2016 May 05 Dr S Sowmya CharulataRamanujam HSSudheendra GiridharUdupa @ SRSM

[badari]

Vocal: Vid. Dr S Sowmya
Violin: Vid. CharulataRamanujam
Mridanga: Vid. HSSudheendra
Ghata: Vid. GiridharUdupa

01 vanajAkSirO I viraha kalyANi varNa Adi rAmanathapuram srInivAsa iyengAr
02 alakalalla lAdaga madhyamAvathi rUpaka thyAgarAja (S)
03 mAyUranATham DhanyAsi chApu muththuswAmy dhIkshithar (A)
04 manavi nAlakicha rAdhaTE naLinakAnthi Adhi thyAgarAga
05 amba mIna lOchani nAyaki mAyAvaram vishwanAtha shAstri (A)
06 vande sadA padmanAbham navarasakannaDa Adi swAthi thirunAL
07 RTP shaNmukhapriyA khanDa tripuTa, 1.5 beat edupu after smamam
swarAkshara pallavi line: srI rAma rAgahuvara ... sa dA mA pA hi
tani followed by rAgamAlika swaras in valaji sunAdavinOdini rEvati suruTi

08 bAgilanu teredu rEvati kanaka DAsa
09 chaliye kunjanamO brindAvana sArang swAti thirunAL
10 nInAma rUpamulaku mangaLa sourAshtra Adhi thyAgarAja

Pic and review @
http://arohanaavarohana.blogspot.com/20 ... owmya.html

[hnbhagavan]

Dear Badari,
Thank u for nice review.One or two small observations:
Dhanyasi alapana was around 10 minutes followed by violin return of 6 minutes.The Kritho MayUranAthan was taken up following alapana was not given detailed treatment without swara Prasthana and Neraval.It was wound up in abou 8 Minutes.
Generally the songs are given treatment as per the duration of alapana.May be there is no such rule,but practice wise Yes.
nalina Kanti - Manavyalakincha was given detailed treatment.
These are minor points in a concert which was certainly good in spite of rain dripping on the stage.

[badari]

Dhanyasi alapana was around 10 minutes followed by violin return of 6 minutes.The Kritho MayUranAthan was taken up following alapana was not given detailed treatment without swara Prasthana and Neraval.It was wound up in abou 8 Minutes.
Generally the songs are given treatment as per the duration of alapana.May be there is no such rule,but practice wise Yes.
nalina Kanti - Manavyalakincha was given detailed treatment.

Sir,
Since I joined only at nAyaki AlApan, I have no clue of how long each one of them were presented. Thanks for the inputs.

However, elsewhere I have observed,
1- tani for a song that does not have A / N / S
2- N for a song that does not have A
3- Main song worthy piece being presented as a filler (see one of my recent concert stories on pakkala nilabadi - being sung after the main pice of the day)

I hope the purists won't object to that level of treatment.

[gardabha_gana]

My family attended the concert and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had asked my daughter to pass on a "chit" for padams - Ososi or moratopu... but she didn't Maayuranatham is a wonderful song that Vijay Siva has sung a few times... Singing Dhanyasi alapana in itself deserves kudos along with Nayaki - I am sure I will get trolled Wish she had sung some Padams having been a disciple of Mukhta

[badari]

My family attended the concert and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I said Hi to them. Did not spot you next to them at that time.

[gardabha_gana]

Yeah badari...couldn't attend they enjoyed it... Sowmya has a very enviable lineage and one can look forward to exciting stuff!

[braindrain]

I too, would have loved a neraval or few rounds of swaras for dhanyAsi. But, she compensated with some 'swara thunder showers' for naLinakAnti. And the rain came pouring at this time. The next 10 -15 mins was in general disarray with lot of interruptions as water was dripping at multiple places on the stage. This prompted few re-arrangements, initially within the stage. Charulatha shifted from 'forward short leg' position to more 'square leg'. Sowmya was already seated very close to the mouthpiece of the mike and moved few inches further towards the edge. they got a few vessels to catch the dripping water on the stage, but it wasn't of great help. Finally, they decided to shift from the "unplayable pitch" to the adjacent one. The whole crew now moved approx 2 meter to the right and resumed the proceedings. I must add that, during the entire period the whole team were in good humour and that helped in easing the situation amicably.

[gardabha_gana]

Jayan, ready to get trolled on Dhanyasi (read my malladi opinion)

[Rsachi]

I think SRSM should start implementing the Duckworth Lewis method as they don't rainproof the stage or shamiana. I was last drenched there in a concert in 1982. There was also a lot of bugs on the floor like in a rain forest.

About HNB's comment, everyone agrees that there needs to be a sense of proportion in alapana, song, niraval, swara, tani etc. But sometimes, the musician makes on the spot changes based on the mood of the audience and the rasa-anubhava. So nothing needs to be hard and fast. Overall if the concert is a success, the purpose is served. It is like making batting order changes, the details are subsumed by the final outcome. This is my feeling.

[badari]

I think SRSM should start implementing the Duckworth Lewis method as they don't rainproof the stage or shamiana. I was last drenched there in a concert in 1982. There was also a lot of bugs on the floor like in a rain forest.

About HNB's comment, everyone agrees that there needs to be a sense of proportion in alapana, song, niraval, swara, tani etc. But sometimes, the musician makes on the spot changes based on the mood of the audience and the rasa-anubhava. So nothing needs to be hard and fast. Overall if the concert is a success, the purpose is served. It is like making batting order changes, the details are subsumed by the final outcome. This is my feeling.

@Sachi,
The interruption was so short, it did not require curtailing the match, but the stop time got extended and we had a full 3 hour treat.

[hnbhagavan]

In a Carnatic Music concert,I look for harmonious blending of vocalists and percussionists.In Sowmya's concert Mridangam was having very high volume most of the times and was a little dampener in this concert.

[dipukaruthedam]

Few points:
- I felt that Vid. Sowmya had some fragility in her voice in the upper octave, though she managed it reasonably. In the previous concert (of the same artist) I attended (few months before), it was even worse and it was a painful experience (both for artist and the listener)
- The rain did have some other side effects like shutting down of 2 loud speakers at the back (since water was falling on one!), but as already mentioned, it did not impact too much

On the point of Mridangam being loud, I have felt it in almost 80-90% of the concerts Most of the time, the mridangam artist checks the sound at the start of the concert by tapping gently and indicates the sound guys to increase the sound a bit more! And then, when the songs start, they pour all their energy down, drowning the vocal/violin by a great extent.

In my short concert experience (started quite recently), I have seen only 2 or 3 instances of a mridangist asking to bring down the volume (One time it was Arun Prakash, other time, it was Anantha if I remember it right). I find it very surprising that most artists do not ask the audience (who are the key consumers) after the first or second piece, if the volume sounds right and if it needs some adjustments. (Shashank does it regularly)

[Rsachi]

I think your comment is very right. Anantha in the rrcent RKM concert actually moved away from the mike since the mic guy was not reducing the amplification.
I have NEVER found him banging away to drown everyone else.

Anantha is really a wonderful artiste. Hats off to him.

[hnbhagavan]

Another Mridangam artist who keeps volume down is Manoj siva.He never bangs the Instrument.
I found Juniors who play in the 5-6 PM slot also think banging is a way to get recognised!
Another Side observation:Ramaseva Mandali is pouring 20-25 Lakhs for setting up the pandal.But the Pandal did not protect even the stage when it was most required.