Smt. Sudha Raghunathan
Sri. M.R. Gopinath - Violin
Tiruvarur Sri. Vaidyanathan - Mridangam
Sri. Raman - Mohrsing
6:45 pm to 10:30 pm
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Om namah praNavArthAya - shlOkam
1. mAthe malayadhwaja - khamAs daru varnam - Adi - muthaiAh bhAgavatar
2. vAtApi - hamsadhwani - Adi - muthuswAmy dIkshitar (S at hamsadhwani pUjita)
3. mOhanakara muthukumarA - nItimati - rUpakam - kOTIshwara ayyar
4. ElA nI daya - aTANA - Adi - thyAgarAja (S at rA rA dEvAdi dEvA)
5. shrI vatukanAtham - dEvakriya - mishra chApu - muthuswAmy dIkshitar (R, S at dEva dEvakriyA - 1 beat before samam),
6. guruvAyUrappanE - rItigauLa - Adi - ambujam krishnA
7. rAma rAma rAma rAma - vasanta - tishragati Adi - purandaradAsa
8. jEsinadElla - tODi - ADi - thyAgarAja (R, N, S at Asa konnaTi)
9. tani Avartanam
10. akhilAnDEshwari - dwijAvanti - Adi - muthuswAmy dIkshitar
11. RTP simhEndra madhyamam - 'sri krishna gAnam vEnu gAnam madhura gAnam sabhayOrai magizha vaikkum - tishra aTa (2 kaLai) samam eDuppu. later changed to tishra aTa - 1 kaLai and then to khanDa chApu (Did not get this logic - pallavi in this case started 6 aksharas from samam in a 10 beat khanDa chApu cycle). Tanam was accompanied by mridangam and mohrsing.
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Structure of pallavi based on tishra aTa - 2 kaLai - with each finger count as 2: Total cycle count = 40
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shrI - 2
krishna - 3
gA - 2
nam -3
vEnu - 3
gA - 2
nam - 3
ma - 1
dhu - 1
ra - 1
gA - 3
nam - 5 (arudi)
sabha - 2
yOrai - 3
magizha - 3
vaikkum - 3
swaras in kAmbhOji, kAnaDA, nATakuranji and madhyamAvati - she sang a line each of kuzhalUdi, alai pAyudE, pAlvaDiyum mugam, ADAdu asangAdu vA during the swaras of these ragas, then after m'vati, she sang the lines in reverse order, then the line 'asaindADum mayil onru kANum', then a long swara in simhEndra madhyamam to finish off.
12. chakkani talliki chAlu - pADi - Adi - annamAchArya (folksy)
13. shlOkam - vandE mukundam followed by
bhAvayAmi gOpAla - yamunA kalyANi - khanDa chApu - annamAchArya
14. man ki Ankhe khOlO sAi nAtha - bhajan (mangaLam
15. kurai onrum illai - rAgamAlika - Adi - rAjAji
16. mangaLam
Sudha Raghunathan at FAS, Chembur - Mumbai 25-02-2007
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arasi
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arunsri
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- Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 13:07
Needless to say, the hall was overflowing with people. The concert started about 40 mins late because of the power cut and by the time power was restored at 6:20 pm, and the artistes came in and settled, welcome address, shawl, flowers etc were given, it was 6:45 pm.
Sudha's voice was not in the best possible form, and she experienced some let downs in the form of shruti lapses etc, until piece number 6, after which there was no looking back. Just because voice problems are highlighted a few times below, does not mean that the concert was bad, it just goes to say that everyone can have a bad day, (or a bad start) - but how one manages to cary on after that to make it a successful concert is what needs to be appreciated.
IMHO, mAtE started slightly fast and she managed to bring the tempo down during the course of the song realising the voice condition. charaNam was very fast and at a couple of places, it was evident she was out of breath. She tested her voice with a safe vAtApi, again a slip in one of the sangatis, but not to be on the defensive - she delivered swaras at 'hamsadhwani pUjita hErambam', Typically when something new is introduced - the old slips away from memory, one would tend to remember her for the swaras not for the slip.
A surprise meditative mOhanakara came next. I felt there was a distinct D2, instead of D3 occuring in the last sangati of the pallavi but may be it is my ear. With rAgas like hamsadhwani, aTANA et you will never go wrong, so ElA nI daya rAdu it was next, starting with bAlakanakamaya. Needless to say, it struck a chord with everyone. Swaras were apt at 'rA rA dEvAdi'. They were crisp and did not have the presence of G3, which is inserted many times, rather forcefully.
dEvakriya as the first major piece started tentatively, a lot of flat prayOgas, unlike thyAgarAja's school equivalent (suddha sAvEri) were seen. The kriti was a request of yours truly and thanks to Sudha for presenting the same. Swaras had some kaNakku patterns that one typically assocates with her. The response of the violinist was good.
