Smt R. Vedavalli @ Raga Sudha Hall, Chennai (06 Nov 2006)

ram · Post by **ram** » 06 Nov 2006, 21:46

Venue: Raga Sudha Hall, 85/2, Luz Avenue, Mylapore

Date: 06 Nov 2006

Organizer: Naada Inbam - AL.AR. Chokkia Chettiar Memorial Concert

Vocal: Smt. R. Vedavalli

Violin: Sri M.R. Gopinath

Mridangam: Sri Manoj Siva

Ghatam: Sri S. Karthick

List of songs:

1) evari bOdhana (varnam) - AbhOgi - Adi - patnam subramaNya iyer (S)

2) eti yOchanalu - kiraNAvaLi - dEsAdi - thyAgarAja

3) unDEdi rAmuDu - harikAmbOji - tisra Eka - thyAgarAja (NS)

4) marivErE gati - Anandabhairavi - misra chApu - syAma sAstri (A)

5) antaranga bhakti - shaDvidamArgiNi- Adi - kOtIswara iyer

6) tuLasi bilva - kEdAragOwLa - Adi - thyAgarAjA (ANS)

7) mOkshamugaladA - sAramati - Adi - thyAgarAja

8 ) bhajarE rEchita - kalyANi - misra chApu - muthuswAmi dIkshitar (ANST)

9) hariya nenayaDa - hamsAnandi - Adi - purandaradAsa

10) oruthi maganAi - bEhAg - Adi - AnDAL

11) pavamAna (mangaLam) - sOwrAshtram - Adi - thyAgarAja

(Key: A=raga alapana, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram, T=taniavartanam)

It was yet another great concert by Vedavalli mami, very ably supported by all the accompanying artistes, who themselves were of very high calibre. The short kEdAragOwLa alapana brought out the essence of the raga very well and so did the detailed kalyANi alapana. bhajarE rEchita in raga kalyANi was the main kriti of the evening in which neraval was done with the line "dEvIm shakti bhIjOdbhava mAtrikArNa sharIriNIm". Special mention must be made of Sri S. Karthick who, as usual, played superbly. He almost played all the songs on the ghatam and played good kOrvais in the taniavartanam too that had the chatusra and the tisra nadais.

http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/2006/11/ ... l-chennai/

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 06 Nov 2006, 22:54

The concert was a treat to a rasika of sampradaya sangeetham. What else could one expect from somebody of the caliber of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Smt Vedavalli. It was tradition all over, and yet there was something new and refreshing about the way each song was presented and improvised. Well, thats what makes a great artist.

The concert started off with a brisk rendition of the AbhOgi varNam beautifully rounded off with kalpanai svarams. The kIraNvaLi kriti was rendered nicely. And it is to be noted that the kriti was rendered in dEsAdi. The harikAmbhOji kriti was rendered well with nice neraval at 'tamasAdi guNa rahituDu dharmAtmuDu sarvasamuDu' and mEl kAla svarams.

The first elaboration for the evening was Anandabhairavi. It was an Ananda AlApanai. The kriti was rendered soulfully. The shadvidamArgini kriti which followed was nice as well. Next in line was short and brisk AlApanai of kEdAragauLa, which showcased the rAga lakshaNam very well. The kriti, a slow number, was in contrast to the AlApanai and it was refreshing to hear neraval done at ' uramuna mukhamuna shiramuna bhujamuna', the first time i heard somebody singing neraval in this kriti. After a quick round of svarams, came to the sAramati kriti, which was nicely rendered without the popular and gimmicky sangatis.

The main course kalyANi AlApanai was quite elaborate and beautiful with Smt. Sumithra singing some parts around the tAra shadjam. The kriti was rendered beautifully with neraval and svarams 'devIM shaktibIjodbhava mAtrkArNa sharIriNIM'. The post tani hamsAnandi dEvarnAma and the bEhAg thiruppAvai were nicely rendered as well.

