Sikkil Gurucharan in BARC - Mumbai 25/1/2014

[priyashekar]

Sikkil Gurucharan - vocal
Mysore Srikanth - violin
Tiruvarur Bhaktha vatsalam – Mridhangam
Anirudh Atreya - Khanjira

Nerannam - Kanada - Short Alapana
Kalyana rama – Hamsanadam - A
Srikamalambikam – Sahana - A ,S
Isayin ellaiyai yaar kandaaar – Subha panthuvarali – Dandapani desikar A S
Makelara – Ravichandrika
Saras mrudhu – Gowri manohari - Swatitirunaal ,A,N at mara janaka,S
Kanakasabayil - kapi
RTP – Saveri – Muruga kumara umayaal mainda saravanabhava vadivazhaga – T,S in Shanmughapriya,shankarabharanam , kosalam
Kandanin azhagil bhakthar mayakkam - ? – Tuned by Thanjavur kalyanaraman in Sindubhairavi with gruhabedam in telang and behag
Bhavayami Gopalabalam
Jathi & Thillana - Purvi - ??
Pavamaana.

Gurucharan produced a concert to remember today.Briliantly rendered the concert lasted close to 3 hours 40 mins.

From the word go he was in form as he unleashed one after another kritis.Highlight was the alapana for almost all song .The sahana and Shuba pantuvarali were rendered soulfully.
Gowrimanohari was soaked in bhavam.In fact it was the highlight of the concert.
Full of Bhavam and sowkhyam no needless fireworks it was a brilliant concert.

He was ably supported by Mysore srrikanth whose bowing was pleasing to ears returns perfect.

Now Tiruvarur B(h)ANGtha vatsalam banged the mridhangam like there was no tomorrow .From the word go he banged it.The audience complained his mrudhangam was too loud and reduced his mike after second kriti .But he continued banging.There was no vatsalyam towards his mridhangam or low playing just sheer bangthavatsalam!

Anirudh was reduced to swiping his khanjira most of the time due to this ,except in thani he showed his mettle.
Another irritating habit of bangthavatsalam was tuning his mridhangam when srikant was playing beautifully.In all he irritated the audience.Wonder why a senior did that.

On the whole an excellent beautiful concert purely magical one from Gurucharan ,Srikanth and Anirudh.

[semmu86]

Now Tiruvarur B(h)ANGtha vatsalam banged the mridhangam like there was no tomorrow .From the word go he banged it.The audience complained his mrudhangam was too loud and reduced his mike after second kriti .But he continued banging.There was no vatsalyam towards his mridhangam or low playing just sheer bangthavatsalam!

How unfortunate!!

Another irritating habit of bangthavatsalam was tuning his mridhangam when srikant was playing beautifully.In all he irritated the audience.Wonder why a senior did that.

The answer lies in your statement ) He did that because he was senior to the artists on stage. Had he dared to do something like that when playing for someone like T.N.Krishnan, he would have been put in place. However, this practice of tuning the Mrudangam when violin is playing can be observed in the old recordings too, featuring past maestros, especially if the violin accompaniment is Junior to them. Really sad.

The problem has just got to do with the mentality of the majority of the senior Mrudangam artists, who tend to think over a period of time that the vocalists & the violinists are the ones accompanying them and not the other way around.

[mahavishnu]

Very nicely said, Semmu.

However, this practice of tuning the Mrudangam when violin is playing can be observed in the old recordings too, featuring past maestros, especially if the violin accompaniment is Junior to them.

One of the most commonly heard examples of this is in the recordings of Ariyakkudi with TNK and PMI (and they must have given a zillion concerts together as one of the popular concert teams in CM history).

Some of this could be attributed to the fact that ARI would start the next kriti with literally zero second gap, before even checking to make sure the all the artistes on stage were ok with their instruments. So, if the mridangist was not ready, they would be left behind the Ariyakkudi express. So, in all these recordings you can see how the last 1-2 minutes of TNK's alapanais are invariably drowned out.

But in today's age, there is no excuse at all.

[priyashekar]

I forgot to add he sang a jathi/thillana in Purvi which I added now.Whose composition is this? Can anyone guide me please.

[Lakshman]

It might be the tillAnA ni ri ni ri ga ma ga ri sA, in pUrvi, by T.Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar.

[grsastrigal]

PS: Thanks for the review:

Sikkil has improved a lot and come a long way to become a "clean" musician. He follows some basics, if you observe. He always starts with Varnam and ends in Tillana. His RTP has murugan as pallavi. He has an inherent smile in his face to appreciate the accompaniments. He likes UKS and TB very much and saw many concerts with them.

