Unnikrishnan at The Esplanade Singapore 160207 <-- repost :(

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 17 Feb 2007, 07:49

Sigh, after my previous review, I Was really hoping for a stellar performance by Unnikrishnan, but I have to say I did not enjoy the concert. In fact I would go on to say that instead of Gayathri Venkataraghavan performing at the noisy, non airconditioned SIFAS auditorium, she should have received this slot becuase she gave a much better account of herself there than Unnikrishnan did.

Having said that however, there was nothing outright BAD about the concert except for one piece, but there was very little that really was good. If there was anything to be learnt from this concert, it was the fact that accompanists can often turn a pretty mediocre concert into a somewhat good one.

Concert Details:
Accompanists:
Violin: A.S. Subhalakshmi, Mirudangam: K V Prasad, Ghatam: SV Ramani

Varnam - Nattai
Sivaloka nathane - Mayamalavagoula (Short alapana, swaras)
Pantureethi kolu - Hamsanadam (A N S, neraval at Rama nama manu vara kadga mivi)
Kaddanuvarikki - Thodi (A N S T)
Sanandam - Ragamalika
Ragam Thanam Pallavi - Kharaharapriya - Kandatriputa
Kurai Ondrum Illai - Ragamalika
Pibare Ramarasam - Ahir bhairav

I was actually excited about the concert because he took up the first two pieces which have never been heard in Singapore (at least as far as I know), the Nattai Varnam, and Sivaloka NAthanaikandu.

The short alapana sketch of nattai was less than satisfactory as he chose to hang the Rishaba plain as opposed to giving it the full gamaka treatment it deserved, not once but all the time. But anyway it was a minor issue in my eyes, and the varnam was sung well enough.

Choice of item: 8/10, Quality: 5/10

The next alapana was a short one in Mayamalavagoula, and initially he nearly went back into Nattai but he recovered nicely and gave a good, short alapana. At this point I was hoping it was not Tulasidala and true enough, Singapore for the first time, got to hear the beautiful Sivaloka nathanaikandu by Gopalakrishna Bharati (I think). Unnikrishnan's voice was in full flow and the rendition was good. Swaraprastaras here were not too bad, but one thing I noticed was that the way he puts taalam is sure to anger many a mridangist. KV Prasad and Akkarai Subhalakshmi were stellar in their roles.
Choice of item: 8/10, quality: 7/10

Immediately afterwards he took up Hamsanadam, which some old fogeys behind me had trouble identifying and started to hum every ragam from Saranga to Kalyani. Now I have nothing against the raga itself, but does it really deserve such an elaborate treatment? Hamsanadam has probably just ONE famous krithi, Bantureethi in it, and everyone who takes up this ragam invariably sings this piece. To Unni's credit he didn't take it up as the main item (as O S Arun had done here a few years back, and boy was it beyond atrocious!), because although a nice composition, it has very little scope in it, being a rather small piece. The alapana was not too bad, again, as this raga is not a raga I particularly like being elaborated to this extent, I didn't enjoy it, and Unnikrishnan's rendition was 'default' Hamsanadam, nothing fancy and in fact, pretty much mediocre, running up and down the scales a few times. Subhalakshmi on the other hand, apart from one outright error, produced a brilliant alapana, and for once the raga developed some life of its own, rather than just being a series of swaras.

6/10 for choice of raga, 5/10 for rendition

The krithi was (As usual) Bantureethi. The old fogeys behind me had an epiphany like they just heard MMI sing Eppo varuvaro or something. The rendition was standard, but the neraval was bad. Unnikrishnan seems to delight in squeezing four to five syllables within 6 aksharas and ends up sounding like he's singing a bhajan. Bad, bad bad neraval, wrong choice of raga, led to an overall poor rendition. Again Subhalakshmi, Prasad and Ramani carried this part to a decent finish, including the swaraprastara which really didn't dazzle all that much.

