Maharajapuram Ramachandran@Nageswaran house on Aug07th,2016

[rajeshnat]

Maharajapuram Ramachandran@Nageswaran house on Aug07th,2016
--------------------------------------------
Vocal : Maharajapuram Ramachandran
Violin : Kumbakonam M R Gopinath
Mrudangam : Mannargudi Easwaran

Concert Type : Nirvana - No concert to follow
Day/Duration : Sunday /2 hours and 50 mins
Residence Hall: Nageswaran House at West Mambalam

1. It was not varnam - nera nammiTi - KAnadA - Poochi
But Adi tala Kannada varnam of patnam's

2. pranamAmyaham (S)- gowlai - MV
7 mins swaras
3. TsAla kallalAdu (N,S) - Arabi- T
5 mins neraval in illalO sari mAtala and 5 mins swaras

4. mahA tripura sundari (R ,S) - valaci - NS Ramachandran
11 mins alapana and 5 mins violin return
5. nee VAda nee gAna (S) - sArangA - T

6. shree venkatesham bhajAmi sathatham (R , S) - kalyana vasantham - Authorship in dispute (MD or Ambi dikshitar 0r JCWodeyar)
11 mins alapana and 5 mins violin return

7A. endukO nee manasu (R N S T) - kalyani - T
11 mins alapana and 6 mins violin return
7 mins neraval in thyagaraja hridaya
8 mins swaras
7B. tani for 5 mins

8. RTP in brindavana saranga
7 mins R , 3 mins T, Totally 21 mins pallavi
pallavi line nAthanai dinam ninai manamE brindAvana sAranga ranga
swara ragamaliga in brindavana saranga + shree ranjani + janaranjani + sumanesaranjani

9. entha velaiyum - brindavani - Yazhpaanam veeramani
brief speech by the Don Nageswaran sir for just a minute thanking the artist
10. nee nAma roopamulaku - sowrAshtram - T

[rajeshnat]

Maharajapuram School has a very special influence on me a rasika. The joy of hearing santhanam as he singularly baptized me into CM . I was not alone in this - join the CM bandwagon with santhanam . THere were atleast 5 to 10 lakh rasikas like me - irrespective of age in 1980's till 1992- vidwan santhanam brought in many to appreciate CM. His voice and the joy of he singing few ragas like sivaranjani, revati , brindavana saranga to name a few were just astounding .

The Joy of santhanam also created an interest to hear his appa vishwanatha iyer especially the 1956 music academy recording with krishnan iyengar or some one in mrudangam . The extraordinary manodharmam especially from #2 to #5th till before main is pounding - so much of imagination especially vishwanatha iyer style of never allowing the violinist to play even one full sangathi in return. I heard vishwanatha iyer more from year 2000 days after the birth of internet downloads what a pity i was not born at all when he sang.

Some where in 1994 to 1996 I attended the first single concert of ramachandran sir trying to get over the grief of santhanam passing away. This was a concert of ramachandran near my home at upanishad ashram in nungambakkam. I was not happy with ramachandran , perhaps the concert itself was a short one with a lot of interruption at the end with lot of chits from beginning and with speeches in the end it was a short concert- those were the days when I donot know the value of absolute time given to the vidwans/vidushis in stage . Who cared then if the concert is nirvana/non nirvana with a 90 minutes to 2 hour crap - the caliber of artists never come out of this structural fault - you just blame ramachandran and sub consciously go with the view that ramachandran is just half as good as his appa santhanam (just like rohan gavaskar is not as good as sunil gavaskar which is true in cricket but turns out not true in CM atleast in maharajapuram ramachandran-santhanam-vishwanatha iyer case).

