Neyveli Santhanagopalan at Malleswaram Sabha, Bangalore, Mar

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Mar 2007, 00:56

Neyveli's accompanists were: Govindaswamy on the violin
Arjun Kumar on the mrudangam
Shri Shaila (?) on the ghatam

Malleswaram Sangeetha Sabha held this concert in the Rama Mandira on East Park Street.

After the concert, when I went to bow before Sri Rama, I could see from his expression that he was as pleased to hear the concert as those of us who were gathered there yesterday. 'Okay, okay, cut, cut!', I hear Rajesh exclaiming, regretting that he ever asked me to write a review.
Let me try again. Pardon the omissions.

1. varNam: chalamEla nATTakkurinji Adi (?) S
2. mEru samAna mAyA mALava gowLA dEshAdi TyAgarAjA R, N, S
3. mAkElarA ravi chandrikA dEshAdi tyAgarAjA R, S
4. mari vErE gathi Ananda bhairavi ? ShyAmA ShAstry R
5. parAtparA, paramEshwarA vAchaspathi Adi pApanAsam sivan N S
6. inta sowkyamani kApi Adi tyAgarAjA R, N, S
thAni Adi (mishra naDai is what I overheard).
7. ArabimAnamAi AdarippAr ennai rAga mAlikA of Arabhi, Ananda bhairavi, kalyAni, kamalamanOhari, mOhanam, sAranga, lalithA, durbAr, bhairavi (dId I leave out any?)
8. chandra chUDa durbAri kAnaDA purandara dAsA
9. mangaLam: prahlAda nAradAdi sourAshTram

With the varNam, Neyveli made a good start and ended it with a delicate weaving of swarAs which primed us for the fare to come. mEru samAna came next, with a quick AlApanA and a soulful rendering of the kriti, neraval and swaras gem like, Govindaswamy and Arjun Kumar joining in, making it sparkle. I realized how sweetly the violinist went along with Neyveli. I don't think I have heard him before. The speaker referred to him as our Govindaswamy from karnataka who plays like the old Govindaswamy Naicker. mEru gained more stature and took on the spiritual tone of Neyveli's music. Next came mAkElarA, brief, but with swaram too. A bhAvA filled Ananda bhairavi AlApanA ensued, then the SS kriti . parAtparA was renedred serenely, ariyum ayanum kANA ariya jOthi taken for neraval. He lingered on with just ari for a while and it was moving. Then came a gentle pelting of swarams, the audience reacting to it in a collective smile. Next was kApi--an experience in sowkyam. The neraval line was swara rAga laya sudhA rasa and it was a treat. The speaker later commented on it--enta sowkyamu, the kApi kriti was!
tAni was next, by Arjun Kumar, an impressive young player. Shri shailA (?) played his ghatam in unison.
The next two pieces--ArabimAnamAi and chandra chUDa--I guess were requests. I enjoyed listening to them. Neyveli might have sung something different, but rasikas come first to him, I suppose.
The speaker also complimented his disciple (I forget the name). We barely heard him. In Chennai, I heard Neyveli's daughter singing with him (she has a sweet voice and displays a lot of verve). The other disciple Vaman (? ) is very good support as well. Gives concerts too, I hear.
Devotees who came to the temple throughout the concert, only added charm to it--not talking or distracting, but adding color to the scene. May be, they were mindful of the expression of sri rAmA and company as they were savoring the music of a man like Neyveli...

Rajesh, now to my defense, if some are dissatisfied with my not-so-professional (so called) review...

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 06 Mar 2007, 01:05

Thanks Arasi. Nice and informative review.

meena · Post by **meena** » 06 Mar 2007, 01:28

varnam- Rangaswami Nattuvanar's.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 06 Mar 2007, 01:35

(dId I leave out any?)

hamsadhvani.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 06 Mar 2007, 01:44

arasi wrote:(dId I leave out any?)

pUrvi kalyANi (kApAtra vENumE karuNA puritanayA)

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 06 Mar 2007, 10:15

arasi wrote:7. ArabimAnamAi AdarippAr ennai rAga mAlikA of Arabhi, Ananda bhairavi, kalyAni, kamalaOhari, mOhanam, sAranga, lalithA, durbAr, bhairavi (dId I leave out any?)

ArabhimAnam vaithAdarippAr ennai

Pallavi: Arabhi Anandhabhairavi
Anupallavi: kalyANi hamsadvani
caraNam 1: sAranga sAma mOhanam lalitA (vasantA in some pAtAntarams)
caraNam 2: darbAr bhairavi pUrvikalyANi kamalA manOhari

I think its a composition of Thanjavur Shankara Iyer

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 06 Mar 2007, 10:36

ArabhimAnam is a composition of tarangambADi panCanada iyer [also famous for birAnabrOva - kalyANi]

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 06 Mar 2007, 10:40

prashant wrote:ArabhimAnam is a composition of tarangambADi panCanada iyer [also famous for birAnabrOva - kalyANi]

prashant, thanks for correcting. In fact, some of his varNams are amazing

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 07 Mar 2007, 12:09

Arasi, welcome to the reviewer's club! Far from being "not-so-professional", you are probably the only professional contributor...do look forward to reading more...

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 07 Mar 2007, 13:49

very well written arasi...i couldnt attend this concert but i am glad u made it for all of us here.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Mar 2007, 22:07

Vijay,
vashishtar vAyAl (from the very authority), a good word for the old lady (or, in plural?

). Thanks, but look at the gaping holes--especially of laya matters!

Humdinger,
You are kind! I looked around--as if I could spot you--could he be 'hum'ming, I thought. Well, you were not there, after all...

Rajesh,
Looks as though you're going to say, 'okay, what did I tell you?'

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 07 Mar 2007, 23:48

arasi,
When you talked with me about NSG's concert prior to review , I was very happy to hear that Shri NSG sang a 1 hour main(even assuming 20 minutes tani). So far I have never heard him rendering an elaborate main(my sampling is 5 to 6 in the last 5 years), with me even thinking whether it is shri NSG's limitation.Tx for your great review.

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 08 Mar 2007, 00:18

humming...no arasi...not in a concert atleast...i should be as strong as arnold schwaggenagar to dare it

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 09 Mar 2007, 09:33

Arnolds can't wing it, either! I have had the experience of sitting next to (or in front of) a few hummers in concerts. After looking, pleading with my eyes and finally shaking my head, all I would get in return would be a glare--and more of humming. Once, I did meaningfully return the glare, and moved away to a trouble free zone. I was lucky in finding another good seat...

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 09 Mar 2007, 10:08

bharath: tell us more about the varNams! I know there's one in suruTTi. I am hoping to learn it up from Smt. Vedavalli when I see her next.

humdinger · Post by **humdinger** » 09 Mar 2007, 11:40

hmm...humming is atleast someway musical....many times i would have neighbours who keep saying tch...tch...tch...(cant mimic exactly, some thing similar) during the alaapana part...that too pretty loud and mostly at wrong moments...i find it so irritating. if it is a way of appreciation, i think its the most un-musical way of appreciating music.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 09 Mar 2007, 23:46

prashant wrote:bharath: tell us more about the varNams! I know there's one in suruTTi. I am hoping to learn it up from Smt. Vedavalli when I see her next.

There is a nIlambari varNam 'nI vaNTi deivamu' in aTa tALam which sanjay sings. There is another aTa tALa varNam in Ahiri, 'ninne kOri' whose notations, i got from Lakshman sir, but havent been able to learn or hear it from anybody. i am told about the surutti one which RV sings.