Ragas of the season

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 30 Dec 2006, 12:37

From the concerts i attended & the lists posted , kambodhi has emerged as the star of season with 'o rangasayee' & 'sri subramanyaya' taking the top position. Begada has also found favour with many artistst as sub main or for rtp. While todi, bhairavi & kalayani have managed to hold their own against kambodhi assault, shankarabaramnam , dhanyasi & bilahari were rarely heard. Keeravani seems to vanished along with madyamavati.

Muhari has outstaged its more popular cousins this time around.

Infact some the concerts i attended , notably by RK Srikantan, Malladi Brothers (@ German hall) & Nithyashree(@ MA) didn't feature any of the famous five (todi, kalayani, s'baranam,kambodhi, bahiravi)and looking back these concerts have shattered the myth that you need these for a concert to be fulfilling.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 30 Dec 2006, 13:12

In the time frame that I savored the season, thODi reigned--at least in the concerts I attended. Along with the rAgas you have mentioned, a few dhanyAsis and aTANAs whetted my appetite. My friend bhairavi (not really!) took a back seat, and like some of the elite of Mylapore, I ignored it and heaved a sigh of relief...

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 30 Dec 2006, 13:27

i have also noticed the strong presence of kambhOji this season, though i havent heard one yet, after December 1st.

I have heard 2 mOhanams, 2 darbArs, 2 pUrvikalyANis in the past 3 days.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 30 Dec 2006, 22:21

My friend bhairavi (not really!) took a back seat, and like some of the elite of Mylapore, I ignored it and heaved a sigh of relief...

I guess her absence was made up by her sister mukhAri - did mAnji show up anywhere?

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 30 Dec 2006, 23:03

another kambodhi & another "O Ranagasayee" to day but it was such a brilliant one, it made me crave for more.

The aristst was ... who else but TNS. more of it later

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 30 Dec 2006, 23:36

The stats (or at least my small sample) would seem to bear out Kambhoji's supremacy although in my sample it shares pride of place with Kharaharapriya (not an unhappy development at all!) - I've heard six renditions of each. Shankarabharanam comes up next and are followed by Thodi, Kalyani and Mukhari which share the 4th place....

So Mukhari has probably been more popular than Bhairavi which has to be content in the company of Lailtha, Sahana, Varali and Khamas in the 7th place. Some of the other noteworthy trends that emerged:

Vasantha/Lalitha were elaborated in as many as 5 concerts I attended, prompting my post in the ragas section.

Kedaragowla has been given short shrift with only one alaapana featuring in the concerts I attended. Its cousin Surutii was nowhere to be seen either.

Among pratimadhyamas, Kalyani seems to have regained its endangered spot at the top (I think in season 2004 I did not hear a single elaboration in over 40 concert!). Purvikalyani was relatively harder to find.

Other relatively rare ragas (for expansion) I heard were Bageshri, Behag, Bhavapriya, Bhushavali, Jyothiswarupini, Kumudakriya, Manavathi and Saraswathi.

My favourite raga, Shubha Pantuvarali, was totally absent (not even a krithi) - I missed Sanjay's rendition at KGS since I did not want to avoid listening to him on 3 successive days! Anyway, I have TNS' benchmark alaapana which I can listen to a thousand times.

Would be very interested in others corroborating/countering my contentions!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 30 Dec 2006, 23:40

Saveri was also notable by its absence in the concerts I went to (although I believe Sowmya rendered a good Saveri at the Academy).

