LALGUDI GJR KRISHNAN AND VIJAYALAKSHMI AT KGS- 24/8/14

[CRama]

Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi dished out a classical feast to fans of Lalgudi as a part of the Gokulashtami Celebrations organised by KGS. They were accompanied by Kamalakar Rao on the Mridangam and Karthik on the Ghatam. The list of songs.
Varnam-Kannada
Evarunnaru-Malavasree-T
Manasayetulo-Malayamarutham-T (N,S)
Paramapavana-Ranjani-Meesu Krishna Iyer (R,S)
Sujanajeevana-T
Gajavadana-Thodi-Kumara Ettendra (R,S)
Thani
RTP-Kapi-Chaturasra Jhampa-Khanda nadai
Pallavi-Brindavanlola Viraindarulvay.......
Neraval and swara in ragamalika- Sahana,Huseni, Hamsanandi, Janasammodini(I May be wrong also) Desh
Radha Sametha Krishna-Misra Yaman. I left after this song.
(R-raga alapana, S-swaras, N- neraval)

The fist two songs gave a peppy start to the concert which promised of high quality fare that was to follow. Manasayetulo had expressive enunciation with right muse. The song had neraval at Kalilo rajasa thamasa and liberal dose of swaras displaying varieties of poruthams which is unique to the school. Who said instruments need not do neraval. They have not heard Lalgudi school with attention. The neraval portrayed the sahithya of the lines so clearly which enhanced the listening pleasure. The most noticeable alapana came from Vijayalakshmi- Ranjani alapana - exhaustive for 10 minutes which showcased the depth of the ragam which very few musicians have attempted. It kept the audience spellbound. There was dexterity, clarity, fine blend of thick and thin shades which enhanced the beauty of the ragam immensely. The kriti was also a rare one. Voleti used to sing this kriti. The song was decorated with elaborate rounds of swaras. The final loooong avarthanam by Viji was again classic. Sujana jeevana - a request of Ghatam Karthik was rendered in a leisurely kalapramanam.

Thodi by Krishnan was very elaborate for 20 minutes- swaying leisurely on the key swaras with the most authentic pidis which took the ragam to himalayan heights. The majestic kriti of Ettendra with the complex chittawara is a reference point for the varieties of gandharams that can be used in Thodi ragam. King Ettendra is famous in just one kriti- although he had composed many. The song was presented with full justice to the sahithyam and decked with liberal rounds of kalpana swaras at the pallavi. After the thani, without the need for any filler, Kapi was taken up for exploration by both the siblings for the RTP. The impressive exposition of this always janaranjakamana ragam kept the audience glued to the seats. Tanam was very well done and the pallavi was vocally introduced by Viji. The neraval was followed by swaras in respective ragam and culminated the grand finale in Kapi. Radha Sametha was chosen keeping in mind the picture of child Krishna eating the butter placed in the backdrop.

The accompanists did a splendid job. They lifted the concert to great heights. The anticipation, clarity, and nadam of Mridangam and Ghatam was remarkable. There was excellent coordination and appreciation among the artists on the stage. This was a concert which will remain in my memory for long. I still cherish the siblings concert I heard in the same venue last year. Sad, their concerts are not that frequent in Chennai. The audience level was Okay- better than last year- but still many do not flock to hear instrumental solos.- Mandolin Srinivas, Shashank may be exception. Thanks to KGS for arranging this musical feast- kalyana sappadu to us.

[gardabha_gana]

Thanks much for the report. Guess the Varnam was by LGJ Sir. Mostly I see the Siblings traveling abroad a lot. Many months since they performed in Bangalore.

[CRama]

Yes. It was LGJ varnam. I forgot to mention that.

