P.Unnikrishnan @ Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai (29 Nov 200

ram · Post by **ram** » 29 Nov 2006, 23:42

Venue: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Main Auditorium, East Mada St., Mylapore, Chennai

Date: 29 Nov 2006

Organizer: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan & Kala Pradarshini

Vocal: Sri P.Unnikrishnan

Violin: Sri S. Varadarajan

Mridangam: Sri Srimushnam Raja Rao

Ghatam: Sri N. Guruprasad

List of songs:

1) sAmI nI tODI (varnam) - pantuvarALi - Adi - vINai kuppaiyer (O)

2) sarasIruhAsana - nATTai - Adi - puLiyUr doraiswAmy iyer (S)

3) nI irangAyenil - aTANA - Adi - pApanAsam sivan

4) kAmAkshI kAmakOTi - simhEndramadyamam - rUpakam - muthuswAmi dIkshitar (ANS)

5) murugA murugA - sAvEri - misra chApu - periyasAmi thUran

6) inta sOwkhya - kApi - Adi - thyAgarAja (AST)

7) dikku teriyAda - rAgamAlikA - Adi - subramaNya bhArati

8 ) rAdhA samEthA - misra yaman - Adi - ??

9) karAravindEna (viruttam) - rAgamAlikA

kalyANa gOpAlam - sindhubhairavi - kanDa chApu - nArAyaNa tIrtar

10) eppO varuvArO - jOnpuri - Adi - gOpAlakrishna bhArati

11) kurai onrum illai - rAgamAlikA - Adi - c.rAjagOpAlachAri

12) puLLi kaLAbamayil - kAvaDi chindu - Adi - aNNAmalai reDDiyAr

13) vijayagOpAlatE (mangaLam) - suruTTi - Adi - nArAyaNa tIrtar

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

Detailed raga alapanas were done only for simhEndramadyamam and kApi. Both these alapanas were very well done by Sri Unnikrishnan and later elucidated succinctly and in a very beautiful fashion on the violin in less than half the time by Sri S. Varadarajan. Sri Unnikrishnan showed some very good prayogas in these alapanas. When Sri Unnikrishnan sang "nI irangAyenil" and then started the simhEndramadyamam alapana, it looked as though he is going to sing the songs from his earlier commercial recording release "Anandam" one by one. But luckily, he didn't sing "unnai allAl" and took up "kAmAkshi kAmakOTi". I was also relieved when he took up kApi for the main piece and was happy I didn't have to hear him sing karaharapriyA again, which has been kind of his favorite these days. He has sung almost the same karaharapriyA alapana with graha bhedam done using rishabam, gAndhAram and madhyamam as shadjam one after the another in many of his concerts now. I have heard two of those concerts in Chennai itself in the last 2 months. I heard from a friend of mine that he repeated the same thing in a concert in Delhi a few days back.

Sri Varadarajan on the violin proved why he is one of the best violin accompanists in the field today. He was clearly a class apart. Sri Srimushnam Raja Rao on the mridangam was his usual self, blasting his way to glory at times while playing with sowkhyam for the most part. Sri N. Guruprasad on the ghatam was allowed to prove his mettle (in fact I must say allowed to play the ghatam) only in the taniavartanam which comprised of the chatusra and the kanDa naDais.

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

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 30 Nov 2006, 01:27

Yes, Unnikrishnan seems to have a penchant for Karaharapriya. In Aug/Sep earlier this year, I attended two of his concerts, at the Saidapet and Rajaannamalaipuram temples, and in both of those he began with the same nattai krithi (Re Re Manasa Bhajare, Rupaka thalam), and sang the Karaharapriya for the main piece (Anthari Sundari Kamakshi, I think). In both of those he also did the alapana exactly as you described, and the niraval and swaram was at the same place in the charanam.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 30 Nov 2006, 05:17

Just to play the devil's advocate here...

Today's rasikas have the advantage of getting to know about an artiste's concerts all over the world thru various forums (including this one). In the 'good old days' many of the great masters used to repeat their favorite pieces again and again in their concerts, and the audiences were not even aware of what was sung in the neighboring town. I feel today's artistes do have bigger repertoires, but occasionally they may repeat a few pieces here and there. Perhaps we should be a bit more forgiving...?

