T M Krishna by the sea at "Spaces"

[hema]

Here is a review of the concert by my student (PhD -- working on "music analysis."). The concert was meditative, contemplative. The ambience of the venue was fantastic. I feel it was the best concert this December (I do not want to call it season -- since Krishna does not sing in the season anymore)

The concert surpassed all my expectations. It was a meditative experience. So much so that the audience did not want to interrupt it with applause, no matter how strong the urge to applaud. The music in the air simply could not be disturbed. Not that there were no opportunities for applause -- there were plenty, in fact. Only, the audience was in the same meditative state as the musicians and the music strung everyone together. The audience's sincere appreciation was expressed only between pieces. Either side was reserved for contemplation.

Take, for instance, the opening piece, a masterpiece by itself (rAvE, tODI, Adi(x2) shyAma shAstrI). When TMK rested on the elongated ShaDjam ('mA' of ku-mA-ri) in the very first line, he signalled that the concert was going to be contemplative. A few Avartanams later, the same 'mA' of kumAri rested on the mandra madhyamam. If the audience missed the indication of things to come, the kalpanasvarams that followed the nereval for the line "kalyANI kanci kAmAkShI nI pAdamE dikku" could have only sounded even better. The nereval may have started around the tAra ShaDjam, but it, and the svarams that followed, progressively descended. The svarams reached the lower madhyamam. And, then they went lower still to the anumandra ShaDjam. And, even further below into the anumandra shAyi. Peace descended upon the venue (Spaces, Elliot's beach) and we came out of the trance when the song finished a little later.

Uncharacterstic of the typical Carnatic concert, but now not unexpected in TMK's, a viruttam (tappennaseidEn) followed. Ragas kharaharapriyA, shahAna and Ahiri had a fluidity that makes Carnatic music what it is. The behag that followed melted into a song popularized by Nagoor Hanifa (allAhvai nAm tozhudAl), but re-tuned by TMK (mishra cApu). For those who need to be convinced that Carnatic music does not need any one religion's context to be Carnatic music, this example should do. (footnote: It was significant that the song independently followed many of the lyrical beauties usually expected in Carnatic music kRtis -- alternating edhugai/monai or dvitIya/prathama akSharaprAsam. Also, note that there are many kRtis that do not conform to this practice, but are accepted in concert circles). Even in the lyrics alone, there was much commonality. Just as the rAga melted into the kRti, the lyrics of the viruttam melted into the lyrics of the song too. If one is given to devotion, this song's lyrics have plenty to offer and it amply resonated with the primarily Carnatic-music conditioned audience.

A tAnam in the following rAgas -- nATTai, shankarAbharaNam, AnandabhairavI, kuntalavarALI and kApinArAyaNI, some chosen by TMK and others deftly by RKS -- quite likely ended up inspiring TMK to continue kApinArAyaNi with the lines paramashAmbhava (anupallavi of sarasasAmadAna, Adi, tyAgarAja) followed by brisk kalpanasvarams.

Perhaps the shankarAbharaNam in the tAnam section was a trigger or perhaps not, but it was taken up for a more elaborate Alapana, this time concentrating on the higher sancAras, reaching up to even the atitAra ShaDjam once. Whereas the tODI progressively descended, the neraval at purANa puruShaM (sadAshivamupAsmahE, Adi, muddusvAmI dIkShita) progressively ascended to the tAra dhaivatam. TMK took his voice to the limits before declaring -- if I may add , quite maturely -- that he would stop there. The tani Avartanam by AP too was perfectly in line with the mood created earlier in the evening - there was no show of fast-paced strokes falling on top of each other.

RKS played a khamAs AlApana using the kAkali niShadam profusely to great effect and TMK latched on to it equally happily. This was followed by chANErO (tAlam?, composer?), a piece that was lilting and immediately afterwards was a jAvaLI (erA rArA) in the same rAga. A welcome contrast and the fastest piece of the evening, it was delightful as always. I perceived occasions where the plain gAndhAram was used as a nyAsa svaram, but convention, or my mis-perception simply didn't matter. However, a second mRdangam tani here would have given a chance to double the tani speed without sounding out of place.

Acceding to the request by the audience for another shlOkam, TMK sang "Om tat sat" leading to a multi-religious shlOkam - "You are Brahma, Narayana! You are Rahim! You are Jesus! You are skanda, vinAyaka, rAma and kRShNa!" Starting with begaDa, the shlOkam moved to kApi and then to mAyAmALavagauLa, the last of which was quite fortunate. It possibly inspired TMK to sing shrInAthAdiguruguhO (Adi, muddusvAmi dIkShita) and the song turned out to be an absolute marvel. Usually prone to laborious singing (footnote: it is, in fact, a verbose song even by dIkShitar's standards, and just writing it down fully will serve as handwriting practice) not a single line felt long-drawn. How could it, today? Appropriate emphases on Dhaivata and niShada heightened the experience to no end, including in the madhyamakAla phrases. These served as a perfect contrast to the fluid movements emphasized elsewhere in the song and generally in the concert. At the risk of sounding like Ravi Shastri, I'll go on to say, "In the end, Carnatic music was the winner".

Already two and a half hours into the concert by the end this song, we got ready to leave. I was more or less in the "pOgalAmo" (can we go?) mode, but "varugalAmO" (mAnJI, mishra cApu, gOpAlakRShNa bhAratI) changed all that. We simply had to stay on and good that we did to witness an apt and moving ending to a great concert that continues to linger.

Let's not forget that the concert was in memory of the famed choreographer, Chandralekha. Among the invitees one famous personality was missing: Nandita Das. TMK had retweeted on his website her message prior to the concert, that though she wanted to come, she wouldn't be able to. She and those who didn't make it definitely missed something elevating! I can't vouch for whether or not the venue and its ambience has a magical touch (some people feel that such concerts cannot materialize in 'regular' sabhas), but I don't doubt that Chandralekha would have been proud of this one.

[Ranganator]

A pity Krishna quit the season. His music is divine.

[rajeshnat]

The Hindu writeup of this concert http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/m ... 993081.ece