Ranjani & Gayathri @ Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, 24/12/2009

sankark · Post by **sankark** » 24 Dec 2009, 23:17

Ranjani, Gayathri - Vocal
Mysore Srikanth - Violin
Poongulam Subramanian - Mrudangam
Trichy Murali - Ghatam

Here is the songlist

sarasijanabha - Nattai Varnam - palghat parameswara bhagavathar
rama bakthi - suddha bangala - thyagaraja (s)
pahi jagatjanani - hamsanandi - swati tirunal (s)
enraikku siva krupai - mukhari - nilakanta sivan
sri subrahmanyaya - kambhoji - dikshitar (rnst, nereval at vasavadi sakala deva)
yagnjadulu - jayamanohari - thyagaraja
rtp - saramati, chatusra triputa, 2 kalai - madhiani eesan maganai dinam ninaime manasara, ragamalika swaras in kanada, hamirkalyani, chandrakouns

left after rtp. anyone else, please fill the rest.

kambhoji & saramati - both the raga alapanas were good.. yagnjadulu was brisk and in good contrast to the leisurely kambhoji. the sisters maintained the tempo throughout. however #3 was average if one is to be charitable. the raga looked more of a travel up and down the scale and didn't have a character to define it. something better in that place would have made the concert even better.

madhavan · Post by **madhavan** » 24 Dec 2009, 23:44

What would have been after RTP? My guess: Usual ragamalika virutham and an abhang!! (everytime they announce "on a request" (quite superfluous announcement though), we sing an abhang then we conclude this concert, then audience would say one more abhang, etc)

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 25 Dec 2009, 09:00

MV · Post by MV » 25 Dec 2009, 09:16

I enjoyed the totality of the concert. Their voices failed in some places and swaras slipped as well, but it was a satisfying concert. They didn't do Tisram in the RTP either. As far as singing Abhangs go- it is their trademark and they sing it well. so why not! There are many others who sing Padams and Javalis and those treasures will never be lost. Plus I feel, concert artistes should make an effort to sing more Syama Shastri kritis. There are so few around and it would be a good way to revive them and maybe unearth a few more!

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 25 Dec 2009, 09:28

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 25 Dec 2009, 12:38

srinivasrgvn wrote:
The most disappointing factor was the inclusion of hamsAnandi! I wonder when hamsAnandi became a pre-main raga! It is a lighter raga and is meant for tukkadas and viruttams! Choosing that as a raga for alapana and swarakalpana was certainly alarming! The alapana was plain with almost every phrase overlapping. It never set in the mood that hamsAnandi creates. It is a raga which soothes the mind and is especially good for emotion.

srinivasrgvn,
The earliest hamsAnandi that I heard was by TN Seshagopalan in 80's and during last year suryaprakash has sung, both of them sang swati's pAhi jagathJanani, they were blissful. If the voice opens out well it is really superb, certainly it is a great premain rAga for sure

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 25 Dec 2009, 12:51

srinivasrgvn wrote: As someone guessed very correctly, there was a viruttam session (mOhanam,malayamArutham,dEsh) followed by ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“rAmanAmamE thudhiÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ in dEsh. The dEsh viruttam was very pleasing and emotive.

Can I get the starting lines of RG's viruththam,i like their viruththams.Can some one help please??

Rasika911 · Post by **Rasika911** » 25 Dec 2009, 13:21

I hope this becomes a commercial album, would love to hear their sri subramanyaya namasthe. Ranjani Gayathri have an uncanny ability to make the ragam talk.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 25 Dec 2009, 14:32

MV · Post by MV » 25 Dec 2009, 14:38

Virtuttam line: Naadiya Porul Kaikoodum........ Rama vendra irande ezhuthinal. It is a common Ramar slokam.
Re Hamsanandi, RG sang the ragam so well, it was nothing to be sneezed at. But I have the cd of them singing Paahi Jaga and so was disappointed to hear the same song-same version again!

MV · Post by MV » 25 Dec 2009, 14:41

First 2 lines:
Naadiya Porul Kaikoodum, Gnanamum Pugazhum undam

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 25 Dec 2009, 14:50

srinivasrgvn wrote:One thing that R&G obviously have to change is their prescribed format (or should I say formula?). The formula is very simple.

Yes. The last concert of theirs I attended at Bharat Sangeet Utsav reminded me of the "Combo Quick Lunch" at Sangeetha. Makes you full even before you start

I wonder when hamsAnandi became a pre-main raga! It is a lighter raga and is meant for tukkadas and viruttams! Choosing that as a raga for alapana and swarakalpana was certainly alarming!

Totally disagree. Scope is vast and everytime I hear the "pulichu pona purvikalyani" I wonder why they don't take up Hamsanandi instead which is close but yet so far.

Rasika911 · Post by **Rasika911** » 25 Dec 2009, 16:54

sureshvv wrote:
Scope is vast and everytime I hear the "pulichu pona purvikalyani" I wonder why they don't take up Hamsanandi instead which is close but yet so far.

