Sriranjani Santhanagopalan at SIMA, Los Angeles 09/05

[Sindhuja]

Violin: VVS Murari
Mridangam: Trivandrum Balaji
Khanjira: KV Gopalakrishnan

This is going to be more of a "song list with a few impressions" rather than a detailed report - sadly I was late to the concert and after an hour's drive didn't manage to make too many notes.

I've been a big fan of Sriranjani's vidwat for a while now - I find her music quite cerebral, and also not compromising on bhava. I feel she has a slightly nasal/ shrill voice that lacks 'ganam' in the mandara sthayi (which is not uncommon among female vocalists) but she makes up for it amply with her imagination and layam prowess. In this concert it seemed like at several points she consciously tried to hit the mandara notes - she could certainly go till pa I think, but it lacked the volume/ depth. But I can totally empathize with that! This was a good concert with some very enjoyable "thukkadas". List with some notes:

?
?
Chetashri - Dwijavanthi, Rupakam - Dikshitar
Sriranjani was finishing the anupallavi as I entered - very nicely done with every bit of the raga bhavam intact, complete with the yadukula kamboji - isms and no Akhilandeshwari-isms.

Samajavaragamana - Hindolam, Adi, Thyagaraja - R, S @ pallavi
Not a favorite raga and certainly not a favorite song, but I was drawn to Sriranajni's ragam rendition - it was a bit unconventional, with a lot of phrases landing on and centering around the nishadam as opposed to the usual madhyamam. VVS Murari's ragam reply was more the usual Hindolam fare. Sriranjani's swaras for this were well done with some gripping kanakkus and poruththams.

Ragasudharasa - Andolika, Deshadi, Thyagaraja

Paramapurusham - Lalithapanchamam, Khanda Chapu, Swathi Thirunal
Not much to say about these - they were both rendered at a very fast pace. The lalithapanchamam especially was too fast for my liking and I couldn't get a sense of the raga bhavam - it felt like a blur.

Thulasi bilva - Kedaragowla, Thyagaraja, Adi - R, N and S at karunatho; thani
Sriranjani sang a delightful Kedaragowla ragam - beautifully done. In some parts the way she sang the ni sounded like Surutti, but may be that's just me. VVS Murari's reply was also a thorough treat. The neraval and swaram were elaborate with the kizh kalam, tishram, and mel kalam. Sriranjani had some interesting tishram patterns in the swaram including poruththam - she sang "karuna" of "karunatho" as 3 aksharams for each syllable and sang several rounds of swaram with interesting patterns leading up to that.

Kondal vannanai kovalanai - Viruththam, Behag - Thiruppanazhvar
Dhim tana udana dhirana - Behag, Adi (ateeta eduppu) - Papanasam Sivan
Oh my, what a gorgeous Behag! I could've sat there all night for that absolutely wonderful viruththam. The thillana was also lovely. I must specially mention VVS Murari's Behag ragam after the viruththam - so very rich and soulful.

Jagadoddharana - Hindustani Kapi, Adi Purandaradasa
Quite the usual, but that's just how I like it - standard sangathis, no surprises, but very emotive and executed to perfection.

Aaj aayo shyam mohan - Swathi Thirunal - Shuddh Sarang
I've heard this sung in Pahadi, but Sriranjani sang it in Shuddh Sarang. This was my favorite pick from the concert - it surpassed even the Behag. Her voice sounded ethereal in this! She sang it with heavy Hindustani touches with utmost ease. I really wish I'd recorded this.

Niraimadi - Thiruppugazh - Adi, Hamsanandi

Pavamana

Overall, enjoyable concert. There were many moments when it seemed like Sriranjani was experimenting on stage with the kanakku and layam elements - in some places she had to repeat the swaram a couple of times before the kanakku fell in place. Nevertheless it's all part of the game and was fun to watch. But it did get me thinking about (the age old question of) the extent to which one should indulge in mathematics, and how the presentation and the audience experience might have changed if she'd decided to go with simpler swaras. VVS Murari's playing was of course brilliant, but the sound of the violin was a bit too shrill and I enjoyed his playing in the manadara notes a lot more. Trivandrum Balaji and KV Gopalakrishnan hugely supported Sriranjani, especially given her disposition towards kanakku. The thani was very enjoyable too.
3 hours well spent!

[arasi]

Sindhuja,
Always so good to read your reviews...

I can imagine how good that behAg would have been. Sriranjani has the talent, the genes and she exudes self confidence.

Her OTTal (hurrying) with parama purusham would have had the same effect on me. KaNakku vazhakku too, if it were carried too far. Her father with all his strength in that area somehow would make it appealing with his gentler approach.

As for the bhajan, I remember the way she hooked me in by singing one as a teenager, in one of her maiden concerts in Malleswaram

koNDal vaNNanai, kOvalanAi veNNai uNDa vAyan is by tiruppANAzhvAr.