As years roll by a new angle of truth appears all within me . Vishwantha iyer had always support of santhanam - the turbulent lakshya manodharmam was taken care by thatha vishwanatha iyer , but the krithi lakshanam was grounded by son santhanam . Looking at the son Santhanam concert , almost all of the concerts had one of vishwanatha iyer grand sons (ramachandran and srinivasan)or Dr ganesh accompanying . YOu can look at many recordings say santhanam singing with power in nattai mahaganapathi than one of the trios singing manasA smarAmi. Santhanam holds most of the power and post main and tani he launches into a viruththam / slokham with full throated vocal honesty - it does not matter what raga he chooses though he chooses the emote ragas filled with his vocal power . Lucky days for tatha Vishwanatha Iyer and appa santhanam - a generation of vocal support existed

Since 2010 another new angle has emerged . Let me mentally segment single or dual artists.It takes himalayan imagination and stamina to sing with no support and sharing of stage . TO put it more asserively in my own parlance all these duos whethers sisters or brothers or guru-sishya are varying degrees of OB adichufying . CM is more about singing with your *own* imagination in a *standalone * manner.

What does the grand son ramachandran do in 2016 (whom I assume has already become a grandfather)??? . Ramachandran started with KAnadA and I was not there and I just came with gowlai rolling . SAreeram in full control especially more in the swaras with some goose bump moments ma pa ni???

Mahavishnu(Ramesh) appa along with amma egged arabi and popped tsala kalla ladu . The ferrari ride of ramachandran began like his tatha with illalO neraval was lovely , the swaras were not as great as what I heard in last 2015 season - nevertheless the arabi superstar created a thatha effect without his appa support. I am assuming valaci was another request - suresh pointed me to that, assuming nageswaran asked the same . Valaci alapana was done with clinical precision especially with hmmmmmm hmmmmm garam closed mouth alapana sangathis, the NS Ramachandran krithi that followed was sung but he could not sing with a clean finish. Swaras were well done in valaci.

Saranga popped up for a moment i was thinking appA kalyani varaDhu with a prathi madhyamam raga ticked was what i thought?? . Saranga was a filler but did not fill me that much.Kalyana vasantham alapana was really superb . I would like all the cows in south india to hear kalyana vasantham so that we have more milk production than even Amul.What emote and what a joy to hear ramachandran singing that raga without an ounce of sag. The next krithi was shree venkatesham it had a guruguha mudra , he himself announced that it was MD krithi. At the end I told him that in forum it was mentioned that the krithi author was JC wodeyar maharaja(I recollected DR srikant murthy mentioned it in the submerged sangeetham.com ) . Ramachandran sir politely told, i learnt from my appa and the authorship was under dispute. NOw i just googled to find it was also mentioned ambi dikshitar. One can see a difference in approach from other popular MD krithis whether it is JCW or Ambi dikshitar is what i think is right . THe shree venkatesham krithi is superb - this krithi is on lOrd venkateshwara and for a change there was no jerugandi rush of tirumala with a pristine mention about pushkarni lake around tirumala.

Even with saranga gone the kalyani came again. I remember once raji gopalakrishnan did the same saranga and kalyani drop to me . Kalyani had the initial drowsy paracetamol drops but in the second half with superb brigas ramachandran gave the hidden kalyani oomph that i usually like . More than the krithi enduko manasu I liked his neraval charge and swaras . Felt the duration of neraval and swaras in main was not reallly MAIN , the ideas in kalyani swaras were bit more aesthetic than neraval of kalyani which was strictly boxed in kalpita than kalpana.

If kalyani personally fits as a finalist of the ragas that i dont like , out came the winner of the ragas that I love - brindavana saranga or brindavani. The brindava saranga pallavi was censored due to hard stop situation as easwaran sir had to leave at 08:30 . Certainly the alapana was heavenly, taanam was shortened but was well done . The pallavi with trikaalam was there without losing raga bhavam. THe maligas of ranjani's were touch and go- I wish he sang more and forgot about the 08:30 pm hard stop or better yet i wish the clock was running 15 minutes slow. Then easwaran sir egged ramachandran sir to sing a fantastic tukkada - entha velaiyum . Yazhpaanam veeramani gives papanasam sivan touch to bring such elicit thamizh sangathis as a vaggeyakkara - you feel Lord MUruga is there in that house - quite apt for nageswaran house which is named after Lord subramanya.

