Sri TN Seshagoplan @ Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, 04.14.20

mahesh33 · Post by **mahesh33** » 16 Apr 2007, 07:23

Vocal: Vid. T.N. Seshagopalan

Vocal Support: Vid. Madurai Sunder

Violin: Vid. Nagai Sriram

Mrudangam: Vid. Trichy S. Sankaran

1. Lambodara (Geetham) - Rupaka

2. Sami Ninne - Sri/Adi

3. E paNikO - Asaveri (A)

4. ninnE nera nammi - Panthuvarali/Rupakam (A, Neraval @ â€œVeda Shaastra Puraanaâ€

gsn · Post by **gsn** » 16 Apr 2007, 09:12

3. The song was E paNikO ; the ragam is Asaveri.

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 16 Apr 2007, 15:19

Yes, and he sang alapana for asaveri also.

TNS's voice was not the best but he managed a pretty good concert. I dont understand why he sacrifices aesthetics when he goes to the mandra sthayi (it sounds pretty awful when he does this and I am a huge huge TNS fan!)

IMHO, the concert sagged a little with a lacklustre yadhukula kambhoji and kapinarayani but TNS bounced back brilliantly in the bhairavi and RTP.

The 'a' set of ragamalika swarams were slow swarams and the 'b' set of swarams were in melkalam in typical TNS style changing ragams at a lightning pace. Good job writing all that down!

Are you sure that was karnataka behag in the slow swarams between bowli and Kapi? I cant remember the ragam now since I didnt take notes, but I dont remember it as karnataka behag. Maybe nattaikurunji? (I am really stretching my memory here and taking a wild guess

)

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 16 Apr 2007, 15:22

[quote="mahesh33"]Pallavi â€œSoma sundarEshwara Priya bhAma Bageshri rAja mAtangIâ€

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 16 Apr 2007, 15:39

Isn't Trichy Sankaran playing with TNS after a long time? Could anyone provide details on his accompaniment and responses to TNS' patterns..

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 16 Apr 2007, 16:44

Trichy Sankaran played for TNS during the December 2005 season. I am not sure if he played in the 2006 season as well.

naaree · Post by **naaree** » 16 Apr 2007, 18:35

rasam wrote:Yes, and he sang alapana for asaveri also.

IMHO, the concert sagged a little with a lacklustre yadhukula kambhoji and kapinarayani but TNS bounced back brilliantly in the bhairavi and RTP.

I beg to differ with your assessment on the kapinarayani. It was a very well executed piece in my opinion. The swarams were patterened in a very interesting manner. But I agree with you on the Bhairavi and RTP. Masterpieces.

rasam wrote:Are you sure that was karnataka behag in the slow swarams between bowli and Kapi? I cant remember the ragam now since I didnt take notes, but I dont remember it as karnataka behag. Maybe nattaikurunji? (I am really stretching my memory here and taking a wild guess )

I think it is mAru behag.

A shout out to Nagai Sriram is also due. He followed along brilliantly, including the kanakkus. IMHO, it was a one of a kind concert. Inspite of his cold and cough, I thought his voice was in supreme shape. Tiruchy Sankaran sir was at his best as usual.

A CONCERT OF HIGH CALIBRE.

Hilarious story behind the choice of some of the slow swarams:

Shri TRS, whom I adore and worship for his musical genius, was seated in the front row. Lets just say he was soaking in music with his eyes closed. TNS sir chose neelambhari for you know what. Then he tried to disturb the slumber with some bowli, but to no avail. He moved on to maru behag. When TRS came out of his slumber momentarily, he was delivered some kApi (u know what I mean).

People seated in the first few rows had a nice chuckle.

During the rAgam phase of the RTP, Shri TRS was in conversation with Kiranavali for a brief moment. TNS paused, enough to be noticed, while they finished their conversation and then continued with his rAgam.

Sorry couldnt resist.

NS

naaree · Post by **naaree** » 16 Apr 2007, 18:36

[quote="rbharath"][quote="mahesh33"]Pallavi â€œSoma sundarEshwara Priya bhAma Bageshri rAja mAtangIâ€

naaree · Post by **naaree** » 16 Apr 2007, 18:42

[quote="mahesh33"]8. RTP - Bageshri - Khanda Triputa (Chatusram, Tisram & Khandam)
Pallavi â€œSoma sundarEshwara Priya bhAma Bageshri rAja mAtangIâ€

mahesh33 · Post by **mahesh33** » 16 Apr 2007, 18:48

Happy New Year!

