Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

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Sundara Rajan
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Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

The Cleveland Aradhana will begin on April 17, 2019.
Will any of the programs be live streamed as in years past ( not done in 2018 ) by the organizers or by other private broadcasters as "icarnatic" for a fee ?

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Sundara Rajan,
The question foremost on the minds of those of us who can't physically make it to the Aradhana festival!
I did ask the question during the December season of someone who could give me information on this. The answer was encouraging. Let us hope we get positive news soon :)

rajeshnat
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by rajeshnat »

The cleveland 2019 schedule is published, just saw now
http://www.aradhana.org/schedule.html

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Any news about streaming yet? Waiting...

shankarank
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by shankarank »

Looks like 2019 is up here:

http://icarnatic.org/

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Thank you, Shankarank.
icarnatic served the Aradhana festival and the rasikAs in bringing the programs home in the past. Now, they have included the Margazhi Maha Utsavam programs as well, and are offering different packages. Their good work continues.
Hope many more rasikAs pick the ones most suited to their needs...

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Looking forward to the streaming by icarnatic. They have volunteered every year, except for last year, and I am going to try and watch as much as I can, with life being a bit busy at the moment. They offer different packages of the festival and of Margazhi Maha Utsavam.
Sundara Rajan, I am sure you are happy. This year, hoping for more viewers and reviews too :)

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

I hope that the streaming will be confined to audio.

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

Yes, I am glad that we could watch many of the programs without "being there" physically. However, I am not sure how much I can watch with my attention span declining. I have subscribed to the live & on-demand streaming, so I can watch whenever I could do so.

RSR: Why audio only ? If you don't wish to "see" the streaming video, you could go to any other website while "listening" to the program. It costs the same either way !

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

Sundara Rajan wrote: 17 Apr 2019, 19:13 Yes, I am glad that we could watch many of the programs without "being there" physically. However, I am not sure how much I can watch with my attention span declining. I have subscribed to the live & on-demand streaming, so I can watch whenever I could do so.

RSR: Why audio only ? If you don't wish to "see" the streaming video, you could go to any other website while "listening" to the program. It costs the same either way !
Yes, Sir. That is the advantage in listening to streamed programs. I went through the schedule and am very happy about the choice of themes.
http://www.aradhana.org/schedule.html
quoting the items that I liked.
The Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. We are also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Especially the focus on nagaswaram and tavil. almost every day.
Sangeetha Rathnakara Ramnad V. Raghavan Memorial Concert
Sustaining Sampradaya — Tribute to S. Rajam
D.K. Pattammal Centenary Year Concert
Sustaining Sampradaya — Tribute to D.K. Pattammal
A concert by the torch-bearers of the Cleveland Festival
M.D. Ramanathan Memorial Concert
Sangeetha Rathnakara Neyveli R. Santhanagopalan (Vocal)
D.K. Pattammal Centenary Celebration
Gowri Ramnarayan (Director and Narrator)
K.V. Narayanaswamy Memorial Concert
Papanasam Ashok Ramani (Vocal)
--------------------------------------------------
The last two days are having 'dance' programs. My understanding is that the music of Trinity was not related to dance at all.
Sowmya vocal concert tribute to DKP can be made 'ticketless'.
Instrumental and vocal music programs can be steamed as audio / video but dance programs are best avoided for streaming. It spoils the very divine atmosphere of the aaraadhanaa festival.

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

It appears that they have some teething problem in live streaming the proceedings right from 1:00 p.m. today. Let us hope the problem will be resolved soon.

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

The live streaming commenced with Mahathi's concert at 5:35 p.m.

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Good to hear that you are tuned in, Sundara Rajan! Busy days now for me. Will watch as much as I can, and watch the rest later at my leisure. Please keep the thread alive with your comments. Of course, the comments from others too, and pictures from our top class photographers...

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

pictures from our top class photographers.
God! please spare us the visual deluge.
I believe that rasikas.org has a facebook version too. I hardly go near that. It is especially meant for photos and videos.
My humble request...Please post all photographs and videos in Facebook only and not here.

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

Both yesterday and today, I cannot hear Mr Sundaram's comments at the end of each program even at the highest setting of volume. Either he should keep the mike closer to his moth or increase the broadcast volume. How do other rasikas feel about this ?

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

After four now. Couldn't come to the computer until now. Saw Sundaram, couldn't hear him. Hope the internet obliges that we can hear/see more, Sundara Rajan.
It has been a tradition here to carry Cleveland pictures for many years now . Without them, it's like a dIpAvali malar without shilpi's works of gods and goddesses, Gopulu's treasures and more.
Last edited by arasi on 19 Apr 2019, 03:20, edited 1 time in total.

