concert planning

[mohan]

After reading many concert reviews and comments on this forum I have noticed that its very hard to please rasikas regarding the selection of krithis in a concert. A recent example was a US concert of Unnikrishnan and also Sanjay's December 2009 Music Academy concert

Many times people mention things such as:

- 'there was no kriti of [choose a composer]' ..... this is the most common one

Others include
- 'it would have been better if she sang a prati madhyama kriti'
- 'there were three kritis in [x] tala in a row'
- 'he didn't sing any compositions in [choose a language]'

Do rasikas look at lists too much? Does it really matter if once in a while someone does not sing a Thygaraja or Dikshitar krithi in a concert? How can artistes bring to light rare or new compositions of other composers if they always have to include compositions of the trinity. Shouldn't the quality of the music, the rendition, etc be more important than the choice of composition?

[munirao2001]

Mohan,
The composition is of paramount importance because, it helps the performer to offer good quality music through inspired manodharma forming the basic foundation of the edifice. But at the same time, rarely the performer's can offer good quality of music, irrespective of the support and strength of the composition if his sadhana and manodharma is of very high standard.

[SKA]

I would like to add that in the attempt to popularize rare composers often performers land up rendering bad concerts. The kriti format and total musical content in songs by the trinity is so high that very few other composers have come close. So when performing a good mix of composers is definitely advisable.

[anandmurty]

Agree with Mohan here - I think for a lot of us, we attend a concert with the aim of "remembering it" in terms of:
1. Writing a review/blog etc
2. Telling someone about it/discussing it with fellow rasikas
The aim isn't so much to talk about the "experience" (as Mohan says - quality of music) i.e. how one "felt" during the concert/did the musician(s) create produce an aural stimuli that elicited an emotional/cerebral response in the rasika; it's more to do with a sometimes obsessive "quantification" i.e. Number of minutes for a violin response/alapana; number of rhythmic cycles chosen; number of Thyagaraja/Dikshitar/Syama Shastri pieces; number of songs in Telugu/Sanskrit/Tamil etc.

And this "reporting" depends a great deal on the rasika's "familiarity" (mostly, limited knowledge of phrase oriented intricacies in a given raga/repertoire of compositions) with the pieces rendered. I must admit to finding it extremely difficult to listen to concerts or even a single song by BMK/S Balachander/TSK. Even a Shankarabharanam will be so innovative, I'd rather play safe and go with artists who leave no doubt and make me "comfortable" about the raga/kriti.

This "familiarity" IMHO creates the series of complaints with artists who might not "conform" every now and then.

We have 72 Melakartas, innumerable Janyas, endless permutations of rhythm and composers from 5th century to the present day - composing kritis, varnams, thillanas, padams, javalis and many many more. Where's the fun and dynamism in sticking to the same "formula" ALL the time?! A little disruption in the routine (caveat: by a creative, sensitive artist) every now and then only serves to make us appreciate the true richness of our musical heritage I feel.

[arasi]

Mohan,
I am so glad you brought this subject up.
Unfortunately, the cerebral bit counts. None of us--whatever our level of knowledge about CM happens to be--are exempt from it. It has been a rasikA tradition all along--which is the same as commenting on wedding feasts. Analysing the menu (commenting on the song list) and traditional items missing in a meal (trinity comopsitions in a concert) are common.

Anandamurty,
Yes, experiencing the music is the thing. rasAnubhava??
Singing 'unheard' compositions does not necessarily mean new compositions but old forgotten or neglected ones too. There was once a request for the translation of one of DanDapaANi DEsikar's songs and I remember saying that it was not one of his best compositions (out of the few that I was familiar with). Then I heard Sanjay sing DEsikar's songs in mArgazhi mahA utsavam a few years ago and then I realized how beautriful DEsikar's compositions were.
I used to be wary of' list-minded people and then realized, how much I was learning and refreshing my mind with song lists. Lists are necessary but to be picky about them is another thing.
Yes, one of the traditionalists I know is a great concert planner. I can predict every time that there will be a solid list and a chaste presentation. I also know I will enjoy the concert but...