[rajeshnat]

Lalgudi Krishnan-Vijayalakshmi@SKGS on Aug 24th,2014
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I was there for the whole concert , had to miss the first varnam

Evarunnaru(RS)-Malavasree-T

Manasayetulo-Malayamarutham-T (N,S)
neraval and swaras for 11 minutes

Paramapavana-Ranjani-Meesu Krishna Iyer (R,S)
alapana for 10 mins by Viji
swaras for 8 mins

Sujanajeevana(RS)-khamas-T
Gajavadana-Thodi-Kumara Ettendra (R,S)
alapana for 18 mins and swaras for 11 mins
Thani for 19 mins

RTP-Kapi-Chaturasra Jhampa-Khanda nadai
Pallavi-Brindavanlola Viraindarulvay.......
Neraval and swara in ragamalika- Sahana,Huseni, Hamsanandi, Janasammodini(I May be wrong also) Desh

RTP was for 29 mins ,11 mins alapana, 5 mins taanam and 13 mins pallavi + swaramAliga , I think u are right with janasammOdhini, I am also not 100% sure with that raga.

I also could not catch The pallavi line when Viji sang . Viji had an unfortunately a very bad throat but fortunately she was a violinist . THe pallavi line that I heard faintly was Brindavana lOLavirundhu virandu vandAn nammai kAttarula


Post Radha sametha that Crama missed.
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9. ashtapadi - hameerkalyani - jayadeva
10. engurindhu?? - suddasAveri - bharathiyAr
11. thillana -rAgeshri - LGJ
12. pavamAna mangalam

[rajeshnat]

Rajesh Impressions:
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I was there for the concert, the pull was also to hear vidwan Kamalakar rao as I have never heard this mridangist in a live concert . THe concert start at 6pm in skgs is lovely , The siblings had time to dwell upon a canvas of compositions. For violin based concerts ,one can bring in a style of faithfully adhering to sampradaya krithi based play ,keeping any kind of checks of what Violin can also do in terms of an extra flamboyance . WEll that is LGJ school and one has to give to the son/daughther duo who kept the Lalgudi purity sampradaya flag flying high.

I missed the first varnam and as i settled there was a very short sketch of malavshri alapana with a very nice bowing by both in the krithi. Viji played an impressive ranjani alapana , my mind was kind of thinking dunmarga charA but out popped a rare parama pavana , certainly the attention as a rasika was intact with their nice bowing in ranjani . The evening breeze was present airconditioned hall ,thanks to the siblings mAlay amrutham , the neraval and swaras were distinct and certainly there was a lot of sampradaya suddham in manasA yetulO.

Khamas was brief but it was stunning , the long bow in few lines like bhujaga bhushana was just perfect - Personally I have not heard that very impressive vocal rendition of this sujana jeevana yet , but this rendition in violin of sujana jeevana was really topnotch.

Todi was very elaborate in madhyamakalam, to an extent I noticed the siblings do not excel that much in high speed as much as how they play in mid octaves . The swaras in todi were very good during the krithi did find a slight loss of aesthetics .

RTP in kapi was excellent , the raga alapana was meditative and was soaked in bhakthi rasa. Taanam was handled very well but Krishnan and VIji could have played little more in the high speed taanam , the taanam cut bowing was not uniform and in high speed I could spot where they also introduced a dose of alapana phrases in taanam . Neraval and swaras had raga bhava aesthetics in abundance but At the end of pallavi I felt they could have played more sangathis in swaras and neraval , kind of little excess measurement and not cutting loose robbed more ecstasy and created a feeling of why they cant go more with pallavi neraval and swaras . Krishnan played the sahana ,hamsanandi and desh whereas viji played huseni and janmasammodhini?? . They usually traverse all the 5 ragas but this time krishnan traversed only the 3 ragas that he played in return direction .

The tukkadas were wonderful to me . IN the last few concerts that I heard , I think they played a little over rated bit hyped dance krithi like teerada vilayattu pillai , which I dont enjoy that much . But yesterday they took a rare bharathiyar krihti in suddasaveri(engurindO , I did not catch that well when Krishnan announced ) ,a jayadeva composition in hameerkalyani which was very good. I used to always think of madhuvanti tillana of LGJ , but rageshri thillana was really topnotch, perhaps I have to put LGJ madhuvanti and rAgeshri thillana in the same league. Thillana sank deep in my senses with such rich aesthetics as his bowing used the full bow.

