Taala Vadya Kucheris

[kssr]

For quite some time now, we see several concerts where a senior mridangam vidwan sits in the centre. On his sides flute,violin, veena and a range of other percussionists arrange themselves.
Just like in a regular concert the violin or flute or veena play a song and the mridangam plays his usual part. In between after a song, there is an elaborate thani avarthanam with all percussionists joining in.
For an ordinary rasika it appears to be a normal concert except that
a. the mridanga vidwan pushes out the main artists to the side
b. a longish thani
c. less enjoyable compared to a regular concert except probably for a student of mridangam.

What is the significance of this so called "Taala Vaadya Kutcheri", if any. In whose interest is it arranged, except for the mridangam. Just a bit puzzling. I guess that there must be more of value that is hidden in these concerts, except the naïve points noted above.

Can specialists clarify?

[Nick H]

a. the mridanga vidwan pushes out the main artists to the side

In such a concert, there is no such pushing, because the mridangam artist is the main artist.

b. a longish thani

In such a concert, the thani is not an interval: it is the main piece.

c. less enjoyable compared to a regular concert except probably for a student of mridangam.

It is a matter of taste and choice. There are not very many. I can say that, when I was a mridangam student, I might have sought them out, but now, my priorities have changed, and I don't.

What is the significance of this so called "Taala Vaadya Kutcheri"

It does what it says on the box. It is for those with particular interest in laya and laya instruments, and others need not attend. I would file this one under Live And Let Live

(They have another purpose too: they go down very well in overseas concert halls, where even the opening na-ta-ta-dhin of mridnagam or tabla will be greeted by thunderous applause from the majority-non-Indian-origin audiences)

[ramarama]

Relatedly, I have also seen these concerts in which the mridangam is pushed to the side, and the kanjira or ghatam player to the back, and some flautist or violinist plays song after song, sort of killing time until the mridangist and the kanjira/ghatam player play a tani avartanam, first as solos, and then as in a jugalbandi. And for some reason, the concert does not even stop after that - the violinist or flautist just continues playing some more songs after that, until the mridangist ends it all with a loud teermanam in perfect unison with the kanjira/ghatam. What is the significance of this type of a concert?

Puzzled,

Sivaramaduraimanishankaran

P.S. Just kidding lah ....

[Nick H]

Maybe those pesky violinists, flautists, vocalists etc just couldn't let the percussionists have their day, and insisted on getting on the stage with them? Why do those people have to be there in every concert?


P.S. Also just kidding...

(What I want to know is... why does the violinist always have to play the electric, non-acoustic version of the instrument? When amplified, it sounds much the same. Do they have to own one, especially for these concerts? They can't be cheap! perhaps several violinists share one?)

[hnbhagavan]

It happens when a Mridangam artist becomes very senior and wants to be in center stage.Many senior artists like UK Sivaraman.Karaikudi Mani etc nowadays accompany young junior artists.In order to hog more limelight such concerts are planned.generally for serious rasikas these concerts have no appeal.

[VK RAMAN]

I believe who ever takes lead in the tala vadyam sits in the middle or at the discretion of the organizers what they like to highlight as main vadyam.

[kssr]

Two more ideas.
1. A mridangam is often called " not only tala vadhyam but also naada vadhyam" . Actually very true. Senior players can produce all swaras precisely in mridangam. But all said and done, it is a pakka vadhyam, a supporting instrument. In spite of the excellent naadam one can produce, will any mridangam vidwan be asked " saar, can you please play Entaro mahaanubhavulu". No. The location on stage probably cannot make it the central musical entity in a concert.

2. In hindusthani, do they have a similar tabla centric concert? Just a curiosity.

[braindrain]

KSSR,

Bangalore has many such events on a regular basis. Sukanya Ramgopal and her ensemble on Ghatam, The Udupa and his team ( saw a video of their performance at Guruvayur Temple, which I liked), Anoor Group's kitchen Utensils ensemle ( mostly a curiosity than musical value) and many more.

Not sure of the hindustani, but on the western music, I like the Danish pair Safri Duo's music ( or whatever we call them)

[ramarama]

To answer KSSR, yes, there are tabla solo (and sometimes duet) concerts in Hindustani music. They usually have only a sarangi or a harmonium playing along as accompaniment (called lehara - sort of like the pallavi line over and over again). Here's a nice example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtRPB8xHP8M

The tabla solo concerts are usually not very long - in a festival that has 1.5 to 2 hour concerts by vocalists and instrumentalists, a tabla solo may be given a half hour slot, or an hour or so at most. Of course, sometimes, they also have a full blown ensemble - but those are like tala vadya kacheris - tabla, pakhawaj, mridangam, some folk drums, western drums perhaps. But a pure classical solo tabla concert is certainly part (though not very popular) part of the Hindustani tradition. You may also know of course, that in a Hindustani instrumental concert (and rarely in vocal concerts too), the main performer will (at a few different points in the slow and fast tempo compositions) indicate to the tabla player that it is his/her turn to play some solo bits (and the instrumentalist will then just play the lehera, the pallavi or sthayi line over and over again to maintain the count - instead of keeping count by hand).

[kunthalavarali]

Yella Venkateswara Rao has played a full length concert using 9 mrudangams with violin accompaniment.