Power to her

[rajeshnat]

Sriranjani Santhanagopalan@Los Angeles On Sept 05th,2015
-----------------------------------------------
Vocal : Sriranjani Santhanagopalan
Violin : VVS Murari
Mrudangam : Trivandrum balaji
Kanjira : KV Gopalakrishnan
Concert Type : Nirvana - no concert to follow
Day/Duration : Saturday/ 2 hours and 50 mins after brief introduction

Concert Type/Crowd : Ticketed Concert - around 100+
Hall : Hoover School , Lakewood Los Angeles
Sabha : South Indian Music Academy LA(SIMALA)

1.inta calamu(varnam) - bEgaDa - Patnam
2.shree mahaganapathE ravathumA(S) - gowlai - MD
3.dayavillayA dayAlO - kharaharapriya - Psivan

....
sindhuja has written the rest


Impression on sriranjani:
-------------------------
+ She certainly has a lot of emotive weight in her voice . Her rendition of dwijAvanthi was excellent . I could see a lot of her appa touches there

+ HindOlam alapana was quite kvn'ish . Holding a steady pitch and I liked her rendition and there was nice shoots of brigas . I personally love samaja vara gamana song and I liked her choice and I felt it was nice janaranjakamana drop as submain.

- At times sagging within a song with a slight dose of shrill , energy level is quite fluctuating and is not consistent and uniform .Especially in the kharaharapriya I would have been bit more happy if she sang with bit more aggression and may be she could have gone there with a neraval and swaras

- She needs bit more conditioning to think at her feet at times in neraval and swaras i find she is not able to control well - at times she is not putting talam for a long time - the percussion is not aligning right

-- As sindhuja indicated there is a blur when the sangathis demand a bit of speed .I found lalitapancamam and andholika there was not much control , also the first varnam was not the best of start.She can perhaps put more taalam and control better.

++Behag tillana , I think is papanasam sivan (Attn sindhuja). Liked her emote in behag viruththam - certainly NSG was all over there in viruththam. To me this and dwijavanthi was the pick.

+ The percussion was very good and there was nice rotation . In the tani KVG was really matching up well with balaji

+ There was not uniform nadham of VVS type from vvs murai- bit of squeakiness in the first half but he settled well in the second half. Possibly the sound setup was not the best for the first few songs.

Sriranjani has sowkhayam (yes) but I felt she needs to work a bit more control when sangathis demand a certain more faster speed that too gelling with percussion, there is a certain rigidity where the control is not adequate.

Overall a good to very good concert for 2 hours and 50 minutes.

[rajeshnat]

sindhuja
Were you seated next to Kunnakudi balamurali krishna ? I have seen your face in your blog and was that you- i was not sure.

[Sindhuja]

Yes, I also felt that she wasn't "thinking at her feet" esp. in the swaras, and she also missed coming back to the sahithyam after the thani - but I'm not sure that's typical of her and thought may be it was just an off day.
It would have been nice to meet you, rajeshnat - I was right about at the center, may be in the 6th or 7th row. And no, I wasn't even aware that Kunnakudi Balamurali Krishna was present.
And thanks for completing the list - would have been nice to listen to dayavillaya by her. I haven't heard a lot of people sing it.

[mahavishnu]

Thanks Sindhuja & Rajesh for your reviews. I look forward to her performance in the Bay Area next week.
Nice to see Tulasi Bilva featured as the main item. No RTP?

The behag tillana (if it had these charanam lines: nanda nandana harE dayA sadana mandahAsa vadanA) is indeed by P. Sivan.

Aaj aayo is sung in Shuddh Sarang by OS Arun and several others. It is a beautiful composition of ST.

[Sindhuja]

Yes, no RTP, too bad. I think I've heard her sing Thulasi Bilva earlier in San Diego too, but not very sure. And now that you mention it, I have indeed heard the shuddh sarang version by OS Arun!
Look forward to your review of the bay area concert, Ramesh.
And thanks all - updated the Behag piece with composer info.

[rajeshnat]

Thanks Sindhuja & Rajesh for your reviews. I look forward to her performance in the Bay Area next week.
Nice to see Tulasi Bilva featured as the main item. No RTP?

I was assuming she would have had a next day sunday concert in Bay Area - but it is only next week. She could have sung a RTP . LA does not get RTP they save energy and give that to bigger audience in Bay Area.

[iamsundar]

I was looking for reviews/song list from Sriranjani's concert @ SIFA, Bay area 09/13, since I'd to leave early.

I do have to agree with many of the rasikas' feedback on this thread (on her LA concert). Her Bay Area performance was just average - swaras didn't take off, korvais didn't land and thala was a victim many a times. Perhaps too much jugglery experiments on the stage is not a good idea - I'm sure she will learn/improve with experience. VVS Murari (who is generally top notch) was also not in his element - he drew a blank a couple times. Overall - Not up to the mark for a main slot concert at SIFA, IMO.

Sundar.

[mahavishnu]

That is unfortunate.
I couldn't make it to the Bay Area concert; it has been an unusually busy period at work

What did she sing? Could you please post a song list?

[vanajan]

What did she sing? Could you please post a song list?

Partial song list from memory:
1. Varnam in VasanthaBhairavi(composition of Sri.NSG)
2. Marubalga-Sriranjani(A,N,S)
3. MahaGanapthi Vandhe-Thodi-Rupakam- Muthuswami Dikshithar
4. Nijamarmamulanu-UmaBharanam(S @ Sruti Shastra)
5. Paramathmudu-Vagadishwari(A)
6. Karanam kettu vadi--Poorvikalyani
7. Meena lochana-Dhanyasi(R,N,S,T)

I had to leave after Dhanyasi as I had other commitments.First time listening to her concert live in person. I enjoyed the concert.

Vanaja

[mahavishnu]

Thank you, Vanaja! Trust you are doing well.