R.SURYAPRAKASH IN RAGASUDHA HALL- 9/8/16

[rajeshnat]

Suryaprakash@Balaganamruthamtrust (ragasudha hall) on Aug09th,2016
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Vocal : Suryaprakash
Violin : RK Shriramkumar
Mrudangam : Manoj siva
Ghatam : Trichy Murali

Concert Type : Nirvana - No concert to follow
Day/Duration : Tuesday /2 hours and 40 mins
Hall/Sabha : Ragasudha hall/BalaganamruthamTrust

For me listening to live carnatic music concert is not an amorphous experience but has to be a crystalline experience where the inner sound that continuously bombs me shifts from a mental level of knowing to a little deeper vibrational understanding where you atleast make an attempt to transcend . I think every live carnatic concert has to have sustained aesthetics - for aesthetics to happen it has to have a structural identity and a functional identity. Though both structural and functional identities are not strictly mutually exclusive , i prefer it to keep it bit seperate as some times i want to avoid in my head a blurring mix up of both.

The functional identity interests me much more than the structural identity . The structural identity is the actual compositions -krithis ,varnams etal. The functional identities are the raga alapana, neraval , swarakalpanas, taanam and viruthams/slokhams . In this concert unfortunately the taanam was not there . With both structural and functional identities ,there are also definite constraints that come with it .In my opinion the constraints are very much either preset or incidentally created by the team with the absolute performing time being the biggest constraint . How the team of artists work together in overcoming the constraints and keeping a share of higher aesthetics is always incidental in each and every concert.

Functional Identity -Raaga Alapana
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Raaga alapana gives the highest contextual identity to the main vocalist . The percussion is absent,the vocalist has a lot of freedom to experiment with the violinist . The vocalist can decide to stack up phrases with long jaarus and then suddenly give small bursts creating a sustained raga devata in each of our rasikas head . Some times the vocalist can fake , can even repeat,stand or sleep on a note - many a times the rasika fails to detect.The violinist has to be razor sharp and have a invisible scissors in his/her hand

In this concert atleast skipping all the raga sketches out of preview ,the first alapana was in the karuna rasa raga-poorvikalyani . I felt the raga was adequately sung to flesh out more the restraint PK character and there was possibly little higher dose of censoring.THe censoring happened where few higher octave sangathis was not sung by suryaprakash.I usually enjoy those too and so it was a bit of slight letdown when suryaprakash did not sing it. The violin return in poorvikalyani of RKSK was not clean , I felt RKSK could have focussed bit more on melody as the press was bit little too excess .

The second alapana was narayanagowlai . I have heard a rare chitoor subramania pillai alapana scartchy record and one sangeethapriya bootlegged record of santhanagopalan when he sang a pallavi in academy to get the yogam nagaswamy prize. It is a lovely raga . I dont know how musicians get trained to sing this narayanagowlai alapana which is at the crossroads of kedaragowlai , yk kambodhi and may be shyama. Certainly one of the longest narayanagowlai alapana that i heard in all my years of listening to this bonker raga. Suryaprakash sang narayanagowlai alapana for 7 mins , i am assuming little flat note mix up without a share of more gamakams is key to disambiguate from kedaragowlai . The return of RKSK was well done , he cautiously watched what suryaprakash sang and gave a clean raga swaroopam of narayanagowlai reinforcing that narayanagowlai can get the near kedaragowlai rakthi status.

The third alapana was in Ahiri . Ahiri alapana is also very rare and those emotive jaarus and full throated singing and at times immediately thinning out gave Ahiri gives a fine undulating contour . RKSK was shade better than suryaprakash here as he played some lovely sangathis where there was thick and thin shade all within the same single bowing movement .RKSK was referred at the beginning of the concert as RK shrikantan by the sabha patron ,he perhaps showed that level of musical wisdom when he bowed ahiri.

The fourth Bhairavi raga alapana had most of the monodharmam as it was the main raga . Suryaprakash sang almost all sangathis in a typical nadaswara pidi and RKSK played exceptionally well in the return - both of them gave bhairavi a real MAIN stature.Particularly the pakkavadhya dharmam of playing short bhairavi alapana by RKSK was lovely.

