Ashwath Narayanan@VaniMahal on Sept 13th,2014
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Vocal : Ashwath Narayanan
Violin : Usha Rajagopalan
Mrudangam : Kumbakonam Swaminathan (disciple of poongulam subramaniam )
Concert Type : Nirvana - no concert to follow
Day/Duration : Saturday/ ~ 2 hours and 10 minutes
Occassion/COncert Type : Bahula Panchami Festival- Sadguru Thyagaraja festival /Free
Crowd :150 - atleast 75 % hall was full
Hall : Vanimahal Mini Hall - Obul Reddy Hall
Sabha : Sree thyaga brahma gana sabhana
1. vandanamu raghu - sahAnA
2. tEra tIyaga rAdA(Swara sketch) - gowlipantu
3. gurulEkha yEtuvanti(RS,S) - gowrimanOhari
swaras for 4 mins
4. duddukugala(RS) - gowlai
5. rAju veddalE (R,N,S) - TOdi
8 mins alapana and 6 mins violin return
neraval in kAvEri tIramunanu pAvanamagu rangapurini for 6 mins
swaras for 8 mins
6. manavyAlakincharA - nalinakAnthi
7. anupama guNambuthi(Raga sketch , swara sketch) - atAnA
8A. nidhichAla sukhamA (R N S T) - kalyani
12 mins alapana and 7 mins violin return
5 mins neraval in Mamatha bandhana yutha nara Sthuthi sukhama
6 mins swaras
8B. tani for 8 mins
9. MOkshamu galadA - saramathi
10. pavamAna
Ashwath Narayanan@VaniMahal on Sept 13th,2014
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rajeshnat
- Posts: 10123
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04
Re: Ashwath Narayanan@VaniMahal on Sept 13th,2014
Ashwath carries forward a wonderful legacy- learnt from his attai and athimber (Smt Padma and mahavidwan KV Narayanaswamy). The concert was focussed exclusively on thyagaraja compositions - a series that was started by Late Obul Reddy. THe concert start was at 6pm but got over by 08: 10 pm. I see that parivadini has the video streamed - you all can listen to yourself
Positives of Concert:
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There is always a solid pitch that is completely well oiled by shruthi suddham. Ashwath like KVN takes a lot of force in his voice deep inside and gives well rounded gamakam and sowkhyam outside that is always intensely classical. I entered few minutes late and as I climbed the stairs of vanimahal mini hall, I heard a sahana very similiar to the voice timbre of TNS . Certainly the whole of sahana I heard an aura of TNS.
THe gowlipantu was a typical KVN sir rendition liked it , dont know why he ended with a swara sketch-he could have gone more . With Gurulekha he kept up intense guru dekho bhakthi in gurulekha etuvanti - definitely well rendered .The pancharatna krithi gowlai was well rendered though he looking at the paper did slightly drop the muse of gowlai- KVN style continued beautifully.
The standard submain of raju vedala was an ariyakudi typecast rendition , everything was measured in that right proportion - certainly well rendered . The two fillers in nalinakanthi was vintage kvn and the anupama gunambuthi I felt he could have gone more with swaras . Kalyani was a very sampradaya rendition - I would not call anything that original but certainly a very neat typecast kalyani - kind of treading on a typical course of sampradaya . I liked his neraval with kvn again coming in full view , swaras were really nice with a little more verve that was shown where he moved bit away from the pace of what he was delivering till then. The last mokshamu was superb - his internalization was superb , the sowkhyam touched my heart.
Usha rajagoplan played good - in todi alapana I could not aurally feel much melody there.I particularly liked Kumbakonam swaminathan who is the disciple of poongulam subramaniam . poongulam has also learnt from srimushnam raja rao . There is a lot of tavil left carassing and a right continous roll combination that continously pushed the concert towards excellence . I did not pay much attention to tani - I had to work that day at office .