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 30 Nov 2006, 06:48

Yes, but these were both in temple concerts, both in Chennai, and both within a week of each other.

arunsri · Post by **arunsri** » 30 Nov 2006, 12:53

Honestly, what is the skill set and knowledge required to present such a concert. A person with 4 years of musical training can do it, IMHO.

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 01 Dec 2006, 03:13

arunsri wrote:Honestly, what is the skill set and knowledge required to present such a concert. A person with 4 years of musical training can do it, IMHO.

I am not defending Unnikrishnan or commenting on the songlist but can anyone with 4 years of musical training present such a concert? Makes me feel bad that after 3 years on the violin, I am hardly there

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 01 Dec 2006, 03:29

3 years on the violin.... I would say those neighbors who moved out are now willing to move back

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 01 Dec 2006, 09:30

LOL! I remember a person I know in Canada absolutely insisting that they could do a full concert after 2 years of learning, both violin and vocal! :rolleyes: I suppose there's a lot of loose theories floating around.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 01 Dec 2006, 09:44

rasam
you sure must be knowing the story of the young lady who gets lost and approaches and interupts an old violinist at a street corner asking " Which is the shortest and surest way to Royal Albert Hall ?"
Comes the reply after some thought .."Practice , my dear Lady, Practice"
VK you talk of neighbours only.My wife has never guessed ,till date,what went wrong with (or who tampered with )all the three violins she bought !
There is something to be said about this instrument...
In the hands of an expert , a passport to Heaven.
In the hands of a........

arunsri · Post by **arunsri** » 01 Dec 2006, 12:16

Hello all:

What I wanted to convey was that a person serious enough to take music as a profession will be able to give such a concert with 4 years of learning. I assume none of us here are full fledged professionals in music. Even if we are learning music as a hobby and are reasonably serious enough, 4 years is a good enough time to learn a couple of choka kala kritis and some standard songs and present a concert. I know of several people who have done so. However, they are not full fledged musicians.

vsagar · Post by **vsagar** » 01 Dec 2006, 17:38

I attended a concert of Mr Unnikrishnan at Delhi Tamil Sangam. I find few common songs/raga.
1.Sammi ninne Pantu varali
2.Sugunamule Chakravagam
3.Unnai allal simendramadyamam
3. Manasa sancha hare Sama
4.RTP- Kharaharapriya (RST) with ragamalika swaras in Bahudari and Hindolam
I dont remeber the last two pieces. But hereagain karaharapriya.

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 01 Dec 2006, 17:54

i learnt for 5 years. i could not go anywhere near the stage. basically it is a 'Zen' type of realisation. i depends on how quick you achieve 'swara gnana'. the real journey starts from there on. for some it happens in 2 two years; for some it does not happen even after 5 years. in my understanding an instrumentalist has more access to the devathas than the vocalists.
in both as rightly pointed out by coolji practice is the key!

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 02 Dec 2006, 01:40

I think this point's been made pretty often, but its impossible for anyone in our times to take up music as a profession from the beginning. A more reasonable scenario is where a person starts learning music as a hobby, then makes good progress for awhile till they realize that music is a more dominant part of their life than whatever else it is they are doing. At this point, they can make the decision to go 'pro' and fully concentrate on making that 'concert-stage' jump.

So I think arguments like 'it can be done in 4 years' or 'it just requires 2 years of concentrated learning' are just theoretical. As Arunsri points out, I am sure people have done it in spite of having a full-time profession, but to generalize this to any person and specifying lower bounds on when it can be achieved is impractical.

Regarding the vocal versus instrumental debate, I would definitely say that mastering the violin will take much longer, simply because it is used as an support instrument. Imagine being able to accompany artists like TNS and being in a position to play up to the repertoire of giants like him with so much experience behind them. Any vocalist can prepare meticulously for their presentation, but the violinists' is more a reactive role.

arunsri · Post by **arunsri** » 02 Dec 2006, 19:25

My observation stems from the simple fact that for an artiste who has been in the concert circuit for over a decade (with say an additional 10 years of learning behind him/her), rendering such a concert is probably quite a trivial job (for lack of better pharasing possible), a reflection of the fact that these things are of secondary importance to him/her.

To me, personally, it reflects lack of sincerity and dedication (rather, taking things for granted). This is not with reference to a particular artiste, but to several artistes in general. Unfortunately, this discussion started under this topic.