Bharathi Ramsubban @Ranjani Fine arts on 12.4.2014

[kssr]

Bharathi Ramasubban- Karaikkal Venkatasubramanian- NC Bharadwaj.

A Brilliant Concert.

1. Namo Namo Raghukula Nayaka - Nattai

2. Loka Vana Chatura Paahimaam - Begada + Neraval @ the first charanam?

3. Varali Ragam - Ille Vaikunta with N @ Para vasudevane Ranganayakanendu - Superb mature neraval

4. Reetigowla ragam- Janani ninnuvina - swaram on pallavi line

5. Jambupathe maampahi- Yamankalyani by MD

6. Triloka matha nannu brova- Paras ( I am told!) -fast paced- Syama Shastri-

7. Kambodhi- RTP- Pallavi line- Subha dhayakamboja padam aashraye sivam sankaram sakala-

Very impressive, mature confident presentation. crisp and adequate thanam - very enjoyable swaraprastharam with interesting

eduppu combination.

8. Thani

9. Virutham - ragamalika- Gopalameva...

10. Thiruppugazh? - vandhu vandhu- sindhubhairavi (if I remember well)

11. Mangalam.

When you attend the concert of a young artist whom you have never heard before, the expectation is not high. But like getting a

feast with vada, payasam, when you have gone for just a pair of idlis, it is so much more enjoyable.

Bharathi is one more star from the stable of the illustrious guru Sri.P.S.Narayanaswami. What magic wand he has in producing such

vidwans and vidushis, I really wonder.

Points I noted:
1. Bharathi's strong point is her confident swaraprastharam. She is making good use of it.
2. Her voice is very good. Reminds you of MS's early recordings like Meera - like a bit of an unpolished diamond - but nonetheless an invaluable diamond.
3. With the voice as above, and a concert starting with a typical MS number- namo namo raghukula nayaka( nothing to do with the current election namo!!), I was a bit apprehensive that she may attempt to be one more MS mimics. But that definitely was not the case. There was definitely no Kurai onrum illai !!!
4. Neravals and swarams for an intermediate charanam can be sung either during the first flow of the song and the song's latter half
can be completed after N and S or alternatively, the song can be completed and the artist can come back to the charanam chosen,
and sing N and S. Bharathi chooses the former format. One can think that it may be done in the latter way, as the conclusion of
swaram should be the climax of the song and it will sag if further charanams, especially the muthirai is sung after completing the
swarams. Just an observation.
5. Violinist, it was announced was Sri. TNK's student. Instead of the guru's leisurely handling with adequate pauses for the effect to
sink in, Venkatasubramaniam is in real hurry with no gaps in the beginning or middle of his thanis. A bit harsh bowing too, but that
could be due to the high srithi of the vocalist.
6. Bharadwaj was quite good and I am sure he will further polish his talent in the years to come, having got the master Sri.UKS
himself as his guru.

Overall an excellent performance and without doubt Bharathi has a great musical future. I wish her all the best and thank her, her
team and Ranjani fine arts for giving such a nice concert.

[rshankar]

Nice review..I agree with the observation on her voice. I think it is in line with what many others have observed as well.
I personally like the idea of the nereval and svarams at the first go (to me it is the SSI/MSS paddhati), because when it's done at the end, it looks more like 'oops, I forgot something, let me go back and take care of it'; at times it makes no lyrical sense at all - and to their eternal credit, neither Sri SSI nor Smt. MSS ever let the the rest of the kRti sag, even after elaborate nerevals and/or svarams.
Shouldn't #1 either be lOkAvana catura, or lOka avana catura?
And 'no kuRai onrum illai' - makes it sound like there was some kuRai indeed...

[rajeshnat]

Tx for the review kssr
A begada-varali -reetigowlai(janani ninnuvina)-and then a kambOdhi rtp has a very intrinsic carnatic heavy ragas and also a long krithi of jambupathE is nice. Kudos to Bharathi ramasubban.