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Sound still poor, but Wesleyan students are singing--SadhincanE O manaSA softly and pleasingly sung. amba paradEvatE followed. Then another cittasvara-contained song, telisi rAma chintanato. Nice sketch of kalyANi raga, followed by ninnuvinA gati gana--all with hiccups of sound problem...

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Heard Kunnakkudi Balamurali Krishna's concert without any sound hitches, starting only from a song in Urmika which went something like entane? vinTAnurA, evaritO moraliDu? Missed the composer's name too, which he announced. It was sung Impressively. Was there a varNam?
Then, kambhOdi AlApana which warmed up slowly, trying to reach some depth --there was some emroidery there. Then he went for higher notes and his tempo, again went for depth in the lower notes and came up with a few bhAva filled phrases. It was O ranga SAyi with neraval at bhUlOka vaikunTa. Embroidery work again in the svarAs which spoke of bhAva.
Karaikudi Mani reigned of course, appealing both to paNDitAs and pAmarAs (like me). What konjum (adorable) phrases! Each one sounded beautiful, as if verbalized.
Guruprasad played ably along.
Guru Surjananda's muruganin maRu peyar azhagu was sung well, and KAraikudi Mani's playing for it was a composition in itself...

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

It goes to the eternal credit of CM composers ( especially the Trinity) to have completely and correctly changed the theme of the compositions as solely devotion-oriented. As such, it will be a travesty to have any dance program based on their creations. A note on Shyama Sastry from wiki.
His set of three famous svarajati(s) are intended to be sung in concert rather than danced, and are sometimes referred to as "Ratnatrayam" (Three jewels). They are Kāmākṣhī Anudinamu, Kāmākṣhī Padayugamē, and Rāvē himagiri kumāri, composed in the ragas Bhairavi, Yadukula kambhoji and Todi respectively. The former two are set to Miśra Cāpu Tāḷa, while the third is set to Ādi Tāḷa.
Here are a few kritis by the trinity How can anyone 'dance' to these majestic creations?
(1) any of the iodi kritis of Thyagaraja swami (2) nAma kusuma in Sriragam (3) mAnasa guruguha (4) janani ninnu vinaa (5) meru samaana (6) jAnaki ramaNa (7) intha sowkyamu (8) giripai (8) sangeetha gyanamu .. and many more.
Cleveland organizers can delink CM classical and dance programs. and hold separate 'festivals' ( if at all!) for non-trinity CM songs as dance!

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

Since no one else has written about the concerts, except Arasi who covered only Kunnakkudi Balamuralikrishna, I will provide my two cents worth about the events that I watched.

April 17,2019.
MAHATHI started the concert with Koteeswara Iyer's VAraNa mukhavA in Hamsadwani followed by
Neethu mahima pogada tharamA in Hamsaanandhi
Next she provided a good alApana in kAmbhOdhi for 16 minutes and followed it by
Sri SubrahmanyAya namasthE of Dikshtar, neraval and swaras st the usual "vAsavAdhi sakaladEva vandhithAya" for a total55 minutes.
IthisamayamurA in ChAyanata followed.
RTP in Shanmukapriya: SaravNabhava Shanmukapriya vadivElazhagA with swaram in RagamAlika. I was distracted and failed to note the ragas except the last one in BehAg.
She completed her program with the Garudhadwani Thilland of BMK made famous by Rama Varma.
A good almost two hours concert that I enjoyed.

A.S. MuraLi & family
1. BrochEvArevarE in Sriranjani
2. PAlaya mAdhava mahitham of Swathi ThirunAL in AsAvEri. This was new to me
3.KeeravANi alApana for 14 minutes followed by "sAmaghAnapriyakaram umAmahEswaram of SurajAnanda with swaram for a total of 30 minutes.
4. Ini namkkoru kavalayumillai in Bilahari- Kotteswara Iyer's
5. Dikshitar's mahAlakshmi karuNArasa---- in mAdhava manOhari
6.KalyANi raga alApana after only 5 minutes at 8:56 p.m. the broadcast was abruptly stopped !!

This is the first time I hear this artist from Palghat. He was vocally supported by his wife and son. I liked his presentation but was short chained by abrupt stoppage.

April 18, 2019
Kunnakkudi BalanuraLikrishna

The program was running late by almost TWO hours and BMK's program had to be cut short.
He started with Pallavi Gopala Iyer's Enthneevina vinthurA in Urmika raga, a janya of Simmendramadyamam
kAmbhOdji raga alApana for 15 minutes followed by O RangasAyEE-18 minutes.
Tani Avardanam for 10 minutes A very good presentation of the rAga in all its shades as well as the composition
He had to close his progran with Surajananda's Behag piece "muruganin maru peyar azhaghu" at 10:31 p.m.

