Dr. TVG - San Jose - 11 May 14 (Mridangam Arangetram)

[tanapp]

Dear Rasikas,

Dr. TV Gopalakrishnan will be giving a vocal concert tomorrow in San Jose for the Mridangam Arangetram of Srivatsan Tennathur - a student of Shri Ramesh Srinivasan - Founder & Director of Sarvalaghu Percussion Arts Center (San Jose, CA). Srivatsan is also a vocal music disciple of Dr. TVG.

This is also a cordial invitation to all the rasikas to attend the arangetram concert. The concert is open and free and all are welcome.

Here is a Google site that has the invitation and more information: https://sites.google.com/site/vatsanara ... invitation

Concert details are as follows:

Padmabhushan Awardee Dr. T.V. Gopalakrishnan--Vocal
Sri. S. Varadarajan--Violin
Sri. Tripunithura N. Radhakrishnan--Ghatam
Srivatsan Tennathur -- Mridangam (Disciple of Shri Ramesh Srinivasan, Founder - Sarvalaghu Percussion Arts Center, San Jose, CA)

Sun, May 11, 2014 at 03:00 PM

WHERE:
CET Soto Theatre
701 Vine St
San Jose CA 95110

[rajeshnat]

Best wishes to second generation disciple of nadabadran . Let sarvalaghu sparkle with Srivatsan Tennathur arangetram.

[arasi]

All good wishes to Srivatsan!

Not only does his guru sing for him, he also brings along the best of his disciples to perform on the arangETRam stage --Varadu and Radhakrishnan! I'm assuming the latter also learned from TVG, though his own family is musical--a generational thing. His son also sings, and is a percussionist too, perhaps!

[Nick H]

A night for mridangam arangetrams!

Rohit Ashok, grandson and student of Sri K S Kalidas has his tomorrow, at Ragasudha Hall, with Smt Sumithra Vasudev singing. This one I will be able to attend.

Best wishes to the youngsters!

[thanjavooran]

Good wishes to Srivatsan and his Guru Shri TVG. Any review on the concert? I take this opportunity to wish Shri TVG to get SK this year.
Thanjavooran
12 05 2014

[hatakambari]

Congrats to Shri. Srivatsan and his family for a successful mridangam arangEtram. He is blessed to have performed under the guidance of Guruji Shri. T.V. Gopalakrishnan and many leading artists. Being also a vocal and veena student, he has a bright future.

1. varNam - shankarAbharaNam - aTa - SwAti TiruNAL
2. gajavadana mAm pAhi - hamsadhwani - rUpakam - MDR (R, S @pallavi)
3. ninnu jUchi dhanyuDai - sourAshTra - Adi - Patnam Subramanya Iyer (R, S @pallavi)
4. mari vEre gati evvarammA - Anandabhairavi - mishrachApu - ShyAma ShAstri (R, S @ pallavi)
5. paridAnamichchithE - bilahari - khandachApu - Patnam Subramanya Iyer (R, S @pallavi)
6. nagumOmu - AbhEri - Adi (2-kalai) - ThyAgarAja (R, NS @ jagamEle paramAtma, thani)
7. rAmachandram bhAvayAmi - vasanthA - Adi - Dikshitar
8. RTP - kalyAni - khanda triputa
"shrI ramApriyam shrInivAsam bhajEham; shrIvatsa nAmadhEyam"
9. valapu tAla vashamA - aTANA - chApu - SwAti TiruNAL
10. suTTum vizhi chudartAn - ? - khandachApu - SubramaNya BhArati
11. pAyOji maine - ? - mIra bhajan
12. piLLangoviya cheluva krishnana - mOhanam - Purandara dAsa
13. thillAna - behAg - Adi
14. viruttaM - sindubhairavi
karuNai deivamE karpagamE - sindubhairavi - Adi - Madurai ShrInivAsan
15. indina vAre shubha vArE

Guru Shri. TVG gave an entertaining, educational and enriching concert on Sunday in CET hall, San Jose. What stands out the most is his passion, his love of singing and his energetic emotional stage persona. The doyen of Carnatic music is a consummate performer, with a clear love of his art. He has a strong supple voice, spanning three full octaves, which would be impressive at any age. He was supported on vocals by Kumari Devi Neithiyar.