A TM Krishna concert followed by a TN Seshagopalan concert with accompanists of the highest caliber made it a very memorable weekend for me. After the superb Saveri & Harikambodhi by TM Krishna the previous night, I was primed for a â€œcracker-jack of a concertâ€

gsn · Post by **gsn** » 16 Apr 2007, 18:58

What a concert it was..Wow. Seshagopalan sir's voice did fail a couple of times but his immense vidwat more than bailed him out. I agree with naaree in that the kapinarayani swarams were fairly interesting. The trikalam in the RTP was simply outstanding; TNS sir did mel and keezh kaalam tisram in both 2-kalai (the original pallavi thalam) and the faster 1-kalai version. Quite something to hear. For the record, the thirupugazh was "Vachanamiga vEtrI", a TNS staple. The Alathur brothers sang it in Atana; TNS sir has sung it in Bageshri, Surutti, and Behag!

Vijay-- Re. Sankaran sir. He played beautifully. The thani to Thanayuni featured some amazing khandam and tisram korvais. At one point, he transited from khandam into tisram without any chatusram at all! Great stuff to hear.

Nagai Sriram, as someone already noted, played really well. He did have some trouble with the trikalam in the pallavi but that takes away nothing from a fabulous performance. His response to TNS sir's kanakkus in Thanayuni were very good.

The only thing missing (!) was an elaborate shlokam. "Pachchai mAmalai" was toooo short

All in all, a fantastic 3 hrs and 45 minutes; the absurdly long flight to Houston shortly afterwards did not matter one bit!

mahesh33 · Post by **mahesh33** » 16 Apr 2007, 19:07

GSN, My absurdly long drive in pouring rain afterwards dint matter one bit, either

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 16 Apr 2007, 21:02

It sounds like an exciting concert and fresh-from-the press reviews, all!
No mention about Madurai Sundar though. Surely, when the doyen's voice failed him a couple of times, he would have filled the gap admirably.

naaree · Post by **naaree** » 16 Apr 2007, 21:12

arasi wrote:It sounds like an exciting concert and fresh-from-the press reviews, all!
No mention about Madurai Sundar though. Surely, when the doyen's voice failed him a couple of times, he would have filled the gap admirably.

I dont remember Sundar even having a mic. So I am sure we didn't hear his voice.

mahesh33 · Post by **mahesh33** » 16 Apr 2007, 22:43

Infact, TNS was completely blocking him, and I dint realize that it was actually Madurai Sunder was sitting behind him. I knew that he was providing vocal support only when the organizer announced it after the concert. Madurai Sunder obviously enjoyed the concert a whole lot, because when TNS was singing his alapanas, he would sway to the right and to the left....What do I know anyway?

On that note, I also dint realize as many rasikas.org members were there in the same hall..doubt I would have had the gumption to post, if I had known that so many knowledgeable folks made it to the concert! I mean I've never had anyone tell me "IddithOnE chollanon"!! What say, Rasam?

gsn · Post by **gsn** » 16 Apr 2007, 22:50

Sunder's hands did come into view during the pallavi trikalam! He was putting the thalam pretty vigorously

The few times he could be seen, he seemed to be enjoying the concert thoroughly.

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 17 Apr 2007, 05:27

I think it is mAru behag.

Yes, of course!

Hilarious story behind the choice of some of the slow swarams:

Shri TRS, whom I adore and worship for his musical genius, was seated in the front row. Lets just say he was soaking in music with his eyes closed. TNS sir chose neelambhari for you know what. Then he tried to disturb the slumber with some bowli, but to no avail. He moved on to maru behag. When TRS came out of his slumber momentarily, he was delivered some kApi (u know what I mean).

People seated in the first few rows had a nice chuckle.

LOL! The interpretation is funny but it is hard for me to believe that TNS did that on purpose!

I dont remember Sundar even having a mic. So I am sure we didn't hear his voice.

And I dont know why not ... With some vocal support, his voice would have fared so much better. Not that I am complaining, the concert was great.

On that note, I also dint realize as many rasikas.org members were there in the same hall..doubt I would have had the gumption to post, if I had known that so many knowledgeable folks made it to the concert! I mean I've never had anyone tell me "IddithOnE chollanon"!! What say, Rasam?

LOL! Knowledgable? I am most certainly not ... Fanatical? Yes, given the fact that on a tiny student wallet, I flew in all the way from Phoenix just for TNS and TMK. Absurdly long enough flight for you gsn?

naaree · Post by **naaree** » 17 Apr 2007, 06:43

rasam wrote:And I dont know why not ... With some vocal support, his voice would have fared so much better. Not that I am complaining, the concert was great.

Not on this day. TNS was spectacular and his voice was nearly perfect on this day.

gsn · Post by **gsn** » 17 Apr 2007, 07:34

Rasam-

haha, I also came for the TMK and TNS kutcheries! Did you manage to catch the Jayanthi Kumaresh concert just before Krishna's?

I heard the story about TRS sir dozing off too, haha. An elderly gentleman was relating it with great relish (and affection for the genius) at lunch : )

Mahesh, Rasam, Naaree -- Any idea who the "other" gentleman in the first row was? The one who was also talking to Kiranavali (jet black hair, spectacles)?