April 19, 2019

Sunil Gargyan

I missed his first song
2, Good alApana of Nattakkurinchi raga followed by "Mansu viszhaya---"
3. GKB"s Behag ragA Adum ChidamnbaramO

Short but sweet presentation. This is the first time I hear him live, though I have listened to him on You Tube a few times.


The evening program of
Sudha Raghunathan:
Started at 7:45 p.m., only 15 min behind schedule !
1. HMB's Daru vaNam in raga Vasantha: SannuthAngi Sri ChamundEswari--- 10 min. This composition First time for me
2.mOkshamugaldA in sAramathi. Started with the Anupallavi. Good presentation
3. Sub main- SubbarAya sAstri's Janani ninnuvinA in ReethigowLa - 10 min alApana, neraval and swara at suvAsini--
4. Amba nee irangAyenil pugal Ethu in atANa
5. Main item: KalyANi raga aLapana and violin return by young Kamalkiran Vinjamuri for a total of 22 min. followed by
NujadAsavarada of Pattanam Subramanya Iyer, neraval & swara at bhujagAdhipa--- total of 45 min. followed by
Thani for 20 min.
6. theerAdha viLayAttuppiLLai of mahAkavi Subrahmanya BhArathi- raga malika
thukkadas on Sairam etc
ChAlu cHalu----
mAlai varum sOlai/nEram

Looooong speech, mostly inaudible.
She closed the program at 10.25 p.m.with BalamuaLikishna's thillana in BrindAvai raga.

A good 2.5 hrs. concert

rajeshnat
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by rajeshnat »

Sundararajan Sir
I personally did not know that AS Murali has wife and son to do vocal support. If some one can help with their names that would be great. AS Murali brothers and nephew excel in percussion , may be only violinist is missing in their family.

Great Enthusiasm I guess if you were bit more younger you would have driven all the way from Florida to Ohio. Continue with your lovely updates.

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

Rajesh: It was my assumption that the vocal accompanists were A.S. Murali's wife and son. I may be wrong. The name of the female vocal support is by B. Lakshmi Shree as given in the schedule

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Sundara Rajan,
So, Sudha did start with UrmikA? No varNam or any other opener, then... nI irangAyenil pugal Edu had bhava, KalyANi had some impressive piDis, reminiscent of her guru. You could see that she was putting in a lot of effort in her singing. Kamalkiran started off a bit scratchy, but sounded pleasant all along. Thani was good. Bharadwaj was appealing, Here's someone whom I have seen playing as a teen, and how he has shaped up!
Sudha's KalyANi svarams were very pleasing to hear. tIrAda viLaiyATTup piLLai was a bit drab until it came to pullAnguzhal koNDu varuvAn where her singing shimmered.

In the sAi bhajan in karNa ranjani Sudha sounded so so--may be because it took me back to her teen years when she had sung Om namO NArAyaNA on tape, and its composer enthused about the beautiful singing of the youngster, and played it to me. I was thrilled to hear it, and later, on her first trip to the US, a kIravANi she sang (kaligiyuNDE kadA) got lodged in my mind, and many more since. What an illustrious career!
But for sAramaina mATalentO, chAlu chAlurA, which I wish she had sung with more nidAnam and kuzhaivu, all the rest were a mélange of bhajan bits....

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

Arasi: Correction. It was Kunnakkudi BalamuraLikrishna that started with the Urmika raga composition followed by O ranga sAyee
Sudha started with Daru varNam of HMB in Vasantha raga.

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Concert mArATTam (confusion) which wasn't called for! Sorry for the mix up :(

gajamukhu
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by gajamukhu »

S Sowmya — DKP Mémorial Concert
BU Ganesh Prasad
Neyveli Narayanan
N Guruprasad

viribONi — bhairavI varNam — aTa — pachchimiriam Adiappayya

vADEra daivamu — pantuvarALi — Adi — tyAgarAja (NS @dhAtR vinutuDaina)

mInA lOchanA — dhanyAsi — mishra chApu — shyAma shastrI (R)

raghuvamSha sudhAmbudhi — kadanakutUhalam — Adi — paTnam subrahmaNya ayyar

tsanitODi tEvE — harikAmbhOjI — Adi — tyAgarAja (R NS @patitula brOchE paTTAdhikArini T)

yArukkAghilum bhayamA — bEgaDa pAdam — mishra chApu — subbarAma ayyar?

