Gayathri Venkataraghavan @ Nadopasana, Chennai (25 Mar 2007)

ram · Post by **ram** » 26 Mar 2007, 01:00

Venue: Dakshinamurthy Auditorium, P.S. High School, R.K. Mutt Road, Mylapore, Chennai

Date: 25 Mar 2007

Organizer: Nadopasana

Vocal: Vid. Gayathri Venkataraghavan

Violin: Vid. Padma Shankar

Mridangam: Vid. Melakkaveri K. Balaji

List of songs:

1) tuLasi daLa - mAyAmALavagowLa - rUpakam - thyAgarAja (ONS)

2) evarani - dEvAmrutavarshini - Adi - thyAgarAja

3) lambOdarAya namastE - varALi - kanDa chApu - muthuswAmi dIkshitar (ANS)

4) raghupatE rAmA - sahAnA - rUpakam - thyAgarAja (A)

5) viDajAladurA - janaranjani - Adi - thyAgarAja (S)

6) shrI janaka tanayE - kalakaNThi - Adi - thyAgarAja

7) sAmi ninnE nammiti - bEgaDa - Adi - syAma sAstri (A)

8 ) shrI mAtrubhUtam - kannaDa - misra chApu - muthuswAmi dIkshitar (S)

9) tanayuni brOva - bhairavi - Adi - thyAgarAja (AST)

10) shrI vENugOpAla - kurinji - misra jampa - muthuswAmi dIkshitar

11) akhilAnDEshwari durusuga - karnATaka kApi - Adi - syAma sAstri

12) nI nAma rUpa mulaku (mangaLam) - sowrAshTram - Adi - thyAgarAja

(Key: O=raga outline, A=raga alapana, N=neraval, S=kalpana swaram, T=taniavartanam)

After listening to a stunning concert full of rare gems by Vid. Nirmala Sundararajan and Vid. Subhashini Parthasarathy at Musiri Chamber Concerts, I scurried to P.S. High School to be in time for the start of Vid. Gayathr's concert. This concert had two things one can always have faith upon. One was the fact that only compositions of the trinity (Sri Thyagaraja, Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar and Sri Syama Sastri) were to be sung which meant that almost every composition would be thoroughly enjoyable. The second was Vid. Gayathri Venkataraghavan's music. I think she is arguably one of the best singers of the present generation and I find her concerts to be almost always interesting and well presented. Today's concert was no exception and was probably the best one I have heard since TNS sang for Nayaki in Chennai a few weeks back.

Vid. Gayathri began her concert with the best rendition of "tuLasi daLa" I have heard till now. She sang the kriti with full involvement and the joy of watching the kriti develop beautifully, sangati by sangati, was very evident from her face. Neraval was done almost using all lines from the charanam. I couldn't have asked for a better start to the concert !!

Everything about the concert was so nice. The alapanas by both Vid. Gayathri and Vid. Padma Shankar were very good. Vid. Melakkaveri Balaji played well for all the songs. The kOrvai he played for chatusra naDai in taniavartanam was the same one he played for Smt. Prema Rengarajan's concert a couple of days back. It had an avartanam of chatusram, kanDam and tisram each in both the pUrvAngam and the uttarAngam.

Vid. Gayathri sang very beautiful sangatis for almost all the songs. She even used the lower octave very effectively during the alapanas, especially the bhairavi alapana. This is something not many other female singers seem to do. She was very appreciative of her accompanists. Instead of just expressing her appreciation in terms of words like "sabAsh", "balE", "bEsh" etc and resorting to star gazing when her turn was over, she actually turned a bit towards their side whenever the violin alapana or taniavartanam was on and could be observed enjoying what they played. Signs of a great artist in making is what I would say.

Source: http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/2007/03/ ... i25032007/

sraja · Post by **sraja** » 26 Mar 2007, 07:06

There is nothing much one can add after such an accurate review by Ram. However just a couple of things. Gayathri proved that she is an "all round" singer and versatile too by being totally at ease both in the slow paced songs as well as "rapid fire' ones. Her varali alapana was majestic and the neraval and swarms for the leisurely Lambodaraya were wonderful. Similarly the lightning fast Vidajalatura and the swarams also were sung by her effortlesly!

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 26 Mar 2007, 09:30

never heard this rAga kalakAnthi. Looks like a very good selection. Possibly kannadA following bEgaDa, appears to me some what overlapping.

nyayam · Post by **nyayam** » 26 Mar 2007, 14:09

Well. i would like to agree and differ on some points.
Raghupathe Rama was easily the best, rendered in a leisurely way.Lambodharaya ,swaras thereto, and the swaras for Sri Mathrubootham were captivating.So was the Lower Octave singing for Bhairavi.
Vidajaladhura sung at a very fast pace as a filler was surprising. . The krithi deserves better respect.
I am not very sure whether Akhilandeswari had the Syama Sastri Mudra. Someone may please clarify.
Overall, her pleasing manners on the stage apart, i felt that the bhava aspect which was dominant in her music was noticeably absent. The presentation was a bit forceful so as to make an impact on the audience rather than at sowkhyam, which is her forte and distinguished her music from that of many others.

hindolam · Post by **hindolam** » 26 Mar 2007, 15:53

Ram the concert was on 25th March 2007 not 25th December 2006 when you were at Partha for TMK!!

ram · Post by **ram** » 26 Mar 2007, 16:40

omg .... thats a blunder.