He fittingly began the proceedings with sahanAnavathu . He took care to precede every song with a short introduction about the song, its composer etc. The Anandabhairavi rAga was lilting and swinging, leaving one wanting more. For the swarams and kuraippu in bilahari, all artists took turns. There was a hilarious moment when one artist missed the turn, leading TVG to prompt the person.

The AbhEri raga was also playful and showcased the full vocal range of the master. At one point, the Guru was moved to tears, touched by the prowess of his disciple Varadarajan on the violin. When Shrivatsan played the thani, he recited the konnakol and played alongside -- nice touch.

The RTP pallavi was apparently composed by Shri. TVG for the occasion, weaving Shrivatsan's 'upanayanam' name shrInivAsan as well. The kalyani felt restrained after the exuberance of Abheri and the liveliness of Vasantha.

The 10th and 11th pieces were rendered by Devi. The thukkadas were enjoyable. Varadarajan was quite capable on the violin. Radhakrishnan on the ghatam sometimes stole the moment. Devi has a high-pitched voice, suitable for the light pieces. She sings one octave above Shri. TVG who himself is at 1-kattai, and has a good vocal range herself.

The chief guest Shri V. V. Sundaram gave an engaging talk. All in all, it was a satisfying evening, with a maestro of 75 years stage experience leading a student on his first major stage appearance.

[tanapp]

Nice one hatakambari. Although I wish it could have focused a bit more on Master Srivatsan's performance also - since it was his mridangam arangetram. Nonetheless, a very factual review.

Here is a video link that is available for one of the kritis - Paridaana - Bilahari.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4fJej5wac0

[arasi]

Hatakambari,
Thank you for the review.

tanaap,
Thanks. Yes, now we see the young man performing (he is very good) and hear the master singing with abandon, inspiring Varadarajan, Radhakrihnan and Srivatsan, encouraging them to do their part. TVG's fervor envelops his students, the senior ones and the youngest alike. He is an ideal example of how a guru should be. Giving, appreciating and not making himself the center of focus.

His concert at Cleveland was a remarkable one...

[tanapp]

arasi mam,

I fully endorse what you say.

And for me to say that I adore Chi. Srivatsan's playing would be an understatement and a biased one at that, since I have come to know him personally in the past few months - during which time he has given accompaniment to some of my vocal concerts as well. Whether it's a Tiruppugazh set to Sankeerna Chapu or a Khanda Chaapu Thillana with complicated kaarvais, it's a breeze for him to play.

I wish I could write a more detailed review but I am unable to put my thoughts down objectively. Although I did attend the concert, I was focused on playing the tambura and was soaking in the Music subjectively on the stage, that now I am drawing a blank to review objectively. However this much I can say - it did not seem to matter that he was playing for an icon like Shri TVG. It did not seem to matter whether it was some tricky korvai or pattern that Shri TVG was weaving. Srivatsan's mannerism and his presence and focus on stage on his arangetram was much the same as when he'd played for me or another artist. He held his ground firmly and delivered every stroke 100%.

Srivatsan's Musicality has tremendous potential to grow as TVG rightly pointed out after the concert - as a young Maestro in the making. While Sri VV Sundaram called Sri Varadarajan as a smiling assassin, he gave the title silent usurper to Chi. Srivatsan. It is quite an apt title as off stage too, Srivatsan speaks little but does much more. I wish him all the best in his Musical endeavors.

I must take this opportunity to also congratulate his Guru Shri Ramesh Srinivasan (Founder Sarvalaghu Percussion Arts Center, San Jose CA), for grooming Srivatsan and so many other students of Mridangam. Congratulations to all the students of Sarvalaghu school and their parents for supporting in every way they can to make this arangetram happen. And of course, to Srivatsan's parents (and relatives) for doing their best for Srivatsan to be the best in whatever he undertakes.