neyyamuna kailAsa — ghaNTa padam — mishra jhampa — kShEtrag~na

samayamidE — bEhaAg jAvaLi — paTnam subrahmaNya ayyar?

kunnitta kuruvamum (viruttam)/chidambaram pOgAmal— senchuruTTi — gOpAlakRShNa bhArati — Adi

adi nI pai marulu — yamunAkalyANi — Adi — dharmapUrI subbarAyar

gIta dhunikO — dhanAshrI tillAnA — svAti tiruNAL/LGJ — Adi

pavamAna — mangaLam

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Gajamukhu,
I am glad you came up with the complete list of the concert. I missed a few items .
Wish I had heard that ghanta padam.
viribONi often signals a wholesome concert in the offing. She sang it so well. Sounded as though her guru were singing it. vADErA had a brisk beginning and she sang it so elegantly. Many lovely brighAs there. The svara cascade was pleasing. She played around the notes with abandon. Ganesh Prasad's reply was neat.
As for the accompanists, until almost the end, I don't think Guruprasad had much of a chance to play. I thought it would have added more texture to the concert.
HarikambhOdi had some very nice piDis. There were some beautiful passages in her singing it. It would have been even better, had her voice cooperated a bit more. Svarams had some lovely passages and they just flowed...

rajeshnat
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by rajeshnat »

gajamukhu wrote: 21 Apr 2019, 08:17
gIta dhunikO — dhanAshrI tillAnA — svAti tiruNAL/LGJ — Adi
gajamukhu,
is there any connection to LGJ for this swati tirunal tillana

gajamukhu
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by gajamukhu »

rajeshnat wrote: 21 Apr 2019, 09:17
gajamukhu wrote: 21 Apr 2019, 08:17
gIta dhunikO — dhanAshrI tillAnA — svAti tiruNAL/LGJ — Adi
gajamukhu,
is there any connection to LGJ for this swati tirunal tillana
It was tuned by LGJ, as discussed here:

viewtopic.php?t=4080

gajamukhu
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by gajamukhu »

Since this was a DKP memorial concert, it had many of DKP’s favorite ragas (Bhairavi, Pantuvarali, Dhanyasi and of course Harikambhoji) and pieces (mInA lOchana, tsanitODi). The Dhanyasi and Harikambhoji ragas were done especially well, I thought. tsanitODi was brilliant in that “reNDukaTTAn” kAlam (brisk 2-kalai Adi), which made for a lively tani. In fact I saw hardly anyone walk away during the tani; the hall was quite full before and after.

I felt that a Jaganmohini could have been squeezed in somewhere and also perhaps a Dikshitar and Papanasam Sivan kriti each, but I’m obviously asking too much for a 2.5 hour concert of which an hour was occupied by Harikambhoji!

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

Some queries!..(1) Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Araadhanaa concetrs ,,,,, Do the musicians render kritis of Thyagaraja Swami only or by other composers as well? What is the tradition?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2) The Cleveland festival is known as Cleveland Thyagaraja Araadhana!
http://www.aradhana.org/
Distressed to find that only a few kritis sung there during the current season, are by Thtagaraja Swami. A lot of 'items', unrelated to the theme and spirit of Thyagaraja Swami. kritis. Is it because the musicians 'could not' find 'suffiucient kritis by the Saint? Has Thyagaraja sung 'javaLis'?
----------------------------------
3) If this is just another usual 'sabha' concert held in Cleveland, why not rename it as Cleveland Carnatic music festival instead of invoking the name of the saint? paying lip service to the saint and bringing in a lot of unrelated kritis and practices? Is it not an insult to his memory?

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Wonder why one kept quiet about it all in case of the sabhas in india with Tyaga Brahmam's nAmA in their names. And, Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Shanmukhananda Sabha and all others with such names, not restricting the song lists only to those particular gods.
Again, why don't we start a new thread on the subject of naysaying any good thing which doesn't particularly appeal to us? Those who are interested might find them, and get engaged in them. Fair enough. Otherwise, we may have to wonder if high jacking a thread is a kind of sport when it comes to that... :(

Sorry for airing this, harsh as it may seem :(.

shankarank
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by shankarank »

The pancharatnam day celebration is on youtube it seems. Is it a new venue? looks like a stadium!. Tailored to nadasvaram. Next what a river front? :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gunETqtwRpA

rajeshnat
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by rajeshnat »

Shankarank
Thanks for the link.

