Sowmya - Isai Tamizh Vizha, Astika Samajam (Venus Colony) -

ramanathan · Post by **ramanathan** » 23 Jun 2007, 16:07

S. Sowmya, R. K. Shriramkumar, Neyveli Narayanan
Isaitamizh Vizha by Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust & Parthasarathy Swami Sabha at Asthika Samajam (Venus Colony), Alwarpet - 23/6/07, 7 pm

(Concert dedicated entirely to Tamil Composers and Tamil music forms)

Nila Mayil (Varnam) - Reetigowla - Adi - Dr. S. Ramanathan
Adi Kondar - Mayamalavagowla - Adi - Muttutandavar (N, S)
Pooternthu (Tevaram) - Arabhi - Tirugnanasambandhar (R)
Tarunamidamma - Gowlipantu - Shyama Sastri (S)
Eppadi Manam - Huseni - Arunachala Kavi (R)
Ma Mayura Meethil - Bilahari - Mazhavai Chidambara Bharati
Kalai Tukki - Yadukulakambhoji - Marimutta Pillai (R)
Pirava Varam - Latangi - Adi - Papanasam Sivan (R, N, S, T)
Kunitta Puruvam (Tiruviruttam / Tevaram originally set in Kousikam Pann / Bhairavi) - Tirunavukkarasar (Appar ) - Kedaragowla, Bhairavi, Senjurutti
Chidambaram Pogamal - Senjurutti - Gopalakrishna Bharati
Veera Sutantiram - Yamunakalyani - Mahakavi Bharatiyar
Bhoomi Mechidum (Kavadi Chindu) - Annamalai Reddiar
Marukkulaviya (Tiruppugazh) - Poorvikalyani - Arunagirinathar
Vazhiya Sentamizh - Madhyamavati

(Sowmya being a close friend and colleague of mine at Carnatica, I'm limiting myself to just listing the songs. Other rasikas.org'ers were there at the concert... I'll leave the comments to them. Bharath, perhaps?)

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 23 Jun 2007, 19:08

Splendid selection of songs spread over from ancient (tEvAram) to modern times (Bharathi and Dr. S. Ramanathan). Thamizh Trinity, Syama Sastry, GKB, AR, PS etc.
It is a delight to just hear the songs being recited let alone be sung. Let us hear from the reviewer(s).

>>Kunitta Puruvam (Tiruviruttam / Tevaram originally set in Kousikam Pann / Bhairavi) - Manikkavasagar (Appar ) - Kedaragowla, Bhairavi, Senjurutti<<

It is by appar (aka tirunAvukkarasar). Manickavasagar came much latter (3 centuries later than appar).

ramanathan · Post by **ramanathan** » 23 Jun 2007, 19:35

Oops, mahakavi... of course, you are right! Silly mistake on my part and have corrected the same. Thanks.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 23 Jun 2007, 20:14

Quite a thamizh vizhA and Sowmya can be trusted to give such a rich fare. Another special concert I wish I had attended.
vIra sudandiram in yamunA kalyANi too. Used to be sung in Senjurutti in olden days...

grsastrigal · Post by **grsastrigal** » 23 Jun 2007, 20:45

Among the 5 "Gana" ragams- (M'may, Bilahari, Yadu, Latangi, Arabhi) why did she take Latangi as the main piece ? Which is the sub-main ?

gundakriya · Post by **gundakriya** » 25 Jun 2007, 16:10

This was an outstanding performance from one of today's finest stars. Thoroughly professional planning (a songlist spanning almost the entire history of Tamil composers as 'mahakavi' says) and execution, all the while not compromising on aesthetics. In light of the recent discussions on 'sowkhyam', this was probably a good example of a concert that had it all. Alongwith another review that about a Vijay Siva concert, this reinforces my strong view that among current performers Sowmya, Vijay and probably Neyveli Santhanam are tops in the 'sowkhyam' aspect. GRS, I would think that Huseni was the submain... oh my goodness, the alapana was out of the world and was probably the best part of the concert, for me. I alos loved the raga selections - MMG, Arabhi, Bilahari, YK, Huseni, K'gowla, etc.

