Nisha Rajagopal at Naada Sudha, London on 25th Oct 2009

Rishi Sharma · Post by **Rishi Sharma** » 30 Oct 2009, 17:19

Vocal: Nisha P. Rajagopalan
Violin: AGA Gnanasundaram (sishya of Lalgudi G. Jayaraman)
Mridangam: Somasundara Desikar (sishya of Karaikkudi R. Mani)
Ganjira: Dushant Dharmaraj (sishya of Somasundara Desikar)
Venue: London Tamil Centre, 253 East Lane, North Wembley, London.
Organised under the aegis of Naada Sudha.
Time: Between 1825hrs and 2100hrs.

01 Innum En Manam (Varnam) - Charukesi - Adi - Lalgudi G. Jayaraman (short outline of raga)
02 Vallabha Nayakasya - Begada - Rupakam - Muthuswami Dikshitar (S @ Vallabha)
03 Triloka Matha Nannu - Paras - Adi - Syama Sastri
04 Sivakama Sundari - Mukhari - Adi - Papanasam Sivan (R)
05 Parama Pavana Papa Mochana - Ranjani - Adi - Meesu Krishna Iyer
06 Manasu Swadinamaina - Shankarabharanam - Misrachapu - Tyagaraja (R, NS @ Tanuvu TAni GAdina, Tani)
07 Nee Kelana - Devamanohari - Adi - Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar
08 RTP - Shanmukhapriya - Khanda Jati Triputa (2 Kalai)
(Pallavi: "Mal Maruga Shanmukha Muruga Guha Ka Va Va")
(Raagamalika Swaram in Pallavi: Vasanta, Saveri, Varali and all 3 ragas in reverse order)
09 Arumo Aval - Mandu - Adi - Kannan Iyengar
10 Deena Sharanyane - Karnaranjani - Adi - Neela Ramamurthy
11 Tillana - Rageshri - Adi - Lalgudi G. Jayaraman (followed by

The concert was held in a house with about 40 people in attendance. Naada Sudha is run by the aforementioned violinist and the mridangist who are brothers.
The concert was supposed to commence at 6pm. Member Jayaram and I reached the venue by 5.30pm to ensure that we get front-row seats, only to see that we were the first ones there!! There were roadworks all over Wembley promising traffic delays and an inevitable late start to the kaccheri. Nisha was the last to arrive as she had to come from South London along with her sister and brother-in-law.
Before the concert began, I overheard Nisha speaking to Somasundara Desikar informing him that she will be singing the Shankarabharana kriti set to misrachapu as the main piece, and a RTP in Shanmukhapriya; she also demonstrated the pallavi to him. We were definitely going to be in for a musical feast indeed!!!

The outline of Charukesi soothed all the irritations of having to wait in traffic. She sang the excellently-crafted varnam of Lalgudi sir as a Tana varnam as opposed to its later avataram as a Pada varnam.
Having watched the 'Pada Varnas' DVD of Lalgudi sir, I am able to further appreciate this varnam with its twists, turns and glides.

After the varnam, she invoked the blessings from the Lord of the Supreme (Vallabha). Her swarakalpana and the long karvai brought out the beauty of Begada, emphasising the peculiar madhyama unique to this raga. She encouraged Gnanasundaram to play a long spell of swaras after which she concluded the invocation.

She sang the infrequently-heard 'Triloka Matha' of Syama Sastri. I have only heard this kriti in a studio concert by Dr. R. Ganesh (sishya of Maharajapuram Santanam) and in a chamber concert by MDR, the video of which should be floating around on youtube.
Jayaram and I were hoping that she will sing 'Neelayatakshi' with swarakalpana at 'Samagana Lole' where ample opportunity is present for swaraakshara (DK Jayaraman sings the just-mentioned kriti in his Shanmukhananda Hall concert, May 1989 where the swara exchange between and Mysore Manjunath is just too good!!).

After Paras, she took us on a leisurely excursion of Mukhari showing the various facets of this subtle raga such as the two dhaivatams that this raga employs and the sparkling 'N D M' phrases which immediately indicates Mukhari. Her alaap along with the violinist's lasted 12 minutes.
She sang the popular Tamil kriti by Papanasam Sivan which transcends time and age. Due to paucity of time, no swaram was rendered.

This is the second time I hear the Ranjani kriti of Meesu Krishna Iyer (the first time was in a chamber concert of GJR Krishnan & Vijayalakshmi in Nov 2008 in North London). The kriti started on the ring finger (4 beats after samam??). The kriti has a lovely chittaswara pattern.

Then came the majestic Shankarabharanam. She explored this raga in detail traversing the octaves. Her raga exposition was 13 minutes with the violinist's response for 6 minutes. Misrachapu is Jayaram's as well as my favourite tala and any kriti with room for expansive niraval and swara is always welcome.
The taniavartanam was one to see. The speech-less interaction between Guru and sishya and the encouragement of the guru for the sishya to play complex phrases was heart-warming. The kriti including tani lasted 50 mins.