M R Gopinath never errs on proportion and he never intrudes during krithi . The bowing had a great press and I liked it the best in valaci , kalyana vasantham - found melakartha 65 had a slight dose of roughness. Easwaran was fantastic . ramachandran - easwaran have telepathic understanding and easwaran sir is a joy who lifted the concert where he kept the limelight consistently on the vocalist and also showed his individuality. I am not complaining about the short tani.

Thanks to nageswaran sir who was gA gA along with ramesh(mahavishnu)parents. The other duos whom I like NIck/SureshVV and SRK/CRama were also there.

The grandson ramachandran whenever he goes down from mel to keezh kalam - whether it is his hmmmm....karam alapana in valachi or candra puShkariNi teera vihAram in kalyana vasantham or mandAra pushpa mAni marbazhagan in brindavani - your ears just donot listen at that time every cell in your body becomes a ear.

Wow maharajapuram 3.0 with your non ob adichufying music from deep throated nAbhi.

Overall an excellent concert for 2 hours and 50 minutes.

[sureshvv]

Item #1 was Adi tala Kannada varnam of patnam's.

One of the hallmarks of Sri Ramachandran's style of singing is the usage of aakaram, eekaram, ookaram, mmkaram etc. and the felicity with which he moves from one to the other to bring out the full raga bhavam over the course of the alapana, This was on display in all its glory yesterday.

Kudos to Sri Nageswaran for organizing the concert. This is the 2nd concert I am listening to at his house and it is amazing how the artistes go the extra mile to please the audience in a warm and comfortable setting.

[S.NAGESWARAN]

DEAR RASIKAS,

THE DROP BOX LINKS OF THE PHOTOS TAKEN DURING THE CONCERT OF SRI MAHARAJAPURAM RAMACHANDRAN ON 07.08.2016 ARE GIVEN BELOW.

1.https://www.dropbox.com/s/2cn16ywvpt556fo/MAHARAJAPURAM%
20RAMACHANDRAN%20CONCERT%2007.08.16.jpg?dl=0

2.https://www.dropbox.com/s/uymxrnozbxxwv ... MACHANDRAN%
20CONCERT%2007.08.16%20%282%29%20-%20Copy.jpg?dl=0

3.https://www.dropbox.com/s/q385kb8jkl27ol6/MAHARAJAPURAM%
20RAMACHANDRAN%20CONCERT%2007.08.16%20%282%29.jpg?dl=0

4.https://www.dropbox.com/s/hx19brf7uu0hpco/MAHARAJAPURAM%
20RAMACHANDRAN%20CONCERT%2007.08.16%20%283%29.jpg?dl=0

S.NAGESWARAN.
08.08.2016.

[S.NAGESWARAN]

DEAR RASIKAS,

THE DROP BOX LINK OF THE VIDEO CLIP OF THE CONCERT OF SRI MAHARAJAPURAM RAMACHANDRAN
ON 07.08.2016 IS GIVEN BELOW.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/354 ... 55.10.divx

S.NAGESWARAN.
08.08.2016.

[CRama]

It was a very good concert by Maharajapuram Ramachandran with M.R.Gopinath and, M.Easwaran. M.Ramachandran with his full open throated voice with hmmkaarams and all kaaramas provided a weighty music just like his father. Remembered many concerts I heard of his father with vocal support by Ramachandran or Sreenivasan. That was a real golden period. Sri.Santhanam was a rage among concert goers of that period. But many of his ardent rasikas forced him to sing some selected songs in all the concerts and always wanted to hear his Arabhi and Mohanam. That apart, his concert was a classic one which we dearly missed by his untimely passing away.

This is the second concert of Ramachandran that I heard. He was very sincere and used the available time to sing four raga alapanas, when two has become the norm. Myself and SRK requested for any song in Kannada ragam (with a detailed raga alapana), he presented a varnam in Kannada which we have never heard. This varnam had many unique sancharams which were really enjoyable. The neraval and swarams in Tsalakallaladu was electric. All the ragams were elaborated with brimming raga bhavam and a rolling voice replete with plain notes and brighas in right proportion. In spite of a tight time schedule, he managed to squeeze a RTP as Nageswaran Sir told in the beginning that we were aspiring for a pallavi. The pallavi rendered with full justification satisfyiing necessary technical parameters.

