It is perhaps once in a decade that one gets to hear a wholesome concert – in terms of unhurried duration of 3+ hours, in terms of perfectly synchronized team of accompanists and in terms of the variety in offerings. The concert of Sreevalson J Menon accompanied by T. H. Subramaniam , Umayalpuram Sivaraman and Trippunithura Radhakrishnan was one such concert held on Monday 7 July 2008 at Vyloppilli Samskriti Bhavan, Trivandrum. It is unfortunate that many genuine rasikas would have missed it because the concert programs are not published in Trivandrum newspapers ; one gets to know by word of mouth through friends. For example we missed a concert by MSG with Sivaraman the previous day because we were unaware of the program.
Right from the word “Goâ€
Sreevalson J Menon, July 7th 2008, Trivandrum
-
rshankar
- Posts: 13754
- Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26
Couple of requests:
Gowri,
Nice review, and certainly worth reading, BUT, it probably belongs in the Kutcheri Review thread!
Maybe the MODS can move these two posts!
The phrase 'gAngEya vasanadhara vAsudEva' is intriguing and caught my eye - was this just a musical combination of words to evoke a particular kriti, or is there a myth where krishNa assumes the form of gAngEya (either bhISma or kArtikEyan)?
(Mod note: Moved from "Reviews worth reading" thread, as per request)
Gowri,
Nice review, and certainly worth reading, BUT, it probably belongs in the Kutcheri Review thread!
Maybe the MODS can move these two posts!
The phrase 'gAngEya vasanadhara vAsudEva' is intriguing and caught my eye - was this just a musical combination of words to evoke a particular kriti, or is there a myth where krishNa assumes the form of gAngEya (either bhISma or kArtikEyan)?
(Mod note: Moved from "Reviews worth reading" thread, as per request)
-
gowri narayanan
- Posts: 128
- Joined: 25 Dec 2006, 14:14
Gaangeya has yet another meaning namely "Golden" ( apart from the usual meaning "Born of Ganga").
So, gaangeya vasana dhara means the one wearing golden hued dress (peethambaram)
In the Swati Tirunal kriti, Gaangeya vasanadhara refers to Padmanabha.
It is obvious that Padmanabha = Vasudeva.
Hence Hariyum Hariyum onre
So, gaangeya vasana dhara means the one wearing golden hued dress (peethambaram)
In the Swati Tirunal kriti, Gaangeya vasanadhara refers to Padmanabha.
It is obvious that Padmanabha = Vasudeva.
Hence Hariyum Hariyum onre
-
hindolam
- Posts: 87
- Joined: 04 Oct 2006, 12:39
n praise of his guru
S. RAMACHANDRA IYER
Here is a review from The Hindu today. There is also a photo but it doesn't seem to get pasted.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/07/18/stor ... 440300.htm
Sreevalsan J. Menon’s superb recital paid tribute to his guru, the late Neyyattinkara Vasudevan.
Photo: S. Mahinsha
Musical feast: Sreevalsan J. Menon kept the audience spellbound with his performance. Accompanying him on the mridangam was Umayalpuram Sivaraman.
The Koothambalam of Vyloppily Samskriti Bhavan was the venue of a Carnatic music recital by Sreevalsan J. Menon to pay tribute to his guru, Neyyattinkara Vasudevan. The three-hour-long performance by the artiste was a veritable musical feast.
The concert began with ‘Sarasijanabha,’ the popular Ada tala varnam in Kambhodhi, composed by Swati Tirunal. Thanjavur Ponnayya Pillai’s ‘Ranganathude’ in Sourasutram was the next piece and it was appreciated by the listeners for the beautiful rendering of this sweet raga. Swati Tirunal’s ‘Jaya jaya Padmanabha,’ in raga ‘Manirangu’ (a janyam of Khara Harapriya), followed.
Dwijavanthi (Jayjayvanthi in the Hindustani style) raga was popularised by Muthuswamy Dikshitar. ‘Akhilandeswari Raksha Mam,’ a Dikshitar kriti, was sung with aplomb and the listeners were absorbed in the scintillating rendition. ‘Sambho Mahadeva,’ a Tyagaraja keerthanam in Panthuvarali (‘Kamavardhini’), was next.
Sama was another raga that Dikshitar seemed to have liked very much. Who is not familiar with ‘Annapoorne Visalakshi,’ the evergreen Dikshitar composition? The vocalist did full justice to this composition and the listeners were in raptures.
