Lalgudi Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi Nov 18

[hnbhagavan]

As part of MA narasimhachar foundation Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi gave a very melodious concert at Our School,banashankari.
My friend sri Badari will surely post the detailed review.
Acompaniments: k U Jayachandra Rao and Phaneesh Bhasker
Starting with a Varnam in Bowli composed by Sri LalgudiSir,followed by Raga Sudharasa in Andolika
Kedaram- Ananda natana prakasam
Shanmukapriya-sharavana bhava ennum
Manasu karuga in Hamsadwani
Kaliiyunte kada in Keeravani (Main)
RTP in Kosalam
followed by Purandaradasa Kriti and a tillana by Lalgudi Sir.
The purest violin notes were heard for three hours and the duo played as per Lalgudi tradition.
A very good crowd enjoyed the concert.

[kssr]

Thanks for the crisp review , Sri. Bhagavan.

I was totally bewitched by the melody of the siblings. Some thoughts.
a. GJR gave a ragam sketch of Kedaram which was out of the world. How the beauty of a raga can be brought out in just 2-3 minutes is something to be learnt from the maestro.
b. LV 's Shanmukhapriya was meditative. At one stage, it was so melodious that I noticed that both percussionists and her brother had their eyes closed in total sync with the ragam and gently appreciating the movement of the ragam.
c. Once again Khamas outline by GJR- outstanding. May be just 1.5 to 2 minutes.
d. Ragam sketch of aahiri. There is truly some magic in making these brief alapanais by GJR. Absolutely moving Maayamma. When he concluded, I had tears in my eyes. Shy to display my weakness, I turned gently towards my wife, who had her eyes red too. On stage, there was GJR who took out his kerchief to wipe his tears. Words are inadequate to describe the experience.
e. Hamsadwani was at a slightly faster pace with swarams (a bit of kanakku?)
f. RTP in a totally unknown ragam, supposed to be 71st melakarta. mmmm. My usual reservations. Ragamalika (was it pallavi itself or swaram ??) in sahana, anandabhairavi, janaranjani?, varaali, hamir kalyani and return journey. I felt all the ragams were not touched in the return. I may be wrong. Display of technical expertise was superb.

Probably the MOST melodious violinists today. Is that the Lalgudi baani. If so, it is so valuable. GJR's involvement and enjoyment is total. He rejoices every single beautiful nuance in their music and transmits the happiness to the audience. It was a blessed day.

Sri. Srikishan is taking forward his father Vidwan M.A.Narasimhachar's musical tradition. We are indeed grateful to him and his colleagues in the foundation for giving us such a delightful concert.

[rajeshnat]

Thank you for the review - kssr and Bhagavan. I just saw from badari blog that the last thillana was in pahadi. There is so much introspection in Lalgudi baani , the wonderful siblings are just taking a role of LGJ and Brahmanandam of 1960's and 1970's. Kudos to the family of Narasimhachar- the MSG/Parur school hosting a Lalgudi school concert .

[hnbhagavan]

Dear Kssr and rajeshnat
Very apt review by Kssr and remarks by Rajeshnat.I echo your sentiments that the Lalgudi siblings provide a very meditative music which can bring tears to our eyes.The minute or two Alapanas are very special as though GJR Krishnan is caressing the violin with great love and he does not want to give any pressure on the violin strings.
They are upholding the legend's name high and flying.

[kssr]

The devar naama was in Kapi- Bandadella Barali.

Jayachandra Rao and Phanindra did a neat job. But they were hardly audible. Very low volume- may be intentional. I suugested an increase, but was told that in other areas of the hall it was ok. Maybe !!!

Hall was full. Everyone stayed on till the end. SRikishan narrated how Sri.LGJ did a free concert in mysore for MA Narasimhachar's erstwhile Sabha's silver jubilee celebration.

I am acquainted with Sri.LGJ's generosity. When Nadasurabhi honoured him with "Sangeetha Surabhi"award, he could not come due to ill health but his children GJR and LV gave a concert in place of their father. Vice President Brig.Narayan however visited their house in Chennai and honoured him and handed over the Award Plaque( Photo still in Nadasurabhi wbsite). When Sri.LGJ was informed of the upcoming Youth Festival in Nadasurabhi, he handed over a cheque for Rs.10,000, as his gift towards the festival. Noble souls. Even thoughts about them, elevates us.

[arasi]

Bhagwan and KSSR,
Thank you for your posts. The meditative mood they create with their playing is something to treasure when quite a number of top notch violinists have drifted into the 'faster' playing mode. Sweetness comes easily to the siblings, of course--genes, training and hard work.

KSSR,
Believe me, kOsalam will grow on you. The problem with such rare rAgAs is that our ears are not trained much at all to appreciate them. Once we familiarize ourselves with these rAgAs, they sound very pleasing to us. Still, I agree with you, there are a few which leave me unmoved.

KOsalam is not one among them!

Anyhow, this is from someone who is not trained that much in music. As for you, your better half guides you in approaching these strange ones with ease, I'm sure

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Rajesh,

"Kudos to the family of Narasimhachar- the MSG/Parur school hosting a Lalgudi school concert"

Your observation needs some explanation, please!

[Rsachi]

Rsjesh,
I hope you're not confusing H K Narasimha Murthy, violinist MSG student, with the old timer Mysore vocalist M A Narasimhachar.

[hnbhagavan]

Looks like that.MA Narasimhachar was a vocalist.

[badari]

felt all the ragams were not touched in the return. I may be wrong. Display of technical expertise was superb.

yes.. a few were skipped

Sri. Srikishan is taking forward his father Vidwan M.A.Narasimhachar's musical tradition. We are indeed grateful to him and his colleagues in the foundation for giving us such a delightful concert.

Indeed.. the whole family is a part of this noble cause. You can feel this from the unpolished Vote of thanks that was delivered in each concert.

[rajeshnat]

Rsjesh,
I hope you're not confusing H K Narasimha Murthy, violinist MSG student, with the old timer Mysore vocalist M A Narasimhachar.

Yes I got it wrong .Thanks for the clarification. I thought the miracle of one school inviting another school indeed happened , it will soon happen.

[hnbhagavan]

The daughters of the 3 Maestros did perform together.The lalgudi Violin school conducts each year programs for a couple of days in which students of various schools participate.In fact the lalgudi school conducted one such event in Bangalore.

[hnbhagavan]

Dear Rajesh,
The first year Lalgudi trust and Krutagnya conducted in Chennai(may be 2015) program called Violin Vaibhavam featured the children of Mysore Brothers
Kartik and Sumanth.They played in the trust program and played thillana composed by Lalgudi sir.It was their first appearence in Chennai.
So the miracle did happen- Different violin schools coming together!.