I would like to share some more videos as they become available.

[maheshram]

I was fortunate to attend the mrindangam arangetram concert and wanted to add a few thoughts, although I will quickly mention that I am no reviewer and unqualified to comment on the laya complexities at all! I also had to leave after the Atana composition, so this is by necessity a truncated commentary.

From the start, it was obvious that young Srivatsan belonged on the stage with the great vidwans beside him. His posture was pinpoint and straight, his attention completely on the stage with no distracted glances at the audience, and his face calm and ready for the challenge ahead. This was wonderful to see.

From the varnam onward, the concert flowed so wonderfully and Srivatsan played with wonderful confidence and aplomb. In the MDR kirtana in Hamsadhwani, Sri TKG cast interesting patterns within rupakam, with very few karvais to give Srivatsan even a chance to take a breath. Yet, Srivatsan did not flinch and uplifted the song despite the innately challenging MDR style kalapramanam. Then to the Sowrashtram where the entire stage seemed to come alive to the PSI kirtana - I especially LOVED the last avarthanam response by Srivatsan after S. Varadarajan's last violin reply to the swarams - he was given an opportunity and jumped in exuberantly, earning a surprised, admiring glance from Sri TVG! It really signaled that he was not bowed in the least by the presence of a living legend in Sri TVG, not to mention probably the finest accompanying violinist of today. This was borne out even further in the next two pieces traversing m. chapu and k. chapu with Marivere and Paridanamicchite. In the Ananda Bhairavi, it was OBVIOUS that Srivatsan was familiar with the composition as any good mridangist must be and was able to anticipate the swarajathis beautifully just as Sri TKG was singing them. He even elicited more than one 'sabhash' from Sri TVG during the piece in obvious delight, which must surely be a highlight the young man will remember for the rest of his life. The bilahari was to me one of the very best items in the program, the brisk khanda chapu meter really allowed Srivatsan to demonstrate the beauty of the sarvalaghu style, embellishing the song while never overwhelming it. I was actually hoping the song would go on longer as it was flowing so well with the mridangam and ghatam anchoring the song. It reminded me a little bit of the classic Madurai Mani + Ramabhadran Mama combos when they were engaged at faster pace. The Abheri was next and of course Sri TVG"s take on it was somewhat different than the usual, embellished by the absolutely brilliant bowing of Sri Varadarajan, much to the emotional satisfaction of the guru himself! During Naghumomu, Srivatsan's playing could not help but remind me of Ramabhadran Mama again, the 'mellinam' strokes supporting the vocalist which is so important for this piece.

That set the launch point for the lovely tani avarthanam where Srivatsan displayed both the 'firm' and 'soft' aspects of the instrument to perfection, carving up the time passages with lovely patterns, and then following up with confident konnakol passages - I am reminded of Ramabhadran Mama visiting us at our house many years ago and reciting stories of his father, Sri Gopalachari reciting konnakol for Chembai's concerts - imagine the synchronicity of time - now one of his sishya parampara is having an arangetram reciting konnakol for Chembai's own disciple, and that too in San Jose, California not in Kerala!! ( I imagine Chembai would have been more tickled than anyone!). The avarthanam was very enjoyable and the rapport with Sri Radhakrishnan on the ghatam also added to the atmosphere. Sri TVG greatly and loudly appreciated Srivatsan's playing at the end of the tani, but Srivatsan was still calm and collected, and did not seem 'relieved' at finishing it as some young people might. He seemed like a veteran performer who had done this many times before! Then (after the Vasantha piece), the RTP was in store - and again, Srivatsan was up to the challenge, that too to a pallavi stanzas chosen beautifully by Sri TVG with his name in mind! During the pallavi, Sri TKG was more than willing to throw difficult challenges at the young mrindangist (some of which I could not properly follow!), but I could see clearly that Srivatsan took a moment to truly understand the pallavi before playing (wise beyond his years) and then plunged in confidently. Again, Sri TVG was very appreciative. Unfortunately I had to depart after the Atana as we had a Mother's Day function to attend, so I missed his playing for the thukkadas, thillana, etc. But I am very happy that I was able to attend and hear all the main pieces and see this enormously talented young man make his debut in such a grand fashion.