A sedate guruvAyUrappanE followed next. During this song, the Governor of Maharashtra, S.M. Krishna accompanied by his wife came to the concert. Having sung a Tamil song when he entered, a kannada kriti had to find its place - so a super fast rAma rAma in vasantA followed. She sang one charaNam in addition to the igatalli ishTa ... I forgot which it was.
After this, there was an interruption of about 8 mins to honour the Governor, release the souvenir etc. The Governor kept his speech to a bare minimum - a min or so.
One thought it was a break which would have an adverse impact on the flow, esp since Sudha had just settled. However, Sudha straight away launched into a power packed tODi, Her voice was in fine form by then, A lot of s-p varja akara phrases in the alapana formed the highlight. Shruti bedham into mOhanam and kalyANI were also seen during the alapana. It was a tristhAyi elaboration, going up to madhara sthAyi madhyamam and tAra sthAyi panchamam. Of course, there were a few gmdnr'g', g'r'ndmg, rgmdnr', r'ndmgr, ngmdn, ndmgrn - typical of alapanas of MLV and her. I thought the choice of short kriti was apt, in view of the time. It was already 8:35 pm by the time the kriti began. After 3-4 avartanas of neraval, she launched into swaras, a couple of rounds of slow swaras gave way to a plethora of swaras in the second speed. Mathematical wizardy came to the fore here too. The tani in 1 kaLai Adi was decent.
A sedate akhilAnDEshwari was the filler before a short alapana in simhEndra madhyamam. The alapana mostly was in madhya and tAra sthAyi, with a lot of s-p varja phrases, and some 'not so' heavy pidis. (atleast to my taste - i am quite conservative in my tastes). A short tanam gave way to the pallavi which was nicely executed. It was sung at half speed and double speed in 2 kalai tishra aTa. She changed to 1 kaLai and khanDa chApu during the swaras. More of this was written in my first post. Conceptually it was a krishna gAnam pallavi, no idea why she chose to sing the first line of these songs, may be to drive home the point (or logic) in the choice of the ragamalika swaras? I do not know, only the lead artiste can answer.
I could not get item 12. Items 13 and 15 reminded one of MS. The Sai Bhajan was rendered with a lot of sincerity. Honestly, with 3 hrs of CM, I do not mind one or two bhajans.
Nice team effort, great support by the sidemen to enhance the concert.
Sudha's concert was a mix of familiar and not so familiar ones, it had its measure of awe inspiring vocal pyrotechnics, kaNakku swaras for the laya buffs, variety in tALa, language of the compositions, a 'different' pallavi etc. The packaging, how she held the audience attention was the key. Voice limitation was not treated as a handicap, when they occured, they prodded her to do something in the manOdharma area. Whether the swaras were planned at that place etc, will never be known, but, if it were thinking on her feet - hats off to her.
One major grouse I have is the fact that one does not hear much of rakti ragas like mukhAri, kEdAragauLa, sahAna, Anandabhairavi, rItigauLa, darbAr, yadukula kAmbhOji ever handled elaborately by her, or for that matter MLV. However, one regularly hears pentatonic and scalar ragas rendered in their concerts.
Also, why should her concert feature only 2 or 3 raga elaborations? It is 2 when there is no RTP, or 3 when there is a RTP, There can be a piece where only ragam (typically a rakti one) is sung and the song left as it is. Typically a chouka kala piece - say elA avatAra, nAradaguruswAmi, etAvuna nErchitivO etc.
Sudha's voice was not in the best possible form, and she experienced some let downs in the form of shruti lapses etc, until piece number 6, after which there was no looking back. Just because voice problems are highlighted a few times below, does not mean that the concert was bad, it just goes to say that everyone can have a bad day, (or a bad start) - but how one manages to cary on after that to make it a successful concert is what needs to be appreciated.
IMHO, mAtE started slightly fast and she managed to bring the tempo down during the course of the song realising the voice condition. charaNam was very fast and at a couple of places, it was evident she was out of breath. She tested her voice with a safe vAtApi, again a slip in one of the sangatis, but not to be on the defensive - she delivered swaras at 'hamsadhwani pUjita hErambam', Typically when something new is introduced - the old slips away from memory, one would tend to remember her for the swaras not for the slip.
