Hyd- N.Ramamurthy - Kalasagaram

[sivakami]

Kalasagaram-55th Annual Festival of music 2022
B. R. C. Iyengar Centenary Series
02.12.2022

N. Ramamurthy
Meenaranjani- vocal support (his daughter)
R. Dinakar
Chennai S. Thyagarajan
K. Shyam kumar

Sri. N. Ramamurthy had learnt from Late B. R. C. Iyengar garu for nearly 20 years. So, Kalasagaram had arranged his kucheri during this Annual series.

Song List:
1. Sarasijaksha – Nayaki varnam – Rudrapatnam Venkatramayya
2. Thulasi dhalamulache -Mayamalavagowla (N & Sw @ sarasiruha punnaaga..)
3. Dhaarini thelusukonti - Suddha saveri (short N & S@ dhaarini, the Pallavi line…)
4. Varugalamo Aiyaa – Maanji – Gopalakrishna Bharathi (started from anupallavi..)
5. Krupa juchudaku veLa rama – Janaranjani - T
6. Nambi kettavar illavo rangayyana – KalyaNi – Purandara dasa (R: 8 min, vio: 4 min, N& S @ garudagamana sri purandara vittalana)
7. Chetha sri balakrishnam - Dwijavanthi
8. Koluvamare gadha -todi (R: 6 min, vio – 3 min, N& S @ tambura chekoni guNamulu…); Tani – 14 min
9. Guruvai paNindhu kadaitheru – Ranjani - ???
10. KaaNa vendamo – Sriranajani – Papanasam Sivan
11. Kshemam kuru gopala – Raga malika – Narayana Theertha
12. Tillana – Bilahari – Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar
Mangalam

I was very keen to attend this special tribute concert. As soon as the curtains opened, I was surprised to see that all the 4 artistes were sitting in a row, with Mri, NR, Vio & Kanjira (from Left to right). This is the first time I saw a kanjira artist sitting in the front row. As he is also a vocalist, I felt it may be that, he too may have learnt from the late doyen BRC Iyengar garu. All of them may have interacted sometime or the other. What a nice gesture from NR, I thought.

Coming to the concert, right from the brisk start with varnam, it kept me engrossed with the rare combo of krithis (for me). Since I cannot distinguish between Nayaki & Darbar ragams, I had to Google & ensure the ragam of the interesting varnam rendered with all the joy. I was doubly happy when Google led me to listen to the beautiful renditions by Madurai Somu Avl, Smt. Vedavalli Avl & Brinda- Mukthamma Avl. The next two Thyagaraja compositions were presented with all its grandeur in a somewhat detailed manner. The clear diction made me very happy. When he started with “parama krupanidhi allavo” the anupallavi line, I thought it was a new song, subsequently I realised it is from the ‘Nandanar charitram’. The slow pace of the charaNam “karai kadandhen saraNadaidhen thillai varadha” brought out Nandanar’s agony very well.

Soon after this 4th item, NR said he would take a short bresk, to speak a few words about his Late Guruji BRC Iyengar garu. He mentioned that the previous day, T M. Krishna had spoken about his Guru’s greatness, covering all the aspects ( I had not attended). Yet, NR also wanted to share about his experiences with his Guruji – the Intellectual person, very disciplined, perfectionist. How everything used to be ready for the class in the evenings, with the mat laid out, shruthi tuned etc., for learning for a few hours without any diversion, for nearly two decades. That the BRC garu used to attend his student’s every concert in the twin cities, and how he even played the tambura for NR in one of the concerts. It was a “Dream come true” moment for NR to be performing on the stage during the centenary celebrations of his Guru, for Kalasagaram.

After the brief emotional speech, the concert resumed with the fast item, another nice composition in Janaranjani. During the excellent Kalyani alapana, I kept guessing what song was going to follow, with the myriad compositions by various vaggeyakaras being there. When he started “nambi kettavar illavo” for a second I got confused with Nambi Kettavar of Papanasam sivan, which is normally rendered in Hindolam. This puranadasa kriti was new for me. It was SUPERB. I spotted Sri. Raghavachary garu of the Hyd Brothers, sitting in the first row, enjoying thoroughly. When he started Dwijavanthi, I wondered if he was going to sing Akhilandeswari, it being a Friday. But after the short & sweet alapana, he sang Chethasri, yet another beautiful Dikshitar’s composition. Both Kalyani & Dwijavanthi being on the top of my list of favourites ragams, it was a wonderful treat for me, like having payasam in between a sumptuous meal.