Before the concert, we had some time talking with MRC about rasikas forum. He is a frequent visitor to the site and recalled our discussions on a review of his concert in Bangalore and also about Bhairavi ragam and Maharajapuram that we discussed. How I wished, today he will sing Bhairavi. Alas. It was Kalyani again.

But my personal crib is that he had chosen all scalar ragams like Valaji, Kalyanavasantham and Brindavanasaranga apart from the main Kalyani. Instead, he could have included one rakthi ragam like Reethigowla, Mukhari or Durbar (Their school is famous for Durbar). That would have given a different dimension for the concert. This pallavi was coined by Easwaran Sir. I remember hearing this pallavi from somebody else- probably Suryaprakash.

Limitless thanks to Nageswaran Sir for hosting the concert and for uploading the photos and video of the concert.

Thanks for your review Rajesh. But I would like to reply to some assumptions of Rajesh.

TO put it more asserively in my own parlance all these duos whethers sisters or brothers or guru-sishya are varying degrees of OB adichufying .

I strongly disagree with the above statement. There had been lot of Guru-sishyas and brothers and sisters who have given us wonderful concert experiences over the past sixty or more years and you cannot put down everybody as OBI ADICHUFYING. I take this to mean as ematharadu. Tell me if my understanding of your term is not correct.

Just take the example of Sri Santhanam- your own favourite star. True. He was singing Mahaganapthim and his son was singing Manasa smarami. It is more like a style that he adopted. Not because he lacked lung power or voice power to sing one full line himself. In fact, when I was hearing that in live concerts, I did not like it. A person who is capable of leasing long alapana passages or a long swirl of swaras, is he not able to sing one line fully himself. Because his son was singing along with him can you call him also Obi………. Supporting voice may help when you take breath or when you forget some words. To gratify one person we need not demean others.

[rajeshnat]

I strongly disagree with the above statement. There had been lot of Guru-sishyas and brothers and sisters who have given us wonderful concert experiences over the past sixty or more years and you cannot put down everybody as OBI ADICHUFYING. I take this to mean as ematharadu. Tell me if my understanding of your term is not correct.

Just take the example of Sri Santhanam- your own favourite star. True. He was singing Mahaganapthim and his son was singing Manasa smarami. It is more like a style that he adopted. Not because he lacked lung power or voice power to sing one full line himself. In fact, when I was hearing that in live concerts, I did not like it. A person who is capable of leasing long alapana passages or a long swirl of swaras, is he not able to sing one line fully himself. Because his son was singing along with him can you call him also Obi………. Supporting voice may help when you take breath or when you forget some words. To gratify one person we need not demean others.

Crama
Personally to my taste i like the individual style of concerts as there is more individuality that comes than rather many duos(not all duos) who settle with the golden mean . May be there is a bit of crudeness in using the phrase OB adichufying - it is just a thamizh slang word to mean many things . In general if one person sings there is a pragmatic issue where the best energy has already got dissipated prior to the point where the singer just begins long cycles of viruththam or a slokham.

Vidwans like maharajapuram santhanam *reserved * their best of energy till that exact point in beginning of viruththam / slokham coming with longer cycle of oomph effect sangathis and in all those concerts prior to that out of the world rendition they have taken sufficient voice rest like giving the submain to the lesser dominant artist . IT is not mahaganapathi and manasAsmarAmi alone it was just an illustrative point to just give a view point of reserving the energy and giving the best when there is a usual sag for many concerts .Of course there are few exceptions to counter this point.

[rajeshnat]

But my personal crib is that he had chosen all scalar ragams like Valaji, Kalyanavasantham and Brindavanasaranga apart from the main Kalyani. Instead, he could have included one rakthi ragam like Reethigowla, Mukhari or Durbar (Their school is famous for Durbar). That would have given a different dimension for the concert. This pallavi was coined by Easwaran Sir. I remember hearing this pallavi from somebody else- probably Suryaprakash.