Listen to TSK singing that "kandanil azhagil".. You will know what a classic artist TSK and the rAgas woven around this kriti and then you will feel sad him for not being recognised properly in the music fraternity and also by the Govt. When I saw Padma awards recently, I first remembered TSK only.

Kanaka sabaiy- Papanasam Sivan. Very good kApi, a real filtered mAtungA "Concerns" coffee. I hope it is still there.

My nostalgic moments in BARC, where I attended many concerts, there is a school near the big ground. Stayed in my "chitti" house and worked in private Companies at Nariman point. TN Seshagopalan, Bombay sisters and OST etc all fed me with their excellant music. TVS gave many memorable concerts.

Bhaktavatsalam.. Oh No...

[priyashekar]

I only know of mysore concerns which sells coffee powder in matunga where is the other concerns?
Barc concerts are held in school still.

[pbk]

My mother (was long time resident of Matunga and now ex-disciple of Smt. Alamelu Mani) says The other "Concerns" was in between Bhajana Samaj, Matunga (Address: 400, Telang Road, Matunga, Mumbai - 400019) and Siva Temple on Telang Road with the "Concerns" provision store on the ground floor (currently occupied by Nalli Cloth Store) and the "Concerns" mess on the first floor.

[cacm]

The FAMOUS "CONCERNS" that I know of is the one which fed ALMOST ALL THE FAMOUS SCIENTISTS from the start of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research & BARC which is the Concerns MESS which fed them & made them produce WORLD CLASS PHYSICS RESEARCH PAPERS. Can some one clarify which of the CONCERNS IT IS? I THINK ITS THE ONE IN MATUNGA...It used to be called POOSHANIKKAI, PARANGIKAI MESS in those days! But to a country boy from Tambaram it was very IMPRESSIVE! VKV

[srikanthj]

VKV - The famous "Concerns" mess is the 'South Indian Concerns' mess. As PBK says, it is located right next to Bhajana Samaja, opposite the Shankara MaTham. It has it's heydays (hey-decades?) in the 50s - 80s. It was the favorite haunt of all south indian bachelors in that period - including, as VKV says, all the SI scientists in TIFR & BARC. Despite being on the wane in the late 80s, it still managed to take me to TIFR though it could not get me to produce any research paper. Now the Concerns mess is open only for its lodgers, and is but a shadow of its old self. In fact, the entire demographic, character and landmarks of the old 'Mylapore of Mumbai' is changing rapidly: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-m ... ur-1933629

[arasi]

Thanks for the social history of Matunga along with the review of an enjoyable (except for the noise) concert.

And some folks complain that our reviews do not stay with the music but stray. They have the newspaper reviews to stick to, then.

RasikAs don't hear live music in a vacuum. They take in the ambiance and the impressions it offers.

Semmu and Mahavishnu,
Can't agree with you more. Fine players turning into noise-mongers is a sad fact with some mrudangists today

[cacm]

Srikanthj, THANKS VERY MUCH! MEMORIES OF THE BOMBAY CONCERTS R STILL FRESH IN MY MEMORY! VKV

[arasi]

VKV,
How we seniors relish the past even more! Today's youngsters can take their early twenty first century experiences into their mature years as memories as precious as ours

[grsastrigal]

It is only Mysore Concern. It was selling coffee powder. As per PS statement, it is still .. happy. Lot of concerns about this concern... Thanks.

My point is, the Carnatic Music concerts could not go beyond BARC, say Vashi and other parts of New Mumbai. Ghatkopar, Matunga, chembur, BARC those were (are, may be) the hubs for CMs. The artists, come here, invariably, give concerts in all these places. It was a delight for me to attend these places, en route, to my residence.

Coming back to New Mumabi, there was a big auditorium in front of the new mumbai terminus. After I moved to Navi mumbai, I did attend couple of concerts. But, somehow, there were no sabhas to arrange concerts.. I don't know the staus now.

[grsastrigal]

Priya sekhar- I also heard Nithyashree, the previous day and TVS on the next day gave another brilliant performance.

Especially, TVS rendered that concert from 7PM to 11.15 PM on 26th Jan, finishing with Shanti nilava vEndum (in his "typical" Tilang) . Is it true ? Must have been really awesome one... Any comments.

[priyashekar]

I heard the Concerns in Matunga has closed and Mysore concerns is selling great Coffee powder.
Grsastrigal sir I did attend Dr Nithyashri's concert and will post song list separately since I lost the list and trying recall. A bit busy with my career and my baby girl!