Functional Identity -Neraval
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Neraval has to get boxed with the percussion team to produce the hidden raga bhavam in layam. The usual consensus is the line for neraval has to be a well rounded in meaning to take up the neraval .That statement is bit of cliche as i dont understand any language other than thamizh. In this concert the poorvikalyani neraval was in the pallavi line natamADum nAdhan malarE thunai kanakasabayil . Suryaprakash sang well the neraval line and continued to go with the karuna rasa momentum and RKSk in neraval return was very slightly erring in not continuing with karuna rasa melody for few sangathis ,the press was bit more atleast in line to what the vocalist sang.

In kapinarayani neraval they both were simply spectacular and fantastic . WIth continous supply of sarvalaghu UPS power from manoj and murali, suryaprakash really demonstrated kalpana(manodharmam)and it was really well done . One usually says sadguru thyagaraja is the benchmark for all musicians with his composititions . Look at how Sadguru has even benchmarked neraval . He has written itavu mAta lenthO and what spacing he has given for neraval -sadguru never says itavu mAta shortO but only says lengthO.Suryaprakash in a typical MMI pAdantara ganakaladhara way sang with his own coat swarakalpana manodharma patterns .He sang the anchor phrases itavu for few minutes and lenthO for few minutes - this kapinarayani neraval was like million transistor sangathis in a single IC neraval chip .I wish he had also sang the bhairavi main neraval for the rare sankrit krithi of a popular Thamizh vaggeyakkara ,but it was unfortunately skippped

Functional Identity -Swaras
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Personally swaras have the highest functional aesthetics .The right swara syllable stress should act as the building blocks of swaras in the language of CM . Just like how silent movies have a language even swaras to me has a language that communicates more than words .The right swarastana suddham practiced by his paramaguru MMI came in a very demonstrable fashion .He got into a zone of the near bulls eye center point shruthi suddham.

In this concert The sudda dhanyasi had so much of manodharma pidis - ma ma ga sA of suddha dhanyasi gave a great start The kapi narayani was really superb - with some anchor pidis like sa ri ma pa pa da ni with the sarvalaghu momentum by percussion team provided that unique school strength which is light years ahead of most schools. The bhairavi after a lovely koraippu had longer swirl of swarakalpana patterns , Bhairavi shines the best in the upper madhyama kalam and thara sthayi slam dunks .With so much of Rishaabam anchoring stops(ma ga ri sa ri , ri ri ri etal) from upper madhyama to thara sthyayi gaves a bhairavi a BIG 1 anthastu , it gets needlessly tagged as a poor big 5 raga. The poorvikalyani swaras was not running with a sarvalaghu starter kit it had bit more kanakku perhaps to aid showcasing the Palakkad raghu school unlike the other 3 swaras in the ragas suddha dhanyasi, bhairavi and kapinarayani . The firm long sarvalaghu taps of manoj and murali was like the rail lines with RKSK playing either half or quarter note for every swara volley was the perpendicular cement block , the sarvalaghu rail of suryaprakash was fulfilling the 500 km/hr promise incidentally the rail was running in a magnetic levitation with no sada sada noise expecially with the two percussion steel firmed tracks.

Funtional Identity -Viruththams/Slokhams/Ugaboogas
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The emote dose took the front seat and the murugatrupadai start in brindavana saranga and the finish in bhimplas was well done . The viruththam voice rest during violin return usually gives a lovely Tukkada . Particularly tara sthAyi throw at the end ,with that mesmerizing line aNdamnADiDum Adi maghal ..... annai parAshakti arul shuDar vEl to exhibit the voice throw with sustained stamina at the end was lovely.

[rajeshnat]

Structural Identity - Krithi/Varnams
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There is no way a musician can only sing the alapana and the swaras etc. I guess singing krthis with a wider canvas of composers gives a wider aesthetic reach .Also in a larger spread with more languages it makes it more worthy as every language has its own spashtam . In this concert I heard narayanagowlai krithi and the mohanam varnam for the very first time. I just googled to find brinda manickavasagam has sung this rare mohanam varnam where sureshvv has posted . I have no clue on this narayanagowlai krithi -who else sings this particular narayanagowlai krithi - googling has not helped me to search (i would love to know from fellow forumites as to who else sings this narayanagowlai krithi ).

