Amrutha Venkatesh@NGS Mini on Dec 19th,2016

[rajeshnat]

Amrutha Venkatesh@NGS Mini on Dec 19th,2016
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Vocal : Amrutha Venkatesh
Violin : M Rajeev
Mrudangam : Arjun Ganesh

Concert Type : Non Nirvana - concert to follow and Free concert
Day/Duration : Monday -2 hours
Sabha : NGS Sabha

1. varnam ... nee dhan un varam venDUm ammA neelayathAkshi - varamu -TRS??
2. karunAkara mAdhava mAmava(R,S)-BeGaDa - ST
7 mins alapana and 4 mins swaras
10 mins swaras

3.sundara tara deGham (RS,N,S)- pantuvarAli -T
2 mins alapana
neraval for 6 mins in agama sanchAram akhil lokAthARam
swaras for 14 mins

4A. saravana bhava guhanE (R N S)- madhyamavati -psivan
7 mins alapana and 4 mins violin return
8 mins neraval in aNaitthum nee eNru nambinEn
6 mins swaras
4B. tani for 4 mins

5. ullavAru shivAlaya - madhuvanti -basavanna vAchana
6. pranathARthi haram bhajE- shenjurutti- MV
7. thillana .... mAlOn marugan - sindhubhairavi - LGJ

[rajeshnat]

Pantula Rama and amrutha venkatesh have some thing in common . Fundamentally their approach is on the delicacy side where the voice has a high quotient of melody. If Pantula Rama gave me a long main course of varamu pallavi , a day before - it was amrutha venkatesh who started with a desert of this lovely varamu. I think this varnam is by TRS Mama, what a joy to hear anything from taala raaga swarooopan who has shaped me as a rasika for all these years . Thank you TRS mama if the varamu varnam was indeed from you. I just got in after a brief start of losing out the first few lines and as I settled with varamu bit later , sanjay subrahmanyan's mother also sat next to me.

I think fundamentally amrutha strategy is to space out very well , she takes time during the manodharma aspects and her trump card is this extraordinary team . In the past i have witnessed many 2 hour to 2 hour 15 mins concerts where the senior mrudangam artist will come bit late and with upapakkavadhyam also being added the vocal voice quotient gets robbed with atleast 20 mins tani . But if a really wonderful arjun ganesh plays and gives a very short tani for 4 mins and without upapakkavadhyam rotation, there is enough joy for me

Begada alapana by Amrutha was done well- but it was the krithi and the lovely swaras that stood out. She told after pantuvarali and before the beginning of the main madhyamavati that it is calm after storm . Sundara dara thevam is very much a GNB krithi . I heard for the very first time with a doordarshan channel 2 recording where maharajapuram santhanam has sung it . Santhanam stays bit leisurely but GNB stays completely non leisurely in this krithi sundara dara theham. Amrutha stayed in the amalgam of both these styles- there was leisure in his voice but there was a lot of overdrive sancharas that the usual pantu varali demands . Neraval was done well , I wish little more mel kala shoots would have been nice , but in swaras she did very well.

She immediately jumped with calm to madhyamavati. Alapana texture was classical and some one in the audience jumped to say it was Ramnad krishnan. I have heard both but I will treat his comment with my own subjectivity as there were few shades of veena gamaka like glides . To say that her alapana is matching with Ramnad krishnan is a great direction in that journey and the alapana is Work in progress towards ramnad krishnan. Her krithi rendition was clean and her neraval was rightly paced with a sprinkle of swaras which got more and more better - in swaras her individuality comes where she shows a lot of her m a n o d h a r m a , the strategy of hers is to sing long but to give equal return . That is where rajeev with his shruthi suddhamana bow creates and sustains the muse.

She announced the next basavanna vAChana and even told the meaning a bit .SHe has a sweet voice even when she speaks - few of them when they speak their voice is different than when they sing . Madhuvanti can have more oomph amrutha ,you need to work a bit there . Lalgudi sir thillana was a nice choice , IIRC I am hearing this thillana for the very first time . The intermediate shenjurutti of vasudevacharya with sprinkle of cittaswaras was great.

Rajeev has such pointed nAdham in his bow and keeps the limelight with amrutha .

Man/Woman of the match:
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The man/woman of the match was indeed Arjun Ganesh. HE is spectacular to me in all counts . Very very lovely volume control , many vocalist when they keep a rolling mrudangam artist with fast singers have an added advantage- they can masquerade their weakness which may go unnoticed when they are not able to pick up speed . I treat Arjun Ganesh in the caliber of say neyveli venkatesh,Patri or anantha krishnan. HE is such a lovely team player and he gave a short tani.

The day began with this concert of Amrutha. I took the day off to hear two more concerts , but AMrutha was the perfect opener for me to enjoy a little aural overdrive that I planned . If amrutha perfects bit more the alapana just like her swara prasthanam that would be nice . Nice choice of krithis that shows her individuality. More importantly no shrill like most female artists- she fights well against her god given DNA there. ArjunGanesh has the pointed naadam bow of Arjun and the mattala adi of Ganesh - You are such a joy Arjun Ganesh. There is nothing better you could have done for this 2 hour non nirvana concert.

Overall an excellent concert for 2 exact hours.

[Lakshman]

The varNa is dharmamA idu tAyE dayai illaiyE by TRS.

[kartik]

Amrutha Venkatesh@NGS Mini on Dec 19th,2016
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3.sundara tara deGham (RS,N,S)- pantuvarAli -T

deGham? ,with the deergha Ga?
Is this Sanskritised Tamizh or Tamizhised Sanskrit?