Thodi was chosen for elaborate treatment and ‘Gajavadana Sampoojithe,’ composed by Kumara Ettendra (Maharaja of Ettayapuram), was chosen for niraval and swaraprastharam. T.H. Subramaniam on the violin superbly accompanied the main artiste. The thaniavarthanam by Umayalpuram Sivaraman (mridangam) and Thripunithura Radhakrishnan (ghatam) was applauded by the audience.
Highlight of the concert
The piece de resistance of the concert was the ragam, thanam and pallavi in Reethigowla. The pallavi was ‘Vasudeva Mam Pahi,’ an apt choice to pay homage to Neyyattinkara Vasudevan in whose memory the programme was organised.
Following the main raga, there was a ragamalika comprising Hameer Kalyani, Kanada, Revagupthi and Shanmukhapriya. Both the vocalist and the violinist kept the audience spell-bound with their superlative performances. They were admirably supported by Umayalpuram Sivaraman and Thripunithura Radhakrishnan.
Some Hindustani ragas have been beautifully adapted to Carnatic music. Three of the last four items of the evening were examples of this adaptation: MDR’s ‘Sagarasyana Vibho’ in Bagesree , ‘Eppo Varuvao’ in Jonpuri by Gopalakrishna Bharathi (one is reminded of the inimitable Madurai Mani Iyer) and Thillana in Dhanasree, a Swati Tirunal composition. ‘Alasara’ in Suruti, again by the royal composer, was well received.
Blessed with a melodious voice, Sreevalsan’s style of singing is akin to that of his illustrious guru, Neyyattinkara Vasudevan, who was one of the all-time favourites of music lovers. The musical evening was organised by ‘Swaralaya’ in association with Vyloppilly Samskriti Bhavan and Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi.
S. RAMACHANDRA IYER
Here is a review from The Hindu today. There is also a photo but it doesn't seem to get pasted.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/07/18/stor ... 440300.htm
Sreevalsan J. Menon’s superb recital paid tribute to his guru, the late Neyyattinkara Vasudevan.
Photo: S. Mahinsha
Musical feast: Sreevalsan J. Menon kept the audience spellbound with his performance. Accompanying him on the mridangam was Umayalpuram Sivaraman.
The Koothambalam of Vyloppily Samskriti Bhavan was the venue of a Carnatic music recital by Sreevalsan J. Menon to pay tribute to his guru, Neyyattinkara Vasudevan. The three-hour-long performance by the artiste was a veritable musical feast.
The concert began with ‘Sarasijanabha,’ the popular Ada tala varnam in Kambhodhi, composed by Swati Tirunal. Thanjavur Ponnayya Pillai’s ‘Ranganathude’ in Sourasutram was the next piece and it was appreciated by the listeners for the beautiful rendering of this sweet raga. Swati Tirunal’s ‘Jaya jaya Padmanabha,’ in raga ‘Manirangu’ (a janyam of Khara Harapriya), followed.
Dwijavanthi (Jayjayvanthi in the Hindustani style) raga was popularised by Muthuswamy Dikshitar. ‘Akhilandeswari Raksha Mam,’ a Dikshitar kriti, was sung with aplomb and the listeners were absorbed in the scintillating rendition. ‘Sambho Mahadeva,’ a Tyagaraja keerthanam in Panthuvarali (‘Kamavardhini’), was next.
Sama was another raga that Dikshitar seemed to have liked very much. Who is not familiar with ‘Annapoorne Visalakshi,’ the evergreen Dikshitar composition? The vocalist did full justice to this composition and the listeners were in raptures.
Thodi was chosen for elaborate treatment and ‘Gajavadana Sampoojithe,’ composed by Kumara Ettendra (Maharaja of Ettayapuram), was chosen for niraval and swaraprastharam. T.H. Subramaniam on the violin superbly accompanied the main artiste. The thaniavarthanam by Umayalpuram Sivaraman (mridangam) and Thripunithura Radhakrishnan (ghatam) was applauded by the audience.
Highlight of the concert
The piece de resistance of the concert was the ragam, thanam and pallavi in Reethigowla. The pallavi was ‘Vasudeva Mam Pahi,’ an apt choice to pay homage to Neyyattinkara Vasudevan in whose memory the programme was organised.