Crama ,
saranga is also a rakthi ragam - may be not as rakthi as Reethigowlai it may be termed half rakthi . I think this rakthi and non rakthi is also a bit of another OB adichufying classification which i donot always get it as my head is perhaps too scalar.

Suryaprakash has sung few years back a double raga pallavi with words sAranganai ranganai ninai maname diname brindavana. How did you know that this Ramachandran pallavi nAthanai dinam ninai manamE brindAvana sAranga ranga was coined by easwaran sir - in the concert he did not say that at all , he only told that with easwaran sir's play he could have sung with more patterns as he had to cutshort a bit due to lack of time . I am assuming this pallavi of MSR is his own and not coined by easwaran sir.

[Nick H]

Here are some more photos from my camera. The good ones of the artists were kindly snapped by the video guy

dropbox folder

[hnbhagavan]

Dear Sir,

Pl post the video of the entire concert if there is no objection by artists.

[CRama]

The audio of the entire concert will be posted shortly.

[rajeshnat]

At the end of the concert ,I and Nageswaran sir asked Maharajapuram Ramachandran and MRG as to whether we could upload the concert for other rasikas. They said no problem , so as such the decks are cleared for video too. I am sure nageswaran sir is working on it . We just have to wait for few more days- I suggest all of you to wait and patiently look at the video from this fabulous team - see the joy that the artists are sharing when there is this intense camaraderie with rasikas - both enrolled rasikas and non enrolled rasikas of rasikas.org.

[mahavishnu]

Very pleased to hear of this event!
Look forward to the recordings.

[CRama]

1. Varnam-Kannada- https://www.sendspace.com/file/kh0cgz
2. Pranamamyaham-Gowla-https://www.sendspace.com/file/83y1dg
3. Tsalakallaladu-Arabhi-https://www.sendspace.com/file/ws8ypp
4. Mahatripurasundari-Valaji-https://www.sendspace.com/file/9l3zqm
5. Neevadanegana-Saranga-https://www.sendspace.com/file/1ctd82
6. Sree Venkatesam-Kalyanavasantham-https://www.sendspace.com/file/h7yv9z
7. Enduko nee manasu-Kalyani-https://www.sendspace.com/file/7bdl04
8. RTP-Brindavanasaranga-https://www.sendspace.com/file/nuxno2
9. Entha velayum-Brindavani-https://www.sendspace.com/file/cibpe9
10. Speech and Mangalam-https://www.sendspace.com/file/2kuxbk

[CRama]

Nageswaran Sir gave me the audio file of this concert. I have split the tracks and indexed. The following are the links to the songs. Enjoy.

[quote="CRama"]1. Varnam-Kannada- https://www.sendspace.com/file/kh0cgz
2. Pranamamyaham-Gowla-https://www.sendspace.com/file/83y1dg
3. Tsalakallaladu-Arabhi-https://www.sendspace.com/file/ws8ypp
4. Mahatripurasundari-Valaji-https://www.sendspace.com/file/9l3zqm
5. Neevadanegana-Saranga-https://www.sendspace.com/file/1ctd82
6. Sree Venkatesam-Kalyanavasantham-https://www.sendspace.com/file/h7yv9z
7. Enduko nee manasu-Kalyani-https://www.sendspace.com/file/7bdl04
8. RTP-Brindavanasaranga-https://www.sendspace.com/file/nuxno2
9. Entha velayum-Brindavani-https://www.sendspace.com/file/cibpe9
10. Speech and Mangalam-https://www.sendspace.com/file/2kuxbkquote]

[rajeshnat]

Crama/Nageswaran Sir
I just downloaded the above link and listened to few songs . The recording that I have with my mobile is nearly the same or may be my mobile recording is shade better . I am wondering if By any chance was there an audio line in recording done sir . IS that going to be uploaded soon

[S.NAGESWARAN]

DEAR RASIKAS,
THE DROP BOX LINKS OF VIDEO OF SRI MAHARAJAPURAM RAMACHANDRAN'S CONCERT IS GIVEN BELOW.

