Papanasam Sivan 125th Anniv- SRLKM Lecdem Gayathri Girish & Radha Bhaskar

[Rsachi]

I was one of some 75 people who prioritised music over T20 and attended this lecdem. Photos from that concert (courtesy Badari) here:
https://www.facebook.com/gayathri.giris ... 9071059952

Y'day was the Kapali Kumbhabhishekam and Sivan's chosen deity was KapalISa.
The lec-dem was organised by Vid. Neela Ramagopal.

Both Gayathri Girish and Radha Bhaskar work well to tell the story and share music seamlessly. Gayathri is a very confident singer with a robust and pliable voice that works in the lower octave better than most female vocalists'. Radha has a fund of musical stories and knowledge. They sang the Tillana together.

They covered a wide range of krithis from the greatest composer of the 20th century (if you ask me) including his inspirations from Thyagaraja, his unique structuring of the charanams to reveal hidden nuances of a raga, his refreshing approach to the big six ragas, his proficiency in Sanskrit, his lilting compositions full of rakthi from the word go....
Manipravalam, Tamil, Sanskrit, prosody highlights of Sivan's works.
His rare Tillana in Behag. His Sanskrit compositions especially SrI mAdhava were sung brilliantly by Gayathri. Similarly Radha sang Kaa Vaa Vaa and Devi niye thunai very well.

It was a very rewarding evening. 5-7:15PM.

Bangalore is as hot as Chennai but it is raining concerts, especially next weekend (Yugadi weekend).

Hotstar helped me quell the complaining cricket-crazy me by streaming the English batting live during the drive back home. And Braithwaite's four sixes were enjoyed in large screen HD splendour (something Dhoni and Shruti Hasan strongly recommend) from my rather comfortable couch, eating Bangalore's best home delivery North Indian vegetarian food from Imli, Indiranagar.

Best wishes to this cerebral musical exposition duo!

[kvchellappa]

Were you sitting in third row or so, with Badari Prasad (?) next to you, (who handed the camera to someone behind who took the pictures)?

[kvchellappa]

They are both excellent communicators and their exposition was clear and pointed.
I learnt how kalapramana changes the raga swaroopa within its grammar when RB explained and GG sang Ma Ramanan (vilamba kala), Samagana Lolane (madhyama kala) and Nambikketavar (duritha kala).
RB explained beautifully how the music sangathis shadow meaning (cf Visakha HAri's discourse in Cleveland) illustrating Adum deivam Nee Arulvay".
It was riveting. One person was commenting to RB that it should have been at least a three hour programme. An interaction session at the end could have helped. I wanted to know whether there is any special feature in Enna Thavam Seithanai which has become very popular.

[Rsachi]

Yes KVC sir, I was seated next to Badari. Sorry I didn't know you were there. We could have met.
The ateeta and anaagata eduppu was also explained with examples. Shows Sivan lacked no composition skills.

I felt MANY Sivan compositions' Pallavi opening lend themselves to being used as RTP pallavi lines. Of course people like CRama will have many real world examples!

[CRama]

They had done this programme in Chennai in January and I had given a review of the same. It was a wonderful programme appreciated by all. I am very happy that Bangalore rasikas also got an opportunity to savour this excellent programme. The prog held in Chennai will be webcast in paalam in future. Pl watch for the date and don't miss it when it comes.

[Rsachi]

CRama's review from Chennai:
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic ... 35#p295055

[badari]

Were you sitting in third row or so, with Badari Prasad (?) next to you, (who handed the camera to someone behind who took the pictures)?

Yes Sir. @RSachi was seated next to me. Im in the pics link shared by RSachi

[kvchellappa]

I looked at you and you too did, whenever you turned back to tell something to your friend who took snaps. I was behind him. I half recognised you, having seen your photo in your email; I did think the person next to you could be Sri RSachi. When the programme was over, I said hello to the srtists and rushed out as my daughter was waiting. Hope to caatch up with you next time. Maybe Sanjay's concert.

[arasi]

My miss

[gardabha_gana]

Any recording? Too bad I missed it...

[kssr]

No accompaniments? Sometimes lecdemists or even katha kaalakshepamists keep best pakka vaadyams. Thanks for the review. Missed it (definitely not because of T20)

[Rsachi]

No accompaniment except two Radel vidwans keeping sruti.

[kvchellappa]

I thought it was sweet without accompaniments.

[Rsachi]

Yes, the usual accompaniment of violin and mridangam would have been out of place. The emphasis was on illustrating the various aspects of the compositions and there were no elaborate manodharma parts. Also the lyrics had to be heard very distinctly for appreciating the content. The two vidushis were very effective in communicating the points.

[badari]

Detailed notes from the LecDem is listed here...

http://arohanaavarohana.blogspot.in/201 ... sivan.html

[kvchellappa]

Those who missed the Bengaluru event can watch this in paalam.in/tv (at 7.30 PM)

Sivan Sangeetha Anubhavam by Dr.Radha Bhaskar & Gayathri Girish in PaalamTV
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