0/10 for choice, 3/10 for rendition

Thodi was the main item, and the alapana wasn't too bad, and there was a nice one line sruthi bhedam into mohanam, but many in the audience did not get it at that point. But again, nothing outright fantastic. His raga pronounciation has too many "Na's" that kind of spoil the effect. But apart from that this was a pretty decent thodi, if a bit meandering and boring at points.

Subhalakshmi's version again was great.She seems to be developing into a very good violinist. The feature of her playing was the wonderful, almost husky nadam her violin had, and the gamakas she produced were fantastic. A very fine effort indeed.

6/10 for choice, 4/10 for Unni's version, 7/10 for Subhalakshmi's so let's just say 5.5/10 for quality.

The piece was Kaddanuvariki. Normally I would gripe about it being the "same old thing", but I'll let Unni pass on this one because although this is a krithi that has been sung a million times, it's only the second time or so that it's been sung in Singapore in the past 10 years (Sowmya sang it last in 2000). Kartikeya gangeya is the krithi of choice for Thodi here. The rendition of the krithi was pretty mediocre however. Again Unni's krithi rendition let him down. This time however, unlike Bantureethi he didn't have the "excuse" of it being a small krithi. Kaddanuvarikki is easy one of Thyagaraja's superheavies and his rendition, while there was nothing particularly horrendous, lacked any depth. The rendition seemed somehow frivolous. I don't know though if it was his voice that produced this effect or was this really a problem (because I remember stellar renditions of other major pieces like Akshayalinga vibho and Karuna Elagante and they were both very very good). But Prasad, Subhalakshmi and Ramani salvaged a good deal of quality with their fine accompaniment.

Neraval (at niddura nirakarinci mudduga tamburabatti) again was not too good, with the problem of squeezing half the line into 1/6 of an avarthanam sounded rather poor. Swaraprastara was pretty standard, again getting the standard applause upon hitting the thara stayi panchama.

6/10 for choice of krithi, 4/10 for quality (again lifted by the accompanists)

The thani was surprisingly less engaging than what I have heard Prasad. It was nice, some kanakku patterns, and here Unni's talam started to run and at one point when Ramani was playing, Prasad's talam's and Unni's seem to differ by half a beat. I don't know how they sorted it out in the end though. Unni has a strange way of putting talam, instead of one beat, he squeezes in two at some points and none at others and when you watch his hand as you try to keep the talam it is easy to be distracted by the sheer number of beats. But the thani was pretty good, especially the ghatam, and finished off nicely with a simple korvai. (I kind of miss the Andhra mirudangists' hugely elaborate korvais though, haven't heard them here in a while since Kamalakar Rao in 2002. I am not a big fan of too much kanakku but their korvais can be pretty spectacular events).
6/10 for thani

Then he took up a rarely heard (at least here) Sanandam Kamalamanohari of Swati Tirunal. Nice rendition, and again, his voice was in perfect form here.
8/10 for choice, 8/10 for rendition

The first few lines of Kharaharapriya came forth and I was rather surprised. It was already close to 10, and there was no way he can do justice to Kharaharapriya with so little time remaining! Also, didn't GV just take up kharaharapriya? I preferred GV's version.

To be fair to Unni, he had to rush the raga alapana a bit. Kharaharapriya was not a raga to have chosen at this hour, and if he was so intent on singing an RTP, he could have chosen a raga like Reethigoula or Sriranjani. Bad choice killed this RTP.
To sideline a bit, increasingly, the Ragam Thanam Pallavi is being sidelined into next but main status, when in fact it is supposed to be the piece de resistance of a concert. I think Unni could have spent a bit less time meandering about Thodi if he really wanted to sing an RTP in Kharaharapriya. Alternatively he could have sung a quick Kharaharapriya (with Janaki pathe or Dayavillaiya dayalo) and an elaborate Thodi RTP. Not only was the alapana a bit of a hatchet job, stringing standard phrases together, three sruthi bhedams into Kalyani, Harikambhoji and Thodi (again) really took valuable time away from doing full justice to Kharaharapriya. Subhalakshmi managed a decent alapana, again her gamaka skills are worthy of mention.