Srivatsan's parents must of course get tremendous credit - for supporting and nurturing the boy's talents, for organizing the event in such a dignified and classy manner, and for making hte audience feel most welcome. He is blessed to have them encouraging him. They must be very proud parents tonight.

Sri TVG is a multi-faceted giant, of course, but his demeanour and encouragement on stage betrayed no false ego. The moment when he appreciated a beautiful alapana response (the bilahari I think?) from Sri Varadarajan was poignant and heartfelt. And I believe Sri Radhakrishnan is not only a student of Sri TVG but a relation, so it was really a guru/sishya day all around.

But the biggest credit of all goes to Srivatsan's mridangam guru Sri Ramesh Srinivasan. Ramesh has dedicated his life to propagating the art in the Bay Area and ensuring that his great guru's legacy is not only preserved, but enhanced and spread more widely. This, despite having a young family and a successful full time career to boot. Yet, Srivatsan and other boys come out as poised young men, respectful, quiet, no boisterous attitude, but completely prepared and ready for business. I am glad that Ramabhadran Mama was able to attend some of Ramesh's students arangetrams before he passed away - I know he would have been very happy to see this one as well had he been alive. Today was a brilliant demonstration of how a truly dedicated teacher, passionate about the art and about passing it on to students, can combine with a dedicated student to deliver a debut to be remembered. Here's to hearing Srivatsan many more times in the future!

[arasi]

Maheshram,
Thank you for your review which made us feel as if we were there!
'sarva laghu'vAi SonnIrE? (you said it ever so easily, casually!) that you did not know the intricacies of layA

Another Srivatsan in the bay area. Another dedicated vidvAn to be, it seems. Kudos to his parents Hats off to his guru.

tanaap,
Thanks for the video clip, we can see you too!

Gosh! My twelve thousandth post! I've been here too long #:-s

[rajeshnat]

Maheshram
Keep it up with your lovely post . WHile you are from the rasika sishya parampara of MKR , the words just come as perfect as your guru. :-*
One thing that I liked is there was a really toiling main krithi like nagumomu in abheri and an rtp for an arangetram . I have always had a firm mind that there are better concerts in US than india (time aspect alone ) and it looks even in arangetrams the order of US giving more time than a typical indian concert is indeed there . Kudos to chembai disciples helping directly with MKR disciple writing , this is indeed a great start for young srivatsan from the sarvalaghu ramabadran - ramesh lineage.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
Until you said it, I didn't realize that it was MKR's son! I should have remembered. We had those lovely pictures with his posts about the fiftieth wedding anniversary of his parents

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Arasi: Noted all your/Rajesh comments about mahesh's post--I must confess his narrative style is more like his Mom's(Oh if I could only coax her to write!!!)..

Arasi regarding your lament about 12000 posts, if you stop posting I would be forced to degenerate into the Old Lakshmikanthan's style of Yellow Journalism(nee Indunesan--you may recall from your growing years). he always used to finish with the tailpiece after scandalizing an artist mostly filmy types-- "neengal thirundavidil pena munaiyil thodaruvom"(If you do not reform we will harass you with our Pen).
Setting aside my poor analogy, what I want to say is that If you stop posting we will harass you with your e-mail id till you relent!!

Seriously though after reading your Cleveland chronicles I am simply dumbfounded how you could write so well when you had not attended it whereas I did and I still cannot come up with a coherent account of the proceedings despite spending a week there except to add to what you have covered--a statistical tidbit--over 650 students from all over North America participated in the Competitions/Group--they all performed wonderfully thanks to the untiring efforts of Ravi Kiran,Shashikiran,Santhanagopalan, Ashok Ramani,the Lalgudi siblings(who had put together a medley of vocal/violin).