[sureshvv]

The basavanna vachana was so moving that I had to stop my commentary. The meaning as she explained it went something like this:

They who have can build a Shiva aalaya
What can an indigent like me do?

Let my legs be the pillars,
My torso the garba gruha
And my head the golden kalasa
atop the dwaja sthamba

Not sure Madhuvanthi was the best choice of raga for such a power packed verse.

Ranjani Hebbar used to sing these Basavanna vachanas & was so keen on presenting them on the Carnatic stage & that made it all the more difficult to continue my reporting.

[Rsachi]

Suresh,
Your feelings merely reflect how soulful and emotional a listener you are. God bless.

For those who grew up with these vachanas, they mean a lot. Basavanna was an incomparable reformer, and his vachanas (literally, sayings), are so uplifting, and instill a deep sense of social responsibility, moral strength and devotion.

The words are here:
ಉಳ್ಳವರು ಶಿವಾಲಯ ಮಾಡುವರು ನಾನೇನ ಮಾಡಲಿ ಬಡವನಯ್ಯ,
ಎನ್ನ ಕಾಲೇ ಕಂಬ ದೇಹವೇ ದೇಗುಲ ಶಿರವೇ ಹೊನ್ನ ಕಳಶವಯ್ಯ,
ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮದೇವ ಕೇಳಯ್ಯ ಸ್ಥಾವರಕ್ಕಳಿವುಂಟು ಜನ್ಗಮಕಲಿವಿಲ್ಲ

Oh Lord, those well endowed with riches build a Siva temple. What can I do, who am penniless?
Let my legs become the pillars, Let my body become ("Your") temple.
Let my head become the golden spire (meaning let my head reflect the very best in man, worthy enough to symbolise the kaLaza of a temple).
Oh Lord kUDalasangamadeva, hear this. What is insentient (i.e. built with brick and mud), can perish into dust. But not the sentient (=immortal soul) that always symbolises the eternal principle (of Shiva).

The word Jangama is a pun, since the Shiva sharanas, holy mendicants with vibhuti and following the precepts of Basavanna, are shown to be living temples. In other words, Basavanna is urging each one of us to become a living, walking, temple.

[MaheshS]

The words are here:
ಉಳ್ಳವರು ಶಿವಾಲಯ ಮಾಡುವರು ನಾನೇನ ಮಾಡಲಿ ಬಡವನಯ್ಯ,
ಎನ್ನ ಕಾಲೇ ಕಂಬ ದೇಹವೇ ದೇಗುಲ ಶಿರವೇ ಹೊನ್ನ ಕಳಶವಯ್ಯ,
ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮದೇವ ಕೇಳಯ್ಯ ಸ್ಥಾವರಕ್ಕಳಿವುಂಟು ಜನ್ಗಮಕಲಿವಿಲ್ಲ

Oh Lord, those well endowed with riches build a Siva temple. What can I do, who am penniless?
Let my legs become the pillars, Let my body become ("Your") temple.
Let my head become the golden spire (meaning let my head reflect the very best in man, worthy enough to symbolise the kaLaza of a temple).
Oh Lord kUDalasangamadeva, hear this. What is insentient (i.e. built with brick and mud), can perish into dust. But not the sentient (=immortal soul) that always symbolises the eternal principle (of Shiva).

The word Jangama is a pun, since the Shiva sharanas, holy mendicants with vibhuti and following the precepts of Basavanna, are shown to be living temples. In other words, Basavanna is urging each one of us to become a living, walking, temple.

Beautiful!! Thank you very much.

[sureshvv]

The words are here:
ಉಳ್ಳವರು ಶಿವಾಲಯ ಮಾಡುವರು ನಾನೇನ ಮಾಡಲಿ ಬಡವನಯ್ಯ,
ಎನ್ನ ಕಾಲೇ ಕಂಬ ದೇಹವೇ ದೇಗುಲ ಶಿರವೇ ಹೊನ್ನ ಕಳಶವಯ್ಯ,
ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮದೇವ ಕೇಳಯ್ಯ ಸ್ಥಾವರಕ್ಕಳಿವುಂಟು ಜನ್ಗಮಕಲಿವಿಲ್ಲ

Can u provide a Roman script transliteration?

The word Jangama is a pun, e.

What is the literal meaning?

[Rsachi]

uLLavaru shivaalaya maaDuvaru naanena maaDali baDavanayya,
enna kaale kamba dehave degula shirave honna kaLashavayya
kooDala sangama deva keLayya sthavarakkaLivunTu jangamakaLivilla

jangama is from the verb gam... move/travel. jangama and jagat are both nouns that mean movement. jangama is sentient beings. (Sanskrit, of course).

[sureshvv]

Great! Thank you

[rajeshnat]

Not sure Madhuvanthi was the best choice of raga for such a power packed verse.

Ranjani Hebbar used to sing these Basavanna vachanas & was so keen on presenting them on the Carnatic stage & that made it all the more difficult to continue my reporting.

I also exactly was connecting Ranjani Hebbar when the moment amrutha told vachana. Ranjani Hebbar has sung one in Gorakh kalyan when I attended . Madhuvanti is a great choice, she could have got it better.

[rajeshnat]

kooDala sangama deva keLayya sthavarakkaLivunTu jangamakaLivilla

Amrutha also mentioned in the concert that KooDala sangama was the mudhra of basavanna

[Rsachi]

of course.KooDalasamgama is a famous pilgrimage centre and Shiva kshetra of antiquity. Read here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudalas ... prov=sfla1