A surprise meditative mOhanakara came next. I felt there was a distinct D2, instead of D3 occuring in the last sangati of the pallavi but may be it is my ear. With rAgas like hamsadhwani, aTANA et you will never go wrong, so ElA nI daya rAdu it was next, starting with bAlakanakamaya. Needless to say, it struck a chord with everyone. Swaras were apt at 'rA rA dEvAdi'. They were crisp and did not have the presence of G3, which is inserted many times, rather forcefully.
dEvakriya as the first major piece started tentatively, a lot of flat prayOgas, unlike thyAgarAja's school equivalent (suddha sAvEri) were seen. The kriti was a request of yours truly and thanks to Sudha for presenting the same. Swaras had some kaNakku patterns that one typically assocates with her. The response of the violinist was good.
A sedate guruvAyUrappanE followed next. During this song, the Governor of Maharashtra, S.M. Krishna accompanied by his wife came to the concert. Having sung a Tamil song when he entered, a kannada kriti had to find its place - so a super fast rAma rAma in vasantA followed. She sang one charaNam in addition to the igatalli ishTa ... I forgot which it was.
After this, there was an interruption of about 8 mins to honour the Governor, release the souvenir etc. The Governor kept his speech to a bare minimum - a min or so.
One thought it was a break which would have an adverse impact on the flow, esp since Sudha had just settled. However, Sudha straight away launched into a power packed tODi, Her voice was in fine form by then, A lot of s-p varja akara phrases in the alapana formed the highlight. Shruti bedham into mOhanam and kalyANI were also seen during the alapana. It was a tristhAyi elaboration, going up to madhara sthAyi madhyamam and tAra sthAyi panchamam. Of course, there were a few gmdnr'g', g'r'ndmg, rgmdnr', r'ndmgr, ngmdn, ndmgrn - typical of alapanas of MLV and her. I thought the choice of short kriti was apt, in view of the time. It was already 8:35 pm by the time the kriti began. After 3-4 avartanas of neraval, she launched into swaras, a couple of rounds of slow swaras gave way to a plethora of swaras in the second speed. Mathematical wizardy came to the fore here too. The tani in 1 kaLai Adi was decent.
A sedate akhilAnDEshwari was the filler before a short alapana in simhEndra madhyamam. The alapana mostly was in madhya and tAra sthAyi, with a lot of s-p varja phrases, and some 'not so' heavy pidis. (atleast to my taste - i am quite conservative in my tastes). A short tanam gave way to the pallavi which was nicely executed. It was sung at half speed and double speed in 2 kalai tishra aTa. She changed to 1 kaLai and khanDa chApu during the swaras. More of this was written in my first post. Conceptually it was a krishna gAnam pallavi, no idea why she chose to sing the first line of these songs, may be to drive home the point (or logic) in the choice of the ragamalika swaras? I do not know, only the lead artiste can answer.
I could not get item 12. Items 13 and 15 reminded one of MS. The Sai Bhajan was rendered with a lot of sincerity. Honestly, with 3 hrs of CM, I do not mind one or two bhajans.
Nice team effort, great support by the sidemen to enhance the concert.
Sudha's concert was a mix of familiar and not so familiar ones, it had its measure of awe inspiring vocal pyrotechnics, kaNakku swaras for the laya buffs, variety in tALa, language of the compositions, a 'different' pallavi etc. The packaging, how she held the audience attention was the key. Voice limitation was not treated as a handicap, when they occured, they prodded her to do something in the manOdharma area. Whether the swaras were planned at that place etc, will never be known, but, if it were thinking on her feet - hats off to her.
One major grouse I have is the fact that one does not hear much of rakti ragas like mukhAri, kEdAragauLa, sahAna, Anandabhairavi, rItigauLa, darbAr, yadukula kAmbhOji ever handled elaborately by her, or for that matter MLV. However, one regularly hears pentatonic and scalar ragas rendered in their concerts.
Also, why should her concert feature only 2 or 3 raga elaborations? It is 2 when there is no RTP, or 3 when there is a RTP, There can be a piece where only ragam (typically a rakti one) is sung and the song left as it is. Typically a chouka kala piece - say elA avatAra, nAradaguruswAmi, etAvuna nErchitivO etc.
Last edited by arunsri on 26 Feb 2007, 13:01, edited 1 time in total.
