Abhishek Raghuram@Music Academy on Dec 22nd,2015

[Navaneethakrishnan]

What a concert by Abhishek today at Music Academy? Mesmerising Kalyani. Unbelievable ideas and brigas. Out of the world.

[rajeshnat]

Abhishek Raghuram@Music Academy on Dec 22nd,2015
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Vocal : Abhishek Raghuram
Violin: Mysore Nagaraj
Mrudangam : Patri Satish Kumar
Gha : V Suresh

Concert Type : Nirvana - No concert to follow
Day/Duration : Tuesday/ 2 hours and 40 mins concert
Concert Type/Crowd : Ticketed concert - near 100% full in balcony.may be 1500- not sure about ground floor
Sabha/Hall : Music Academy

1. nera nammiti - varnam - KAnadA - Poochi
2. Kalala nerchina (S)- deepakam - T
swaras was just a sketch

3. evarikai (R,S) - DevamanOhari - T
2 mins alapana and no violin return
4 mins swaras

4. needu charana (R N T S) - kalyani - Pallavi Gopala iyer
19 mins alapana by abhishek
neraval in O jagath janani for 16 mins

4B. tani for 18 mins
4C. swaras for krithi 8 mins

5. gAna moorthE (R) - ganamuruthi -T
2 mins alapana

6. RTP in AtanA
11 mins alapana and 6 mins taanam
pallavi and swaras in atana + poorvikalyani + kannada + maand
palavi for 35 mins
pallavi line was rA rA rA rAjeeva lOchanA aTi vegamE

7. thillana mangalakara mahAdeva (R)- pahAdi -LGJ
with 2 mins alapana
8. mangalam

[rajeshnat]

I did want to attend this abhishek - patri combo both are very enjoyable . I did not notice other artists till i entered and to my surprise I found other two V Suresh and Mysore Nagaraj, Both these artists though very popular I have not had a chance to hear them for atleast 4 to 5 years .

Abhishek started with kAnadA varnam . IT is a lovely varnam and the ragam KAnadA is personally very dear to me . To an extent one can observe aurally the voice of vocalist when KAnadA ragam is sung and abhishek did have a great voice - no season problem today and the start was very good with percussion gelling right from there.

The next was kalala nerchina krithi and was sung in a fairly high speed , the brigas were just beginning to shape but i had a share of disappointment when he only sang a swara sketch in this rare deepakam raga. I almost forgot the raga and had a faint recollection of hearing a rare GNB recording -looked abhishek put a tick mark for rendering atleast one rare krithi in academy.

The devamanOhari was well done , i felt he could have gone bit more in swaras but nevertheless the rhythmmic stamp with the two extraordinary percussion greats was getting ready to be showcased from there on. The alapana in kalyani was indeed a brilliant one , I am generally phobic to this raga - with few greats only this kalyani interests me . Abhishek showed how much his head is aligned with raga swaroopam with plenty of brigas it was a treat . The classic Semmangudi patented krithi needu charanamule was sung brilliantly the speed of this krithi is a joy and abhishek sang it with an inquisitive mind . The neraval was well done with few pidis in manonmani was a real value for my own money. (I had to pay a lot more to attend this concert) . With neraval they went with an explosive tani. I was thinking Abhishek was just singing twice with few swara lines at the end of tani. For a moment I was even thinking he missed the right touch point to join back post tani with the krithi . O gosh i did not know that swaras are following tani . It was a R N T S main . kalyAni swaras were more of single avarthanam very heavy on rhythmic complexity but certainly suresh and patri were in for a long aesthetic ride and they did show their class

In the next ganamuthi raga alapana i guessed it right with many saying few more ragas . I was thinking is he singing ganamurthi raga RTP. The famous krithi was sung with a little heavy dose of excess virtuosity - I would not say that i enjoyed that much this krithi. The RTP in atana was well done for most of the pallavi . The alapana had two rounds of violin return . Abhishek had his assertion with atAnA and in the pallavi he started with few lines of bala kanakamaya like krithi rA rA .The pallavi line was rA rA rajeeva lochana ati vegamE , i was thinking ati vegamE was in line with his music . I could not comprehend fully the raga change , I could not spot the poorvikalyani during pallavi neraval but did spot the kannada and maand very distincy in pallavi neraval. For my mandu head maand was quite clear. The swaras had distinct short burst of all four ragas(atana, poorvikalyani,kannada and mAnd ) - it was more of the four enjoying with their advanced knowledge as performers. The pallavi was not that easy on my head for the second half , but it was abhishek brilliance exhibited with his high cerebral thinking.