The pull to hear kamalakar rao for the very first time was very enjoyable . He has a real good sunaadam , there was lot of shruthi sense in his play. I would not put it in the league of a typical silence mixed with aggression of his guru PMI , but the attribute of PMI in different patterns for the same sangathis came so very well with rao gaaru. I wish vidwan Kamalakar rao plays more in chennai . IN tani I thought his age did catch up where I felt Karthik knotty variations were more aesthetic than rao gaaru. Overall the percussion was superb.

IF there are few things that I missed in the concert :
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1. A fast number prior to main would have been better.

2. A little more dwelling in neraval and swaras in pallavi with more sangathis and also more excellence dwelling in mel kala taanam . SKGS sabha gives time and for Lalgudi school SkGS sabha is like their bastion , they could have played bit more.Another 15 minutes in ragamaliga neraval and swaras would have been awesome.

Lalgudi siblings music is aesthetics that is generally defined by their feather touch bowing . The concert was a paid one with just 100 rasikas and with pin drop silence it was worth it.

Overall a very good to excellent concert for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

[rajeshnat]

Crama,
For the first few numbers till malayamarutham the percussion volume was really 100% perfect. Karthik requested a slight jackup of volume and I felt bit later at times the percussion relative volume was slightly higher for the siblings who have a very restraint approach. Did you feel it that way?

[hnbhagavan]

Dear Rajesh,

Thank u for the nice review and postings.The Lalgudi siblings are really carrying on Lalgudi bani in style.There were excellent reviews of their concerts in USA tour including the Cleveland festival.We do not get many opportunities to hear them in Bangalore.It appears to me that the opportunities they get in Chennai is also far and few.
I wish they are featured more frequently in Chennai as well as Bangalore.

[CRama]

Rajesh, Sorry that I missed you.Our enjoyment would have enhanced if we were together.
I did not feel that the volume of Ghatam was hiked. In fact, Karthik asked whether the volume of Mridangam was OK.
Sujana jeevana- the gold standard is the rendition by DKP/DKJ. There is one commercial concert of DKP-Academy concert accompanied by PMI. This song is in that CD. DKJ's rendtion used to be slightly fast- his style and akara sangathis adding to that. TNS also has rendered this very beautifully with his characteristic swaras in many concerts in the past. GJRK/Vij rendtion was very meditative. I liked it a lot.
Kamalakar Rao- I heard a lot with TRS/TNS/ Thrissur VR, KVN etc.Age has caught up his vitality. Still he played very well in that concert. What a nadam and anticipation for the poruthams.
In the pallavi ragamalika- a brief neraval in the raga followed by swaras in that ragam as TRS used to do.
GJRK and Viji need to be commended for carrying on the legacy of their illustrious father unadulterated. As I wrote, the concert was a kalyana sappadu, so after the RTP, I did not feel I am losing something if I go. It was getting late. I started from my house at 2 PM- attended Veena festival and then came to this concert. I felt tired and hence left. Thanks for your detailed review.

[rajeshnat]

Sujana jeevana- the gold standard is the rendition by DKP/DKJ. There is one commercial concert of DKP-Academy concert accompanied by PMI. This song is in that CD. DKJ's rendtion used to be slightly fast- his style and akara sangathis adding to that. TNS also has rendered this very beautifully with his characteristic swaras in many concerts in the past. GJRK/Vij rendtion was very meditative. I liked it a lot.

I have heard one sujana jeevana of DKP/DKJ recording, not sure if that is the same as you mention. One recording of Balaji shankar had a lovely sujana jeevana and very recently I have heard vijaysiva. I have not heard TNS singing sujana jeevana , but his disciple NSG has sung once and I liked it . TO me I have heard one memorable flute ramani sujana jeevana - I keep wondering if this krithi sujana jeevana is more aesthetic when played in instruments than vocal- the lalgudi siblings and ramani have a longer reach in lower octaves.

In the pallavi ragamalika- a brief neraval in the raga followed by swaras in that ragam as TRS used to do.

How brief is brief , that is the real question ?. I wish all musicians of today follow TRS brief :-! in neraval and swaras.

[HarishankarK]

Ashtapadi would have been Yaaramita Vanamali Naa Sakhi.

[ganeshkant]

nice reviews - CR & RN.the bhAratiyAr song may be engirindhu varuhudhO,engE pOhudhO kARRu .