Smt. Vedavalli was awesome through out the concert and she was well supported by the accompanists. A pallavi and/or the vedavalli-trade-mark-rAgamAlika-pAsuram would have been just tooo good. Well, one shouldn't be that selfish and ask for everything at every concert.

Sri Gopinath was exact in his replies and played well. Sri Manoj Siva was good and he played well for all the kritis meticulously following the kriti and each sangati. Sri Karthick was good as well in adding his bit to the concert effect. The tani by the two percussionsits was yet another separate treat. It was a nice concert to remember for sometime.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 07 Nov 2006, 08:57

Thanks for the reviews guys.

mahesh3 · Post by **mahesh3** » 07 Nov 2006, 09:10

were the neravals detailed? sure seems a lot of neravals in a concert....am looking to hear Smt VEdavalli in chennai in a month's time..., and finally tulasibilva....must have been amazing...

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 07 Nov 2006, 13:42

All the three neravals had the elements of kIzh kAlam, sama kAlam and dhurita kAlam, though for short intervals. Smt Vedavalli did short neraval for the two sub main kritis. It was a bit more elaborate for kalyANi.

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 08 Nov 2006, 09:12

Neravals usually are a measure of the artists' calibre and imagination. Akaram control, flidelity to talam, awareness of sahitya are all demonstrated in a neraval. Sadly, most people dont do neraval in any length anymore except in the main krithi. IMHO, nothing sets up a concert than a brisk neraval in a third or fourth piece of a concert.

sangeetarasikan · Post by **sangeetarasikan** » 09 Nov 2006, 22:20

IMHO Musiri and SSI were the two musicians who excelled in Neraval. Many years ago I heard a heart-stopping neraval by Musiri for (what I imagine would be a difficult song and ragam) Enthavedu (Saraswathimanohari). I have not heard anyone else sing neraval for this song since. SSI's neravals were of course his trademark and always set a racy tempo for the concert.

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 10 Nov 2006, 04:56

"The kriti, a slow number, was in contrast to the AlApanai and it was refreshing to hear neraval done at ' uramuna mukhamuna shiramuna bhujamuna', the first time i heard somebody singing neraval in this kriti."

Bharath, I have heard MDR doing a neraval there. A beautiful neraval in fact. Will try to post it sometime.

arunsri · Post by **arunsri** » 10 Nov 2006, 23:41

MMI used to sing neraval at chinta tIrchuTakku , so would KVN - in the song entavEDukondu

Vedavalli mami's neraval is marked by amazing variety, subtle variations - all done so seamlessly, one wonders, why neraval is considered so hard

IMHO - KVN and MSS would do elaborate neravals. In fact, concerts of these two would have 3-4 neravals on most occassions.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 11 Nov 2006, 11:55

I don't know. Nerevals are often overrated I think, at least, in present day. I think that's why a main piece and RTP is enough for me these days, and maybe one more piece (second,third or forth only) depending on what it is, how it's handled, the mood of the artist etc. Anymore...and it's too much, for me.

Swaras are a better measure I feel, based on my own experience of being able to do nereval before doing swaras (unconventional apparently!) Knowing the gist of the rAgA for nereval, is easier than pronouncing the correct swara-sahithya for swaras, as this is where you could be accused of wrong swara-sthana or a shruthi lapse! Fidelity of tAlA needs to be more perfect in swaras. It's easier to stretch akAram to move to the end of the tAlA without sounding dodgy...but not putting extra swaras 'correctly' can be really obvious...Ranjani/Gayathri have had difficulties in this area in some of their opening pieces. But then on the same token, there are times where the absence of a nereval is really felt in some pieces between alapana-composition-swaras, and that's where a nereval is really needed (like Priya Sisters rendition of tOdi).

With the exception of RTP, nereval is something I don't think you should plan and put in a songlist for the sake of putting one in or for the sake of it being the only way to set the mood to a concert. It's something you include when you're in the mood (or if it's noticeably needed in a particular piece).