Saketarman in Tampa, FL

[Sundara Rajan]

SAKETARAMAN AT SWARALAYA, TAMPA, FL ON MARCH 30,2019

Saketaraman- Vocal
L. Ramakrishnan- Violin
Patri Satish- Mridangam

Song List:

1. Deva deva kalayAmidE - mAyAmALavagowLa- SwAthi ThirunAL- 16 min. including neraval and swara at jAtarUpa
2. HindOLa raga alApana, violin return 10 min. followed by Purandara dAsA's yArE ranganAthanA and swara 11 min.
3. DanyAsi rAga alApana and violin return 13 min. followed by SyAma sAstri's MeenalOchani brOva-8 min.- NO swara !
4. Periyasami thooran's thAyE thripura sundari in Suddha sAveri, 5 min. only- No alApan or swara !
5. MOhana rAga alApana and violin return 16 min. followed by Thyagaraja's mOhana rAma-swaram at pallavi 16 minn.
5a.Tani for 13 min. subdued and pleasing presentation by Patri
6. fast paced Thanthai thAi irundhAl in shanmuka priya of GopAla krishna bhArathi 4 min.

Five minutes intermission

7. PapanAsam Sivan's ThuNaiprindharuL in raga varamu- 5 min.
8. Desh rAga alApana and violin return for a total of 8 min. & half a minute tAnam followed by pallavi:
pArukkuLLE nalla nAdu & ragamAlika swarams in desh, bhairavi, kamAs, hamsAnandhi, dEsh-16 min.
9. KrishnA nee bEghanE bhArO of Vyasaraya in yamunAkalyANi- 6 min.
10.manadhukkugandadhu murugan roopam of Tanjavur Sankara Iyer in Sindhu bhairavi
11.Concluded with a ThillAna and PavamAna in SowrAshtram.

Ramakrishnan and Patri Satish provided excellent support that made the concert more enjoyable. Patri's strokes were soft and pleasing. Ramakrishnan's violin returns during alApanas and swaras were oustanding.

Overall an excellent concert for 2 hrs. & 45 min.

Although I have listened to the team a few time on the You Tube, this is the first I listen to Saketaraman live and really enjoyed the program.

Unlike in my younger years of my sixties and seventies, my hearing now is not that good. My wife always
complains that I don't hear her well ( selective hearing loss ?!). However, the present trend, even in
Carnatic concerts seems to be "LOUDER is better ". Hence now a days I carry ear plugs to concerts.
Even so, I found the present program to be too loud. Actually Patri Satish requested that his feed back be lowered !
Even sitting way back from the stage did not help.It should be emphasized that high volume makes
music into NOISE !

[arasi]

Sundara Rajan,
Happy to hear that you are still driving all the way to Tampa Yes, nothing like live concerts...
A pity, another enthusiast in your state isn't traveling long distances for concerts now--maduraimini She listens to music on You Tube a lot...

Rajesh will be mighty happy to see your detailed in minutes notes on the program.
A few corrections in lyrics, if I may...

dEva dEva kalayAmi tE
yArE rangana, yArE krishNana
krishNA nI bEgane bArO

[Sundara Rajan]

Thank you, Arasi, for your comments . Errors do creep in to transliteration of Indian language words into English and I stand corrected. I did not HEAR clearly the first few words of the Purandara Dasaru composition and I had to get help from my friend. The mike was too close to the vocalist and the sound was loud drowning the first few words. As I mentioned, my hearing also is below par these days !

[arasi]

Don't forget that we share that problem, we who revel in our our golden years
I haven't heard Saketaraman in a concert hall in a while--which makes me wonder. Isn't he singing at Cleveland this year? If only we could get the streaming of all happenings from there this year! It's almost like live performances for us, aren't they?Waiting for the festival announcement about this...

[arasi]

Sorry, repeated post...

[rajeshnat]

Sundarrajan Sir
Thank you for driving to Tampa and hearing the concert in full and reporting. The list has quite a lot of janaranjaka ragas and krithis.With impressive L ramakrishnan and Patri that would have been a great team. You forgot to mention the raga of thillana , I am assuming it is Lalgudi Sir's thillana.