All,
Just put a small post on Cleveland V V Sundaram Sir after hearing the small snippet of the speeches
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=23779&p=350795#p350795

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

arasi wrote: 21 Apr 2019, 23:21 Wonder why one kept quiet about it all in case of the sabhas in india with Tyaga Brahmam's nAmA in their names. And, Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Shanmukhananda Sabha and all others with such names, not restricting the song lists only to those particular gods.
Again, why don't we start a new thread on the subject of naysaying any good thing which doesn't particularly appeal to us? Those who are interested might find them, and get engaged in them. Fair enough. Otherwise, we may have to wonder if high jacking a thread is a kind of sport when it comes to that... :(

Sorry for airing this, harsh as it may seem :(.
----------------
(1) To repeat my query again...Is it allowed tradition to render kritis not of Thyagaraja swami in Thiruvaiyaaru festival? (2)
Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Shanmukhananda Sabha
Thses are just names of sabhas. So, not relevant. (3) True. There are some sabhas conducting 'thyagaraja music festival' but allowing javalis. !
A padam is also structured around love and shringAra, but a jAvALi is very earthy, and possibly more lewd. While padams bring out the rAgaswarUpa very well, I am not sure that jAvaLIs do the same. They are definitely fluffier in content than a padam. The theme, language, and message of many a jAvaLI would make a sailor blush!
...
viewtopic.php?t=2325 ( post #3)
many thanks to ..by rshankar » 15 Mar 2007, 00:08
(4) If the name of Cleveland music festival is just that ( without mentioning Thyagaraja), that is ok. Here is a concert said to honour Smt. D.K.P, and as if DKP had not rendered dozens of famous Thyagaraja kritis, I find just only one kriti by him!
Even granting that kritis of the other composers may be considered, why no kritis by Muthuswamy Dikshithar? Was not Smt.DKP renowned for her renditions of MD kritis>
As far as I know, Smt.DKP was not much of an admirer of Patnam Subramanya Iyer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A general sabha concert I suppose allows all kinds compositions, ( even there, there is a decided veto on padams, javalis, tillanas ( except by instrumenrtalists)...but a festival in Cleveland 'proudly' displaying the painting of Thyagaraja swami as its emblem, should have ensured that all the concerts ( vocal) were Thyagaraja kritis only.
My points are absolutely valid. and very much relevant to this thread. And am still awaiting 'enlightenment' on the tradition in Thiruvaiyaaru festival.
----------------------------------------------
There is no
'hijacking a thread'.
. Creating meaningful posts takes a lot of time and labour. and I am not interested in this type of 'sport' !
My tribute to Smt.DKP is more relevant and respectful.
https://sites.google.com/site/dkpattammalsongs/

rajeshnat
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by rajeshnat »

RSR,
Thyagaraja Aradhana is a dedicated half day where usual Pancharatna krithis were sung with other Sadguru krithis like sri ganapatini etal . Also sadguru rama idols is also taken around in cleveland , i recollect that it is done in dallas festival and some kind of unchavritti is also done in cleveland too.

Festival should have a name associated with personalities whom we worship/venerate (like sadguru thyagaraja) or just respect the contributions (like say chembai festival held in kerala). There is no rule that only those krithis have to exclusively sung .

Thaygaraja aradhana in tiruvayaru is not the same as Thyagaraja festival in cleveland . The obeisance is there yes in both places and for sure I know that festival and aradhana are not just english and tamil equivalent words .

Sowmya has sung a grand Thyagaraja main and also the submain which is another thyagaraja krithi. She sang bit more count of javalis and padams as her lineage of veena dhanammal bani was also represented .She also ended with nee nama roopamulaku. You could have just stated in one line as follows

I wish DKP centenary concert of sowmya could have had atleast one Muttuswami DIkshitar krithi as vidushi DKP is known for Dikshitar krithis.

You stating that the whole festival has to be exclusive sadguru Thyagaraja concerts for 2 weeks is excess extrapolation.
Last edited by rajeshnat on 22 Apr 2019, 21:37, edited 2 times in total.

Pratyaksham Bala
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Pratyaksham Bala »

.
It is time we take up with Murugan Idli Shop not to sell dosa, uthappam, pongal, bajji, etc.

Similarly, we should advise Indian Coffee House not to offer dosa, vada, cutlet, soups and juices.

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

rajeshnat wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 18:56 RSR,
Thyagaraja Aradhana is a dedicated half day where usual Pancharatna krithis were sung with other Sadguru krithis like sri ganapatini etal . Also sadguru rama idols is also taken around in cleveland , i recollect that it is done in dallas festival and some kind of unchavritti is also done in cleveland too.