One thing Ashwath can do :
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Perhaps this point is more in relation to my hearing of KVN. I heard few concerts in late 80's and very early 90's and then when I heard KVN after nearly a decade gap , I could generally hear a bit of noticable sag in the last few years before he passed away . However in the last 10 years after hearing lot of KVN early recordings till 70's, I simply go gA gA with his music .To an extent with mp3 extrapolation i see a very two distinct phases of KVN. First Phase of KVN where the intensity of his music had a lot of strokes like MMI and SSI apart from his centering on his guru ariyakudi. As KVN moved on the influence of MDR and also his own aging did make shri KVN take a route where there is generally an avoidance of mel kala swaras and also in general not taking faster songs or singing more swaras . That is KVN second half. I see Ashwath though young is more stereotyping of KVN second half - a kind of adding far more age than his actual age . I see a risk of long term plateauing in that approach. In short he can discover himself more with faster melkALa neraval , swara pyrotechnics and one fast song before main, more brigas etc which I see that is also done by one of other sibling Pattabhi Pandit or better yet I can say a typecast dose of TRS, SSI and MMI can add more to my attention of his music.
All said - Ashwath is intense in capturing attention like KVN .There is a bit of carnatic soul searching that happens with many rasikas- the mokshamu in saramathi was atleast in that zone . Certainly a star to watch . Overall a very good to excellent concert for 2 hours and 5 minutes.
Positives of Concert:
------------------------
There is always a solid pitch that is completely well oiled by shruthi suddham. Ashwath like KVN takes a lot of force in his voice deep inside and gives well rounded gamakam and sowkhyam outside that is always intensely classical. I entered few minutes late and as I climbed the stairs of vanimahal mini hall, I heard a sahana very similiar to the voice timbre of TNS . Certainly the whole of sahana I heard an aura of TNS.
THe gowlipantu was a typical KVN sir rendition liked it , dont know why he ended with a swara sketch-he could have gone more . With Gurulekha he kept up intense guru dekho bhakthi in gurulekha etuvanti - definitely well rendered .The pancharatna krithi gowlai was well rendered though he looking at the paper did slightly drop the muse of gowlai- KVN style continued beautifully.
The standard submain of raju vedala was an ariyakudi typecast rendition , everything was measured in that right proportion - certainly well rendered . The two fillers in nalinakanthi was vintage kvn and the anupama gunambuthi I felt he could have gone more with swaras . Kalyani was a very sampradaya rendition - I would not call anything that original but certainly a very neat typecast kalyani - kind of treading on a typical course of sampradaya . I liked his neraval with kvn again coming in full view , swaras were really nice with a little more verve that was shown where he moved bit away from the pace of what he was delivering till then. The last mokshamu was superb - his internalization was superb , the sowkhyam touched my heart.
Usha rajagoplan played good - in todi alapana I could not aurally feel much melody there.I particularly liked Kumbakonam swaminathan who is the disciple of poongulam subramaniam . poongulam has also learnt from srimushnam raja rao . There is a lot of tavil left carassing and a right continous roll combination that continously pushed the concert towards excellence . I did not pay much attention to tani - I had to work that day at office .
One thing Ashwath can do :
-------------------------------
Perhaps this point is more in relation to my hearing of KVN. I heard few concerts in late 80's and very early 90's and then when I heard KVN after nearly a decade gap , I could generally hear a bit of noticable sag in the last few years before he passed away . However in the last 10 years after hearing lot of KVN early recordings till 70's, I simply go gA gA with his music .To an extent with mp3 extrapolation i see a very two distinct phases of KVN. First Phase of KVN where the intensity of his music had a lot of strokes like MMI and SSI apart from his centering on his guru ariyakudi. As KVN moved on the influence of MDR and also his own aging did make shri KVN take a route where there is generally an avoidance of mel kala swaras and also in general not taking faster songs or singing more swaras . That is KVN second half. I see Ashwath though young is more stereotyping of KVN second half - a kind of adding far more age than his actual age . I see a risk of long term plateauing in that approach. In short he can discover himself more with faster melkALa neraval , swara pyrotechnics and one fast song before main, more brigas etc which I see that is also done by one of other sibling Pattabhi Pandit or better yet I can say a typecast dose of TRS, SSI and MMI can add more to my attention of his music.