Todi alapana that followed was not very long (I felt as if NR had planned to keep the Ragams short, in order to cover as many songs as possible that he must have learnt from his Guru.) But the keerthanai was rendered in a detailed way, bringing out the nuances of Todi. It appeared as if the two percussionists showed their prowess during the Tani avarthanam to pay their respects to the Guru.
Next, the soul-stirring “Guruvai paNindhu” – what a song in Ranjani, with its meaningful lyrics, “kodi paNathai thedinaalum, Gopalakrishnan sangeetham paadinaalum, medai, maaligai ethanai irundhaalum…..” – I just loved this piece, another new one for me. I am still looking for the composer?? Next, yet another thamizh song of Papanasam Sivan followed, re-iterating Nandanar’s desire to have a darisanam of Lord Nataraja. With the spirits remaining high, they surprised us further by choosing to sing the Tharangam as a Ragamalika, which I have heard only in Mohanam. The dessert was sung in the order: Pallavi and Anupallavi in Mohanam, the three charaNams in Kaapi, Behag and Sindhu Bhairavi respectively. Enjoyed immensely. The tillana in Bilahari was new for me. Later I googled to find out it is the only one composition composed by the great Ariyakkudi AvargaL.

The accompanying artistes Dinakar, Thyagarajan and Shyam Kumar were excellent throughout, providing very good support. Particularly, Kanjira being in the front was a feature I enjoyed very much. Normally, he at the back, with somewhat low mike settings, used to be subdued mostly, excepting during the tani avarthanam.

Throughtout the kucheri, I felt as if BRC Iyengar garu was sitting in the audience in his upright posture, holding his walking stick and listening intently to every phrase and swaram carefully. We, right from our teens, used to see him pay attention to each and every detail, commend and comment to Mami or anyone sitting nearby. A couple of times, he has come and sat beside us and in between used to explain to us the points to note, in simple terms as he knew we were lay-rasikas. Like NR also mentioned, we have seen some top musicians say during their kucheris, “Iyengar vaaL audience la irukkar, adhunaala naanga gavanamaa paarthu dhaan padaNum……”.
Hats off to the late Guruji! Thanks to Kalasagaram & the family members of BRC Iyengar for the Annual series and also arranging this Marvellous kucheri by NR and party.

[rajeshnat]

N. Ramamurthy
Meenaranjani- vocal support (his daughter)

From 5th to
6th generation disciple of Poochi->Ariyakudi-> Madurai Krishnan->BRC Iyengar -> Hyderabad N Ramamurthy -> Meenaranjani

BRC iyengar has written lovely articles in sruti magazine.

Thank you for your great writeup Sivakami. Best wishes for next gen daughter to take up full time music

[sivakami]

Thanks @ Rajeshnat Sir.
Very nice to know their guru parampara...

Also, want to add few corrections in my post, I am not able to edit my mistakes.

1. N Ramamurthy's daughter's name is Meera Ranjani and not Meenaranjani.
2. Krupa Juchudaku is in ChayatharagiNi. I've written wrongly as Janaranjani.
3. 'Guruvai paNindhu kadaitheru' is a composition of Gopalakrishna Bharathi it seems.

[rajeshnat]

1. N Ramamurthy's daughter's name is Meera Ranjani and not Meenaranjani.
2. Krupa Juchudaku is in ChayatharagiNi. I've written wrongly as Janaranjani.
3. 'Guruvai paNindhu kadaitheru' is a composition of Gopalakrishna Bharathi it seems.

Let me go two more generations up.
sadguru Thyagaraja -->> Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbaiyar --> Patnam Subramania Iyer--> Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar ---> Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar --> Madurai Krishnan --> BRC Iyengar --> Hyderabad Ramamurthy --> MeeraRanjani.

Atlast there is a vidushi after 8 generations of mahavidwans and maha vaggeyakkaras

[sivakami]

Rajeshnat Sir,
Did you attend Sri. Ramamurthy's kucheri in Madhuradhwani on 11th feb.?

[rajeshnat]

I did not attend sivakami. don't call me sir. is this post working or do I get internal server error like last 2 weeks -checking now.