Festival should have a name associated with personalities whom we worship/venerate (like sadguru thyagaraja) or just respect the contributions (like say chembai festival held in kerala). There is no rule that only those krithis have to exclusively sung .

Thaygaraja aradhana in tiruvayaru is not the same as Thyagaraja festival in cleveland . The obeisance is there yes in both places and for sure I know that festival and aradhana are not just english and tamil equivalent words .

Sowmya has sung a grand Thyagaraja main and also the submain which is another thyagaraja krithi. She sang bit more count of javalis and padams as her lineage of veena dhanammal bani was also represented .She also ended with nee nama roopamulaku. You could have just stated in one line as follows

I wish DKP could have included atleast one Muttuswami DIkshitar krithi as vidushi DKP is known for Dikshitar krithis.

You stating that the whole festival has to be exclusive sadguru Thyagaraja concerts for 2 weeks is excess extrapolation.
---------------------
No issues if the name of the festival is changed as ' Cleveland CM festival'.
I wish DKP could have included atleast one Muttuswami DIkshitar krithi as vidushi DKP is known for Dikshitar krithis.
.. I suppose, you mean to say 'the singer' coulkd have...
----------------------------
Chembai music festival is named after Chembai and is dedicated to CM in general.
Now it is run by Guruvayoor Dewaswam board. and hundreds of musicians contribute as indidividual concerts. No comparison with Celeveland.
-----------------------------
I am still curious. Does the tradition allow creations of MD and Shyama Sastrigal to be rendered at Thiruvaiyaaru araadhanaa concerts?

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

Pratyaksham Bala wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 18:57 .
It is like having a 'kabadi' match after announcing World Cup Cricket match.

shankarank
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by shankarank »

RSR wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 18:34 (1) To repeat my query again...Is it allowed tradition to render kritis not of Thyagaraja swami in Thiruvaiyaaru festival? (2)
Many tyAgarAja aradhana festivals initially had this rule. But since these were at one point the only instance of music coming to town (especially for Cleveland residents ) as well as other small town attendees, the rules were relaxed.
RSR wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 18:34A padam .. but a jAvALi
Look. we have had discussions post TMK and his book on this so many times. Once handed down via a SiShya parampara all of this is sacred! Going into the details of this and making anthropological comments ( giving special status to humans first and then look at them as mere "creatures") is against the very ethos of the country!
RSR wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 18:34 A general sabha concert
There is no general sabha or special sabha. All sabhas of traditional grounding are his or her sabha , the sabha in Chidambaram!

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

Here is a fine upload ( by shankar rajasekaran) of what a concert in Thiruvaiyaaru araadhana should be...This is by Smt.MS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTtvsIEVlWE
MS Subbulakshmi-Tiruvayyaru Thyagaraja Aradhana- 1978 Concert
List:
1. yela nee dayaraadhu in the raag Atana.
2. Bantureeti- Hamsanadham
3. Durithamu-Mukhari
4. Shobillu- Jaganmohini
5.Rama ni samanu- Kharaharapriya
6. Evari mata- Kambhoji
7. Tava Dhosam- Punngavarali
8. Challare- Ahiri
9.Ennagu Manasukku Rani- Neelambari
(M.S.Amma's concert relayed at the very first time by A.I.R...a comment )

shankarank
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by shankarank »

It would do us well, if we can offer our grand interpretation of the Mueller report before we venture into heritage interpretation. :evil: . Just look at the amount of ways it has been spoken about!! :o :shock:

Once a friend , exasperated by lawyers and their ways , suggested there must be a plain English amendment to the constitution - I wondered how that amendment would be written up :twisted: :lol:

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

April 22, 2019
Before I venture to write about the concerts, I have a complaint !
At the end of today's excellent concert by Neyveli Santhangopalan, Mr. Sundaram spoke for more than 15 minutes. It was like watching Laurel & Hardy's silent movies. I could not hear a single word of his, even at the highest setting of my lap top's speakers, while I could hear loud and clear Santhagopaln's response :" Sathyam, sathyam, gurunathar's blessings, etc,." Either his mike was off or was not amplified enough and I do notice that he always kept his hand held mike closer to his chest and not close to his mouth, as he should. I would expect him to know better. It is frustrating that this is the case most of the time he speaks. I am sure most of the listeners of the live streaming would agree.
I will write about the recent programs soon.

