R Vedavalli - Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi - Vellore Ramabadran
R K Venkatarama Sastry Birth Centenary Celebrations.
Raga Sudha Hall.
14 Nov 2007. 6:30 pm
sarasijAkshi - nAyaki - kaNDa tripuTa - Rudrapatnam Venkataramayya
banTi rIti - hamsanAdam - Adi - T (S)
uNDEdi rAmuDu - hari kAmbhOji - rUpakam - T (NS)
brOva samayamidE - gauri manOhari - Adi - Garbapuri Vasar (Karur Chinna Devudu)
ninnu sEvinchina - yadukula kAmbhOji - misra cApu - Subbaraya Sastri (R)
sAkEta nikEtana - kannaDa - rUpakam - T
tanayuni brOva - bhairavi - Adi - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
ninnaruLAm gathiyinRi (vEdAnta dEsikar pAsuram) - bhairavi, sAvEri, sahAnA, senjuruTTi, nIlAmbari, sindhu bhairavi, suruTTi
kELanO hari tALanO - suruTTi - Adi - PD
tillAnA - vasantA - Adi - Ammasathiram Kannuswamy Pillai
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T
svasti prajApya - madhyamAvati
The concert was one of the most fulfilling programmes one has heard in the recent past. The varNam was beautiful. The hamsanAdam kriti was rendered with the dhaivatham shown. The svarams also had a propotionate usage of the Dhaivatham. The neraval and svarams at 'tamasAdi guNa rahituDu dharmAtmuDu sarvasamuDu' were done in a moving fashion. The AlApanais of yadukula kAmbhOji and bhairavi were both very moving. The kriti in yadukula kAmbhOji was rendered very nicely. The main bhairavi kriti was rendered beautifully with neraval and svarams at 'vatsamu veNTa dhEnuvu canunO'. The rAgamAlikA pAsuram and suruTTi piece were good as well. Smt. Vedavalli gave an amazing concert. Smt. Vijayalakshmi was good in all parts. She provided able support and stood up to the main artist all thro' the concert. Sri Ramabadran was his usual self. His playing was very accomodative and very soothing to hear. His tani was short and sweet.
bharath
R Vedavalli, R K Venkatarama Sastry Birth Centenary Celebrat
-
Nick H
- Posts: 9472
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03
Another concert full of delight for me.
One glance at Sri Vedavalli's bright eyes is enough to tell that here is someone special, and it shines in her music as well as her eyes. I particularly enjoyed her neraval.
My wife commented that she had never heard someone play as softly as Vellore Ramabadran. His playing seemed to be full of the same kind of warmth as RV's singing. Truly great accompaniment.
What happened at the end of the tani? I was aware that he was playing a korvai three times, and expected him to continue with another part. The other musicians obviously also expected the same. I did not notice mohara before the korvai, but I wasn't thinking about what he was playing, just enjoying, so could have missed it. I don't recall ever seeing experienced artists mistaking the end of the tani before! It was a glitch, a small anti-climactic moment, but it made no difference to the wonder of the concert.
One glance at Sri Vedavalli's bright eyes is enough to tell that here is someone special, and it shines in her music as well as her eyes. I particularly enjoyed her neraval.
My wife commented that she had never heard someone play as softly as Vellore Ramabadran. His playing seemed to be full of the same kind of warmth as RV's singing. Truly great accompaniment.
What happened at the end of the tani? I was aware that he was playing a korvai three times, and expected him to continue with another part. The other musicians obviously also expected the same. I did not notice mohara before the korvai, but I wasn't thinking about what he was playing, just enjoying, so could have missed it. I don't recall ever seeing experienced artists mistaking the end of the tani before! It was a glitch, a small anti-climactic moment, but it made no difference to the wonder of the concert.
-
vijay
- Posts: 2522
- Joined: 27 Feb 2006, 16:06
Nick let me see if I got you right...VR played a korvai without having played the mohra and the artistes thought that the korvai was part of the vinyasa and not the end.
I have witnssed something similar when VR played for TNS in MFAC in Season 04 (Sri Subrahmanyaya Namasthe, Kambhoji) when VR coolly continued his korvai even after TNS had started on neraval line! In that instance I think it was a very minor variation in the sollu between the first, second and third cycles of the first portion which was not immediately apparent to anyone on stage (i. e a 3x 3 korvai and not 1 x 3 as the artistes had presumed)!
These things are probably routine in junior concerts (although care is taken these days by discussing the korvai beforehand) One wouldn't expect Vedavalli or TNS to miss these things normally with their immense experience and gnanam and one wonders how such a fiasco could happen when such senior artistes play together although the poossibility of such occurences is what makes CM so interesting!
But it does show one thing - artistes like TNS and Vedavalli probably think it beneath their dignity to discuss the korvai beforehand and would rather take the challenge along with the possibility of failure...I wonder what is the standard practise here...