Rengarajan · Post by **Rengarajan** » 31 Dec 2006, 12:54

Had Vijay attended Prema Rengarajan's concert, he could have listened to Pasupathiswaram Pranaumi in Shivapantuvarali

Rengarajan · Post by **Rengarajan** » 31 Dec 2006, 12:59

I keep listening to excellent rendering of Shivapantuvarali by MLV and Kalyanaraman whenever i feel like listening to sublime music

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 31 Dec 2006, 16:25

Vijay,
Don't you know, the minute you say you didn't make it to a concert, there are those who would say, 'you shouldn't have skipped it, it was the concert of the year!'. Well, since you HAVE attended some concerts of the year, I wouldn't worry too much, but can't resist saying, 'you should've been there at Krishna Gana Sabha.!'. You would have heard the tiruvaruTpA 'appA nAn' in pUrvi kalyANi (Sanjay sang it in the mArgazhi mahA utsavam concert, I think).
Another thing you would have appreciated: Sanjay requesting the organizers to let in the rasikAs who were listening from outside, since there were enough empty seats to accomodate them.
Did you get to hear his yadukula kAmbOdhi? Not many sang it, I presume. One of my pet rAgAs (bhAvA laden) sung so well...

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 31 Dec 2006, 18:06

Arasi ma'am: I'm sorry to bung a spanner in the works, but the only thing remarkable about the pUrvikalyANi tiruvaruTpa that Sri Sanjay sang during the Margazhi Maha Utsavam concert related on Jaya TV [at least to my ears] was the number of sruti lapses during the rendition... No questions regarding his vidwat - I have high regard for his music - but that was clearly not his day.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 31 Dec 2006, 18:10

Prashanth

Spanner !!!?

Looks more like waving a Red Rag to me !!:D
So get prepared to dance like a matador.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 31 Dec 2006, 18:18

LOL Coolkarniji. I am not known for my dancing skills, so I guess I better either bone up on them or delete my post

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 31 Dec 2006, 23:57

Arasi, that was a very nice gesture by Sanjay - as far as I can tell KGS could have made a lot more money if they had priced their tickets reasonably. Other than Jesudas' concert I don't remember any other concert being even half full.

No raging bulls here, Kulkarniji (anyway we all know who usually wins Bull-fights!) - it is the variety of opinions that makes a forum like this interesting (so long as they are not offensive or personal in nature). I did not see the concert myself (too early in the morning for me!)

Anyway, to get back to ragas of the season, could we have more opinions please. And as for Yadukula Kambhoji, I did hear a nice alaapana today by a young artiste called Manasi Prasad. It was for a Mysore Vasudevachar krithi. I also heard my first Saveri of the season in that concert.

Ananth · Post by **Ananth** » 01 Jan 2007, 15:29

My ragas of the season:
rAmapriyA by Gayatri Girish @ NGS, and ramAmanOhari (janya of rAmapriyA) by Sikkil Gurucharan @ Mudhra.
Also two versions of ArdhanArIsvaram (KumudhakRiyA), by TNS and GG.
Two karahapriyas, one by Malladi Bros and one by Sikkil Gurucharan.

Totally missing (in concerts I attended, as also in the reviews by others) - Hindolam, Bilahari. Even Todi and Kalyani do not seem to be getting their due. It is just Khamboji every where.

It will be an interesting exercise, if some one can take the trouble to organize all known song lists of the season. I'd expect to see the Big Five among the toppers, and also Mohanam, Pantuvarali, Purvikalyani, Keeravani, Saveri, Harikhamboji.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 01 Jan 2007, 15:47

Cool,
Funny, all this metador stuff from you--the olive branch man that you are! Pune abohavA would be agreeable too:)

Prashant,
I was talking about the one I heard at KGS--not the televised one.
By the way, I am merely Arasi. Madam, mami or aunty makes me feel uneasy:)

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 02 Jan 2007, 07:10

Arasi-
There was an olive in that remark of mine , too.
I was trying to bring back the wisdom of these words to Prashanth ...

WE
LIKE SOMEONE BECAUSE AND
LOVE SOMEONE INSPITE OF.....

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 02 Jan 2007, 08:30

'message understood'--as an old pop song goes. Of course, it is assumed that you carry the white banner! Good though, because it elicited some words of wisdom...

ramarama · Post by **ramarama** » 02 Jan 2007, 10:23

the big five? i've heard a reference elsewhere to the big 6 - KY, KHPY, BHVI, SKBM, KMBJ, TD. Which of these is not in the big 5?

