Ravikiran At Ragamala

[ragamala]

Start Time : 6:00:00 PM
End Time : 9:00:00 PM
Venue : Interlake High School Performing Arts Center, 16245 NE 24th St., Bellevue, WA
Please see http://www.ragamala.org/ for more details
Contact : Chris Grantham
Email : [email protected]
Phone : 425-424-0841

Admission : $10 for Ragamala members
$25 for non-members

Tickets and 2007 memberships will be available at the door.
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Details : Accompanied by Guruvayoor Dorai on Mridangam, Akkarai Subbulakshmi on Violin, and Ravi Balasubramaniam on Ghatam.

Free parking is available in the High School parking lot.

This theater is accessible to individuals with mobility impairments.



About Ravikiran:
Recognized as a musical prodigy at a very early age, Ravikiran debuted as a vocalist at age 5 in Coimbatore, India while under the tutelage of his father, the great Narasimhan. At the age of 10, anticipating his voice changing, he took up the Chitraveena, presenting his first concert at age 12. Although best known as an instrumentalist, he has since the 1980s resumed voice training under the celebrated T. Brinda and nowadays presents both vocal and instrumental performances. Among his unique contributions to his art are the use of a teflon slide to replace the traditional ebony and the invention of a new instrument, the Navachitraveena.

[Suji Ram]

Ravikiran - Nava Chitravina
Akkarai Subbulakshmi - Violin
Guruvayoor Dorai- Mridamgam
Ravi Balasubramaniam -Ghatam

Sriranjani- Adi ? (T)
varALi – rUpaka, SEShacala nAyakam (MD)
janaranjani- Adi, pAhimAm Sri rAjarAjESwari (MVA)
tODi RTP
bEhAg ?
mangaLam

The concert started with a short AlApana in rAga Sriranjani followed by Tyagaraja kriti which I could not identify. I was hoping for mArubalka or bhuvini dAsuDani. My nearest neighbours did not know the kriti either. The piece lasted 25 minutes. Nice play by Akkarai Subbalakshmi too. There was no confusion with abhOgi anywhere.

Next was a detailed sketch of varALi. Somewhere in the middle I thought I heard kAmavardhini. Could it be grahabhEdam on some swara? The MD kriti sounded too good. Felt as if gently swinging to the tune. By now I was getting used to the sound of Chitravina.

Third was my favorite janaranjani. I was hopping from poornachandrika to janaranjani. Also felt a little of bAngLa. But was completely assured it was janaranjani when the violinist played. The kriti was familiar and enjoyable.

Main was tODi and I was totally immersed in their playing. The violinist got lot of applause for her playing here. The tAnam was great and was in tOdi, nIlAmbari, nAtakurinji, valAji, nAta and hansanadam. I could have missed one.

In this concert I also focused on the left side of the platform – the mridamgam and the ghaTam (thanks to the lessons on the tAla section). I am no expert in writing on the percussion but could enjoy. Guruvayoor Dorai’s playing was so gentle yet sounded brilliant. Often wondered where the sound was coming from. It probably came from the left hand which was not visible to the audience. The ghatam player is a Seatlleite and his playing was good too.

It seemed like a short concert, but it did last close to 3 hours.