PS - 'ramanathan', why would you be squeamish about commenting on your colleague? As someone who knows the artiste well, you would be in a good position to give us better insights into her music. Rasikas here are mature enough to distinguish between sincere opinions and propaganda!

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 25 Jun 2007, 17:47

It was a real nice concert. I particularly enjoyed the AlApanais of Arabhi, husEni, yadukulakAmbhOji, the neraval in mAyAmALavagauLa and the svarams for the gauLipantu svarams.

Smt Sowmya gave a nice fullfilining concert with no compromise on the musical aspects or the saukyam. all the pieces were indeed carefully chosen, thus spanning compositions of all the periods.

Sri Shriram Kumar was good in all his parts and his replies. Sri Narayanan was good as well.

with other forum members writing so much, i dont have much to add.

grsastrigal · Post by **grsastrigal** » 25 Jun 2007, 20:46

I do not see any thing outstanding- in raga selection and rendering main and sub-main. It is otherwise. If you could see the last 8 concerts posted, see how the concert is structured between main and sub-main viz.,

1) Sikhil-23.6- Keeravani, Devamanohari, RTP in PK
2) Sanjay-24.6-Darbar, Shankarabharanam, Sim.Madhyamam, Kambodhi
3) Vijay siva-23.6- Saveri, Kalyani, RTP-Manirangu (RTP in any raga is welcome)
4) Abhshek-24.6- Mohanam, Kalyani
5) Gayathri Girish-23.6-Purvikalyani, Saveri, Kalyani
6) Sanjay-19.6- Todi, Varali.
7) T Rukmani & Amritha Murali- Kalyani, Todi
8) Ravikiran- Pantuvarali & Bhairavi

By not rendering any of the above "super Gana Ragas", her concert is not a well structured CM Concert.

If you see from an angle of rendering "Tamil Compositions", Sowmay's concert may have been structured well. If you remove the name and ask someone to find out the performer, the answer may even be "Pitukkuli Murugadoss"

When I asked a Q, why did she take Lathangi as a main, when so many "Super Gana" ragas are there to pick up and SWIM... I kept it in mind the ragaas rendered by the above 8 "present" musicians.

Sowmya, the future torch bearer of CM (may be bearing it now) giving a concert in Musical hub of chennai and giving "lathangi" as a main....?

I may be wrong. I took it in Unni's review and I may not take this again, if any of you object

balu · Post by **balu** » 25 Jun 2007, 21:07

well said .atleast you did not apreciate any small sound made by the musians whether she is good or bad.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 25 Jun 2007, 21:23

why should a well structured concert, necessarily have 'super gana ragams' in it?

I was very satisfied with the Sowmya concert, though the choice of main, sounded somewhat off beat to me. a round of svarams for y'kambhOji and a tani for it, would have been a better structure for me. Actually, the way she rendered the husEni AlApanai, and the kriti, i was expecting some neraval and svarams and tani to follow right there. ultimately, it is not the choice of ragams, but the way u sing it.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 25 Jun 2007, 21:26

over the past 3 years of listening to concerts, i can give u quite a few concerts, which were as fullfilling as they could, without any big-heavy-super gana ragams.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 25 Jun 2007, 21:29

rbharath wrote:ultimately, it is not the choice of ragams, but the way u sing it.

i should thank venkatpv for making me realise this...

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 25 Jun 2007, 21:30

tch tch!! nenja thottutta da...

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 25 Jun 2007, 21:30

-deleted-

Sathej · Post by **Sathej** » 25 Jun 2007, 21:50

I too would have preferred Yadukulakambhoji as the main or having taken up Lathangi,she could have atleast rendered an RTP.
Sathej

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 25 Jun 2007, 21:56

grsastrigaL:
I am hardpressed to understand why you picked "lathAngi" to vent your frustration on the Sowmya concert. As bharath put it it is not what you choose but how you perform. Some people can botch a gana rAgam while others may glorify a ?mundane? rAgam like lathAngi. Let us say Sowmya did the latter (of course I did not attend the concert but am going by the words of others). I personally do not like to belittle a rAgam. They are all part of the musical family. Aren't they?

