Amrutha Venkatesh @ MMA 27 Dec 2017

[HarishankarK]

Anyone who attended the concert pl post song list and impressions
Thank you

[kvchellappa]

I eagerly opened thinking you have posted one. I heard that she sang Vachaspathi RTP, from a friend who was there to listen to Sanjay.

[Rasika_first]

Brilliant singing by this youngster. She sang a superb thodi followed by Bharathi Mamava. I will write a detailed review by this weekend

[Sachi_R]

Thank you.

[HarishankarK]

Brilliant singing by this youngster.
"
No doubt about it

She sang a superb thodi followed by Bharathi Mamava. I will write a detailed review by this weekend

Review is eagerly awaited. Thank you

[hema]

List
Pantuvarali: Ata tala varnam — Tanjore quartet?
Ritigaula: raga Ratna
Todi: Swati Tirunal — Bharathi ...
Vachaspati: RTP -khanda Nadai Adi (I think) (?),Sahana, mayamalavagowla (?)
Rama bhakta hanuman
Purandara Dasa: nagayu baruthide (sorry did not hear it clearly)
Thillana: Swati Tirunal
It was an excellent concert. I really enjoyed her middle to lower octave sancharas. The only surprise was unlike her usual self, she was in shining clothes!

[hema]

the entire accompaniment was in complete harmony. Will write later. I am at Sanjay’s concert.

[Sachi_R]

Hema-ji
Thank you. Amrutha glitters in my mind always. This concert seems to be no exception. Looking forward to her singing in Kuthiramalika Palace soon!

[kvchellappa]

Did you listen to the concert webcast today? The webcast was perhaps not up to the mark. Her Bhavayami was not as great as the one she sang long back in Kerala (available in YT I think).

[Sachi_R]

You mean E-ambalam? Let me catch it, sir. Many thanks!

[CRama]

The complete list.
Panthuvarali ata tala varnam
Ragarathnamalikache- (N,S)
Ennai nee maravade -Amritavarshini-Dandapani Desikar (R,S)
Bharati mamava0- Thodi Navarathri kriti (R,N,S)
RTP_Vachaspathi- Adi- Khanda nadai
RM-Keeravani, Sahana, Mayamalavagowla
Later she sang the pallavi in Khanda Triputa.
Rama bhaktha hanuman-Jonpuri- Suguna Purushothaman
Nagayu baruthithe-Maund-Tuned and sung inimitably by TRS. There was an ugaboga prior to the kriti.
Thillana-Hamsanandi-Muthiah Bhagavatar.

It was an outstanding concert with rarely heard items- Bharati Mamava and Vachaspathi RTP- rarely rendered in todays concerts.

[hema]

Yes, accompaniment was very good too. The team esp. violin felt like Varadarajan for Sanjay. Bhagyalekshmy on the morsing was really awesome. And so was the mridangam. I felt the entire team was totally enjoying the performance. Actually I felt I was at a tender Sanjay concert.

[rajeshnat]

Amrutha Venkatesh (Vocal)
B.K.Raghu (Violin)
B.Ganapathyraman (Mridangam)
Bhagyalakshmi M.Krishna (Moharsing)

[Sachi_R]

Thanks, Rajesh

[HarishankarK]

Audience turn-out?
She has packed up a lot of songs and ragas in limited time - but no dikshitar is little bit sad

[jodha]

but no dikshitar is little bit sad

Are you really sad ? Let it be so.MD's athma will be happy.
My lord....pl.save me from such hypocritical moanings at least in 2018.
Thaangala.

[sureshvv]

Agree. Quota system never good for anything.

[HarishankarK]

but no dikshitar is little bit sad

Are you really sad ? Let it be so.MD's athma will be happy.
My lord....pl.save me from such hypocritical moanings at least in 2018.
Thaangala.

Yes I am. Don't see what's your problem if I prefer to hear a dikshitar kriti in every concert.

[Sachi_R]

HarishankarK,
Amrutha has sung an utterly brilliant Bhupalam. And Sadachaleshwaram of Sri MD 2 days ago:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... 6420735823

I enjoyed it and wanted to share it with you!

[harimau]

Agree. Quota system never good for anything.

In that case, abolish the quota for Swathi Thirunal krithis first.

But that would mean no more Navarathri Mantapam concerts!

[sankark]

Agree. Quota system never good for anything.

Agree. In your opinion, for a format dominated by songs, what's the issue in this concert?

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=30530

[kvchellappa]

Harimau hits the stumps instead of the ball. Can understand.
The issue is about a concert that is not thematic. Thyagaraja utsavam, Dikshithar jayanthi, PS jayanthi, Thyagaraja samdhi day. etc. are thematic.