Here is the structural blocks

1. varnam in Adi taalam - Aalilai mel with swaras in bAlanai kAppAyE (S)- mohanam - Tiger varadachari
2. subramanyEna rakshitoham (RS, S) - suddhadhanyasi- MD

3. natamAdum nAdhan (R N S)- poorvikalyani - GKB
5 mins alapana and 3 mins return
neraval in the pallavi line for 6 mins and swaras for 6 mins

4. innALLu daya rAkunna (R) - narayanagowlai -T
7 mins alapana and 3 mins violin return

5. mayammA (R) -Ahiri - SS
4 mins alapana and 3 mins violin return

6. sarasa sama dhana (N S)- kapi narayani -T
7 mins neraval in ithavu mAta lentho
6 mins swaras

7A. shree lalitE kanchi nagara (R S T)- bhairavi - Annaswami sastri
15 mins alapana and 5 mins violin return
11 mins swaras

7B. tani - i forgot to note it was a short one .Thank you manoj and murali - they gave more air time for a detailed viruththam.

8. sArasamukhi - gowdamalhar - HMB

9A. thirumurugAtrupadai - kunram eRindadum - brindavana saranga +
kalpudambil kAthathuvum - bhimplas
9B. kandan karunai - bhimplas - guhan

10 . neenama + vazhiya senthamizh - sowrashtram + madhyamavati

A note to donors of Balaganamrutham trust
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I saw the banner that this trust is sponsored by donors who were mostly NRI's from maryland ,and few were from virginia and mIchigan.Their names were put in the banners inside ragasudha hall.Even though the banner said this trust is conducting for the 22nd year or some thing , I am assuming the NRI's have given a new lease of life to this sabha.To the best of my fading memory i have not attended a concert of this sabha .THe banner wordings which said "MID-Season Music Marvel" was very apt . There were atleast 3 days of concerts with a junior artist singing from 5 to 6:30pm and this concert was the last concluding one as per the sabha patron.

I am glad to see some concerts getting moved away from the crowded December season which suffers from canibalization syndrome and with NRI's sponsoring on August it is just fantastic.Keep up your great work - irrespective of trump or hillary?.As i entered the hall i saw M vijay, was guru varadu also there???,amrutha murali and Rithvik raja with the young disciple of RKSK (i am not certain about him now i have heard him play once- wish he takes a lot from RKSK on how to play the thick and thin of Ahiri bringing in the dream vadhya beauty and also RKSK sarvalaghu half or quarter drops with such cemented precision that fitted the steel tracks to aid the sarvalaghu express). I was particularly glad that the team crossed the 9pm cindrella time by quite a distance.

Overall an excellent concert for 2 hours and 40 minutes- the team exhibited a lot of collective musical aesthetics.

[Nick H]

Rajeshnat Review Breaks All Barriers; Hits New Heights...

Wow.

Being an ignorant concert goer with little knowledge of the music even after so many years, I am very rarely gripped by a review, especially a long one.

This one was gripping, and with so many tidbits from Rajesh's deep technical and historical knowledge, all powered by his deep love of music.

If one were to remove the concert-specific content, it might not seem that there would be a great number of words left, but those that are would be the firm foundation for an essay. I could even say that this leaves me looking forward to your book!

Suryaprakash concerts are always a big hit with me. Here he was accompanied by a favourite violinist and a favourite mridangist. Sadly, I could not be there.

[ram1999]

Rajeshnat

"There is no way a musician can only sing the alapana and the swaras etc."

Are you referring to the recent winner of the Magsaysay Award ??

[CRama]

The concert of Suryaprakash was held as a part of the its Mid Season Music Marvel conducted by Balaganamrutham. The accompanists were R.K.Sreeramkumar on the Violin, Manoj Siva on the Mridangam and Trichy Murali on the Ghatam. List of songs.

• Aalilai mel kann valarntha- Varnam- Mohanam- Adi-Tiger Varadachariar
• Subramanyena-Sudhadhanyasi- MD (R,S)
• Nadamaadum naathan adi malare tunai-Poorvikalyani-GKB (R,N,S)
• Innalu dayarakunna-Narayanagowla-T (R)
• Mayamma-Ahiri-SS (R)
• Sarasasaamadaana-Kapinarayani-T (N,S)
• Sree Lalite Kanchi nagaranivasini- Bhairavi –Annaswami Sastry (R,S)
• Tani
• Sarasamukhi-Gowdamalhar-MB
• Kundram erinthathuvum-Virutham- Brindavani, Beemplas
• Kandan karunai puriyum-Beemplas
• Pavamana
• Vazhiya senthamizh

The concert of Suryaprakash started at 6.40 P.M with a delay of just 10 minutes. The start of the concert with a rare varnam in Mohanam composed by Tiger Varadachariar was a pointer to the fact that SP is going to present a different fare in the concert. His school do not normally start the concert with a varnam. But I have observed that SP do give many surprises in his concerts. I have seen him starting with varnam in a few concerts. I have heard three varnams of Tiger- Arabhi, Sreeranjini and Vachaspathi. But this varnam is totally new to me. The varnam had an attractive mettu and the ettugada swarams had very interesting swara combinations. The charanam sahithyam is very simple- Baalanai kaappaye. SP needs special appreciation for bringing out this varnam to the concert platform.

