TVS @ Gokhale Hall 7.12.2014

[semmu86]

TVS - Vocal
Mahadevan S- Vocal support
M.A. Sundareswaran- Violin
Dr. Yella Venkateswara Rao- Mrudangam
Vaikom Gopalakrishnan- Ghatam.

1. SuDaroliyE pOTri- jaya jaya swamin- nATTai- Adi- S
2. Kshemam kuru gopala- MisrachApu- DurbAr-
3. Seethamma- vasanthA- r'chapu-RS
4. Marivere dikkevaraiyyA- shanmugapriyA- adi- RNS
5. KapAli- mOhanam- Adi- RST
Had to leave after this.

A relatively short concert. This was the venue where i got to hear Vidwan TVS for the first time. 18 years later, as i come out of yet another of his spellbinding concert, the experience was not much different from the one i got, when i heard him first. The admiration & fondness for his music has only kept growing exponentially with each and every concert of his that i have managed to attend over the years. For all the jugglery and the cacophony going on in the kutcheri format, TVS' concerts are a reminder to us time & again that it is always possible to produce simple, but high quality sangeetham in such an effective way, within the framework of tradition. Traditional concerts sans any unwanted fuss still has so much of depth and variety to offer and who better than Vidwan TVS to showcase that!

Mahadevan has been slowly but steadily growing under his illustrious father's expert guidance and his brilliant shanmugapriyA kalpanaswarams bore testimony to that. MAS & Vaikkom were ever so subtle in their accompaniment, following the pakkavAdhya dharmam, always precise to the point, yet highlighting their presence every now and then.

Apart from TVS, another major pull to attend this concert was Dr. YVR. I realized that it has been light years since i heard Dr. YVR live. Having enjoyed from close quarters his splendidly sensitive accompaniments for greats like KVN, N. Ramani, Mandolin Shrinivas, Trivandrum Venkatraman etc., YVR showcased his other side; his vibrant best. The wonderful kucchi vAdhyam, the mEETu-chApu shuddham, the valam-eDam serkkai (Treble-bass balance), wonderful gumukkis, all added up to the already soaring concert. The accompaniment, the brilliant thisram and the misram in the thani, all out of the TOP draw.

Its such a shame that we dont get to hear fantastic vidwans like Dr. YVR, V. V. Ramanmurthy getting featured regularly @ Chennai. Of course, the loss is only ours. My third TVS concert this season and as usual, TVS concerts can only get better.

[mahavishnu]

Thanks for your review, Semmu!
It is wonderful to see YVR in action. I'm glad you could attend this concert.

[rajeshnat]

semmu,
Kshemam kuru gopala in darbar is a narayana theerthar composition.
One or two years back there were few exclusive concerts held in tn rajarathinam hall where Shri yella venkateswara rao played tani. I have never heard Yella garu play. Tx for your review .

[kittappa]

I have never heard Yella garu play.

You must have done a lot of puNyam in your previous lives. yella simply yells on the mridangam. Had you heard him even once you would have become deaf.