Following the main raga, there was a ragamalika comprising Hameer Kalyani, Kanada, Revagupthi and Shanmukhapriya. Both the vocalist and the violinist kept the audience spell-bound with their superlative performances. They were admirably supported by Umayalpuram Sivaraman and Thripunithura Radhakrishnan.
Some Hindustani ragas have been beautifully adapted to Carnatic music. Three of the last four items of the evening were examples of this adaptation: MDR’s ‘Sagarasyana Vibho’ in Bagesree , ‘Eppo Varuvao’ in Jonpuri by Gopalakrishna Bharathi (one is reminded of the inimitable Madurai Mani Iyer) and Thillana in Dhanasree, a Swati Tirunal composition. ‘Alasara’ in Suruti, again by the royal composer, was well received.
Blessed with a melodious voice, Sreevalsan’s style of singing is akin to that of his illustrious guru, Neyyattinkara Vasudevan, who was one of the all-time favourites of music lovers. The musical evening was organised by ‘Swaralaya’ in association with Vyloppilly Samskriti Bhavan and Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi.
-
Adidaivam
- Posts: 23
- Joined: 04 Apr 2008, 00:31
Sri Gowri Narayanan... You wrote:::
To mark the occasion there were brief speeches by Kerala’s Minister for Culture M.A. Baby ( a genuine connoisseur of music),
-----------------------------------------
woooooooooooooooooooooo this marxist gunda. who does not know anything about music... you call him like connoisseur of Music. its a pity that people praise politicians without knowing their background M.a Baby is an atheist who does not know anything about our traditiona and culture please do not praise fools here. This is a genuine carnatic forum.
To mark the occasion there were brief speeches by Kerala’s Minister for Culture M.A. Baby ( a genuine connoisseur of music),
-----------------------------------------
woooooooooooooooooooooo this marxist gunda. who does not know anything about music... you call him like connoisseur of Music. its a pity that people praise politicians without knowing their background M.a Baby is an atheist who does not know anything about our traditiona and culture please do not praise fools here. This is a genuine carnatic forum.
-
manikand28
- Posts: 79
- Joined: 29 Mar 2008, 18:48
Adi,
do you have evidence MA Baby is not a music lover. He is minister of Arts whatever that means, meybe he genuninly patrnizes arts. Let us not jump to conclusion fast, please give some facts to backup your statements. I am not saying or against. at least baby is encouraging music in kerala.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/04/stories ... 390700.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/19/stories ... 730300.htm
do you have evidence MA Baby is not a music lover. He is minister of Arts whatever that means, meybe he genuninly patrnizes arts. Let us not jump to conclusion fast, please give some facts to backup your statements. I am not saying or against. at least baby is encouraging music in kerala.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/04/stories ... 390700.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/19/stories ... 730300.htm
Last edited by manikand28 on 11 Oct 2008, 03:10, edited 1 time in total.
-
Vocalist
- Posts: 1030
- Joined: 19 Feb 2006, 18:53
Why don't you stop being rude and go rant elsewhere? Those sorts of comments are disgusting.Adidaivam wrote:This is the usual practice of Tamil speaking people.. K.J. Yesudas is Jesudoss for them... and Vijay Yesudas his name you mispell it with Vijey Jesudoss.. Please dont tamilize the whole world..
Mods, what are you waiting for? Please get rid of his messages, as well as this one.
-
makham
- Posts: 112
- Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 22:26
A humble request: This is a democratic forum. So, if someone reports that (s)he liked the concert of a specific artist, another member has every right to differ. That's what makes fora like this interesting - accommodating differing viewpoints.
However a minimum level of decency in language and decorum need to be in place - an invisible Lakshmanrekha , a "Code of Conduct". Views have to be backed up with some qualitative evidence though it may not be necessary to state them explicitly unless some other member reqests. More importantly references to an individual's religion, caste, creed, language, political ideology and personal beliefs have to be totally avoided.
However a minimum level of decency in language and decorum need to be in place - an invisible Lakshmanrekha , a "Code of Conduct". Views have to be backed up with some qualitative evidence though it may not be necessary to state them explicitly unless some other member reqests. More importantly references to an individual's religion, caste, creed, language, political ideology and personal beliefs have to be totally avoided.