1.https://www.dropbox.com/s/cac2i7vqbzg09 ... .divx?dl=0
2.https://www.dropbox.com/s/2q1lbjpx0kzj7 ... .divx?dl=0
3.https://www.dropbox.com/s/eot87l6yd9y74 ... .divx?dl=0
4.https://www.dropbox.com/s/u0auwt60jyq9j ... .divx?dl=0
5.https://www.dropbox.com/s/3cmdn66fzbscb ... .divx?dl=0
6.https://www.dropbox.com/s/0zdlyq4gj3x92 ... .divx?dl=0

8.https://www.dropbox.com/s/cppr9nsv6g7gx ... .divx?dl=0
9.https://www.dropbox.com/s/mwpqcxzsm5y7y ... .divx?dl=0
10.https://www.dropbox.com/s/rh8767j0h8qb3 ... .divx?dl=0

THE VIDEO LINKS OF " ENTHUKU NEE MANASU IN "KALYANI" [7] AND THE RTP WILL BE GIVEN IN DUE COURSE.

S.NAGESWARAN.
13.08.2016.

[S.NAGESWARAN]

DEAR RASIKAS,

THE DROP BOX LINK OF VIDEO OF MAHARAJAPURAM RAMACHANDRAN'S CONCERT FOR THE SONG "ENTHUKU MANASU" IN KALYANI [7]
IS GIVEN BELOW.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/017zf57wa7azd ... .divx?dl=0

S.NAGESWARAN.
13.08.2016.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Myself and SRK requested for any song in Kannada ragam (with a detailed raga alapana), he presented a varnam in Kannada which we have never heard. This varnam had many unique sancharams which were really enjoyable. The neraval and swarams in Tsalakallaladu was electric.

Initially, to our request MR remarked jokingly that when he had come with a certain package in mind, the 'fond suggestion' has caught him unawares but he would still oblige. I hastened to add that even a 'small kriti' would suffice (as Kannada does not take frequent rounds in concert platforms). But I was excited to get Kannada as the opening number itself and that too a rare one pleasing everyone to the hilt. That also showed his Vidwat and ability to retrieve a rather unsung uruppadi extempore. Yes, a unique swara phrase employed in the varna was G R S D N.

After the Varnam, MR announced that what he wanted present was the Kaanada varnam, but ended up with Kannada!

[kssr]

Why is Brindavana saranga so popular for RTP? Where ever I turn it is BS RTP. Sri.TVS regularly sings. Today Kanyakumari at SVBC. A couple of more too. Is there an ease or difficulty in taking up RTP in the raga, that artists regularly choose it. Or is it just a coincidence in my case. I wonder.

Incidentally I love Sri.MR. Attended many of his concerts. Always willing to oblige to rasikas requests (same as Sri.Santhanam). I think he is now going slow on his "regular" tail piece, Bo Sambho Deserves many more orders of kacheri opportunities, as he gets now. Strange are rasikas preferences !!!

[Sivaramakrishnan]

Brindavana saaranga and similar janyaragas yield to 'capsular packages'-especially suited for dhideer/avasara pallavi s towards the end of concerts. Tukkada lovers usually stand to lose in the bargain as such RTPs 'eat into' their favoured slot!

[CRama]

Why cannot avasara pallavis in Mohanam or Kanada or Dhanyasi.
I reckon it as a flair to present pallavis in modern ragas (Brindavanasaranga is modern compared to Mohanam or Dhanyasi)

[Rsachi]

I couldn't for some reason access the video, but I heard the audio:
. RTP in brindavana saranga
7 mins R , 3 mins T, Totally 21 mins pallavi
pallavi line nAthanai dinam ninai manamE brindAvana sAranga ranga
swara ragamaliga in brindavana saranga + shree ranjani + janaranjani + sumanesaranjani

Mr Nageswaran, I think Sri Ramachandran gave a beautiful, bhava-filled RTP. Such an RTP, with nice nadai and raga changes, always avoids the "technical" exercise and creates a very enjoyable experience. And this raga is always so pleasant that many musicians must be welcoming an opportunity to sing an RTP in such a rakti raga.
Thank you!