Thanks hindolam for pointing it out. Though I don't want to post very late into the night, I almost always end up doing just that. Wonder what all goof ups I did in the (office) deliverable I sent at 4AM yesterday

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 27 Mar 2007, 11:54

well done ram...
gAyathri is one who expresses her inner self in her renditions.... her music is bhava oriented...
i always enjoy the way she likes her accompanying artistes and rasikas....

manoranjitham · Post by **manoranjitham** » 27 Mar 2007, 16:53

Akhilandeswari is without doubt a Shyama Sastri Krithi.
Quite a few of us who attend her concerts regularly were there. We do not share the view of Nyayam? that the music was either harsh or deficient in bhava. Gayathri was as usual trying to put her heart and soul into the music.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 27 Mar 2007, 16:57

Here is the text of akhilANDEshvari.

akhilANDeshvari. rAgA: karnATakakApi. Adi tALA.

P: akhilANDEshvari durusuga brOvumu
A: nikhila tApahAriNi bhuvilOna ninu mincina vArevarunnArammA
C1: mANikyamayamaiyunna mandira madhya vAsinI alivENI
shrI shambhunAthuni rANI varamIyavE gIrvANI mAyammA
2: ambOruha sambhava harishankara akhila munIndra pUjitA ati
gambhIrA dInarakSaNI gadA nA moralanu vinalEdA
3: O ambA ninu nammina nApai inta parAmugamEla vinu
shyAmakrSNutA cinta dIrci sAmrAjyamIyavE vEgamE

nyayam · Post by **nyayam** » 28 Mar 2007, 06:33

Thank you Lakshman for posting the krithi itself.

I am also a fairly frequent listener of this artiste. I felt that she was offering music that had great emotional appeal.

I wrote what I sincerely felt about her music that day. This made me write for the first time ever.. Since I find that other regular listeners do not feel the way I do, I better be silent.

Thanks to rasikas.org.

coimbatorerasigan · Post by **coimbatorerasigan** » 28 Mar 2007, 07:03

On the contrary, Nyayam, please feel free to express your thoughts. It is quite normal for different people to experience different thoughts and emotions as far as music is concerned...u're thoughts did not seem vindictive at all, and seemed knowledgeable...it did come across that u really liked this artist, and perhaps she seems to be coming across as taking a different path than what made her appeal to you in the first place....its all part of the metamorphosis and growth that musicians in general exhibit....all viewpoints are useful.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 28 Mar 2007, 07:42

Isn't Akhilandeswari in Kapi as opposed to Karnataka Kapi which is the name given to Kanada ... for instance, Muthuswami Deekshithar's "Veera Hanumathe" is listed as being in Karnataka Kapi and is sung in Kanada.

The only distinction in Kapi I have seen is Hindusthani Kapi which is given as the raga for "Jagadoddharana".

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 28 Mar 2007, 10:52

harimau wrote:Isn't Akhilandeswari in Kapi as opposed to Karnataka Kapi which is the name given to Kanada ... for instance, Muthuswami Deekshithar's "Veera Hanumathe" is listed as being in Karnataka Kapi and is sung in Kanada.

The only distinction in Kapi I have seen is Hindusthani Kapi which is given as the raga for "Jagadoddharana".

akhilANDEsvari durusuga, i am told is a composition in karnATaka kApi and apparently there are old recordings of BMK singing it in karnATaka kApi (which sounds like kAnaDA with a flat gA)... and that the hindustani kApi version is relatively new and set-up!

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 28 Mar 2007, 11:26

rbharath wrote:
harimau wrote:Isn't Akhilandeswari in Kapi as opposed to Karnataka Kapi which is the name given to Kanada ... for instance, Muthuswami Deekshithar's "Veera Hanumathe" is listed as being in Karnataka Kapi and is sung in Kanada.

The only distinction in Kapi I have seen is Hindusthani Kapi which is given as the raga for "Jagadoddharana".
akhilANDEsvari durusuga, i am told is a composition in karnATaka kApi and apparently there are old recordings of BMK singing it in karnATaka kApi (which sounds like kAnaDA with a flat gA)... and that the hindustani kApi version is relatively new and set-up!

I have heard BMK's akhilANDEshwari (karnATaka KApi) recordings - but the treatment of karnATaka kApi by Shyama Shastri is different from MD's (eg: vIra hanumatE). It does not have the kAnaDa flavor at all.

-Ramakriya