Smt Sudha Ragunathan @ MA 22/12/2017. One of my best so far

[Rasika_first]

Smt Sudha Ragunathan - Vocal
Smt Charumathi Raghuraman - Violin
Shri Patri Satish Kumar - Mridangam
Shri R Raman - Morsing

Venue - Music Academy, Chennai
Time - 4.00-6.30 PM

Vanajakshi - Mandari - Adi - ??
Devadi Deva Sadashiva = Sindhuramakriya - Adi - Thyagaraja (S)
Sri Ramachandaro - Sri Ranjani - Misra Chapu - Muthuswamy Dikshithar (R,N,S)
Parakela Nannu - Kedaragowla - Adi - Syama Sastri
Gananaya Desika - Rishabhapriya - Adi - Koteeswara Iyer (R,N,S)
Keesu Keesu - Bhairavi- Aandal
Narayana Namo Narayana Sri Sathyanarayana Anudinamum Kavumaiyya - Suddha Dhanyasi, Karna Ranjani, Shubha Pantuvarali, Begada - Misra Jhampa in Kanda Nadai - RTP
Ugaboga followed by Baro Krishanaiyya - Ragamalika - Adi - Kanaka Dasa
Thillana - Khamas - Adi - Lalgudi Jayaraman

What a WOW concert this was. It was a musical day for me, starting from the octagenarian Smt Vedalli mami’s concert in the morning, followed by the veena concert by her student and then by Smt Sudha Ragunathan. All the three can be deemed as concert of high quality with the first and last being one of the best I have heard in a long time.

I saw another thread about vedavalli’s mami concert, so I will stick to Smt Sudha’s concert here. I haven’t been hearing hr often in the last couple of years but this year after my MMU experience I thought may be I should try and catch up one more. My plan was to go to KGS because that is the most talked about compared to others. But I was wrong. I stayed back at the Academy because I was lazy to travel anywhere else. I was drained out a bit and this was the fourth concert for the day. And I pat my back for staying back. Thank the artist for giving such a wholesome concert. I am writing a detailed review because this concert deserves one and the vidwat showcased by the artist of the day needs to be mentioned.

Her voice was in fine shape and she was all set right from the word go. I haven’t heard this varnam before and she sang it well. It gave a good glimpse of what was in store.

The second item for the day is a krithi that I believe was popularized by Smt MS Subbulakshmi. She sang the krithi very well and followed it up with crisp kalpanaswarams. Any mayamalavagowla janya ragam can lift your mood at the begining of the concert and also vocally you know the range you can cover for the day.

The first ragam for the day was Sri Ranjani. Though it was submain for the day I think her ragam was good not excellent. She kind of rushed up with it at certain phrases. Technically correct but that element was missing a bit. She made up for that in the neraval where the line ‘Sita Kalyana Mahotsava’ was taken up. Again wonderful set of kalpana swarams. Again I have to draw parallels with her guru. She brough back memories of her concert. I believe Smt Sudha has this uncanny knack of putting these kanaku swaras at ease. For a lay listener it might look simple but I am sure students of music know what it takes to sing or play like that. Coming to Charumathi I liked her Sriranjani ragam more and her replies to main artist whether it is neraval krithi or swaram is perfect. There is never a moment she tries to overshadow the main artist.
Syama Sastri’s parakela was sung next and then when she started Rishabhapriya before 5PM I was kind of guessed her RTP is going to be little grand. And I wasn’t wrong .

Rishabhapriya, the prati madhyama of charukesi was a scholarly rendition.The effortless delineation in the mandhara sthayi and upper octaves bringing out the full bhavam has to be appreciated. Her rendition of the krithi was even better especially the charanam was moving. Her lighting brighas were just perfect at required places and she didn’t go overboard on that which I liked. Her lightening swarams got a lot of bale’s from the crowd. The tani that followed was very nice and not loud. I am not technical with mridangam but I just can say that it was highly appreciated by the artists on dias and I like the soft touches that Patri gave. The gumki sounded so well in some places. Patri and Raman’s anticipation during neraval and swarams needs a word of mention here. A concert isn’t a success without the support of all the accompanists and these guys ably supported her.

After the pasuram came the grand four raga pallavi. Her mastery was shown when she effortlessly moved on from one ragam to another. What really impressed me was her way of showcasing the jeeva swaram from a krithi whereby there was no inhibition from the audience side what ragam it was. I just closed my eyes during subhapantuvarali and Karna ranjani and just enjoyed them like there was no tomorrow. You guys might feel it as an exaggeration but one had to be there to experience that Aah moment.

