Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

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rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by rajeshnat »

Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019
----------------------------------------------------
Violin : Charumathi Raghuraman
Veena : Ramana Balachandran
Mrudangam : Anantha R Krishnan

Concert Type : Non Nirvana and free
Time/Day : 6:30 pm to 08:50 pm , sunday
Sabha : R R Sabha as part of Yuvotsav series
Hall : RR Sabha main hall,mylapore.
....
....
01. sriganapathini(?,S) - sowrashtram - T
5 mins swaras
02. shree vEnkaTa girISam (R,S) - shuruTTi- MD
8 mins alapana and 5 mins swaras

03. cintaya mA kanda mUlakandam (R,S)- bhairavi - MD
5 mins alapana
4 mins swaras

04A. RTP in suddasArang for 52 mins exclusive of tani
20 mins alapana 8 mins taanam
Pallavi line ---> ramanA nin Paadam paninden ,...... atma vichAram
04B. tani for 5 mins

05. thillana - yamunakalyani - LGJ???
06. pavamANa

rajeshnat
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Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by rajeshnat »

Personally heard the husband wife pair of Anantha and charumathi once and in general always impressed with both . I have not heard the young ramana playing veena in a live concert . Personally the biggest drive for me is to hear Anantha in general as I feel he is quite way ahead and may finish in the league of his grandfather Palakkad Raghu and possibly be in the horizon of top living legends like UKS and Trichy Sankaran.

I came in 10 mins late and I am not sure if there was any number before sowrashtram . THe aural tone of ramana was very very impressive well rounded , but aurally charumathi despite her TNKish press could not get that much cleaner sunAdam .After a round of swaram landscape of sowrashtram they gave way to the circular shuruTTi. I just found a shade of higher sound and bit less rounded play of charumathi when compared to ramana . Atleast till this point the excellence was more with ramana and anantha .

Everything settled with charumathi raising to exquisite play from bhairavi . I have never heard these veena-venu-violin trios and I was bit apprehensive to hear veena and violin . Prior to the concert i was bit wondering like - Will they have a fluctuation in speed and gamakas between violin and veena , could this turn out as a high speed jugalbandhi that focusses bit less on core classicism . All these thoughts faded out completely with bhairavi , charumathi played keeping the violin bit more perpendicular few gamakas from charu sounded bass heavy bit resembling cello and they were aurally rich. Ramana was a delight all through, he gave such rounded gamakas particularly towards the end in swaras , he almost played like a lower octave taanam , that was so meditative and very classical.

Landscape moved away from bhairavi to a hindustani raga . For a brief 10 mins , yes 600 seconds atleast i was wondering O this raga is madhuvanti and then I was kind of thinking it was not madhuvanti.The actual suddasarang never popped out . An elderly mama said it is brindavana saranga , then a young lady told me it was sudda sarang. THat young lady when she said sudda sarang to me the tubelight in me atlast moved from blinking mode to a non blinking mode . That lady before told me that bhairavi was mukhari . For a brief few seconds i was wondering how come this lady is saying bhairavi as mukhari but bit later exactly identifies sudda sarang. Well that is exactly carnatic music you think you know but at times you just dont know, these are lovely savours that you get when you attend a live concert.

Sudda sarang RTP was brilliant. Ramana and Charu were going neck to neck in excellence in alapana with such intensity and purity of notes. Taanam was well done . Ramana sang just the line of pallavi .The first half came into the microphone and the second half went to the tiruvannamalai mountains(i heard a part of what he said something atma vicharam) . The ragamaliga was really superb the transition to shyama, poorvikalyani(not very sure ), nattaikurinji and back to sudda sarang was really well done.