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

How right you are! The frustration of not hearing him came to a head tonight.
Though we hear him (or not :() after almost every concert-this year has been particularly hard. When I watch the children, his cheering words are something worth listening to. The festival started because of the love for CM among south Indians who settled here, but how it has taken viSvarUpam--especially in encouraging a whole new generation of not merely rasikAs but CM singing, playing youngsters, and their getting to be so good at that!
Yes, Mr. Sundaram, please let us hear you. Oh, those who think the compliments are repetitive, please realize that if we were one among them performing on stage, we would need it all and appreciate it.

Sundara Rajan,
Please start posting...

RSR
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by RSR »

shankarank wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 21:07
RSR wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 18:34 (1) To repeat my query again...Is it allowed tradition to render kritis not of Thyagaraja swami in Thiruvaiyaaru festival? (2)
Many tyAgarAja aradhana festivals initially had this rule. But since these were at one point the only instance of music coming to town (especially for Cleveland residents ) as well as other small town attendees, the rules were relaxed.
RSR wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 18:34A padam .. but a jAvALi
Look. we have had discussions post TMK and his book on this so many times. Once handed down via a SiShya parampara all of this is sacred! Going into the details of this and making anthropological comments ( giving special status to humans first and then look at them as mere "creatures") is against the very ethos of the country!
RSR wrote: 22 Apr 2019, 18:34 A general sabha concert
There is no general sabha or special sabha. All sabhas of traditional grounding are his or her sabha , the sabha in Chidambaram!
1) No need to bring innames here as if he is THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY.
2) look! Vulgarity is just that vulgarity whether it is padantharam or ' padu mosam.'
padams and javaLis sometimes have racy tunes but unmentionable lyrics in decent company.That is why we avoid 'singing' them but play the tunes in instruments.
3) The craze for live or telecast 'kutchery' is totally misplaced and anachronism in modern world. If I want real classical music, whether vintage or middle age or modern , one can get everything in soundcloud and tube videos ( HD).
4) a dozen music lovers can always create a sabha and give it fancy name. Long established sabhas have a venerable tradition. A few names that come to mind are rasikaranjani sabha, tamil isai changam, music academy, nellai sangitha sabah. and so on. sabha has nothing to do with chithambaram. It just means among other things an assembly.
LOOK
http://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mod ... &direct=au

arasi
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by arasi »

Sundara Rajan and others,
Waiting for your posts on the concerts. GKB's one song comes to mind at the moment..Let it not hinder you...

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

Let me resume my coverage of earlier concerts.

April 20, 2019 Sandeep Narayan, VVS Murai, Trichy Sankaran, KVG.
1. Started with Thyagaraja's HamsanAdam piece Bantureethi Kolu.
swaram at rAma nAma manE for 2 min.
2.KarNaranjani alApana & violin return for 8 min. It took me a 2 minutes to identify the raga. He also announced it at the end. HMB's vachanathOnu with chittaswaram 8 min
3. T's nAdOpAsana in bEgada
4. KOteeswara Iyer's SingAra kumAra en jeevAdAra. Sandeep announced the rAga as VaruNapriya-24 th mELa 7 min
5.thOdi rAga alApana & violin return 12+8 min.( I believe there was a touch of neelAmbari at the end of vocal alApana ?)
T's Enduku dayarAdura- neraval & swara at thArakacharitha thyAgarajavinutha 16 min
Thani Avardanam for 18 minutes. Needless to say that it was marvelous.
6. Paras jAvaLi of Darmapuri smarasundarAnguni sari evvarE.

This was a short but sweet concert that enjoyed, foregoing my usual after noon nap !

I saw Sri Sundaram complimenting the artists, but as has now become normal, I could not hear what he said !

Next4-20-2019 evening concert by Sowmya has already been reported by another Rasika.

April 21, 2019
Rajesh Vaidya- VeeNa & Vijayagopal Flute

1. I missed most of the varNam, was it in kAmbodhi ?
2. P. Sivan's Gajavadana karuNA sadanA in srirnjani
3. Ragam & thAnam in Amrithavarshini 13 minutes followed by HMB's SudAmayee for a total of 22 min.
4. T's ManavyALa in NaLinakAnthi
5. RTP in raga VakuLAbaraNam Pallavi: " vA vandaruLpuriya vA" swaram in rAgamAlika 37 min
5a. Thani Avardanam 12 min.
6. ChandrasEkarA eesA in Sindhu bhairavi ( Anai Vaidyanatha Iyer's ? )

I liked the program, especially since
Rajesh did not use his usual (unusual?) ensemble of key board ,Large drums, cymbals, guitars etc. )

The vote of thanks was by "Asareeri ", that is invisible ! Some one substituted for Sundaram. The camera was still on the stage only, so we could not see the speaker. He did not announce his name either !