Thanam was mostly a filler. Again a personal gripe of mine, the relegation of thanam to the second least important position in the RTP (just ahead of swaraprastaras in favour of ragamalika swaras, more on this later). The thanam is what makes an RTP unique, and without it is just a raga alapana and neravals, and again time constraint forced Unni to squeeze in about 2-3 minutes worth of thanam and then went on to the pallavi. Subhalakshmi barely got a line in. Sad. My favourite part of the RTP is the thanam.

The pallavi in Kanda Triputa was quite nicely done, again rushed a bit, instead of singing anulomas and pratilomas finished swaraprastaras so he could sing the pallavi line at different speeds. Subhalakshmi had some trouble with the talam here but to come up with this pretty spontaneously in less than one avarthana was something that is nearly impossible. And now my biggest issue of all with RTP's. Singing one avarthana cycles of swaraprastara for the main ragam and then spending five minutes of swaras on ragas like Kaapi and Behag. Exactly what Unni did. Unni, His swaras for Kharaharapriya were not more than 1 avarthana long but a whole lot of time was spent on Shanmukhapriya, Bahudari and Kaapi. Yes it was nice enough and he received torrents of applause for the kaapi (which to be fair was rather good), but was it really necessary? Couldn't this time have been spent in singing a good cycle of swaras in kharaharapriya?
2/10 for choice, 4/10 for rendition, saved mostly by the pallavi.

Kurai ondrum illai. Need I say more? Heard it a billion-trillion-jillion times, move right along.
0/10 for choice, 2/10 for rendition (MS made this song work)

Pibare ramarasam.. why is he channeling the spirit of MS? But he sang it in Ahirbhairav (which I think is more common?) rather than Yamuna Kalyani that MS sang it in.
0/10 for choice, 4/10 for rendition.

Overall, this concert is a bit hard to place. There was really nothing bad about the rendition apart from the rendition of Bantureethi and neravals. But having said that, there was nothing that was really good. Unnikrishnan, surprisingly enough was singing straight from the head, rather than from the heart. There was a lot of "impressive" brighas and flashes in the alapanas, but very little "soul". It seemed almost like he was singing someone else's alapanas and neravals and even the krithi rendition was rather hackneyed. The accompanists carried many pieces that were otherwise ordinary to good renditions. It was a 'decent' concert for the lay listener, if at points it was rather dull, but I can't say I enjoyed it. 4/10 overall.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 17 Feb 2007, 08:18

bala747,
Liked your detailed review.It certainly came from your heart. Your honesty is infectious, though I personally have a very minor crib in you giving a choice of 0/10 . How long was RTP ?

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 17 Feb 2007, 08:23

The RTP itself was about a half hour, including about 10 minutes of ragamalika swaras. I suppose the 0 for Bantureethi was a bit harsh, but for Kurai Onrum Illai I think it was justified.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 17 Feb 2007, 08:33

Bala, there is a little flaw in your rating system when taken to the extreme. If someone takes up extremely rare compositions, especially the ones that have never been sung in Singapore, that warrant a 10 for choice and sings them just horribly warranting a 0 for quality, they will still end up with 5/10 !!

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 17 Feb 2007, 08:35

heh, Vasanthakokilam, that is assuming choice and quality have equal weightage.. I tend to weigh slightly heavily on quality, but of course the whole thing is rather subjective!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 17 Feb 2007, 08:42

OK, understood. And for the overall rating, may be the scores need to be weighted by the length of the piece too. An 8/10 five minute piece should not have the same weightage as a 8/10 thirty minute piece. It will be interesting to see if the mathematically calculated score matches your overall gut level score for the concert as a whole.

