Malladi brothers at Gayana Samaja, 18th Jan 2008

[sowmya]

Vocal : Vid. Sriramprasad & Vid. Ravikumar
Violin : Vid. Embar Kannan
Mridangam : Vid. Trichy Sankaran
Ghatam : Vid. Vaikkom Gopalakrishnan

Venue : Gayana Samaja, Bangalore. 18-01-2008
Theme : Compositions of Maharaja Swati Tirunal

[Missed a couple of compositions in the beginning…]
1. Kaamajanaka – Gowla – Adi [S]
2. Narasimha maamava – Arabhi – Khandachapu
3. Paahimaam brihannaayike – Huseni – Rupaka [R,S]
4. Kalayaami raghuraamam – Begada – Mishrachapu [R,N,S]
5. Saarasaaksha paripaalaya – Pantuvarali – Adi [R,S]
6. Satatam taavaka – Kharaharapriya – Adi [R,N,S,T]
7. Kamalanayana - ??? – Adi
8. Vishveshvara darshan – Sindhubhairavi – Rupaka
9. Tillana – Dhanashri – Adi
10. Saaramaina – Behag – Rupaka

Superb concert. The most satisfying so far in this series. All the performers were in great form, and contributed equally to the success of the concert. As is usual in case of Malladi brothers, the concert planning was very good, which is evident in the variety of ragas and talas selected.

We entered as a spirited swarakalpana in Gowla was going on. After the Arabhi kriti, there was a short alapana of Huseni. I got confused at this stage, with Manji. Many sancharas seemed to be the same as those of Manji, as rendered in a recent concert by T M Krishna. I finally settled on Huseni, because of the phrase SPS which appeared frequently, but I’m still not satisfied. Am I being dumb, or are the two ragas confusable? [I mean, do they have similar-sounding phrases, or something?]. By the way, the kriti was very good.

The kritis in Pantuvarali and Kharaharapriya were preceded by elaborate alapanas. Neraval was done at ‘Dyumanikulatilakam vimalagunam’ for the Begada kriti, and at ‘Mama hrudi vasaanisham madhusoodana hare’ for the main piece. Both were good. So were the swaras for all the three kritis.

Embar Kannan was amazing on the Violin. Pure naadam, and mesmerising notes. Infact, at some places, esp in the Pantuvarali alapana, I liked his rendition better than the vocalists. Trichy Sankaran, to borrow from the organiser’s words, defined the mood of the concert. His strong, melodious beats complemented the kritis wonderfully. Ghatam was equally good, and the longish Tani avartanam drew applause after every round. [Probably in deference to a prior request by Malladi brothers, the usual exodus at the start of Tani was not seen].

The tukkada section was also very enjoyable.The last kriti, sung on request after the tillana, was the only telugu piece. [The kritis in the main section were all in Sanskrit...]

[vijay]

Interesting to see Pantuvarali comgin so far down in the list. I think I would have enjoyed this concert very much!

[semmu86]

has snakaran sir's cncrts got ovr for dis season?? r he still has one r two left in chennai?? or it wil b anothr 11 month wait for him to come bk again?? wat a pity..

[arvindt]

After the Arabhi kriti, there was a short alapana of Huseni. I got confused at this stage, with Manji. Many sancharas seemed to be the same as those of Manji, as rendered in a recent concert by T M Krishna. I finally settled on Huseni, because of the phrase SPS which appeared frequently, but I’m still not satisfied. Am I being dumb, or are the two ragas confusable? [I mean, do they have similar-sounding phrases, or something?]

In the lower octave, Manji and Huseni share some similar movements: particularly the phrase RGMGRSR/RGMRGSR However they should be quite distinguishable in the upper part of the octave: Huseni has very sharp sancharas using the kharaharapriya (higher) dha, like PNDNS, and of course SPS like sancharas as you mentioned. Manji is closer to Bhairavi in the upper half of the octave.

There is actually an excellent lecdem of Shri TMK, originally held at Shimoga, hosted on sangeethapriya in the lecdems section
(don't know if legally or not) where he explains the differences between Bhairavi, Manji, Huseni and Mukhari quite beautifully --
obviously much much better than I ever could. Check it out!

[espras]

Embar Kannan's violin accompaniment was very good last night, agreed. But it would have sounded much better if he had used the long bow a little more to provide more 'Sowkhyam' to the music rather than give a display of rapidly cascading notes, in staccato fashion, up and down the scale. Kharaharapriya alapana was a case in point.
As Sowmya says, the concert was superb. The full throated singing of Malladi brothers is still ringing in the ears. This is the first time I listened to Tiruchi Sankaran's Mridangam playing in person. It was only through records before. What a master! I am looking forward to this evening's TMK's concert eagerly to have a greater fill of rhyrhmic excellence.

[sowmya]

There is actually an excellent lecdem of Shri TMK, originally held at Shimoga, hosted on sangeethapriya in the lecdems section
(don't know if legally or not) where he explains the differences between Bhairavi, Manji, Huseni and Mukhari quite beautifully --
obviously much much better than I ever could. Check it out!

Hey, Thanks very much for this info. I had actually downloaded this lecdem some time ago from the site, but never gotten around to listening it !! Will listen to it today itself...

[grsastrigal]

Is it Kalaya shree Kamala Nayana Charane (7) of ST. It must be in Chenchurutti.

[sowmya]

No. That was not the composition. It was a kriti on Vishnu. It has a repeating line 'paripaahi vibho' . Malladi brothers have sung this before...