TM Krishna @ MITHAS, Boston, April 22nd

arvindt · Post by **arvindt** » 23 Apr 2007, 10:46

Vocal: TM Krishna, Violin: BU Ganesh Prasad, Mridangam: Vinod Seetharaman

Karunimpa - Sahana - Tiruvottiyur Tyagayya
Entha Nerchina - Saveri - Patnam Subramania Iyer? (RS)
Devi Brova Samayamide - Chintamani - Shyama Shastri
Mamava Raghuvira - Mahuri - Muthuswami Dikshitar
Mummoorthulu - Atana - Thyagaraja (RS)
Vadasi Yadi (Ashtapadi) - Mukhari - Jayadeva (N)
Maa Ramanan - Hindolam - Papanasam Sivan
Nadopasana - Begada - Thyagaraja (RNST)
RTP - Ahiri, Lalitha, Varali (First line of pallavi: "Mayamma Nannu Brovu Lalithe")
Ragamalika Swarams - Bhairavi, Shankarabharanam, Surati
Jaanaro I Mohamu - Kamas (Javali) - ??
Mohanamayi - Yadhukula Kambhoji - Swati Tirunal
Jaya Jaya Shankara - Darbari - ??

It was a marathon (4 hours!) concert by TMK, with able accompaniment from BU Ganesh Prasad
on the violin and Vinod Seetharaman on the mridangam. The concert began with a nice
rendition of the Sahana varnam and was quickly followed by a fast-paced Saveri kriti
with a few quickfire, vigorous rounds of kalpana swarams.

TMK slowed down almost immediately after this, with a slow, really moving rendition of
Shyama Shastri's masterpiece in Chintamani. He followed up with a nice, quick rendition
of not-so-common Dikshitar kriti in Mahuri, which sounded closer to his nottuswarams
and felt like a band/march song. The first lengthy alapana of the concert was Atana, which
followed the Mahuri kriti. A nice, expansive rendition of Thyagaraja's "Mummoorthulu"
followed, with a nice slower-paced set of swarams suiting the pace of the kriti. BU Ganesh
Prasad did a nice job of accompaniment here.

The next piece saw the concert lift to higher levels not reached earlier. An extremely moving,
indeed, almost heart-wrenching (Krishna gave his best!) rendition of Jayadeva's Ashtapadi,
"Vadasi Yadi" in Mukhari with a wonderful, moving neraval at "mama shirasi mandanam
dehi pada-pallavam" followed. I particularly enjoyed this since it was quite different from the
explosive neravals I have come to associate with TMK concerts: the neraval was slower-moving
and calm, and brought out the facets and bhava of Mukhari quite beautifully.

TMK followed up with a completely contrasting, jet-speed Maa Ramanan (I have never heard
this kriti being rendered so fast before), before moving on to the main piece, which was in
Begada. A quite exhaustive, adventurous alapana of Begada (TMK really was trying to push
the limits here!) was followed by Thyagaraja's masterpiece, "Nadopasana", with the trademark
TMK neraval and a great round of swarams at "Tantri Laya Swara". This was followed by an
excellent, somewhat extended Thani by Vinod Seetharaman.

The RTP was one of the highlights of the concert, and featured three distinctive rakti ragas, all
of which are favourites of mine (and guessing popular with many others here too!) -- Ahiri,
Lalitha and Varali. TMK was quite effortless in making the transition from one to the others,
his voice obeying him seemingly at will. Transitions to Ahiri and Lalitha were particularly
inspired in some places. BU Ganesh Prasad performed a commendable job on the RTP, with his
rendition of Lalitha standing out in particular. Overall, I would say TMK's short rounds of swarams
in Ahiri (providing a juicy taste, but somewhat unfulfilled since he spent more time on the other
two ragams) and the thanams in Lalitha and Varali were the clear highlights. The pallavi was a
clever combination of lyrics from popular kritis in the three ragas. Ragamalika swarams accompanying
the kriti were in Bhairavi, Shankarabharanam, and concluded with a quick, nice glimpse of Surati.

TMK was by no means done yet, and two more outstanding pieces followed - Janaro in Kamas (I really
like this javali that TMK renders often, can someone let me know who the composer is?) and Swati
Tirunal's Mohanamayi in Yadhukula Kambhoji. Both were movingly rendered, and were a fitting finale.
A vigorous, invigorating and bhava-laden rendition of "Jaya Jaya Shankara" in Darbari (again I think a
piece he sings quite often) concluded the concert.

Overall, a highly enjoyable concert, with TMK at his best, and accompanists also providing able
support -- the Ashtapadi and portions of the RTP being clear highlights.

ram · Post by **ram** » 23 Apr 2007, 10:54

Thanks arvindt !!! I felt as though I was listening to the concert !!

jAnarO I mOgamu (jAvaLi) - khamAs - rUpakam - rAmanAthapuram srInivAsa iyengAr

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 23 Apr 2007, 11:00

arvindt,
As per LJi, there are two javalis in khamAs with the same pallavi and anupallavi (one by RSI and other chinniah). Refer http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=21054. May be if you can recollect the charanam you can tell us whose it was?