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 17 Feb 2007, 08:51

I was actually thinking of doing that but we average five concerts a year and it seems too much effort for so few concerts!

luminous · Post by **luminous** » 17 Feb 2007, 08:56

bala, it is pronounced esplaNARD seeing the word promenade is pronounced promenARD and not promenAID- simple logic- doesnt require a lot of intellect

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 17 Feb 2007, 09:02

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/esplanade

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 17 Feb 2007, 09:16

I get back the jitters .
Thinking of the days I had to pronounce "Rendezvous in the Restaurant " with my Davangere friends.
They would suspect that I hade facial paralysis or had acquired some new speaking habits from a Bengali friend.
I have learnt to avoid these words , ever since.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 17 Feb 2007, 09:17

luminous wrote:bala, it is pronounced esplaNARD seeing the word promenade is pronounced promenARD and not promenAID- simple logic- doesnt require a lot of intellect

No lah, it is espRanad.

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 17 Feb 2007, 09:45

Guess both ways are right

My bad!

And luminous, it can also be pronounced as "promenaid".. check it out here: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/promenade (you can even hear the word being pronounced. Press the first speaker button)

Okay, veering off discussion topic...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Feb 2007, 10:46

bala747,
Your reviews are something to look forward to. Darn! Singapore has single digit concerts annually. Nice to see another reviewer appreciating you--rajesh, who is blossoming into an ace reviewer himself...

mahesh33 · Post by **mahesh33** » 17 Feb 2007, 10:53

folks, Bala did let "Kaddanuvarikki " pass...three cheers for that

!!!!

When I scanned the list, I figured Bala is gonna have a home run tormenting the singer for choosing this...I personally love this krithi, but hey! Personally, I llikey whenever one or more of the Big 5 or 6 (Kharaharapriya inclusive...as Vijay says).....are taken up in concert as the main....irrespective of the krithi really. Yesteryear singers were also quite guilty of repetition at the cost of choice: MMI has sung Un Tiruvadi Charanam repeatedly.....SSI with Dakshinamurthe....KVN with Pakkala Nilabadi.....ARI with Kaddanuvarikki....the list goes on! Its a never ending thinger....there's only so many ragas worthy of elaboration. Else, we would have to deal with someone singing an elaborate renedition of "Hamsanadam"...Oh wait! Unni just did it

!

My 2 yen....

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 17 Feb 2007, 11:10

Bala - if you have an aversion to krithis being repeated in Singapore, you should publish a list of every song that has ever been sung in Singapore and then send it to the artiste a few days before the concert to see.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Feb 2007, 12:04

Super idea--if the artists read their mail...

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 17 Feb 2007, 13:10

mohan, I actuallydid that a few years ago, but no dice. I am not so much averse to hearing common krithis but not the same one over and over.

Mahesh, in yesteryears the only way to hear Tiruvadi Charanam or even Eppo varuvaro, was to attend MMI's concert, as records were rare and record players, rarer still. But nowadays with the level of penetration of music and media amongst the common man, it's a different thing altogether. Also, I used to wonder why people fuss so much about yesteryear musicians, but now I can hear Musiri's Tiruvadi Charanam ten times and not feel bored but the same krithi rendered by Unnikrishnan (in the 90's he sang it in Singapore), although very very good, does not evoke that same feeling. Ditto MDR's Koluvamaragatha (What a masterpiece! I almost wish no one else sings it!)

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 17 Feb 2007, 14:41

Harimau, please refrain from making racist comments on this forum.

I realize that this is exactly the reaction that you were trying to elicit. Your comments on the earlier thread were repugnant enough. But, attacking East Asians on the L/R phonemic distinction is bordering on bigotry. It was not funny on Lethal Weapon 4 and it is not now (We all know where Mel Gibson stands on these issues).

I sincerely hope that the moderators would expunge your comments.

padminikalyan · Post by **padminikalyan** » 17 Feb 2007, 16:20

i think the review is highly harsh , i also feel the reviewer basically dislikes the artist so he has managed to fill in the reviews with a lot of marking system , the reviews in this forum can be more pleasant.