V.V. Subramanyam and VVS. Murari- violin duet

I missed the first items, since the program started almost "on time"
1. ParAth parA paramEswara of P. Sivan in VAchaspathi raga 12 min
2. Anandabhairavi followed by MarvErEgathi of Syama SAstri 12 min
3. missed it too ! on the phone from India
4. kApi rAga T's mEEvalla guNa doshamEmi
5. Elaborate aLapana of ThOdi rAga. I could not identify the composition. extensive neraval and swara exchage between the two violinists that was really enjoyable for a total of about 30 min.
5a. Thani for 21 minutes .
6,7,8 A desh raga , sindhubhairavi rAga compositions. Thiruppugazh in Hamsanandi, finished with Surati raga.

A very good concert.

shankarank
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by shankarank »

RSR wrote: 23 Apr 2019, 15:35 1) No need to bring innames here as if he is THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY.
Not in the sense of authority. Big names who have dwelt as insiders already raised questions surrounding such things before.
RSR wrote: 23 Apr 2019, 15:35 padams and javaLis sometimes have racy tunes
Thought their tunes were slower than usual. Even if as a fast pace, their construction has such a viSrAnti in them. Why don't you for once treat the letters and words as music first? By saying vocal music, we have already privileged ourselves with our supposedly acclaimed intellect. You think a mother would pass this on to a daughter if it is against dharma? AvALA viDa namakku dharmam teriyumA?

The narrative that instruments try to mimic vocal in our music is an atrocious violence on Indian civilization. We ipso facto acknowledge the Western definition of music as fundamental and lose our senses.

We seem to have bought into this "pure forms" of Plato - the ideal gas and a friction less plane, so goes pure music!

https://twitter.com/sanjeevsanyal/statu ... 8238868480
RSR wrote: 23 Apr 2019, 15:35 3) The craze for live or telecast 'kutchery' is totally misplaced and anachronism in modern world. If I want real classical music, whether vintage or middle age or modern , one can get everything in soundcloud and tube videos ( HD).
Hello!! Smt MSS's manavyALA still rings from a late night telecast when my mother played it from TiruvaiyAru, as we went to sleep. We wouldn't have known her otherwise.
Yup! that damn dictionary finally! That you would resort to it at the end - Says it all!

Just a few years back, tirukkurAL was "set to music" and released with much fanfare in that very sabha. It would behove us to just a pay a bit of attention to what it says about language and music together!

And from Sanskrit and pANiNi - I find similar thoughts expressed:

https://twitter.com/avatans/status/1117042393021284352

Sundara Rajan
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by Sundara Rajan »

Hyderabad Brothers at noon on April 21, 2019

1. Bhairavi VarNam 7 min.
2. Ithi samayamurA of T in chAyanAta 5 min
3. T's lAvaNya rAma in poorNa sgadjam 6 min.
4.PanthuvarALi alApana followed by T's nAradhamuni vetalina, neraval and swaram at nArayaNa nAmamulanu 15 min
5. Bhairavi rAga alApana & violin return for 14 min followed by T's ChEtulArA. Neraval and swaram at pallavi for a total of 28 min. Thani Avardhanam 12 min.
6,7,8,9,10 ThukkadAs: mAkElara in Ravichandrika, nEE bhakthi bAgyasudha in Jayamanohari, Paras JAvaLi ThArumAru, Theruvil VArAnO in KhamAs, YemEmo in Sowrashtram , Surati and SAvEri items for a total of 25 min.

I was personally disappointed. I looked forward to a better program from the brothers. Of one hour 55 min. program,only two items stand out as concert worthy, The PanthuvarALI and Bhairavi piece for a total of 55 minutes. The restone hour are thukkadas or JavaLies. Poor planning or no planning as they were searching for items during the concert. Four jAvalies ?!
However ,all the rest were ThyagarAja krithies, that is appreciated.
Last edited by Sundara Rajan on 23 Apr 2019, 20:22, edited 1 time in total.

rajeshnat
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Re: Cleveland Aradhana April, 2019

Post by rajeshnat »

Sundara Rajan wrote: 23 Apr 2019, 19:13 Next4-20-2019 evening concert by Sowmya has already been reported by another Rasika.
Sundararajan Sir,
gajamukhu gave the songlist but Arasi went ahead with her subjective review of Sowmya concert. Before the next few concerts that gets into your head , if you still can I(We) would also like to read your subjective review of even this concert.
As always like last few years, looks like you are getting into full form. Looking forward to read more..
Last edited by rajeshnat on 23 Apr 2019, 21:00, edited 1 time in total.

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