Concert by Vidwan G Ravikiran at Indiranagar Sangeet Sabha(I

[sappri]

Vocal : Vidwan G Ravikiran
violin: cn chandrasekhar
mridangam: r shankarnarayanan (disciple of srimushnam raja rao)
khanjira: guruprasanna

Song List:
1) intha chouka - begada varnam - adi talam
2) teliyaleru rama - denuka - adi talam (swarams)
3) shri mathrubhutam - kannada - misra chapu
4) shankari shankuru - saveri - adi tala tisra nadai (ragam, neraval and swarams)
5) padavini - salagabhairavi - adi talam
6) balagopala - bhairavi - adi talam (ragam, neraval, swarams, thani)
7) sancharathadhara - ashtapadi - ragamalika (mohanam, vasanta, yaman, sindhu bhairavi)
8) jagadodharana - kapi - adi
9) purnachandrika tillana
10) mangalam

The organizers at ISS must be congratulated for organizing a memorable, truly outstanding concert of Sri. G Ravikiran.
Brilliant selection of songs/ragams!
If the begada varnam set the pace of the concert, the popular denuka kriti took us to new heights of Bhakti (very relevant in today's raging political controversy - tongue-in-cheek!) - the kalpana swarams were apt, subtle and blended well with the tenor of the song. 2 songs - the soulful Kannada - Shri Mathrubhutam and Padavini (salaga bhairavi) brought memories of his famous guru - Sri T M Krishna.
I am not an expert - but having heard numerous concerts - the maturity exhibited by G Ravikiran really reminds one of the Ariyakkudi era - the Saveri - Shankari Shankuru - was of the tallest order - melliflous and powerful. Enabled by his lovely voice, Sri Ravikiran, brought forth creativity aplenty in both the neraval and swaram.

Of course - the crowning glory of the concert was the Bhairavi varnam (concert "soodu pidichudu"...) - what else but balagopala .... the Bhairavi alapanai moved the audience - which was by now - "yeh dil maange more".... and Sri Ravikiran did not disappoint - the memories of this bhairavi - alapanai, neraval, swaram and the kriti itself was carried back home even after the concert

Afterthis was the thani - very enjoyable thani - one must say the mridangam artist was very good right thro' the concert - very good indeed....

Following the thani - was an ashtapadhi (may not be rare - but I have not heard it before) - the usual must do "devarnama - very nice one - jagodharana" and a nice poornachandrika thillana".

I could not attend the concert yesterday by the same artist at Sringeri Mutt - would be great if anyone could share a recording of the same?

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks sappri for the review. It sounds like a great concert. Regarding sharing of concert recordings please refer to our forum rules at http://www.rasikas.org/misc.php?action=rules . Thanks again.

[rajaglan]

Hi,

I have never heard Matrubootham in a concert but once. I like the rendition by MMI, SSI. I once remember the song sung by TMK in Odukathur mutt. Padavini is another great piece popularised by SSI. But I definitely miss the concert as I was away in Chennai. I never heard his voice as he does not have any albums. Ravikiran is our own blore artist and WS Jockey and hope we gathered with full crowd. I wish him all the best in his career.

[vijay]

Good to hear about our forum member's concert success. He does have a great voice which is strikingly similar to his guru! Hope to hear him sometime during this season.

Sankaranarayanan is one of the bright young prospects in the percussion department - I still remember his super performance for Suryaprakash's concert at the Manakkal home.

[yateendra]

It was indeed a great concert. I too attended. But it was disappointing to see that the crowd was very thin due to cricket match (I was told)

[arasi]

Vijay,
Yes, Ravikiran has a very good voice--'good voice' like his guru, but not similar sounding though, I think.

Rajgalan,
I am glad you mentioned his being a DJ at World Space Sruti too. A busy young man, with a career as well (besides CM).

Why isn't there any mention about the violinist?