Why do soo many people here hate poorvikalyani

Brilliant ragam

MV · Post by MV » 25 Dec 2009, 17:33

I love poorvikalyani too. Great scope in it

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 26 Dec 2009, 07:14

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 26 Dec 2009, 09:36

Well , I love both the ragas but as srinivasrgvn put it, would prefer to hear Hamsanandhi, post Thani.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 26 Dec 2009, 12:31

I dislike both ragas and prefer to not to hear them at all

bala747 · Post by **bala747** » 26 Dec 2009, 17:53

Purvikalyani is by far and away my favourite ragam, but the way it is sung (both by many artistes of yesteryear and today) it seems like a raga that is just for filling up time. It appears an easy raga to sing and one can get by with stringing together a few sangathis and fill up five minutes (followed by the usual scattered applause), just enough for the secondary item. It is almost criminal how artistes sing a mediocre 5 minute time-filler alapana in this raga and take up Dikshithar's grand Minakshi me mudham dehi! Would they do the same with O Rangasayi or Swararagasudharasa? I almost always end up disappointed when I hear the preliminary PMGRS of the raga alapana.

Bringing out the karuna rasa in the raga effectively is not easy and requires careful handling. One of the best Purvikalyanis I heard in recent times was strangely enough from an artiste that I don't admire too much, Shashank (in Singapore). He played an exquisite ragam thanam pallavi in it. Yes it had all the gimmickry at the end, but the RTP itself was top class. Amongst yesteryear artistes, Voleti Venkateswarlu's rendition of this raga has always been one of my favourites (apart from MDR's which is in a league of its own, take your pick from Minakshi to Satre Vilagi for a masterclass on ragabhava)

OTOH Hamsanandi feels like a raga for Viruttams, probably because SSI has sung it so often. But I have heard a Sudha concert in Bombay WAY back where she sang an RTP in Hamsanandi but I can't recall it as being anything too fantastic, but in the hands of the right musician it can become a great main/submain item. MSG has played it as a main item in a couple of concerts and I recall them being very, very good, probably because he is not too inhibited by the 'carnatic' style of playing.

Bilahari, it is no fault of the raga that you don't like it!

I presume you mean the way it is commonly sung nowadays, with the same usual sangathis that appear to be read from a book.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 26 Dec 2009, 20:02

sankark · Post by **sankark** » 26 Dec 2009, 21:55

personally, i got hooked to purvikalyani through, who else but MMI. there was this cassette recording i acquired about 8 - 9 years ago that hooked me to this raga & kriti (meenakshi me mudam dehi). what an electrifying nereval at madhurapuri nilaye. since then every other rendering of this song, imo, pales in comparison to his.

this season, Sanjay did a good 15 min alapana of purvikalyani @ Nungambakkam Cultural Academy.

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 27 Dec 2009, 14:25

sankark wrote:personally, i got hooked to purvikalyani through, who else but MMI. there was this cassette recording i acquired about 8 - 9 years ago that hooked me to this raga & kriti (meenakshi me mudam dehi). what an electrifying nereval at madhurapuri nilaye. since then every other rendering of this song, imo, pales in comparison to his.

this season, Sanjay did a good 15 min alapana of purvikalyani @ Nungambakkam Cultural Academy.

Yes, not sure whether I have the same recording. What I have is a MMI AIR relay recording. A Thrilling expr of purvikalyani, and I should say
i liked purvi kalyani (gamakakriya) only after listening to this. And unfortunately I could not like anybody elses rendition after this. The neraval
was the highlight. And this song is not sung in his usual style.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 27 Dec 2009, 15:58

I attended the concert and came away pretty much with the same impression of the others' postings. I missed the post-RTP fare as I rushed to pick up my wife from MFA -Bombay Jaishree--caught some soulful thukkadas,topped by LGJ's Yamuna Klayani Thillana(bless Chennai with all the major Sabhas located within a 4 KM radius!!

Now back to Ranjani-Gayathri.
The thing that struck me as odd and incongruous was the fact that they sang not a single song in praise of Lord Vishnu(@ a Parthasarathy Sabha venue) and no Thiruppavai(margazhi)--unless they sang a piece in the post RTP which I missed!!
Quibble,quibble--how can any CM concert be reviewed without some such inane,nit-pickings.

Not to be deterred on my way out I mentioned it to Rand G's father--who is a good friend of the family plus-the old Bombay loyalties giving me additional privileges--he smiled and I put it down as more of an error of omission than commission!!!

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 27 Dec 2009, 16:57

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:The thing that struck me as odd and incongruous was the fact that they sang not a single song in praise of Lord Vishnu(@ a Parthasarathy Sabha venue) !

The song list starts with "Sarasijanabha" and so we can say the first word of the first song was Vishnu's epithet. Next comes Ramabhakti... (don't know whether it would qualify as a Vishnu song since it's on Rama). How do you say there was no Vishnu at PS Sabha that day?

This reminds me of Chembai being asked at a Bangalore concert to sing kritis in Kannada and he replies "ippo thaan renDaNam paadinene" ("just now I sang two")

perarulalan · Post by **perarulalan** » 28 Dec 2009, 08:42

I wonder when hamsAnandi became a pre-main raga! It is a lighter raga and is meant for tukkadas and viruttams! Choosing that as a raga for alapana and swarakalpana was certainly alarming!
Totally disagree. Scope is vast and everytime I hear the "pulichu pona purvikalyani" I wonder why they don't take up Hamsanandi instead which is close but yet so far.

Totally agree with vvsuresh. Heard a wonderful Hamsanandi RTP by MLV for close to 50 minutes it was fantastic. It is after 50th minute she starts with ragamalika swaram!!. This RTP is found in sangeethamshare!