Carnatica Brothers - awesome concert on Mar 29 2015 at Minneapolis

[sriram14]

Reviewed by students at the Naada Rasa School of music, Plymouth, MN

Concert Review (Indian Music Society of Minnesota) 29 March 2015 5 pm
Artists
Vocal: Carnatica Brothers: K.N. Sashikiran and P. Ganesh , Violin: Trivandrum N. Sampath Mridangam: Tanjore K. Murugabhoopathi
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The Carnatica brothers, K.N. Sashikiran and P. Ganesh, once again created an unforgettable experience for the music lovers of Minnesota in their concert for IMSOM. Accompanying them on the violin was Trivandrum N. Sampath and on the mridangam was Thanjavur K. Murugabhoopathi.

The concert started off with the Gambhira Nattai Varnam of Dr. Balamuralikrishna. Following the effortless and crisp rendition of the varnam was the Thyagaraja composition “Vinatha sutha” in the rare raagam Jayantha Sena. To mark the occasion of Raama Navami the previous day, the brothers presented “Enthani ne varnintunu Sabari bhaagyamu”, a composition of Thyagaraja in the ragam Mukhari. This was followed by “Needu mahima”, a Muthiah Bhagavatar keerthanam, in the raagam Hamsanandi (Shashikiran) which garnered a huge applause from the audience. The duo started the second half of the concert with the popular Purandaradasa kriti “Narayana Ninna Namada Smaraneya” (a request by a member of the audience) after a short interval .This classic Kannada composition set in Suddha Dhanyasi ragam to Adi talam was followed by the main piece of the evening - an RTP dedicated to Lord Hanuman. As a celebration of the 35th anniversary of IMSOM, the main raagam they chose for this piece was the 35th melakarta raagam, Shulini. The Taanam in Ragamalika driven by viewer's choices displayed Ganesh's prowess in switching context between ragas so effortlessly. He retained the rasa and bhava of every ragam he traversed - Hamir Kalyani, Varali, Dwijavanthi, Charukesi and Dhanyasi. The listener’s choice for the violinist was Raagam Lalitha and the essence of the raagam was captured beautifully on the violin and the mridangam accompaniment here enriched the experience for the audience. The pallavi “Paavanathmaja ShriRaama dhootha” was composed by Shashikiran. Trivandrum Sampath on the violin proved his virtuosity in this piece. A fitting ending to this piece was the thani avarthanam by the veteran Thanjavur K. Murugabhoopathi. “Venkatachalanilayam” in Sindhubhairavi, “Ramam Bhaje” in Durga and a Raghavendra bhajan in Hamsadwani concluded the concert. A special mention must also be made about the mridangam playing of Thanjavur K. Murugabhoopathi. He played both audience enjoyable phrases and provided very thoughtful / intelligent support throughout thus adding immense value to the concert-- with a touch of class.
Another point that works very well in the favor of the Carnatica brothers is the range that they have; while Sasikiran shifts to lower octaves, Ganesh sings in higher octaves thus creating a meditative effect on the crowd. Overall, the harmony created by the team was beautiful beyond words. A fitting ‘season opener’ to the Indian Music Society’s 35th season that augurs well for the rest of the year!

[rajeshnat]

The main piece of the evening - an RTP dedicated to Lord Hanuman. As a celebration of the 35th anniversary of IMSOM, the main raagam they chose for this piece was the 35th melakarta raagam, Shulini. The Taanam in Ragamalika driven by viewer's choices displayed Ganesh's prowess in switching context between ragas so effortlessly. He retained the rasa and bhava of every ragam he traversed - Hamir Kalyani, Varali, Dwijavanthi, Charukesi and Dhanyasi. The listener’s choice for the violinist was Raagam Lalitha and the essence of the raagam was captured beautifully on the violin and the mridangam accompaniment here enriched the experience for the audience. The pallavi “Paavanathmaja ShriRaama dhootha” was composed by Shashikiran.

Sriram14,
Am i right to assume that the vocal raga alapana was sung in shulini, post that the violin return was done in a different raga lalitha. Please clarify and thanks for the review.

[Nirmala Rajasekar]

rajeshnat-- in response to your q about the raga alapana ..the raga alapana by both the vocalists and violinist was in Shulini ; in the thanam section Sri Shashikiran asked for audience choices (which have been talked about in the review) when the the violin response was played by Sri Trivandrum Sampath once again Sri Shashikiran asked for an audience choice raga for the violinist --the request was for Lalitha which Sri Sampath promptly obliged to the delight of the crowd ..

[thanjavooran]

sriram
Thanx for the excellent review.
Nirmala Rajasekar
welcome to the forum. ThanQ for the clarification
With wishes,
Thanjavooran
11 04 2015

[rajeshnat]

Thank you vidushi vaninika - nirmala rajasekar.

[Sundara Rajan]

It is interesting to note that the brothers chose raga Shulini for their RTP ,as they did in Cleveland on April 7,2015. In Cleveland Sasikiran said that he chose the 35th mELakartha raga for the year 2015, 20+15=35 and here in Minneapolis, MN it was because it was the 35th year of the IMSOM. I wonder what excuse they will use at their next stop for the same raga !

[arasi]

They must have had Cleveland in mind at first--then wanted to do a dress rehearsal of it in MN, and it so happened that there was a suitable explanation at the concert there too

[rshankar]

IMO, and I understand that I'm most likely to be be in the minority here, these sorts of things sound too glib and 'gimmic'ky, and take away from the serious music they are capable of creating.

[nivedita]

Thank you all for the kind comments. The RTPs we sang in Minneapolis and Cleveland were both in Shulini but in different talas, with different structures, mathematics and ragamalikas (tanam in MN, swaras in Cleveland). In fact, we chose Shulini in MN after we came to know just before the concert that it was IMSOM's 35th year.

The RTP we presented in Cleveland was a 'date pallavi' (which involves more mathematics than 20 + 15 = 35), a concept we have presented using different melakartha ragas and pallavis in a number of venues.

-- On behalf of Shri Shashikiran

[arasi]

Nivedita,
Very happy to hear from you! Please send me mail with all your news!

The Carnatica Bros, Ganesh and Shashikiran do put in a lot of work in planning their pallavis. I don't think I have heard them sing a simple RTP so far. I'm impressed, though I don't know any kaNakku vazakku. They might have chosen the rAgA first, thought of a tALA structure, and then another. Then, they would have decided to sing them both set to Shulini, but in different concerts. They know so many rAgAs that they don't have to always choose a bhairavi RTP or stick to one in other well-known rAgAs.