My late father always used to admonish me when I used to lament about "alleged" fall in the interest/standards in Carnatic Music--he used to reel off a string of facts--more male singers and female singers than at anytime, a much wider repertoire of songs and composers,more institutions, more knowledgeable rasikas(this from a 90 year-old person unlike his peers who used to claim that music died after 1920--even before the SSI/GNB/MMI wave!!). The Cleveland experiment of Sustaining Sampradaya is a living testament to the sustenance and propagation of CM in the USA/Canada.
Posterity owes a lot to VVS and his cohorts or to paraphrase Churchill, NEVER BEFORE HAVE SO MANY OWED SO MUCH TO SO FEW!!!
For those Rasikas living in NA(USA/Canada) if you have not been to Cleveland yet make it a point to attend atleast one festival!!

I just realised I have veered so far from the topic that I have outdone myself!!!! In writing I have never adhered to the dictum that terseness is a virtue!!

[rshankar]

Ramesh mama - we will forgive you for all your meandering streams of thought and and ox-bow lakes if you promise to write your memoirs (or even record it on a series of flash drives that others can transcribe and edit)....! MaheshRam - please do push your Dad!!

[akhil]

I too had the pleasure of attending Srivatsan's Arangetram. Accompanying a musical giant like TVG sir certainly is no easy task - but Srivatsan showed a high level of maturity. TVG Mama said that Chembai always used have the Mridangam play during the Tanam, and we saw that unfold live beautifully. Srivatsan appropriately supported TVG Mama's tanam, reflecting the intricacies in kalam and nadai. The tanam followed a crescendo in speed as TVG Mama started in a slow kalam and slowly moved towards a sprightly pace. Very pleasing to the ears was the Mridangam play which mirrored that crescendo well. Furthermore, Srivatsan played trikalam for the Pallavi which I don't hear that often. That actually made it seem that the Mridangam was singing the words of the Pallavi. Shout out to Ramesh Uncle who is a fantastic teacher and mentor. I came away extremely inspired after the concert!

[arasi]

Akhil,
Welcome to Rasikas.org!
Good to hear a peer talk about Srivatsan and about his (yours too?) guru. Glad to hear that you were inspired after listening to the concert

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Hats off to Ramesh Srinivasan--I had opportunity to watch him closely during the Cleveland festival--he was a "Dynamo" and indefatigable in his efforts to help not only his disciples but other artistes. I have also had the opportunity to watch him teach and I have been impressed with the way he encourages(no harsh words or admonition for missed classes/practices) the kids to play with gusto which they did.

More powers to his elbow!!!

[tanapp]

Gosh! My twelve thousandth post! I've been here too long #:-s

Wow! What a feat. Congratulations and keep posting away!

[rsridhar]

Dear Rasikas,

Our humble pranaams and heartfelt gratitude to all of you who have expressed kind words of appreciation and encouragement regarding our son Srivatsan's Mridangam Arangetram. We gratefully salute his Mridangam guru Sri. Ramesh Srinivasan and his vocal guru the legendary TVG Mama for making his Arangetram such a memorable event. Our gratitude to Sri. S Varadarajan (Violin), Sri. Tripunithura N Radhakrishnan (Ghatam), Kum. Devie (Backup Vocals) and Sri. T. N. Arunagiri. Srivatsan is indeed blessed to have so many well wishers and we hope that with all of your blessings, he will continue to pursue this great art.

Regards,
Vaishnavi and Sridhar


Here are the links from amateur recording done by a friend (while waiting for the professional one):

nagumOmu - AbhEri - Adi (2-kalai) - ThyAgarAja (Main)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNlyctSf9mM

RTP - kalyAni - khanda triputa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcivxrf76kM

Paridaanamiccithe - Bilahari - Khanda Chapu - Patnam Subramanya Iyer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4fJej5wac0

Complete concert playlist (LONG):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFCeIX5 ... 6t3B4ESWh5