All said - Ashwath is intense in capturing attention like KVN .There is a bit of carnatic soul searching that happens with many rasikas- the mokshamu in saramathi was atleast in that zone . Certainly a star to watch . Overall a very good to excellent concert for 2 hours and 5 minutes.
Last edited by rajeshnat on 15 Sep 2014, 12:46, edited 1 time in total.
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Rsachi
- Posts: 5039
- Joined: 31 Aug 2009, 13:54
Re: Ashwath Narayanan@VaniMahal on Sept 13th,2014
Rajesh,
I caught a bit of the Kalyani niraval and swaras on Parivadini while travelling on a jammed Kanakapura Road.
Ashwath has made a very good start with everyone blessing his KVN bani.
As someone who heard a lot of KVN in 1970s and 80s, I would advise Ashwath to leverage his strong voice and musical training to develop his own approach to music. The KVN stamp is a first stage rocket but the subsequent stages in the Carnatic odyssey need originality, creativity and a very wide repertoire. Ashwath has to learn from the masters but make his own image.
I caught a bit of the Kalyani niraval and swaras on Parivadini while travelling on a jammed Kanakapura Road.
Ashwath has made a very good start with everyone blessing his KVN bani.
As someone who heard a lot of KVN in 1970s and 80s, I would advise Ashwath to leverage his strong voice and musical training to develop his own approach to music. The KVN stamp is a first stage rocket but the subsequent stages in the Carnatic odyssey need originality, creativity and a very wide repertoire. Ashwath has to learn from the masters but make his own image.
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Ramasubramanian M.K
- Posts: 1226
- Joined: 05 May 2009, 08:33
Re: Ashwath Narayanan@VaniMahal on Sept 13th,2014
Rajesh Good astute review/observations--I first heard him @ my Dad's centenary celebs(his was the first concert before the speeches!!)--you attended the function, I recall.
You have correctly observed the stages of evolution of KVN's music and I felt after hearing him for the first timethe second time I haerd him in the Cleveland Festival) I feel that he needs to(as rsachi says) needs to slighly adapt. The one reaction I had after the Cleveland experience where he sang extensively in the Dance Dramas--a slight trace of flippancy in his stage manners and makes one wonder whether he has absorbed KVN's true ttrait--a seriousness of purpose and concentration. I make an allowance for youth and i hope I am wrong in my impression.His talent and Vidwath and the pedigree are unquestionable!!
You have correctly observed the stages of evolution of KVN's music and I felt after hearing him for the first timethe second time I haerd him in the Cleveland Festival) I feel that he needs to(as rsachi says) needs to slighly adapt. The one reaction I had after the Cleveland experience where he sang extensively in the Dance Dramas--a slight trace of flippancy in his stage manners and makes one wonder whether he has absorbed KVN's true ttrait--a seriousness of purpose and concentration. I make an allowance for youth and i hope I am wrong in my impression.His talent and Vidwath and the pedigree are unquestionable!!
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sureshvv
- Posts: 5542
- Joined: 05 Jul 2007, 18:17
Re: Ashwath Narayanan@VaniMahal on Sept 13th,2014
This is more of a general comment and does not apply only to this particular review or artiste.
I suggest we forget about the past masters briefly and try to listen to the artiste who is performing on his or her own terms. Too often our obsession with the guru-sishya parampara gets in the way of listening, appreciating and nurturing the music that is actually being performed. Reminds me of this malayalam movie classic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaniyavarthanam
I suggest we forget about the past masters briefly and try to listen to the artiste who is performing on his or her own terms. Too often our obsession with the guru-sishya parampara gets in the way of listening, appreciating and nurturing the music that is actually being performed. Reminds me of this malayalam movie classic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaniyavarthanam
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pperumal
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- Joined: 15 Oct 2013, 00:13
Re: Ashwath Narayanan@VaniMahal on Sept 13th,2014
Thanks for a very good review Sri rajeshnat!!!