Vijay Shiva @ nadopasana 22nd June 2007

[uday_shankar]

Vijay Shiva - Vocal
R.K. Shriramkumar - Violin
Manoj Shiva - Mridangam

at the P.S. High School auditorium.

1. ErAnapai (varnam) - Todi
2. SItApathi - Khamas (N, S)
3. Talli Ninnu NEra - Kalyani (R, S)
4. SoundararAjam - BrindAvanasAranga
5. shrirAjagOpAla - sAvEri (R, N, S)
6. arimanidai..(?) - kAmboji
7. RTP - Manirangu - khanda triputa and TANI
...
...

I had to leave after the Tani. So anybody else who was there please complete. Also, correct the name of the Kamboji kriti, I didn't know of that one.

All three artistes came sporting nice big vibhuti pattais across their foreheads that would have done any lingam and nandi proud; and two of them are called "Shiva"! Therefore, I must admit to being biased in their favor from the get go .

All kidding aside it was an excellent, clean, sowkhyam-laden concert.

Here's what we could learn from Vijay Shiva:

a) Sowkhyam stems from utter sincerity towards the music. Musicians often betray a jadedness (comes in all professions ) that manifests itself as lazy, easily avoidable distortions to the music such as shruthi and kAlapramanam lapses, unnecceary odukkams, sangati distortions, etc.. Not so for Vijay Shiva, who still sings like he's singing in front of his great guru Shri DKJ. That's the secret to sincerity - remember that the guru is always watching you.

b) Sowkhyam stems from keeping your ears at a MINIMAL distance from the tampura. Vijay Shiva had two tampuras, one on either side, very close to each ear. How can the music NOT be full of sowkhyam ?! The very first note of the concert, "E" of "Eranapai" was a beautiful, perfect Sa sung in Vijay's melodious voice. It gave me a thrill to hear that.

c) Sowkhyam stems from keeping your mouth at an OPTIMAL distance away from the mike. This is such an important technique but often ignored. This way, the artiste can sing in his/her most natural voice and prevent the amplification from assaulting the eardrums of the audience. Carnatic rasikas in Chennai don't seem to care about this, but by Hindustani and international standards, Carnatic music is less aesthetic. Often we see artistes singing very close to the mike. In such cases, the only time in the concert where things get tolerable and peaceful is when the artiste bends his/her head down to reach the depths of the mandara sthayi. In contrast, Vijay Shiva was perfectly safe and pleasant to listen to even when singing with gusto in the tAra sthayi .

d) Sowkyam comes from choosing accompanists who pursue sowkhyam. What better than RKS and Manoj Shiva ?!

Vijay's neraval in Khamas and the Taanam in Manirangu stood out. RKS' kalyani alapana was excellent. A brief shlokam preceded ShrirAjagopala and the swarams in sAveri were memorable. Manoj Shiva played extremely melodiously throughout. A mridangam vidvan remarked on his "kai" (hand) nAdham, that too playing a kappi mridangam. Sadly, thoppi amplification was inadequate.

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks for the review Uday Shankar. Given the recent discussions on Sowkyam, you have put your views on a solid foundation.

BTW, I am troubled by your wide generalization that Carntic music is less aesthetic comapred to other music. That is so far from how I perceive CM. May be you meant to say that those who do not follow the principles you outlined do not produce aesthetically pleasing music.

[grsastrigal]

One more sowkyam u forgot to mention-Reading the review of Uday_shankar!:)

[bhaktha]

What a gem of concert, the highlights being:
1. Varnam in 2 kalams (Shri Vijay exhibited extreme control over kalapramanam in the 2nd speed)
2. Neraval in khamas
3. Soulful SoundararAjam
4. Saveri alapanai and neraval
5. The pallavi itself with anulomam and pratilomam and a quick change in nadai.
And YES!! It was indeed a lesson in sowkhyasangeetham that Shri Vijay taught us yesterday, devoid of frills and gimmicks, with bhavam and bhakthi in full measure. Thank you Shri Vijay for making the evening so blissful. Shri RKS and SHri Manoj Siva excelled in their depts, particularly the mrudangist who reminded me a lot of his guru Shri raghu. In fact, at times, I felt I was listening to Raghu sir himself.
A mention must be made of his students who played the drone....so dedicated and the very essence of concentration and focus...it was a pleasure just watching the whole team on stage!!
@Uday_shankar,
excellent review...the kAmbOjI kriti is "aru marundu"
-bhaktha

[prashant]

Here is the full setlist to complement Uday_Shankar and bhakta's comments:


Sri N. Vijay Siva – Vocal
Sri R.K. Shriramkumar – Violin
Sri N. Manoj Siva – Mridangam

Nadopasana, Dakshinamurthy Auditorium at PS High School

1.ErA nApai [varNam] – tODi – adi [2]

2.sItApatE – kamAs – adi [N at 'prEma jUCi nApai', S]

3.talli ninnu – kalyANi – vilOma Capu [R, S]

4.saundara rAjam – brindAvana sArangA – rupaka [2]

5.slOkam + shri rAjagOpAla – sAvEri – adi [2] – [R, N at 'nArAyaNa tAraka divya nAma parAyaNa krta nAradAdi nuta', S]

6.arumarundoru – kAmbOdhi – rUpaka

7.rAgam.tAnam.pallavi – maNirangu – Pallavi line 'mAvIranai vElavanai nI ninai, maNiranganai tozhum' - khaNDa tripuTa [2] i.e. 36 beat cycle– eDuppu 1 aksharam before samam

mA – 2; vI – 2; ra – 1; nai – 3; vE – 2; la – 1; va – 1; nai – 3; nI – 3; ni – 3 nai [arudi] – 6
ma – 1; Ni – 1; ran – 2; ga – 1; nai – 2; to – 1; zhum – 1

After singing trikAlam, the pallavi was sung in 1-kaLai for swarams; the pallavi was then sung in tisra jhampa [tisra gati] with swarams and then brought back to khaNDa tripuTa [2 kaLai]

8.niru sErvadOr [tEvAram] – nIlAmbari – adi [2]

9.smara sundarAnguni – paraju – adi

10.kaNdu dhanyanAdE – bEhag – rUpaka [R]

11.kaNNan varuginDra nEram – chenjuruTTi – tisra laghu

12.'mahAyOga pIThE taTE' – slOkam in mAND + bArE pANDurangA – mAND – adi

13.agaramum Agi [tiruppugazh] – jaganmOhini – vilOma Capu

14.pavamAna [mangaLam] – saurAshTram - adi

I'll post more on the concert later, but the previous commenters have summed it up. This was bliss from the get-go. Also nice that so many forum commenters were there. It was pleasant to run into Bharath!

[rbharath]

A very nice concert. The AlApanais of kalyANi, sAvEri were both good, the sAvEri especially, was nicely elaborated. The rendition of saundararAjam was moving. The sAvEri kriti was also very beautifully rendered with nice neraval and svarams. The AlApanai of maNirangu was very nice. The tAnam was well structured and the pallavi was rendered very nicely. Sri Shriram Kumar and Sri Manoj Siva were following the main artists like his shadows. A concert to rememeber for sometime.

[Vocalist]

Kambhoji comp is composed by Muttutandavar.