[musiclistener1221]

Is there a webcast of this concert on shaale.com as was done the last time?

[HarishankarK]

Honestly hope there is a webcast. This is a very solid classical list presented here.

Triloka Matha in raga paraju is better when sung in fast pace.

[Rsachi]

Kssr,
Thanks for your review!

'lOkAvanacatura' is one word - straight forward. It means one who is adept at protecting and taking care of the world=God.

[umajk1972]

Nice review by kssr. I agree, it was a brilliant concert by Bharathi Ramasubban. Although I am a regular follower of the posts in rasikas.org, I've never posted in this forum previously. I brought my 79 year old father to this concert and he was in a state of euphoria after the concert. I'm creating a login for myself and basically writing on his behalf.

This was our first visit to RFA and the sabha (clubhouse hall) provides a nice ambience for both the artiste and audience. Being Ramanavami season in Bangalore, there were likely at least half a dozen concerts happening all over Bangalore at the same time. Despite this (and the rains!), Bharathi's concert was well attended. The hall was almost full with audience sitting right through the end of the mangalam.

About the concert itself: Bharathi has an outstanding voice, which along with her originality, confidence and intent to perform with traditional rigour provided the rasikas a wholesome concert experience. As kssr mentions, her voice with her refreshing, open-throated style singing is highly reminiscent of MSS.

For us, the highlights of the concert were: Beginning the concert with a slokam in Nattai before Namo Namo - this set the stage for an excellent concert to follow; An excellent Varali ragam that was a treat to listen to (my father said that it reminded him of SSI's style of singing varali alapana)...an outstanding neraval followed as well; A very good & creative Reetigowlai ragam (Janani ninnu vina); Soulful presentation of Jambupathe that was filled with emotion - my father was literally out of his chair in appreciation of this; Kambodhi RTP presented with gusto - kssr's review of this sums it up perfectly; Ragamalika viruttam followed by Gopalameva in Dwijavanthi rendered with poise.

Overall the list was well balanced and brilliantly executed. The verve in her fast and moderately paced numbers was equally matched by her poise in jambupathe and gopalameva. It would have been nice to have listened to one more tukkuda, though.

Venkatasubramaniam on the violin was good in brief flashes but sounded choppy otherwise. Bharadwaj played the mridangam quite well all through. There is room for improvement in Bharadwaj's playing style for the slower kritis.

In summary, an excellent concert by Bharathi Ramasubban & team and an evening well-spent :ymapplause: . The almost 2-hr 45 min duration of the concert passed by so quickly. Thanks to the RFA team for organizing a fine concert.

[kssr]

One important thing that all of us missed to mention was what came at the end of the concert. A nice kadalai paruppu sundal prasadam Keep it up RFA

[umajk1972]

Yes, the prasadams that the little girls sweetly served to the rasikas after the concert was indeed a nice touch. Another thing tht I missed mentioning, I thought it was nice that the RFA team made their announcements before and after the concert rather than after the Thani avarthanam. This way the continuity of the concert is not interrupted.

[ranjanifinearts]

Dear rasikas,
Thank you all for your kind words and generous praise. Unfortunately, we did not webcast this brilliant concert.
As we mentioned at the end of the concert, so many things have to fall right in place to give us such a memorable evening. The two most important among these, which we certainly had during the concert on Saturday:
1. A team of excellent artistes
2. A wonderful, supportive audience.

We look forward to welcoming you again at our next monthly concert on May 10th, featuring Vid. Bharat Sundar and team. We will post an announcement prior to the event.

[kssr]

[sweetsong]

A nice Triloka Mata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sihdy0EgHGc

[arasi]

Sweetsong,
That was so good! Thanks. Wonder who the violinist was. We do see US playing the mrudangam.

[mahavishnu]

Arasi: the violinist was TNK.
The rest of that concert (at least most of it) is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dFX6phCzsE