The last ghazal - can I say pahadi is just ghazal . The only number that i know in pahadi came and that was lalgudi thillana and abhishek gave a different finish.

The percussion team was a joy and they were simply outstanding . It has been many years since i heard ghatam suresh .The way he gave returns especially matching patri in tani was superb. Overall Patri usage of left and lot of gumkhis was special to this concert . I would not say Mysore nagaraj was at his best . There was considerable roughness and the naadham of his violin was not aurally that pleasing. He showed lot of virtousity in handling his instrument especially in pallavi but i wish he had bit more tonal aura with his violin.

Overall an excellent concert for 2 hours and 40 minutes.

[pattamaa]

outstanding to say the least... such a super fast kalyani... i am also not a kalyani liker, but this essay went off well with me...

pallavi was in adi talam 1 kalai - thisra nadai, samam eduppu; pallavi and swara raga malika in purvi kalyani, kanada, mand and sama.

pallavi was rather simple i think, for his brilliance....

but kalyani is the talk of the town.... arguably the very best... i couldn't digest everything he sang... just mesmerizing... heard some mama talking, he didn't like this kalyani, but that's how abhishek is...

nagaraj was little screechy and scratchy to my comfort... but abhishek overshadowed patri and suresh.... i couldn't focus on mridangam at all... he had all my attention...

[kvchellappa]

Harimau's BP is going up!

[Navaneethakrishnan]

Kalyani ragam just brilliant. What a creativity? Smooth flowing sangatis and breathable taking brigas were jus outdo the world. Iam happy that i listened to this great concert.

[sureshvv]

Mysore Nagaraj was terrible. In his quest for speed, the bow turned into a hacksaw. Charumathy Raghuraman should hold a clinic for speed & pleasant bowing.

[hnbhagavan]

Mysore Nagaraj's bowing was very smooth a few years back.But the duet concerts and Jugalbandi concerts has taken toll on his violin playing.I have been observing this since a couple of years.Especially in duet concerts the high pitch playing to the gallery has to do with this.But i am surprised that Rasikas made the observation regarding the tonal quality in the concert accompaniment.
Listen to Mysore Nagaraj accompaniment to T N Seshagopalan.This may be a old one.The Violin sound is very smooth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrOXHZdDH5c

[rajeshnat]

pallavi was in adi talam 1 kalai - thisra nadai, samam eduppu; pallavi and swara raga malika in purvi kalyani, kanada, mand and sama.

Kannada raga. I completely missed the sama. By the way was all ragas sung in pallavi neraval - pattamma.

Suresh/Pattamaa
Did he do a bedham in kalyani alapana to another raga - it was bit fleeting ?

[thanjavooran]

I am not able to understand why, instead of expressing views on the thread, person unconcerned is dragged into this, wasting one's energy and time. My personal request though it is their liberty to post message, let us be little considerate in this regard.
Thanjavooran
23 12 2015

[ram1999]

How many seconds and nano seconds did the concert last ?

[sureshvv]

Kannada raga. I completely missed the sama. By the way was all ragas sung in pallavi neraval - pattamma.

Sama was introduced by the violinist and not particularly distinctly. Abhishek dilineated it clearly in the reverse ragamalika swaras.

Suresh/Pattamaa
Did he do a bedham in kalyani alapana to another raga - it was bit fleeting ?

I think there was a foray into mohanam( in the sense of the scale ) also emulated by the violin.

[satyabalu]

Given his supreme credentials he can also moderate on frequent calling
aha Sabash ., reciprocating by way of concluding the Raga elaboration of one by the other was very novel between Nagaraj and Raghuraman. The violin naadam became jarring while coping up with the main artiste's speedy phrases .No mistakes discernable and no repetition .Why We should feel heavy after a concert .?Sukam & Sowkyam to prevail and pervade besides exposition of vidwat!
Needu carana pankaja – Kalyani – Adi (Mudra : Varada Venkata ) is a rare one from Pallavi Gopala Iyer.(pre trinity),
Kazhalanerchina and Evarikai avadharamu were earlier nos.

[pattamaa]

Rajesh, yes he did graha bedam, but mohanam wasnt evident explicitly. Nagaraj response had mohanam.