Tukkadas was restricted to yamunakalyani thillana (i think that is lalgudi sir). The tani was very brief for 5 mins anantha was really rocking but i would have liked another 5 to 10 mins for his speed and kalapramanam tightness

All said these 3 are young with ramana being so young we are possibly witnessing the next gen veena balachandar . Ramana even with speed has great control and azhuttam.Ramana does not go into any cliched or any fusionish sangathis . THe gamakas were so rounded even sudda sarang did have a near shanmughapriya RTP status. Charumathi could have syched better with better tone and clarity in first few songs . Anantha has a certain sustained charm he creates a longer cycle of evenness of strokes that gives a better classical mileage when primary musicians take their turn . The young anantha (Mark Waugh) with his team of violin and veena adoped a low count of numbers , that was bit like a Abhishek Raghuram (Steve waugh) concert typecast. i personally love these kind of more detailed RTP with a short wag of tukkadas . THe concert ended some time around 08:50 pm plus , anantha could have atleast grabbed that 10 mins for his tani. What a talent from this young team, hopefully i hear soon a 3 hour plus concert of mrudu-violin-veena trio.

Overall a very good to excellent concert for 2 hours and 20 mins.

SrinathK
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Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by SrinathK »

Missed you again @rajeshnat. I got to it just as the shuddha sArang RTP was starting. Hands down the best shuddha sArang I have ever heard.

Ramana has become a tour de force on the veena - there's almost nothing out of his reach of play - his skills are jaw dropping to say the least. Fortunately he hasn't gone the way of being only a technical acrobat and can reach the very soul of the ragam. His sound is also very good, aided by what looks like an excellent contact mic.

Charumathi is no less amazing. Bowing, tone and articulation, phrasing and imagination are remarkable. The two of them were quite equal to the task of elaborating a HM raga for the main like shuddha sArang. They avoided the staccato arithmetic (thank god) and went for the melody first approach in the svaras, and that wasn't as simple as you might think. That needs it's own skill set.

Ananta of course is a genius (understatement of the day), but to appreciate his playing one needs an ear for very subtle intricacies, rather than just the run of the mill standard stuff in most tanis. What he does is very unique. Both as accompanist and soloist he makes his presence known without the least disturbance to embellish the flow of the music. But it would have been good to have him solo for longer that day.

The tone quality of RR Sabha's main hall is excellent. MA might win out on the sound system, but the acoustics of the new RRS are superb. And visually too, the new auditoriums are a work of art - this is easily the best looking hall in the whole city - only God knows how big the budget for it really is. Every single part is premium quality and so well designed and put together.

The yamuna kalyANi tillAnA was indeed LGJ's only and it was a beautiful rendition, but it was the only item after the pallavi.

I will give that shuddha sArang a special mention when I get to it in my rAga essays.

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by rajeshnat »

SrinathK wrote: 04 Sep 2019, 11:01 I got to it just as the shuddha sArang RTP was starting. Hands down the best shuddha sArang I have ever heard.

I will give that shuddha sArang a special mention when I get to it in my rAga essays.
When that young lady told the ragam was sudda saarang out popped in my mind two lovely compositions that are sung ins sudda sarang, this ragam has no compositions other than this two is my best guess 1. manave mantrAlaya by Padmacharan sung beautifully by maharajapuram school and bangalore shankar AND 2. Thillana in sudda sArang having words like Yaaridum murai iduvEne ... saranga sODhari by Suryaprakash sung by him. Ramachandran sir and suryaprakash singing suddasarang is brilliant.

Many many years back i just checked my review Madurai GS Mani sang sudda sarang as main in Nageswaran sir's house at West Mambalam in 2006. The review is there in this jungle and the song is his own rajendra thanayE as main (that should be the third composition).

THere is an ashtapaDI in suddasarang but as such very very few compoisitions , so RTP is welcome as it gave more raga swaroopam
Last edited by rajeshnat on 04 Sep 2019, 12:13, edited 1 time in total.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by rajeshnat »

SrinathK wrote: 04 Sep 2019, 11:01 Missed you again @rajeshnat. I got to it just as the shuddha sArang RTP was starting.
...

Ananta of course is a genius (understatement of the day)...Both as accompanist and soloist he makes his presence known without the least disturbance to embellish the flow of the music.
......
The tone quality of RR Sabha's main hall is excellent. MA might win out on the sound system, but the acoustics of the new RRS are superb. And visually too, the new auditoriums are a work of art - this is easily the best looking hall in the whole city - only God knows how big the budget for it really is. Every single part is premium quality and so well designed and put together.