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drshrikaanth
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sangeetarasikan
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One could say that Sudha is just playing to her strengths. Nothing wrong with it per se. I personally feel that her music doesn't have the depth that a Yadukulakambhoji or Anandabhairavi require. She is doing the right thing by presenting those only occasionally. MLV has handled the ragas you have mentioned but again to a limited extent when you compare her to her guru or peers like DKP. For that matter, I am not sure DKP could execute some of the pentatonic ragas with the same sparkle as MLV.arunsri wrote:One major grouse I have is the fact that one does not hear much of rakti ragas like mukhAri, kEdAragauLa, sahAna, Anandabhairavi, rItigauLa, darbAr, yadukula kAmbhOji ever handled elaborately by her, or for that matter MLV. However, one regularly hears pentatonic and scalar ragas rendered in their concerts.
Also, why should her concert feature only 2 or 3 raga elaborations? It is 2 when there is no RTP, or 3 when there is a RTP, There can be a piece where only ragam (typically a rakti one) is sung and the song left as it is. Typically a chouka kala piece - say elA avatAra, nAradaguruswAmi, etAvuna nErchitivO etc.
I am very unhappy with the RTP format. Both Sudha and Aruna have come up with this ludicrous idea of doing an "Avial" of sorts, with the opening words of different kritis thrown in! Too amateurish, imo.
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mohan
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This format is a tried and tested formula used by the GNB bani - MLV, Trichur V. Ramachandran, Sudha Ragunathan and others. To me, artistes from the GNB school have mastered the art of concert planning. They render fewer raga alapanas but render them very elaborately. This is slightly different to Ariyakudi's formula of rendering many more alapanas, each very briefly.arunsri wrote:why should her concert feature only 2 or 3 raga elaborations? It is 2 when there is no RTP, or 3 when there is a RTP.
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vijay
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The younger generation has a more unpredictable approach - with Sanjay, Krishna, Sowmya, Vijay Siva etc. formats vary drastically - perhaps depending on their mood, the ragas presented, time available etc. They also frequently sing alaapanas without neraval/swaras.
While I have nothing against short alaapanas I prefer at least one alaapana to be 15-20 mins+ long....these days there are hardly any alaapanas that stretch for more than half an hour - TNS and OST are among those who attempt detailed alaapanas.
How about an "alaapana only" concert - would love to listen to one! Of course, the artist had better be good otherwise it would be a huge drag!
While I have nothing against short alaapanas I prefer at least one alaapana to be 15-20 mins+ long....these days there are hardly any alaapanas that stretch for more than half an hour - TNS and OST are among those who attempt detailed alaapanas.
How about an "alaapana only" concert - would love to listen to one! Of course, the artist had better be good otherwise it would be a huge drag!
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arunsri
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I would want to disagree on thismohan wrote:This format is a tried and tested formula used by the GNB bani - MLV, Trichur V. Ramachandran, Sudha Ragunathan and others. To me, artistes from the GNB school have mastered the art of concert planning. They render fewer raga alapanas but render them very elaborately. This is slightly different to Ariyakudi's formula of rendering many more alapanas, each very briefly.arunsri wrote:why should her concert feature only 2 or 3 raga elaborations? It is 2 when there is no RTP, or 3 when there is a RTP.
In fact, GNB would have 4-5 alapanas - typically song number 4, 5 (one of them would be a prati madhyamam), other would be say an AndOLikA, biLahari, mOhanam, or even kalyANI, yadukula kAMbhOji, rItigauLa etc. piece number 6 would be main piece, post main, one song would have some alapana followed by a breezy filler and then the grand RTP with multiple phase alapana. So usually atleast 4 alapanas in a concert lasting even 3 hrs. Ariyakudi bani - agreed had many not so detailed alapana, but of you look at any other artiste - SSI, MS, DKP and the like, there would be a good emphasis on raga alapanas too.
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arunsri
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I too agree, i wish that she just made a statement saying that she had these ragas for the swaras, based on OVK popular kritis. Point would have been noted and appreciated. There was no need to do what she did. But atleast she presented the pallavi with some respect and giving it a reasonable amount of time it needed - unlike a 2-3 avartana neraval following by swaras as done by Aruna. In fact the pallavi which Aruna seems to sing on the musical Trinity is meaningless, I feel.sangeetarasikan wrote:I am very unhappy with the RTP format. Both Sudha and Aruna have come up with this ludicrous idea of doing an "Avial" of sorts, with the opening words of different kritis thrown in! Too amateurish, imo.