Tanam was a bit short and with mridangam accompaniment. May be the artist can work on it. The pallavi was set in Misra Jhampa talam (Kanda gati). I am a novice when it comes to some complicated patterms in pallavi. So the pallavi line suggests, the ragams were sung responding to the pallavl lines of the respective krithis. The neraval was done well and when it was time for swarams her vidwat and experience of singing for 4 decades was seen. Their school is known for gruha bedham and while singing swaram she touched upon Mohanam, Hindolam, Sudha Saveri and Madhyamavati. Again these are moments when you are at the edge of your seat not expecting that she would move from Ga to Ga and then Ma to Ma so swiftly.

The whole RTP lasted almost close to 40 mins. She rounded with her famous Dasa krithi and the Lalgudi Thillana.

I haven’t attended her concert in MA in a very long time and this was a treat. A day that started with a vintage concert ended on a high note. Easily one of the best for me in season so far

[ratanabhinav]

Wow . Seems like a stellar concert . And the items have been chosen very craftily , and that's the kind of playlist I generally love : sriranjani , kedaragowla , rishabhapriya/charukesi , Karnaranjani , begada . So sad , I had to give it a miss . I think it has been raining melody the last two evenings from two melody queens : GV and SR .

[rajeshnat]

Narayana Namo Narayana Sri Sathyanarayana Anudinamum Karumaiya - Suddha Dhanyasi, Karna Ranjani, Shubha Pantuvarali, Begada - Misra Jhampa in Kanda Nadai - RTP
...
After the pasuram came the grand four raga pallavi. Her mastery was shown when she effortlessly moved on from one ragam to another. What really impressed me was her way of showcasing the jeeva swaram from a krithi whereby there was no inhibition from the audience side what ragam it was. I just closed my eyes during subhapantuvarali and Karna ranjani and just enjoyed them like there was no tomorrow. You guys might feel it as an exaggeration but one had to be there to experience that Aah moment.

Tanam was a bit short and with mridangam accompaniment. May be the artist can work on it. The pallavi was set in Misra Jhampa talam (Kanda gati). I am a novice when it comes to some complicated patterms in pallavi. So the pallavi line suggests, the ragams were sung responding to the pallavl lines of the respective krithis. The neraval was done well and when it was time for swarams her vidwat and experience of singing for 4 decades was seen. Their school is known for gruha bedham and while singing swaram she touched upon Mohanam, Hindolam, Sudha Saveri and Madhyamavati. Again these are moments when you are at the edge of your seat not expecting that she would move from Ga to Ga and then Ma to Ma so swiftly.

The whole RTP lasted almost close to 40 mins.

Rasika_first,
Did sudha sing all four ragas , did she do all taanam in all four ragas and did she sing neraval in all 4 ragas . How about swaras you have stated gruhabehdam to few other ragas did she also touch the 4 ragas. D

[Rasika_first]

Narayana Namo Narayana Sri Sathyanarayana Anudinamum Karumaiya - Suddha Dhanyasi, Karna Ranjani, Shubha Pantuvarali, Begada - Misra Jhampa in Kanda Nadai - RTP
...
After the pasuram came the grand four raga pallavi. Her mastery was shown when she effortlessly moved on from one ragam to another. What really impressed me was her way of showcasing the jeeva swaram from a krithi whereby there was no inhibition from the audience side what ragam it was. I just closed my eyes during subhapantuvarali and Karna ranjani and just enjoyed them like there was no tomorrow. You guys might feel it as an exaggeration but one had to be there to experience that Aah moment.

Tanam was a bit short and with mridangam accompaniment. May be the artist can work on it. The pallavi was set in Misra Jhampa talam (Kanda gati). I am a novice when it comes to some complicated patterms in pallavi. So the pallavi line suggests, the ragams were sung responding to the pallavl lines of the respective krithis. The neraval was done well and when it was time for swarams her vidwat and experience of singing for 4 decades was seen. Their school is known for gruha bedham and while singing swaram she touched upon Mohanam, Hindolam, Sudha Saveri and Madhyamavati. Again these are moments when you are at the edge of your seat not expecting that she would move from Ga to Ga and then Ma to Ma so swiftly.

The whole RTP lasted almost close to 40 mins.