The next song Subramanyena started with a brief sketch of ragam Sudhadhanyasi. The kriti was presented in the appropriate kalapramanam and the bounty of swarams added lustre to the song. Now came Poorvikalyani- the evergreen third number in the concerts. The raga was developed in a methodical manner for five minutes and this song of GKB is also totally unheard by me. The bhavam of the sahithyam was well portrayed. Neraval at the pallavi lines and the cracker swarams were well received by the discerning audience.

The alapana of Narayanagowla came as a pleasant surprise for it is rarely heard in the concert platform, may be because of its collition with Kedaragowla. SSI popularised Sree Ramam- but no alapana. Chittoor is famous for the alapana of this ragam and he and his disciples sing Kadalevadu in a very soulful manner. I have heard that from Madurai Somu, Dr.S Ramanathan etc. In the present generation of artistes, once Ramakrishnan Murthy sang it in Mudhra. I do not know if any body else has sung it. The raga was presented very well for 7 minutes without allowing any trespassing by Kedaragowla. Initially I too had some confusion with Harikambodi, but within a minute the raga swaroopam was clearly brought out. The kriti, again an unheard Tyagaraja kriti. After this, another rarely heard alapana- Ahiri was presented. This was as per my request. Once in the concert of CD release of Arasi’s compositions, SP sang a soulful Ahiri which is still in my memory. Hence I requested for the ragam. SP was very kind enough to include my request and he did full justice to the ragam. Ahiri also very rarely taken up for alapana. I have heard TNS doing very good alapana of this ragam and I have also heard that he had sung RTP in Ahiri. The ragam was elaborated for 5 minutes and SP alapana brought out the jeevan of the ragam in the various long akara passages and kampita prayogams and SS masterpiece Mayamma was presented starting from the Anupallavi giving a royal treatment to the lyrics and bhavam of the kriti.

So far, the concert had treaded a different route. The audience must have been craving for MMI/TVS numbers. Sensing that, SP took up Sarasasaamadaana in Kapinarayani. It should be admitted that here the concert got the required pep at this stage, for the last three songs had been in vilamba kalam and a spright number is required to carry on the concert without sag. Happiness was visible in the faces of many in the audience once this song started. Customary neraval in Hithavumatalentho and cracker swaras received thunderous applause from the audience telling itha…itha..itha than naanga ethir paarthom.

Normally SP chooses one of the big Five for the main ragam. Occasionally he also explores Mohanam, Kapi etc. Today, I was happy that Suryaprakash chose Bhairavi for the main song. His Bhairavi raga alapana had all the characteristic pidis of the ragam, replete with gamakams, long nagaswara pidis, brighas all in the right proportions to make it a Mahabhairavi. And the song Sree Lalithe of Annaswami Sastri is also a very rare song. Already he had done neraval for two songs. Here he directly leashed out swarams at Neelabja dala lochani. Sumptuous swaras in two kalams with an elaborate koraippu crowned with a complex korvai with focus on the aesthetics of the ragam made this a long cherishable Bhairavi.

SP has the advantage of a srutisudhamana voice and belongs to a very good school which is liked by all the music lovers. The one thing I appreciate with Suryaprakash is he is much open minded. His repertoire is not confined to his school. He strives to learn lot of new kritis, pallavis and never sits comfortable in his cozy zone. He puts in lot of hard work to enlarge his manodharmam and repertoire. The tail enders which included a few favourites of MMI/TVS rasikas were rendered true to their patantharam.

RKSK provided excellent support. His raga alapanas especially Ahiri was super. His manodharmam was evident in the alapanas and swara returns. His mellinam vallinam was adorable. Manoj Siva embellished the concert with his deft strokes. His anticipation was good and his filling of gaps admirable and his nadam was excellent. The tani with himself and Trichy Murali was much enjoyable. The entire team jelled well to make it a wonderful experience for the listeners.

Blessed were the people who attended the concert yesterday. This excellent concert will be remembered by them for a long period. Thanks to Suryapraksh and his team.