Can you throw some light on the mridangam artist "Vinod Seetharaman". Not heard him.

ram · Post by **ram** » 23 Apr 2007, 11:14

rajesh,

Never heard TMK sing the Chinniah one. The one by Poochi Iyengar is almost a regular feature in his concerts. As you say, arvindt can clarify based on the charanam.

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

a pallavi involving Ahiri. wow!

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 23 Apr 2007, 14:30

Krishna seems to excel in his rendition of this ashtapadi.

I remember a concert in Bangalore, (near the Ragiguda Hanuman Temple) some months ago where he rendered the same piece, pouring out his heart and soul into the Mukhari. The neraval- if I remember correctly- was at the line "twamamsi mama jeevenam twamasi mama bhooshanam" . He got so involved with the ragam and lyrics (it is a beautiful ashtapadi) the he broke down half way thru.

arvindt · Post by **arvindt** » 23 Apr 2007, 19:22

rajesh, Vinod Seetharaman is a US-based artist -- I hadn't heard him before this occasion either.
The charanam corresponded to the one from the Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar javali, as far as I recollect.

And yes, I was thrilled by the pallavi in Ahiri too: haven't ever heard a pallavi in Ahiri before, not even
a recording! The swarams and thanam fit the raga quite well and I thought came out quite beautifully. Not
to take any credit whatsoever from TMK -- it was a brilliant show -- but not as much time was spent on Ahiri
as on the other two ragas (of course, maybe it was just me thirsting for more) so it was more a taste of
"what could have been". Ah well.

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 23 Apr 2007, 20:11

Vinod Seetharaman is from Detroit and is a student of UKS sir, I think. He is very good.

rganesh · Post by **rganesh** » 23 Apr 2007, 22:01

I was fortunate to attend both the concerts of TMK in New England held on 21st and 22 April. The first concert by the same team was at Middletown CT organized by RAGA on Saturday 21 April and they presented a superb concert.

Marubalka â€“ Sriranjani - T (S)
Entha Ninne â€“ Mukari - T
Enneramum â€“ Devagandari â€“ GKB (R)
Brocheva revarura â€“ Kamas â€“ Mysore Vasudevacharya
Sri Subramanyaya â€“ Khamboji â€“ MD (RS)
Kalavathi Kamalasana Yuvathi â€“ Kalavathi â€“ MD (Raga sketch)
Ninne nammi â€“ Thodi â€“SS (R, N @ syama Krishna sahodhari, S, T)
Vani pondu â€“ Javali â€“ Kaanada - Dharmapuri Subbarayar
Pachai maamalai pol meni â€“ Virutam (Hamir Kalyani , Sahana, Bilahari and Varali)
Aazhi mazhai kanna â€“ Varali â€“ Andal
Daasarendare Purandara â€“ Yadukula Khamboji â€“ Vyasaraya (TMK announced that it is one of those rare compositions where a guru sings in praise of his sishya, in this instance â€“ sri purandaradasa)
Pibare ramarasam â€“ Yamuna kalyani â€“ Sadasiva Brimendral
Pancha sayaka Janakan â€“ Neelambari â€“ ST
Ramachandraya Janaka â€“ Kuranji (?) â€“ Badrachala ramadasar

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 23 Apr 2007, 22:29

brOcEvArevarurA - kamAs - Mysore vAsudevAchArya

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 24 Apr 2007, 07:47

sankirnam wrote:Vinod Seetharaman is from Detroit and is a student of UKS sir, I think. He is very good.

Vinod Seetharaman began learning mridangam at the age of seven from Shri. Ardhanareeswaran and, later, received his advanced training under Bangalore Shri. Arjun Kumar and Sangeeta Kalanidhi Umayalpuram Sivaraman. He has performed at several venues in India, USA and Canada and has accompanied many leading artists including T.N. Seshagopalan, N. Ramani, Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Sudha Raghunathan, Sanjay Subramanian, T. M. Krishna, Kiranavali and others. Vinod is a graded All India Radio (AIR) artiste with many radio concerts to his credit and has also performed on national television in India. He has a master's degree in Industrial technology and is currently pursuing a career in automotive engineering at Ford Motor Company.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 24 Apr 2007, 19:02

rajeshnat wrote:brOcEvArevarurA - kamAs - Mysore vAsudevAchArya

Is anything special about this? Why correct this item only? Why not others too?
To be more precise should it be "maisUru vAsudEvAcArya" or something like that?

mahesh_narayan · Post by **mahesh_narayan** » 24 Apr 2007, 19:44

There is a mridangam artiste by the name of Vinod Venkataraman too right? I always get confused between the two Vinods.