Cleveland Sundaram told me that TNS sir will be back in Fall this year for a concert tour after a gap of 4 years or so. That should be fun!

rasam · Post by **rasam** » 17 Apr 2007, 08:26

Mahesh, Rasam, Naaree -- Any idea who the "other" gentleman in the first row was? The one who was also talking to Kiranavali (jet black hair, spectacles)?

OK, I didnt see this person and all Indians have black hair and about half of them wear specs, so this is a pretty much a wild guess: Chitravina Narasihman?

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 17 Apr 2007, 12:05

Thanks for all those views, anecdotes and snippets - really transported me to the concert! Good to know so many people from this forum could make it. Hats off to you guys for taking so much trouble to attend a concert....Guess I should stop cribbing about rising ticket prices and so on in Chennai - we really are spoilt.

Any idea whether the concerts are being telecast on any of the channels here?

naaree · Post by **naaree** » 17 Apr 2007, 16:32

rasam wrote:LOL! The interpretation is funny but it is hard for me to believe that TNS did that on purpose!

Yeah you are probably right.

sarojaRamanujam · Post by **sarojaRamanujam** » 17 Apr 2007, 18:56

Dear friends,
I expressed my wish in rasika_tns group that someone who has attended the concert in cleveland will send a review and Ram has sent a message that reviews are available in this website. It is surprise to know that so many of you folks attended the concert! I did not know that so many rasikas are
from US. What a bonanza of reviews. For once, you have one over on us, the rasikas in Chennai, as you have made us quite envious of you. I am sure Ram and others will join me in this!To hear that TNS will be coming for a long tour this fall increases our envy because we will be experiencing a drought here at that time waiting eagerly for the shower in December like the mythological chathaka bird!I wonder whether any one has recorded the concert and can upload for the sake of rasikas who could not attend it!

raja · Post by **raja** » 17 Apr 2007, 19:08

Thanks for all the terrific reviews....so sorry to have missed this concert, but the reviews are a great surrogate! I know Cleveland concerts have been webcast in the past - don't know what happened this year?!

Mahesh33 - can you pl. elaborate on the rhythmic structure of the pallavi? Did TNS switch between chatusram, tisram and kanda nadais within each avarthanam? Also where was the eduppu?

Thanks!

gsn · Post by **gsn** » 17 Apr 2007, 20:00

raja-

the structure of the pallavi was like this.

Eduppu - 2 matras (sub-counts) before samam. Arudhi at "shri" - duration 14 matras.

The total number of matras in Khanda triputa 2-kalai is 72. The division was :

So - 4
ma - 2
Sun - 4
da - 2
resh - 4
wa - 2
ra - 2

Pri - 2
ya - 2

va - 4
ma - 2

Ba - 6
ge - 6
shri - 14 (arudhi)

ra - 4
ja - 2
ma - 4
tan - 4
gi - 2

TNS sir did tisram and chatusram from one avarthanam to other.

raja · Post by **raja** » 17 Apr 2007, 21:01

GSN, thanks! You guys sure take great notes at the concerts.

sarojaRamanujam · Post by **sarojaRamanujam** » 17 Apr 2007, 22:39

GSN wrote

"All in all, a fantastic 3 hrs and 45 minutes; the absurdly long flight to Houston shortly afterwards did not matter one bit!"

Mahesh wrote

"GSN, My absurdly long drive in pouring rain afterwards dint matter one bit, either lol"

After reading this we, the rasikas in chennai would never complain about either transport or ticket fares or any other lack of fecility in the sabhas!-sarojaRamanujam

isai_rasigan · Post by **isai_rasigan** » 18 Apr 2007, 06:11

http://www.rogepost.com/n/6349335960

mri_fan · Post by **mri_fan** » 18 Apr 2007, 07:44

could you please upload this to a differnt site...the site isn;t working

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 18 Apr 2007, 08:45

yep, i too faced a problem - says the site is under maintenance

sarojaRamanujam · Post by **sarojaRamanujam** » 21 Apr 2007, 13:17

Hello friends,
I invite those of you who are ardent rasikas of TNS to join my group rasika_tns , http://gruos.yahoo.com/group/rasika_tns
saroja Ramanujam alias sarojram18

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 21 Apr 2007, 14:41

smt saroja ramanujam has a typo error in the url,it is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rasika_tns

sarojaRamanujam · Post by **sarojaRamanujam** » 23 Apr 2007, 14:09

Sorry. Thanks for correction .Hope it brings results!

mahesh33 · Post by **mahesh33** » 02 Jun 2007, 04:17

http://www.sangeethapriya.org/MainItem/ ... ESWARI.mp3

TNS sings the same brilliant RTP here...

baradhidhasan · Post by **baradhidhasan** » 27 Jul 2007, 16:55

Dear Mahesh

It was not Bhama bageshri Its VAAMA bageshri:)