I have witnssed something similar when VR played for TNS in MFAC in Season 04 (Sri Subrahmanyaya Namasthe, Kambhoji) when VR coolly continued his korvai even after TNS had started on neraval line! In that instance I think it was a very minor variation in the sollu between the first, second and third cycles of the first portion which was not immediately apparent to anyone on stage (i. e a 3x 3 korvai and not 1 x 3 as the artistes had presumed)!
These things are probably routine in junior concerts (although care is taken these days by discussing the korvai beforehand) One wouldn't expect Vedavalli or TNS to miss these things normally with their immense experience and gnanam and one wonders how such a fiasco could happen when such senior artistes play together although the poossibility of such occurences is what makes CM so interesting!
But it does show one thing - artistes like TNS and Vedavalli probably think it beneath their dignity to discuss the korvai beforehand and would rather take the challenge along with the possibility of failure...I wonder what is the standard practise here...
-
rbharath
- Posts: 2333
- Joined: 05 Feb 2010, 10:50
VR is always known for his short tanis. infact, when VR finished his tani, everybody was quite surprised. Smt Vedavalli herself was asking 'avlo thaana?' to which VR showed his hand towards the clock which was showing 8:20 and said 'idhu porum'.
i have heard him make such statements during many occasions. 'thirumba thiruma adhe thaan vara poradhu, idha innum yethana vaasikkaradhu' is another of this statements after a short tani during some concert last year.
i am not very well versed with the percussion art. however, by seeing that nobody in stage or downstairs realising the end of tani, i presume Sri Ramabadran must have ended his tani in a not-very-normal fashion. I wish somebody else gives the correct info.
i have heard him make such statements during many occasions. 'thirumba thiruma adhe thaan vara poradhu, idha innum yethana vaasikkaradhu' is another of this statements after a short tani during some concert last year.
i am not very well versed with the percussion art. however, by seeing that nobody in stage or downstairs realising the end of tani, i presume Sri Ramabadran must have ended his tani in a not-very-normal fashion. I wish somebody else gives the correct info.
Last edited by rbharath on 15 Nov 2007, 15:42, edited 1 time in total.
-
Nick H
- Posts: 9472
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03
I do not think it is standard practice, except among students, perhaps, to discuss. This may vary when artists are on tour together and have hours of travel during which they may pass the time exchanging and elaborating on ideas, or where they are regular friends offstage. If they discuss at all, they are more likely to give the time to a complex pallavi that the main artist has prepared and knows that they will deliver.
The main artist's korvais, may be immediately recognised by the mridangist and, no doubt, the number of times he has played with that artist will have a bearing, but one can often observe that he is piecing it together and calculating the possibilities as he plays.
The tani ending is so formularised and regular that even I seldom get it wrong, although sometimes the TaDiGhiNaTom patterns can be hidden in a lot of elaboration and I entirely fail to understand it all. Even the pharans patterns played before mohara can usually be recognised.
I only know one mohara ---that for adi tala--- but I can still usually recognise the mohara phrases and pattern in other talas.
Given that I am probably one of the least experienced rasika-would-bes on this forum, you can see how unusual it must be for a musician (two, actually!) to be confused.
This, I stress, remains only as a curiosity to me: I loved VR's playing that evening.
The main artist's korvais, may be immediately recognised by the mridangist and, no doubt, the number of times he has played with that artist will have a bearing, but one can often observe that he is piecing it together and calculating the possibilities as he plays.
The tani ending is so formularised and regular that even I seldom get it wrong, although sometimes the TaDiGhiNaTom patterns can be hidden in a lot of elaboration and I entirely fail to understand it all. Even the pharans patterns played before mohara can usually be recognised.
I only know one mohara ---that for adi tala--- but I can still usually recognise the mohara phrases and pattern in other talas.
Given that I am probably one of the least experienced rasika-would-bes on this forum, you can see how unusual it must be for a musician (two, actually!) to be confused.
This, I stress, remains only as a curiosity to me: I loved VR's playing that evening.
-
vijay
- Posts: 2522
- Joined: 27 Feb 2006, 16:06
Nick you certainly aren't low on experience...about korvais...patterns of upto 2-3 cycles are usually OK but beyond that I lose track. Some of KRM's korvais can be pretty intricate...also korvais in misra chapu/rupakam tend to be slightly moere difficult to follow...I'd say about 80-90% of the time guessing a korvai is not that hard but sometimes one does feel a little cluseless
How does the upapakkvadyist cope BTW...he not only needs to understand the length of a korvai but also its structure...that must be pretty hard to do on the spot but I've learnt to put nothing beyond our laya vidwans!
How does the upapakkvadyist cope BTW...he not only needs to understand the length of a korvai but also its structure...that must be pretty hard to do on the spot but I've learnt to put nothing beyond our laya vidwans!
-
Nick H
- Posts: 9472
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03
Yes, I think it helps to have learnt even one mohara... it has a kind of a reducing pattern which is spottable even if the commonly-used phrases are hidden in flamboyant play that can make it hard to separate out from the preceding pharans.
I was taught the mathematical structure, but alas, those unpractised-with brain cells...
I was taught the mathematical structure, but alas, those unpractised-with brain cells...