@SrinathK
# You said the same thing some time back when Steve Waugh sang in kapali temple where he ended with navasiddhi petralum when both of us did not meet then. Just a caution , there was one accquintance who was near my house , a forgotten friend who met me in 2010 or so . The conversation went like this

He said : I am hearing Carnatic Music
I asked : Casually do you read rasikas.org .
He said : Yes
I asked : What do you read ?.
He said : I generally read kutcheri reviews .
I asked : Do you read all reviews there?
He said : Not all but few of them especially the artists that I like .

I asked : Do you recollect any id/names ?
He said : Few names and put by id rajeshnat also there.
I said : I am only rajeshnat
He said : Ada chee naayE ,thoo nee thaana adhu (I cannot translate that to english)

## Very well said about Anantha .Anantha superbly balances right and left and it was a treasure to watch both sides as he sat in center. Anantha's sound is bit like GOD of Mrudangam - Palakkad Mani Iyer , when he comes in it is quite distinct with quality of sound. I personally like him and Arjun Ganesh in his age bracket.

### R R sabha is indeed a great sabha. Many years back in the main hall i attended maharajapuram ramachandran concert but that day the hall was built but the interiors were not complete . A year or two back i attended a third floor RR Sabha concert in their mini hall with Abilash singing that is also exceptionally good . On that day when i attended i did not know that there is a mini hall but as I walked up i saw the main hall was full .That day there was a comedy show held but i am glad that mylapore R R Sabha is used for what it is meant for (Carnatic not comedy show). THis sabha historicaly had too much of dance and less of CM.The landscape is changing but since the hall is looking great folks like TV Show Comedy slapsticks also find their entry. Mylapore should strictly stay as "carnatic first philosophy".

balavenu
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Joined: 06 Aug 2015, 08:32

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by balavenu »

rajeshnat wrote: 03 Sep 2019, 19:13
....
01. sriganapathini(?,S) - sowrashtram - T
5 mins swaras
The first piece was varashiki vAhana in supradEpam, followed by surutti.

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by rajeshnat »

what was the full line of pallavi. also let me know if i have got all ragamaliga swaras in rtp .kudos to ur son balavenu.

how could i misunderstand supradeepam varasikhi as sowrashtram sriganapatini. i came in late . for the first time i heard that varasiki when tv ramprasadh sang in nageshwaran house and few more times bit later which i have forgotten. That krithi and raga has not synched ,right now not even one phrase i am getting . Tx for ur correction

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by arasi »

For an excellent concert like this, it's only fitting that the one and only Rajesh (called him the canine kind? Some listener :() and Srinath (sokka thangam,--choicest gold) have come together to review it, but they did not meet!

Anantha is a whole new world. Have heard him live a few times over the years. Yes, thatha's grandson but replica of the other Palakkad great in many ways too. Charumathi is yet another charmer--Charm-mati? Ramana, one more star to add to the firmament...:)
Makes an old heart feel that there's so much more to come to make the CM world swing--thanks to these youngsters...

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by SrinathK »

@arasi You will be surprised at just how many events we have both attended but not realized the other was there.

balavenu
Posts: 56
Joined: 06 Aug 2015, 08:32

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by balavenu »

rajeshnat wrote: 07 Sep 2019, 09:55 what was the full line of pallavi. also let me know if i have got all ragamaliga swaras in rtp .kudos to ur son balavenu.

how could i misunderstand supradeepam varasikhi as sowrashtram sriganapatini. i came in late . for the first time i heard that varasiki when tv ramprasadh sang in nageshwaran house and few more times bit later which i have forgotten. That krithi and raga has not synched ,right now not even one phrase i am getting . Tx for ur correction
Thank you Rajesh. The pallavi line is: "RamaNA nin pAdam panNinden -- nAn yAr yena vichAram seyya".
If I remember right, the Ragamalika swarams were in sAma, nAttakkurinji, pUrvikalyANi ad nAsikAbhUshani.