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 17 Feb 2007, 18:07

Heh, padminikalyan, if you had read my previous reviews you would know that my reviews are always a bit on the harsh side. I have nothing against the artist personally and in fact my reviews of other artistes concerts are often far more critical (in fact my reviews in sangeetham.com forum were far more, for want of a better word, ' vitriolic'. If you want to read only nice things about concerts then I admit, what I write might not be your cup of tea.

arunsri · Post by **arunsri** » 17 Feb 2007, 19:41

I fully agree with the fact that hamsanAdam - the way it is sung, becomes a pain to listen to. It seems to be a lesson in arOhaNa, avarOhaNa exercise after a while. And - mind you, we are singing a r corrupted version of the raga and the kriti, leaving out the D3. All the renditions seem to follow a set pattern.

Of the best renditions (classical versions) of this rAga was by Sri. Vijay Siva preceding kalyANa rAmA - at Pittsburgh Temple in April 2004. There was outstanding neraval and swaras for that piece.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 17 Feb 2007, 20:00

mahavishnu wrote:Harimau, ......

I sincerely hope that the moderators would expunge your comments.

For all I care, they could ban me.

You can't handle the truth either.

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 17 Feb 2007, 21:03

bala747,
i'm not competent to comment on the singapore concert. i heard unni's concert in mylapore fine arts this december. i reviewed the same also in another thread. his concert was one of the best of the season. he does not carry with him the aura which a few of his peer group have created around themselves. his nidhanam, involvement in the music, simplicity and sincerity are however to be emulated by others. MMI's eppovaruvaro and MDR's koluvamaragatha are nothing but mind sets. i if musiri were to sing thiruvadi now and if you do not know it is musiri you may exclaim ' this should be sung by musiri!'
MDR's koluva... can never be repeated by any one else because the world can not take another MDR!
again i expect the day when an old bala says 'this should be sung by unni!'

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 17 Feb 2007, 22:19

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 17 Feb 2007, 22:49

Actually chalanata, Unni sang a fantastic concert here in the late 90's with a lovely Kambhoji (Tiruvadi Caranam). I only heard Musiri's version AFTER Unni's, and I still prefer Musiri's even before I actually knew how great Musiri was.

sunayanaa · Post by **sunayanaa** » 18 Feb 2007, 01:46

arunsri wrote:I fully agree with the fact that hamsanAdam - the way it is sung, becomes a pain to listen to. It seems to be a lesson in arOhaNa, avarOhaNa exercise after a while. And - mind you, we are singing a r corrupted version of the raga and the kriti, leaving out the D3. All the renditions seem to follow a set pattern.

Of the best renditions (classical versions) of this rAga was by Sri. Vijay Siva preceding kalyANa rAmA - at Pittsburgh Temple in April 2004. There was outstanding neraval and swaras for that piece.

MSG's one commercial release has detailed hamsanadam ragam & bantureethi which is elaborate and pleasure to listen (atleast to MSG fans

)

sirsub11 · Post by **sirsub11** » 19 Feb 2007, 12:38

Thiruvadi Charanam brings to mind an interesting anecdote. Nada Inbam, Chennai December season, about three years ago - Sanjay Subrahmanyan started singing the krithi, without essaying the eagerly anticipated Khamboji alapana. Prof. T.N. Krishnan, sitting in the front row, stopped Sanjay in his tracks, requesting him to elaborate on the raga. Sanjay duly obliged with a typically elaborate and spirited rendition, followed by the soulful krithi, with all the trimmings.

The customary speech by Shri S.V. Krishnan of Nada Inbam who, sadly, passed away a few days ago, was followed by a speech by TNK. The latter made the point that he could not abide a krithi as grand as Thiruvadi Charanam to be sung without an alapana, hence the impromptu request even after the singer had started the song. And he expressed great happiness that Sanjay, without a fuss, stopped mid-song and took up the alapana.