Has anyone ever heard a full concert without a single "melakarta" kriti/elaboration? I have a vague memory of "audava" raga only experimental concerts. Would it take tremendous vidwat to pull off a satisfying concert while skipping all these time tested favourites - big 5, Big 6 - or other major hits like Shanmukhapriya, Purvi Kalyani, Pantuvarali etc.?

Sowmya rendered a "twentieth century vaggeyakara" concert in Singapore a few years ago. The trick would be to announce the theme after the concert was over, so you would actually have to work hard to guess that the concert was missing some major element of a traditional kutcheri.

Tangentially, a sabha in Mumbai used to organize thematic Hindustani music festivals featuring ragas using a particular swara (like "the Teevra Madhyam festival" or the "Shuddha Gandhar festival") - that is a lot easier to do in H Music because each artiste renders at most 2-3 ragas in a concert.

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 04 Jan 2007, 18:51

I'd say my concert experiences were extrememly fulfilling this season because hardly any of the ragas that were taken up for the main items repeated themselves! And yet I attended nearly 30 cutcheris! Well, Thodi of course did feature 3 or 4 times... And I'd like to know if anyone who attended Bombay Jayashree's concert at the Narada Gana Sabha can tell me the names of the ragas she sang in the RTP Ragamalika. She'd apperently done Shrutibheda(or Grahabheda, don't know the difference). It was one hell of an erudite exercise!!

spushpak · Post by **spushpak** » 04 Jan 2007, 22:08

Sri. O.S. Thyagarajan had given a beautiful Bilahari alapana at NCA on Dec 23rd with popular Swati Tirunal krithi "Smarasada Manasa Balagopalam".

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 04 Jan 2007, 23:35

Ramaji! My favourite raga Kharaharapriya is usually denied the "BIG' status! Cutcherie without Melakarta? Not that uncommon -my stats say that I've heard 8 this season itself (not counting the tukkada section)...without big 5 or Big 6 (or what have you) would be more difficult....Sanjay's academy concert had Mohanam and Brindavana Saranga...

Continuing along your tangent, I would like to see Sabhas encourage concerts with no more than 2-3 pieces + tukkadas in CM as well!

Jigyaasa, I did attend Jayashree at NGS...there was some Sruthi Bedham (same as Graha Bedham) in Charukeshi but do not remember the details...also forget the ragamalika swaras. The Charukeshi alaapana was pleasant but the Pallavi was disappointing considering that there was enough time - not even a trikaalam. Sukhi Evvaro in Kaanada was the other main piece in case you are interested - it was decent enough but given TNS's absolute gem of a rendition of that krithi, others might as well leave it alone!

ramarama · Post by **ramarama** » 05 Jan 2007, 09:31

Vijay-sahab: It is very understandable that karaharapriya is the one that is denied permanent Security Council status - we need to be choosy about this. I mean just look at the stature of the other five - what bhava, what heritage, what immense potential for moving the mind and the heart and assorted body parts. And Karaharapriya? I apologize for even asking my question earlier about which was the odd one out? Heh!

Jigyaasa · Post by **Jigyaasa** » 05 Jan 2007, 18:57

@Vijay, I know it's difficult to recollect but do u think it could've been Vaasanthi?(The first in the Ragamalika swaras) I believe I identified the other two... Also, I'd read a review of her concert for Bharat Kalachar where the reviewer himself couldn't identify the Ragas in the ragamalika with certainty. He guessed two of the 3 could be Jyotiswaroopini and Bageshri or something... Does someone know for sure...?
And as for Sukhi Evvaro, I haven't heard Shri T.N.S and would rather not, because, with no intention of offending anyone, I'd find it so ostentatious and 'personalised' that the inherent bhava and questioning nature of the song would go missing... Jayashree's renditions on the other hand are always soaked in bhava and devoid of gimmickry or show of vidwat.