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by rajeshnat »

balavenu wrote: 07 Sep 2019, 10:30 Thank you Rajesh. The pallavi line is: "RamaNA nin pAdam panNinden -- nAn yAr yena vichAram seyya".
If I remember right, the Ragamalika swarams were in sAma, nAttakkurinji, pUrvikalyANi ad nAsikAbhUshani.
Balavenu,
What a lovely line so profound and deep. Who wrote the pallavi line was it joint effort or just ramana alone. Not that I know that much about Ramana Maharishi and tiruvannamalai , perhaps in the second half you can add a super key word. Instead of nAn yAr yena vichAram seyya you can add nAn yAr yena Atma vichAram seyya. Inorder to stretch the taalam a bit as you added Atma , instead of Atma vichAram(self inquiry) perhaps litte vichAram(inquiry) with Waugh Brothers will really help.

balavenu
Posts: 56
Joined: 06 Aug 2015, 08:32

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by balavenu »

rajeshnat wrote: 07 Sep 2019, 15:50
balavenu wrote: 07 Sep 2019, 10:30 Thank you Rajesh. The pallavi line is: "RamaNA nin pAdam panNinden -- nAn yAr yena vichAram seyya".
If I remember right, the Ragamalika swarams were in sAma, nAttakkurinji, pUrvikalyANi ad nAsikAbhUshani.
Balavenu,
What a lovely line so profound and deep. Who wrote the pallavi line was it joint effort or just ramana alone. Not that I know that much about Ramana Maharishi and tiruvannamalai , perhaps in the second half you can add a super key word. Instead of nAn yAr yena vichAram seyya you can add nAn yAr yena Atma vichAram seyya. Inorder to stretch the taalam a bit as you added Atma , instead of Atma vichAram(self inquiry) perhaps litte vichAram(inquiry) with Waugh Brothers will really help.
I composed this one; Ramana has done many too. Often tAlam requirements decide the length, choice of lyrics, etc. -- actually the original pallavi in this case was a little longer. Sometimes organisers request RTPs in specifc tAlams, but the pallavi lyrics have only been on Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi thus far, so that goes for your keyword suggestion! Your suggested alteration should work like a charm for khanda chApu, I imagine.

Btw, on the ragamalika. Now my memory says vAgadhEshwari instead of nasikAbhushani :).

arasi
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Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by arasi »

rAgamAlikA pallavis have a way of eluding even the most astute--being fleeting, particularly when the rAgAs come one after the other in a row. No time for us to register it all while savoring them! Nice Pallavi line, Balavenu.
Rajesh, unnaiyE nI unnip pAr is the title of one of the books RamaNa wrote. kaikkaDakkamAna (compact) little book. You won't be fazed by its being in tamizh...
Last edited by arasi on 08 Sep 2019, 03:29, edited 1 time in total.

rajeshnat
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Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by rajeshnat »

balavenu wrote: 07 Sep 2019, 17:05 Instead of nAn yAr yena vichAram seyya you can add nAn yAr yena Atma vichAram seyya.
rajeshnat wrote: 07 Sep 2019, 15:50 I composed this one; Ramana has done many too. ... Your suggested alteration should work like a charm for khanda chApu, I imagine.
Good if it works like a charm perhaps Ramana can incorporate that in his future concert. For the very little I know of ramanar I can only associate Ramana maharishi with few key phrases like naan yaar and Atma vichAram . If at all vainika Ramana has comfortably played in khanda chApu with appended Atma it would be nice if that gets moved to Steve Waugh when he sings with or without Mark Waugh. Vocal stickiness is usually far higher . Atma VichAram is quite profound for many carnatic musicians and let us know if at all Atma vicharam line is sung anywhere in the future.

rajeshnat
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by rajeshnat »

arasi wrote: 07 Sep 2019, 18:35 Rajesh, unnaiyE nI eNNip pAr is the title of one of the books RamaNa wrote. kaikkaDakkamAna (compact) little book. You won't be fazed by its being in tamizh...

Thanks for your suggestion i will look for in the future though reading is a challenge post Whatsapp era . Hope it as lucid as your recommended bharathi-yadhugiri ammal narrative.

arasi
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Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Anantha-Charumathi-Ramana@RR Sabha on Aug 31st ,2019

Post by arasi »

Rajesh,
The title of the book is unnaiyE nI unnip pAr. Not eNNippAr. I have corrected it in my previous post. It's about Atma vihAram--unnip pAr means UNRip pAr. focus on, look deeply into.

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