I don't believe I have ever come across such an incident in a kutcheri. And for the record, I don't think I have heard a better rendition of this song - and that includes Musiri's famed version.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 19 Feb 2007, 16:20

hamsanada and kalyanaraman.

a fabulous combination...

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 19 Feb 2007, 22:24

this reminds me about thiruvadi charanam by MMI. it seems a rare rendition exists with neraval and swara kalpana in 'aduthu vandha ennai.....'. did anybody have the occasion to listen to it? i also understand that it is better than that of musiri.

MaheshS · Post by **MaheshS** » 19 Feb 2007, 22:51

Hmm Chalanata - Yeah I've heard it ...let me see if I can upload it for you.

MaheshS · Post by **MaheshS** » 19 Feb 2007, 23:04

Chalanata -

Here's the *first* Thiruvadi Charanam I found listed under me MMI collection. It's got the neraval etc. No idea about the accompanists ....Lalgudi and Palani perhaps?

http://www.rogepost.com/n/2473064553

Hope you like it.

Mahesh

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 20 Feb 2007, 09:23

Musiri used to take it from the anupallavi, Marupadiyum karuvadaiyum, and the "varutthapadutha vendaam" would just trail off at the Thara stayi sadjam.. before finishing up with a gamaka rich 'ponnambalava nin'. Spectacular.

I think Unni's concert with this piece is available as a commercial release. Grey cover on the CD if I am not mistaken.

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 20 Feb 2007, 20:09

MaheshS,
thanks a ton for the upload. the alapana is excellent. the violin speaks.(LKJ?) i'm disappointed with the rendition and neraval though the kalpana swara is in the inimitable style of MMI. After hearing i concur with bala747's opinion. musiri's' better.

MaheshS · Post by **MaheshS** » 20 Feb 2007, 21:19

Agreed Chalanata, I'm not too much a fan of MMI's neraval, maybe cos I've only heard concerts of him in his latter years. And I've not heard a better neraval at "Aduthu vanda .." by anyone, Musiri rules for this song. KVN's neraval at the same line isn't bad. I've heard aquick fire 4 minutes rendetion by Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer where he bring the beauty of the raga in his immitable own way!

Sheesh, I just re-read the post, who the *heck* am I to comment on stalwarts like these? And *all* of them not only happen to be Sangitha Kalanidhi's but torch bearers of CM!

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 21 Feb 2007, 11:22

bala, which varNam did he sing? i mean, what was the sAhityam and tALam?

sirsub11 wrote:impromptu request for alapanai even after the singer had started the song.

I don't believe I have ever come across such an incident in a kutcheri.

TNK did that with T M Krishna a couple of months ago at the same venue. This time however, the rAgam was mAnji and the kriti was rAmacandrENa samrakshitOham.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 21 Feb 2007, 17:25

Thiruvadi Charanam...
two other great exponents - MLV and KVN.

BTW for a krithi that was not sung in this concert , this one has gone a long distance..

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 22 Feb 2007, 10:34

I think it was Sarasijanabha by Parameswara Bhagavathar.... Isn't that the only really famous varnam in Nattai? Adi talam if I recall right...

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 22 Feb 2007, 15:20

i hv heard an excellent thiruvadi charanam by O.S.T, Mylapore finearts Dec 2000. UKS hs played an excellent tani for that. still ringing in my ears. Available commercially also.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 22 Feb 2007, 16:22

The neraval Sanjay sang for Thiruvadi Charanam in Sydney in 2000 was quite superb.

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 22 Feb 2007, 20:36

rbharath,
i happened to witness this once. therezundhur srinivasachariar was singing a song and u srinivas was listening. it was time for srinivas's train and he had to leave. he requested chariar to sing anadudaganu in jingla. chariar stopped abruptly and sang anadudanuganu. srinivas left happily.