She then sang 'Nee Kelana' in Devamanohari by Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar. Devamanohari is another favourite ragam of Jayaram and I suspect that this was his request!!

She announced that she will be singing a "short" pallavi which lasted for about 45 minutes. Although the pallavi was "short", it was a solid display of her vidwat. Her detailed essay of Shanmukhapriya was amazing, especially the segment about the 'pathos' rupam of this raga which got Jayaram thinking whether she is performing shruti / griha bedham.
This pallavi was created by her guru Vidwan TR Subramaniam, who is known as a master of 'kanakku', and this pallavi lived upto his reputation.
When singing ragamalika swara she landed in different points in the pallavi: With Vasantha it was 'Mal Maruga', with Saveri she ended in 'Muruga' lightly touching upon Periasami Thooran's Saveri kriti 'Muruga Muruga' and when singing Varali it was 'Ka Va Va' reminding us of Papanasam Sivan's kriti on the Lord of Pazhani. She sang the ragas in reverse order ending in Shanmukhapriya in a couple of avartanas.

The post-RTP section was brief. The Karnaranjani kriti was a rasikas' request. The tillana in Rageshri was refreshing to hear (I believe that Rageshri is more exquisite than her cousin Bageshri!!)

I believe that Jayaram has something to add to this review and deliver some good news about a new Sabha in London for serious rasikas. I leave the rest to him!!

Overall, a VERY GOOD to an EXCELLENT concert lasting 2hr 35mins.

Post Script:-
Areas of Improvement:
1. The concert was supposed to end at 9.30pm, giving London rasikas a rarely heard 3-hour concert. However, at 8pm the organiser informed Nisha to conclude the recital at 9pm.
2. Annoucing the raga, tala and composer before each piece. This takes away the fun of identifying the raga through the process of elimination, deduction and inference. It may be due to the audience present, but any raga announcements in a vocal concert should be made at the end of each piece.

However,
1. The atmosphere was really intimate, with the artistes seated on Jamakkaalams, about 2 feet away from the nearest rasika (Jayaram!!). There was good interaction between the vidwans and the rasikas as a result.

'Kara Charana Krutam Vak Kayaja Karmajam Va....' / 'Kalla Pizhaiyum Karudaap Pizhaiyum Kasindu Uruha Nilla Pizhaiyum.....

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 30 Oct 2009, 18:50

Rishi
Great job well done , keep them coming. If I am allowed to speculate and do a bit of mind reading , when nisha started to sing lAlgudi varnam, you must have felt terrific as though she is singing just for you as Lalgudi is your native .

. I guess you coming first , you deserve that. Awaiting Jayaram's review.

Rasika911 · Post by **Rasika911** » 30 Oct 2009, 19:01

Rishi Sharma wrote:When singing ragamalika swara she landed in different points in the pallavi: With Vasantha it was 'Mal Maruga', with Saveri she ended in 'Muruga' lightly touching upon Periasami Thooran's Saveri kriti 'Muruga Muruga' and when singing Varali it was 'Ka Va Va' reminding us of Papanasam Sivan's kriti on the Lord of Pazhani. She sang the ragas in reverse order ending in Shanmukhapriya in a couple of avartanas.

Hope for Nisha's sake Harimau doesnt see this

gn.sn42 · Post by **gn.sn42** » 30 Oct 2009, 22:39

Rasika911 wrote:
Rishi Sharma wrote:When singing ragamalika swara she landed in different points in the pallavi: With Vasantha it was 'Mal Maruga', with Saveri she ended in 'Muruga' lightly touching upon Periasami Thooran's Saveri kriti 'Muruga Muruga' and when singing Varali it was 'Ka Va Va' reminding us of Papanasam Sivan's kriti on the Lord of Pazhani. She sang the ragas in reverse order ending in Shanmukhapriya in a couple of avartanas.

Hope for Nisha's sake Harimau doesnt see this

Er- harimau has addressed exactly this matter before:
http://rasikas.org/forums/post112192.html#p112192

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 31 Oct 2009, 01:21

Thanks Rishi for a very nice review once again. Rajesh is right. The varNam of the 'Lalgudi' maestro dispelled your frustrations in a jiffy.
Good to have Jayaram back--from all his travels, I suppose

Oh, the 'tyranny of' time!
Nick might know the brother-accompanists and might add a bit more to their background.
To announce or not announce--that's the question. It is always nice when one hears the name of an unfamiliar rAgam before it is sung, so that we can get familiar with it. Every rAgam? I don't know!

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 01 Nov 2009, 04:27

Dear friends,

What more can I add to that wonderful review by Rishi?
Other than to say something about the author himself...