[kvchellappa]

It has been shown that a concert with only Tamizh songs can be spell-binding, or one without the trinity songs. It does not mean disrespect to the trinity. If only the trinity songs must be sung or must be sung invariably, CM will become restricted and stagnant. One can understand one's preference, but the musician must decide based on his feel and manodharma.

[HarishankarK]

HarishankarK,
Amrutha has sung an utterly brilliant Bhupalam. And Sadachaleshwaram of Sri MD 2 days ago:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... 6420735823

I enjoyed it and wanted to share it with you!

Thank you - indeed it is beautiful

[sureshvv]

Agree. Quota system never good for anything.

In that case, abolish the quota for Swathi Thirunal krithis first.

But that would mean no more Navarathri Mantapam concerts!

Management Quota is a different matter. The best you can do is revoke your grant.

[harimau]

Harimau hits the stumps instead of the ball. Can understand.
The issue is about a concert that is not thematic. Thyagaraja utsavam, Dikshithar jayanthi, PS jayanthi, Thyagaraja samdhi day. etc. are thematic.

You on the other hand hit your own gonads.

Everybody knows that the so-called Swathi Thirunal krithis were composed by a variety of court musicians. If the Travancore Royal House wants to claim they were all authored by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, they should attempt to explain away the stylistic differences among those 400-odd compositions.

They should also explain why some of the compositions refer to Brihannayaki. Is that the name of the goddess in any Kerala temple?

Why is the Karnataka Kapi varnam Sumasayaka is an identical copy of a Telugu composition in use by the family of Veena Dhanammal?

So, for all I care, Amrutha Venkatesh and Sanjay Subramanian can sing the Swathi Thirunal compositions in their Navarathri Mantapam concerts or all over Kerala. But they don't have to sing it in the Music Academy or anywhere in Chennai.

If they do it, you know they are singing for their supper!

[musi]

@Harimau

What do you mean "singing for their supper" ?
Even if all of what you said is true, How does it matter? The compositions are a brilliant piece of work.
If every artist sings chakkani raja or manasa guru guha roopam in every concert the art will die.
Sanjay and Amrutha make it a point to introduce many new compositions and composers in their concert and we must appreciate that.
Plus, they are amongst the very few musicians who present these compositions beautifully by enunciating the words perfectly without the aid of tablets/chits.
By doing this they are doing the art a great favor.
Kudos to that.Plus their manodharmam is brilliant.

Sayying that you can sing a song in kerala but not in chennai says your taste and openness as an audience is really going down!

[sureshvv]

But they don't have to sing it in the Music Academy or anywhere in Chennai.

Thankfully curmudgeons like you with no appreciation of music don't have a say on what should be sung at the Academy or in Chennai. So the SK and the future SK will be singing this wherever and whenever they please.

If they do it, you know they are singing for their supper!

It is wonderful that they can do this for their supper. And we are and should be proud of ourselves as a society,

[kvchellappa]

.....mau,
ST used his name boldly. He did not hide under a mock name making baseless derogatory comments in a cowardly and deplorable manner. You are no one to dictate who should sing what where. Your choice is whom you want to listen to.

[kvchellappa]

I like Sanjay for this honesty as much as for his music:
"Thank you all for giving me this freedom to do what I want and thank you for your patience and dealing with my own aberrations that may have marred your idea of what SHOULD be."

[Sachi_R]

I am willing to sing for my supper, but people prefer I keep quiet and reward me with a sumptuous dinner instead! (one is on the cards today, and one more tomorrow, and... So on )

[Sivaramakrishnan]

harimau,
With due regards to the genius of S Balachander, let me recollect that the so-called Swati debate was over with his times - practically with none to support SB's claims/ allegations. Reopening the subject could best be a time-pass for you.

But I must point out that we have two literary works 'Bhaktimanjari' and 'Syaanandoorapura varnanaa prabandham' authored by Swati Tirunal. And another musicological treatise - 'Muhanaa praasaanthya praasaadi vyvastha'. Whom are you going to attribute these works to? And the numerous padams in Malayalam?

Let us treat the debate as closed and discuss the concert of Amrutha Venkatesh in this thread.

(And congrats to her - she was awarded a prize for best vocalist in the Music academy Sadas yesterday evening).

[kvchellappa]

Congrats to Amrutha Venkatesh.

[HarishankarK]

Well deserved award - congrats and kudos to her

By the way - is she the only student of Prince Rama Varma?
Hope he grooms some more students who sing so well like Amrutha.