14 kuRai onRum illai - rAgamAlikA - ?? -chakravarthi rAjagOpAlachAri

15 tillAnA (dhIm tadara thAni diranA) - rAgEsrI - ?? - lAlguDi jayarAman (charaNam - "nIvEla nannu gAnu naTana...)

16 mangaLam (pavamAna) - sourAshTram - tyagarAjA

Concert was good. The tODi aalaapanai was excellent for the main piece; and the lalithA alaapanai was also very good. It seemed that there was some sruthi slippages early on. In the slokams (9, 13) and bhajan(?) (10), she seemed to forget the sAhityam and was forced to read from her notes. That did not look or sound good. The tani was ok; during the first couple of avarthanams, there was a noticable gap between the two artistes, as though they were expecting an applause after each bit. But, as it went on, they got better.

The concert started at 7:15pm and ended at 10:45pm. The main piece laster for more than an hour. The main tODi piece was excellently executed. I think I'm too inept for an in depth analysis!! Anyone else at the concert who can go into details?

Cheers
ninja

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 28 Oct 2006, 14:01

Sudha's tODi has generally been very impressive.

You were probably referring to Ayikagha Vahini, an Ashtalakshmi stotram of Mukoor Srinivasa Varadachariar. She usually sings it in Shubhapanthuvarali.

I thought Bharathiyar's piece is usually in Tisra Nadai?

Mazhavai Chidambara Bharathi's piece is in Rupakam.

A...different list.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 28 Oct 2006, 19:46

The tillAnA is in rAgEshrI by Lalgudi Jayaraman.

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 29 Oct 2006, 00:37

In the aikagha vahini stotram, the words "raaga vivardhani" occured a coupleof times. I was not very sure of the raaga, and so assumed it was vivardhani...

She did not seem to sing the bharathiyar piece is tisram..

Cheers
Ninja

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 29 Oct 2006, 10:03

Lakshman, please post lyrics for the hamsadhwani piece - i'm curious to know where she chose to sing swaras at.

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 01 Nov 2006, 01:48

I dont want to sound unduly uncharitable, but this concert was greatly dissapointing ... It seemed like there was something wrong with her voice at times and the frequent sruthi slippages didn't help either. The lalitha alapana was lacklustre and there was no neraval in any piece except the main one. Interestingly enough, there was NO applause at the end of her lalitha alapana. I thought the lalitha was pretty ordinary, but I dont think she deserved to be snubbed like that. Or, maybe, people enjoyed it so much they were in a trance and couldn't clap!! Prathi madhyamam ragas were given a cold shoulder with only a brief mention with subhapantuvarali late in the concert.

>> The main tODi piece was excellently executed. I think I'm too inept for an in depth analysis!! Anyone else at the concert who can go into details?

Yes, I did enjoy the tOdi alapana, but I cant remember a concert in which I didn't like a tOdi alapana! What a fantastic raga! There were flashes of MLV in the alapana, and she did attempt some sort of sruthi bedham on atleast two occasions but didn't go through with it completely. The alapana was quite extensive as you mentioned and probably the highlight of the concert.

Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for a concert, but on the whole I felt the concert could have been much more than it was.

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 01 Nov 2006, 01:56

rasam:

I agree that the concert was a bit soporific, except for the todi. I have not heard lalitha raagam very often, so it was a kind of novelty for me. I did think that the choice of ragas/krithis were not good. There was no flow, so to speak in the concert... I also felt that her freaquent reading from the notes was not a good thing... The accompanyists, especially the morsing were definitely below par..

I agree, tODi is fantastic! I fell in love with the raga especially after listening to that immensely wonderful 1968 MA RTP of SSI... And after that, anything in todi is amrutham..

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 01 Nov 2006, 02:08

pAhi pAhi bAla gaNapatE. rAgA: hamsadhvani. t/Eka or rUpaka tALA.

P: pAhi pAhi bAla gaNapatE bhava suta guNanidhE
A: dEhi mudam shrtajana patE sindhura mukha varada sumatE
C1: bhakta cidambara vinuta bAla nayana phaNI sahita
shuddha hrdaya sujana hita sura jana gaNa pApahata
2: mUSika vAhana catura mOdaka dhara kamala kara
pOSita munijana nikara bhUsura pUjita bhavahara
3: ghaTa muni vandita caraNa kAruNyAmbudhi karaNa
naTana catura nAgAbharaNa ranjita rajanIca kiraNa

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 01 Nov 2006, 06:00

Regarding the morsing, yes, he did seem a little subdued except for the thani, but I haven't heard enough of this instrument to comment. Apparently, it can be pretty dangerous to play it because of the lacerations one can get on the tongue(?), so morsing vidvans usually tend to keep a low profile.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 01 Nov 2006, 09:58

ninja, do you know where the swaras were sung for the hamsadwani piece? (lyrics above - thanks to Lakshman)

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 01 Nov 2006, 10:48

Vocalist, I do not remember precisely, but I think it was the 1st charanam (bhakta cidambara)... Somehow, it did not register, probably because it was the first time I was hearing this composition... rasam, do you remember where the swaram was at?