Thamarakkadu Govindan Namboodri, Nada Inbam

[rbharath]

Thamarakkadu Govindan Namboodri - L Ramakrishnan - Sherthalai Ananthakrishnan - Trichy Murali

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer birthday concert
Nada Inbam, Ragasudha hall
24 July 2022, 6:15 pm

srI rAja mAtangi - suddha dhanyAsi - Adi - HMB (varNam)
gaNapatE mahAmatE - kalyANi - rUpakam - HMB (RS)
shaurE - darbAr - Adi - ST (RS)
paramAtmuDu - vAgadIsvari - Adi - T
kAmAkshi - yadukula kAmbhOji - misra cApu - SS (R)
anAthuDanu gAnu - jingLa - Adi - T
karuNa ElAgaNTE - varALi - Adi - T (RNS)
chakkani rAjamArgamu - kharaharapriyA - Adi - T (RNST)
mahAdEva siva sambhO - rEvati - Adi - Thanjavur Sankara Iyer
sUrya mURtE - saurAshTram - druva tALam - MD

When the first sketch of suddha dhanyAsi came, it was already a hit. The rasika was enough satisfied with just the first line of raga Akshiptika. That is how one can quickly sum up this concert of Thamarakkadu Sri Govindan Namboodri. All that came after was a bonus. So many wonderful compositions, rakti ragams and on and on.

The concert gave the satisfaction of attending many concerts and put in so much of musical thought and knowledge into the listener's mind. It would need a long time to process and re-live the entire concert and rejoice the full concert.

bharath

[arasi]

Bharath,
What a garland of songs from a one of a kind musician! Hope we get to hear the concert soon.Thanks for writing about it.
How succinctly your concluding lines define ANY memorable concert! I read them again with my mind filled with all the lotuses which a name like tAmarakkAD conjures up (a blooming lake of lotuses!).

A refreshing order of songs too. Not, "It's Sunday, so I will start with SuryamurthE but signing off by saluting the sun in a suitable rAgam as well. The list, a mix of rarities and the familiar. Yes, waiting to hear the concert...

[sreebeecane]

Absolute pleasure to listen to this concert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybBXFuk7zic

Reminded me of MDR in his soukhyam.

[arasi]

A soothing concert, starting with HMB's ambikE. A treat of a kalyANi followed with a gentle sway of swarams like a ride on a swing.
Durbar got a caressing treatment without his letting go of the majesty of the rAga. Again, pleasing swarAs for this fluid composition of ST. Namboodri's gentle handling of paramAtmuDu and his caring for the sAhitya made it appealing. Amba kAmAkshi was a salve of a rendering. anAthuDanu gAni a refreshing flash of a follower. karuNa ElAgaNTe is a new one of T for me and was a welcome piece.
kharaharapriya was a fine guided tour through the rAgA's intricate contours. Nereval, how soothing, once again!
Ramakrishnan and Murali accompanied ably. Serthalai had a big physical presence on stage, tending to the instrument and so on, but didn't add much to this special concert by Tamarakkad who brought us a bunch of lotuses as it were from his native place with his music at Nada Inbam.

[rbharath]

Beg to differ @arasi. Sitting in the hall and listening live, one felt the mrudangam playing was rather apt for the music. He was as good as the other accompanists. and playing rather beautifully.

[Nick H]

Might be the difference of the on-the-spot experience, but I also enjoyed Anantha's playing.

It was a super concert.

[arasi]

Apologies to you, Bharath and Nick--and to Serthalai Ananthakrishnan too, of course. What do I know about laya except that I do get to savor it in spite of my ignorance of it? It's possible because the camera picked up his nursing the mrudangam quite a bit at the start.

Anyhow, I had no business airing a personal gripe which had no grounds, as you both point out. When I recall the concert now, I think I would have been just as happy listening to Tamarakkad singing without any accompanists. Call it my personal angle in experiencing music of this kind which seems to have colored my mood in this instant. I would have been happy listening to him sing at a friend's place perhaps on a visit--just like that, without any accompaniment at all.
Again, apologies to Serthalai for my insensitive comment.

Blame streaming too. It 's a boon born out of necessity, yes, but nothing at all to match a live performance...