Rasika_first,
Did sudha sing all four ragas , did she do all taanam in all four ragas and did she sing neraval in all 4 ragas . How about swaras you have stated gruhabehdam to few other ragas did she also touch the 4 ragas. D

Yes Rajesh she sang all the four ragas during the alapana and also during the tanam .So while rendering the pallavi, the first cycle she sang Narayana in Suddha Dhanyasi, then the next line in Karna Ranjani sri Satyanarayana in Shubha Pantuvarali and then last phrase in Begada. Then individually she went to do nerval. She interchanged the swarams similarly. And in gruha bedham she sang all the four ragams.

[rajeshnat]

Few years back her voice quality,shruthi and overall delivery did touch a low , may be she is getting past her low . Best wishes to sudha , her chathur pallavi is a great effort. thanks rasika_first for your review.

[Sachi_R]

she sang Narayana in Suddha Dhanyasi, then the next line in Karna Ranjani sri Satyanarayana in Shubha Pantuvarali and then last phrase in Begada.

I don't trust my musical imagination that much, but these ragas don't segue from to the other easily, euphoniously, for me... Wonder if anyone can share a clip to show what it sounds like.

[Rasika_first]

Few years back her voice quality,shruthi and overall delivery did touch a low , may be she is getting past her low . Best wishes to sudha , her chathur pallavi is a great effort. thanks rasika_first for your review.

I am assuming with the amount of concerts these artists give they are bound to face this problem sometime in their career. But yesterday there wasn't a glimpse of anything like that or for that matter even in MMU. And I frankly never believe an artist can deliver in all concerts during the season. I haven't attended her concerts in the last couple of years, so can't comment however read that she did miss season in 2015 due to health reason. But she did justice to this concert. And if you notice my earlier reviews, I tend to forgive couple of lapses on stage simply because at the end I tend to look at the overall musical quality of the concert.

[shankarabharanam]

Thanks Rasika for such a detailed review. My sis and couple of friends attended this concert too and they were simply raving about it. The list seems well planned and well executed too

[Rengarajan]

An excellent team work was at display at Music Academy and it was a wholesome treat that a Rasika can ask for. Sudha' rendering of Ramachandro Rakshatu mam in Sriranjani by Dikshitar and gana naya desika in Rishabhabapriya by Koteeswara Iyer were soulful. Ragam, tanam Pallavi in four ragas was intelligently constructed out of the first word of krutis which have been favourites of Sudha Viz, Narayana in Sudddha Danyasi, Om Namo narayana in Karnaranjani, Sri Satyanarayana(m) in Subhapantuvarali and Anudinamu gavumayya and set in Misrajampai kanda nadai. The rendition gave a kaleidoscopic effect and will linger on rasika's ears for a long time. Charumathi Raghuraman can be considered a prodigy and solo version in rendering ragas and her replies in Swaras were remarkable. Sudha's appreciative gestures during the concert stand testimony to the superb rendering by Charumathi. No less is the contribution by the stalwarts - Patr. Satish kumar and Raman - in making the concert a great success

[harimau]

I think it has been raining melody the last two evenings from two melody queens : GV and SR .

The title 'Melody Queen' has been already taken by Subhashree Ramachandran, at least, if you have seen the advertisements over the last two years.

However, the title 'Malady Queen' may be more appropriate for her since she is known to cancel concerts at the last minute, because of headache or some such malady.

[Madras-Talkies]

I sometimes feel it’s a privilege for audience to know what the artist is likely to render.. so that we can take a well informed decision. In this concert, it was quite different, Smt. Sudha’s song list was not printed in the souvenir. I was pleasantly surprised by the choices of raga chosen by Smt. Sudha Ragunathan.

- The kriti was saint Tyagaraja Sree Ramachandro; here again, her stylish niraval and swaras were praiseworthy.

- Her essay of Rishabapriya was soulful. Picking up the Koteshwara composition ganayana, she indulged in a lively sprightly swaraprastharas.

- Elaboration o Suddha Danyasi, Begada, Subhapantuvarali and karnaranjani brought in a newness to her lucid presentation; aesthestic sancharas added weight. She scaled heights while rendering the grand rtp in Misra jhampai in kanda nadai. Gruhabedham and swara bedham to shift from one raga to a another was mind blowing.

In a nutshell, I was pleasantly surprised with choice ragas and songs handled by the artist. And special mention about the accompanists, Sri. Pathri and Smt. Charu, they also presented well. Having such highly talent accompanist always increases concert experience.