-
sureshvv
- Posts: 5542
- Joined: 05 Jul 2007, 18:17
-
cienu
- Posts: 2392
- Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 11:40
Adi,Adidaivam wrote:you call him like connoisseur of Music.
M.A Baby is an atheist who does not know anything about our traditiona and culture
While I am not an atheist, the reality is that there are a quite a number of people under this category who are also great lovers and practitioners of CM (including some top notch present day peformers !)
Respect for art, tradition and culture does not necessarily have to be linked with a person's personal belief.
Last edited by cienu on 13 Oct 2008, 21:09, edited 1 time in total.
-
annapoorne
- Posts: 126
- Joined: 12 Dec 2006, 22:42
Whoever you are, your comments on Sri M A Baby was in bad taste. One gets to know and assesses a person from one's own personal experience. There is no substitute for that.
In the recent Semmangudi centenary celebrations held in Chennai, Sri Baby was invited and Sri Abdul Kalam was the chief guest of honour. This event took place in the Music Academy. Shri R K Srikantan had to give the opening day concert and things were beyond schedule for one reason or the other. (Trust you are listening). Sri R K Srikantan, could start his concert only at 8.30 pm. and sang only for about an hour. Before he commenced the concert, Sri Baby and Sri Murali (of The Hindu) met Sri Srikantan and told him thus: "We have come to listen to your concert and we will leave only after you complete your concert". Yes! I was an eye-witness (or ear-witness) to this statement. And please be happy to know that these two men stayed till he completed his concert. Do not jump to some pet conclusions like, this is an isolated incident, an exception etc. etc. I am not making any other statement about Sri Baby after this and it is all vox populi now. Nevertheless your wordings deserve atleast a censure. And self-moderation..... Well............
In the recent Semmangudi centenary celebrations held in Chennai, Sri Baby was invited and Sri Abdul Kalam was the chief guest of honour. This event took place in the Music Academy. Shri R K Srikantan had to give the opening day concert and things were beyond schedule for one reason or the other. (Trust you are listening). Sri R K Srikantan, could start his concert only at 8.30 pm. and sang only for about an hour. Before he commenced the concert, Sri Baby and Sri Murali (of The Hindu) met Sri Srikantan and told him thus: "We have come to listen to your concert and we will leave only after you complete your concert". Yes! I was an eye-witness (or ear-witness) to this statement. And please be happy to know that these two men stayed till he completed his concert. Do not jump to some pet conclusions like, this is an isolated incident, an exception etc. etc. I am not making any other statement about Sri Baby after this and it is all vox populi now. Nevertheless your wordings deserve atleast a censure. And self-moderation..... Well............
-
sappri
- Posts: 322
- Joined: 05 Jun 2007, 14:56
-
makham
- Posts: 112
- Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 22:26
I expected the MODS to close further posts on this thread because it had veered from Menon's music to Baby's credentials. Since it continues, here are my 4 cents worth personal evidences. Let me make it clear that politics is the domain of my core incompetence and that I am a Libran:
1. He hears a lot of MDR and KVN while on car journeys - long or short.
2. In one KVN concert, he requested KVN to sing MDR's Sagara sayana vibho.
3. Have seen him in very intimate conversation with Shri UKS many times. Once a media house had organized a video conference with the then president Dr Kalam in which I was a participant. Shri. Baby also participated , he was not a minister then, he was a Rajys Sabha MP. He introduced himself to the president as the one who had brought Shri. UKS to Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Shri UKS , I am sure, will not encourage display of close friendship just because the person is a politician or a pseudo rasika.
4. In the SSI centenary function at Chennai , when Dr Kalam suggested preserving Semmangudi's ancestral house, he immediately offered support for the initiative.
1. He hears a lot of MDR and KVN while on car journeys - long or short.
2. In one KVN concert, he requested KVN to sing MDR's Sagara sayana vibho.
3. Have seen him in very intimate conversation with Shri UKS many times. Once a media house had organized a video conference with the then president Dr Kalam in which I was a participant. Shri. Baby also participated , he was not a minister then, he was a Rajys Sabha MP. He introduced himself to the president as the one who had brought Shri. UKS to Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Shri UKS , I am sure, will not encourage display of close friendship just because the person is a politician or a pseudo rasika.
4. In the SSI centenary function at Chennai , when Dr Kalam suggested preserving Semmangudi's ancestral house, he immediately offered support for the initiative.