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 25 Jun 2007, 22:57

I forgot to mention in the previous post that I heard, not long ago, an RTP by ravikiraN(lasting an hour or so) in the rAgam lathAngi. It was really superb.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 27 Jun 2007, 10:08

grsastrigal wrote:By not rendering any of the above "super Gana Ragas", her concert is not a well structured CM Concert.

A very limited understanding of what a well structured CM concert is - it certainly doesn't revolve around whether the ragas are ghana ragas or not.

As for Lathangi, it isn't entirely uncommon as a sub-main, main or RTP. It's not mundane. Perhaps a particular singers rendition is, but to call a raga mundane...

:rolleyes:

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 27 Jun 2007, 19:34

dkfan:
I am sure you noticed the question marks that surrounded my mention of lathAngi as mundane.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 28 Jun 2007, 07:44

Yes, I did. I was making a general point. I think I was emphasising the latter part of your post (in other words).

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 05 Jul 2007, 18:32

Looks like an 18th century rasika with his own quaint idea of "gana ragas" has been resurrected in this forum... While I am lamenting the fact that we don't have enough Gayakapriya or Naganandhini alapanas in concerts.

Hats off to Sowmya for that splendid concert that day - Hussaini, Yadukulakambhoji and Lathangi - all masterfully done. And that terrific neraval for "piravaa varam thaarum" when she brought out the lyrical beauty of this kriti by freely mixing the phrases was really moving. Sastrigale... doesn;t get any more "ganam" than this. Of couse "ganam" is a technical term with a very specific meaning. Attend a few more concerts of Sowmya's and you may see the light!

grsastrigal · Post by **grsastrigal** » 06 Jul 2007, 08:29

18th Century Rasika..I Like that........I thought I belong to end of 19th or begin of 20th century. Thanks for identifying my "oh kalame". I will try to attend more concerts and improve my sangeetha Gana Jnanan....

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 06 Jul 2007, 11:24

sastrigale... thank you for taking my undiplomatic comments sportingly! From what I remember "Gana" is used to qualify certain ragas in which tanam sung in madhyama kalam sounds very pleasing. Nothing to do with the "weight per unit mass" of the raga

Also in some cases Jnanam is over-rated. Spend some quality time with ragas like Lathangi, Neethimathi and Shadvidamargini (came to know that S.Gayathri did an RTP in this the following day) and stay away from the hackneyed Thodi, S'bharanam, Kalyani and KKP for a while and you will love all of them a lot more

My 2 naya paise!

Sathej · Post by **Sathej** » 06 Jul 2007, 11:54

No, Smt Gayathri Girish didn't sing an RTP in Shadvidamargini the following day at Asthika Samajam. The main piece was Kunram Kudi Konda in Thodi. The link is here
http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=3095
Sathej

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 06 Jul 2007, 14:09

Thanks for the update. I think Gayathri sang this for another recent concert at a different venue. In any case I was really amazed to see the list and wonder at the homework and preparation that she does for these concerts. Kudos to Gayathri!

Sathej · Post by **Sathej** » 06 Jul 2007, 15:35

Smt Gayathri Girish sang Antharanga Bhakthi, a composition of Shri Koteeswara Iyer in Shadvidamargini in her July 2nd concert at RK Swamy Hall. The RTP there was in Hindolam. The link is http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=3159 - the song list has been posted there.
Sathej

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 06 Jul 2007, 21:24

>>Nothing to do with the "weight per unit mass" of the raga

<<

sureshvv:
Now you are talking real physics and its relationship to music. Weight per unit mass is the "gravity" factor which multiplies the mass ( material content) of a rAgam to give the "ganam" (m x g = W)