Ranjani & Gayatri at Tampa, FL May 01,016

[Sundara Rajan]

Ranjani & Gayatri at Swaralaya, Tampa, FL on May 01, 2016
Violin: M. Rajeev
Mridamgam: Sai Giridhar

The sisters started their concert at 5:15 p.m. with
1. HMB’s dAru varNam mAthE malayathwaja sanjAthE in kamAs.
2. Purandara dAsa’s CharaNu siddhi vinayakam in sowrAshtram
3. Dikshitar’s rangapura vihAra in brinAvana sAranga
4. Ranjani rendered an elaborate thOdi AlApana for 8 minutes followed by
5 minutes of violin return. The sisters presented one of ThyarAja’s Srirangam
Pancharatnam “rAju vedale jUthamurArE”.
Excellent neraval and swaram at “kAvEri theeramunalu” alternated by Ranjani & Gayatri for a total of 35minutes. I was wondering whether the thOdi was
sub main or main, since it was only 6:12 p.m. It tuned out to be the only Main.
5. mArimuthA PiLLai’s Yadukula kAmbodhi piece, not often heard these days,
kAlathooki ninRAdum deivamE, popularised by NC VasanthakOkilam’s 78 RPM record.
I should appreciate the correct enunciation by the sisters of the line
“vElai thookkum piLLaithanai petRa deivamE”,வேலைத்தூக்கும் பிள்ளைதனைபெற்ற தெய்வமே
unlike some others who would sing வேலைத்தூக்கும் பிள்ளைய்ய்ய்....... தனைப்பெற்ற
vElaithookumpiLLaiiiii ---- ThanaipetRa deivamE!
6. Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar’s (“pOOchi’s) dEvamanohari composition
neekEla nAyeta. I have not heard this sung by anyone after I heard Ariyakkudi in 1960.
7. Next came the RTP in ranjani, appropriately started with AlApana by Ranjani & violin return for a total of 15 minutes followed by thAnam alternately by the sisters for 8 minutes.
The pallavi line was “ ranjani kanchadalalOchani brOvavammA thalli niranjani”
in thisrajathi thriputa thALa in kanda nadai. 10 minutes of pallavi followed by ragamAlika swaras, alternated by the two, as would be expected in a series of ranjanies.
Personally ranjani rAga is not my cup of tea, as it sounds “somber or morose” to me.
Even so, the sisters made me sit up and enjoy their presentation with their thAnam and a cascade of swaras in ranjani, janaranjani, mEgaranjani, manOranjani, sivaranjani and sumanEsaranjani ! Kudos to the sisters .

This was followed by a brisk fast paced thani avarthanam for ten minutes.

8. Looked forward to: tamil viruttham : “ koLLithalayil eRumbu athupOl kuzhayum enthan
uLLatthuyaRai ozhittharuLvAi-----------” starting in kAmbOdhi------- ending in kApi raga
8a. followed by pApanAsam Sivan’s “sOdanai sumaikku evvEzhai ALA” in kApi raga.
9. entha puNyavE gopi enthA bhAgayvE of Purandara dAsa.

Obama ended his correspondents’ dinner with "How can I end without talking about Trump?”

Similarly what will an R & G’s concert be without an Abhang ?! Yes
10.Audience request: abhung in raga Lalith “sakhA mAtha nArayaNa”

Violinist Rajeev and mridangist Giridhar provided adequate support.

I was wondering if I should drive the 100+ miles each way to Tampa in 90*F weather, since I had heard thee sisters recently at Cleveland. It was well worth it. It was a very good to excellent three hour concert indeed.

[rajeshnat]

cascade of swaras in ranjani, janaranjani, mEgaranjani, manOranjani, sivaranjani and sumanEsaranjani
....
Obama ended his correspondents’ dinner with "How can I end without talking about Trump?”
Similarly what will an R & G’s concert be without an Abhang ?! Yes

I was wondering if I should drive the 100+ miles each way to Tampa in 90*F weather, since I had heard thee sisters recently at Cleveland. It was well worth it. It was a very good to excellent concert indeed.

what a joy to read your review sundara rajan sir considering your age where you drive this long to hear a concert . while you have given enough hint that you like kharaharapriya, i thought you would have had a solace with a sriranjani swaras in ranjani ragamaliga swaras . but it turned out that you did not get that near close kharaharapriya (sriranjani) . They also ended with their trump card with a bang . Lalit is a very emotively stirring raga. How long was the concert sir?

[Sundara Rajan]

Thank you , Rajesh for your comments. The concert was exactly for THREE hours, every minute enjoyed. Yes, Sriranjani would have made it more enjoyable, unless I had missed to note it in the fast paced cascade of the ragas. Thankfully, I have managed to do my own driving this far even at 83. Even night driving is not as difficult as it used to be after my recent cataract surgery. The good lord has been nice to me. I do not know the source of the tamil Viruttham on Lord Subrahmanya. Hope either you or some one else could provide the source and the lyrics of the viruttham.

[arasi]

Sundara Rajan,
So happy to get a review from you (as we always are), and appreciation from us all for sharing (driving that far to hear the sisters)...

Mmm...ranjani not your cup of tea? To me, it has an intrigue about it, which pleases. Sivaranjani? Yes, I feel the same way you do--what you feel about ranjani!

Ah, more viruthams in concerts, and the sisters ARE good at it. I do not know the line either, but the word would be 'irutalaik koLLi' eRumbu?

[rajeshnat]

8. Looked forward to: tamil viruttham : “ koLLithalayil eRumbu athupOl kuzhayum enthan
uLLatthuyaRai ozhittharuLvAi-----------” starting in kAmbOdhi------- ending in kApi raga
8a. followed by pApanAsam Sivan’s “sOdanai sumaikku evvEzhai ALA” in kApi raga.

I do not know the source of the tamil Viruttham on Lord Subrahmanya. Hope either you or some one else could provide the source and the lyrics of the viruttham.

sundararajan sir

Searching this forum i found a reference to VK 2014 chicago review where he has put the viruththam is from kandar alankaram . Possibly the sisters exactly sang the same ragas and also added kandar anubhooti too...

VK reference is as below

9. Viruththam ( kambhoji, behag(?), kapi )
koLLith thalaiyil eRumbu adhupOlak kulaiyum endRan ( Kandar Alankaram - 106 )
aaThaaram ilEn aruLai- peRavE ( kandar anuboodhi - 26 )
Sodanai sumaikkavezhai ALa subramanya - Papanasan Sivan - kapi

[malavi]

The virutham is from Kandar Alankaram about Senthil Aandavan

[Sundara Rajan]

Thank you both, Rajesh and Malavi for the information.

[vasanthakokilam]

Enjoyed reading your review Sundara Rajan. Glad that you can travel independently that far to attend CM concerts. I need to remember this whenever the weight of lethargy suffocates out the fledgling desire to travel a bit to hear some good live music.

kAlai thUkki is one of my most favorite songs. The folksy raga and the folksy lyrics is a great combination. The effects I feel when I listen to the divine version by MSS is really beyond words. I didn't know there is a 78 RPM of that song by NCV.

[arasi]

Of all the people, you Kokilam?

Fledglings takes flight for sure
Not lethargy, we know well
Ball games beckon on the box
Hence, get rid of that wand!
No snow to shovel for months
No grass to cut yet--why stay?

Nothing like a live concert