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 24 Apr 2007, 20:40

Yes, Vinod Venkatraman lives in southern california, his daughter Aiswarya Venkatraman was discussed in one of the threads here a few months ago..

meena · Post by **meena** » 24 Apr 2007, 23:40

mahakavi

'rganesh' has corrected his post

Kamas was labled as T's kriti

shreekrishna · Post by **shreekrishna** » 30 Apr 2007, 06:31

Aha! What a list (Both the concerts)!! Wonder why I am always at the wrong place at the wrong time

Does anyone have a recording of the pallavi (CT concert) in particular ??

Thanks,
Shreekrishna.
(Atlanta, USA)

Margasahayam · Post by **Margasahayam** » 02 May 2007, 05:29

It was a excellent concert and all 3 youngsters performed splendidly. TMK - Seetharaman and Ganesh Prasad gave a true perspective that Carnatic Music is in the safe hands of well taught, well learned and well trained youngsters. The crown jewel of the concert was indeed "Vadasi yadi'' in Mukhari along with "Devi Brova Samiyamiede" by Sama Sastry.....TMK really encouraged and ensured the 4 hr concert was filled with enthusiasm and the ever expectant appeal for the unfurling of a new variation of an old krithi though within the bounds of the SSI bani and the basic tenets of the raga...
.I have a few picuters of the artists and a small video of the last - Jaya Jaya Shankar if anybody is interested....

Margasahayam · Post by **Margasahayam** » 02 May 2007, 05:34

I am keen to know if anyone can upload the " Vadasi yadi'' piece-I would like to have TMK's version if possible....THanks in advance

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 02 May 2007, 05:34

I remember TMK sang the Ahiri-Lalitha-Varali RTP here in Los Angeles in 2002. I was talking to J Vaidyanathan about that some time ago (he played for TMK in that concert), and he told me he composed that pallavi on the flight here!

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 02 May 2007, 05:55

The pallavi line seems to be modelled on the format Smt Charumathi Ramachandran has used in a few pallavi-s ie. taking a line from various krithis and using those raga-s. You can say she is Krishna's guru-in-law.

Margasahayam · Post by **Margasahayam** » 02 May 2007, 05:55

Margasahayam wrote:It was a excellent concert and all 3 youngsters performed splendidly. TMK - Seetharaman and Ganesh Prasad gave a true perspective that Carnatic Music is in the safe hands of well taught, well learned and well trained youngsters. The crown jewel of the concert was indeed "Vadasi yadi'' in Mukhari along with "Devi Brova Samiyamiede" by Sama Sastry.....TMK really encouraged and ensured the 4 hr concert was filled with enthusiasm and the ever expectant appeal for the unfurling of a new variation of an old krithi though within the bounds of the SSI bani and the basic tenets of the raga...
I have a few picuters of the artists and a small video of the last - Jaya Jaya Shankar if anybody is interested....

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 02 May 2007, 08:09

Margasahayam,

Sure, please.

Margasahayam · Post by **Margasahayam** » 02 May 2007, 18:14

Hello Srinidhi
"Sure Please" - Let me know where I can upload the files-they video is a bit large for emails.
Margasahayam

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 12 Jun 2007, 11:57

I am dying to hear Vadasi Yadi - Astapati in Mukhari... and the niraval.. I never heard anyone singing a neraval... Can someone please upload, or send me MP3 to [email protected]?

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 12 Jun 2007, 11:58

mohan wrote:The pallavi line seems to be modelled on the format Smt Charumathi Ramachandran has used in a few pallavi-s ie. taking a line from various krithis and using those raga-s. You can say she is Krishna's guru-in-law.

Guru-in-law? Can you explain?

-hari

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 12 Jun 2007, 12:05

s_hari wrote:
mohan wrote:The pallavi line seems to be modelled on the format Smt Charumathi Ramachandran has used in a few pallavi-s ie. taking a line from various krithis and using those raga-s. You can say she is Krishna's guru-in-law.
Guru-in-law? Can you explain?

-hari

Smt charumathi is Krishna's wife, Sangeetha's guru. and hence, his guru-in-law...

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 12 Jun 2007, 12:11

bharath, the first part of your statement is quite ambiguous. It took me a few back and forth parsing to get it right

Nice moniker Guru-in-law. Shall we say that is a GIL on his cap..

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 12 Jun 2007, 12:16

aiyo :O

sridevi · Post by **sridevi** » 12 Jun 2007, 20:26

ah.. VK beat me to the explanation

Sridevi

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 13 Jun 2007, 03:39

Mohan means she is his wife's guru, if I am not mistaken.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 13 Jun 2007, 05:35

rbharath wrote:aiyo :O

bharath,
If Sudha can refer to GNB as her 'grand guru', then Charumati Ramachandran can indeed be TMK's guru-in-law!:lol:

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 13 Jun 2007, 06:14

...and on it can go; guru-cousin, step-guru, guru nAyak.......... ( if you want to know guru nAyak is the hero in the short story "An Astrologer's day" by R. K. Narayan). Just kidding!!!