Rishi is one of those people who combines erudition with incredible humility. I am constantly impressed by his knowledge of things musical. And feel extremely honoured to have known him. I must say he and his wonderful family have made my life in London so enjoyable. Rishi and I have spent several late nights listening to, appreciating and discussing the finer aspects of music.

I only wish other rasikas on this forum get to meet him - hopefully not in the too distant future. I am sure you will enjoy his company very much.

One note about Nisha's concert: I only wish it was a bit longer, and that she had sung swaras for the Mukhari piece. But then, I am never satisfied!

Thanks to the concert, we managed to meet up with other like-minded rasikas, and are now going ahead with our plans to form a core group of serious rasikas in the London area. We are hopeful we will get to critical mass soon, and perhaps by next year will even be able to organize a solid concert here. Of course, only time will tell...

By the way, there is a good chance I will be in Madras this December, and I hope to catch up with fellow forumites.

Arasi, look forward to your yummy huliyanna!

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 01 Nov 2009, 16:20

Arasi... I know the main accompanist, the house 253 East Lane, very well, having spent many happy hours rehearsing with teachers and students from the London Tamil Centre there. I also know those traffic jams intimately. I also know a great side-road route from Wembley Central that avoids at least some of East Lane jam

Faces might be very different, but I only recognise one name on paper: Somasundara Desikar. He is a modest and friendly musician,, know for his support of his students. I had heard, some years ago, a rumour that he was taking a back seat from performing and concentrating on teaching due to some joint troubles. It would be great if this was entirely false! I'm happy to see this report of his playing.

jayaraman... looking forward to seeing you in Chennai! Next time I am in London (no plans just now, though) we must meet, maybe at a musical occasion.

Glad to hear of your sabha organising.

Rishi Sharma · Post by **Rishi Sharma** » 01 Nov 2009, 18:26

This is a picture taken at Nisha's kutcheri:

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 01 Nov 2009, 20:53

Nick,
Yes, I get an idea about the London scene, thanks.

Jayaram,
At long last, we hear from you. The tyranny of travels

And see you too (?) in the picture!

Rishi Sharma · Post by **Rishi Sharma** » 02 Nov 2009, 03:42

In the photo:
Back Row (L - R): Jayaram (Black jacket, Blue shirt) & Rishi (Orange T-shirt)

Front (L - R): The Sound Engineer (sorry I dont know his name), AGA Gnanasundaram, Nisha Rajagopalan, Kamala Vedanarayanan (Rishi's mother), The Compere (sorry, I dont know her name either), Somasundara Desikar, Dushant Dharmaraj

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 03 Nov 2009, 13:11

Rishi
I have seen jayaram with Late Shri K ramarAj in NGS main canteen last year . I spoke that day briefly with ramaraj sir , but did not know that jayaram was standing beside him.

Showing your name with the id and more importantly showing your photos adds a lot of credibility to you as you are transparent . Keep your reviews coming from Wembley. Best wishes for you and jayaram to hold a concert in Wembley Stadium

s ,in years to come.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 03 Nov 2009, 15:35

???

If he was transparent, we wouldn't be able to see him in the photo!

It was Jayaram who introduced me to Ramaraj, who I had previously seen but not spoken to, and it was Jayaram who, even from London, kept us informed about Ramaraj's health at one strage of his illness.

Jayaram: looking forward to seeing you. Lets hope you can attend a rasikas.org get-together (or several) this season. How about bringing Rishi with you?

Rishi Sharma · Post by **Rishi Sharma** » 03 Nov 2009, 16:26

Hello All.

RajeshNat, Arasi: Lalgudi is known as 'Tirutavatthurai' in Tevaram (Tiru + tavam + thurai, also known as Tapasteerapuram in Sanskrit). Lalgudi is referred to as 'Muthamizh Moiitha Tavatthurai' where Iyai, Isai and Natakam where ingrained in the culture of the town.
Therefore, any product from Lalgudi, be it Amarar Lalgudi Swaminathan's Tevara isai, La Sa Ra writings or Lalgudi sir's compositions, they will always induce utsaakam for me..

Nick: I will try to be there in Madras this season in person but always in spirit. If I am not there, Jayaram will be my representative.

Rishi Sharma · Post by **Rishi Sharma** » 03 Nov 2009, 16:27

Sorry, Tapasteerapuram should have been Tapastheertapuram.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Nov 2009, 10:54

Thank you, Rishi.

Rajesh,
Yes, what did you mean by 'transparent'? I was puzzled too.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 07 Nov 2009, 14:28

arasi wrote:
Rajesh,
Yes, what did you mean by 'transparent'? I was puzzled too.

Transparent
1. permitting the uninterrupted passage of light; clear a window is transparent
2. candid, open, or frank

I meant it in terms of being open(point 2) , rishi with his id is also showing up with his photograph

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 08 Nov 2009, 09:32

Got it!