Bombay Jayashree, Stoudsburg, PA, JUNE 5,2010

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Bombay Jayashree-H.N.Bhaskar-Manoj Shiva--Anirudh Athreya.@ THE SRINGERI VIDYABHARATHI FOUNDATION @ STOUDSBURG,PA JUNE 5,2010(3:45 P.M. TO 6 P.M.)
Program:

1, Mayatheertha--Mayamalavagowla-Ponniah Pillai(?)
2.BHANANUTHA-- Mohanam--Thygaraja
3.O Jagadamba-- Anandabhairavi--Syama Sastry.
4.Ranjani Niranjani-Ranjani--G.N.B
5. Pakkala Neelapadi- Karaharapriya--Thyagaraja.
6. Sarade Karunanidhe-- Hameerkalyani- His Holiness Bharatha Theertha Acharya of Sringeri Mutt
7.Virutham- Sama,Dharbari Kanada,Behag
8.Velane Sivabalane--Behag(Composer unknown)
9.Ehi Murarare(Bhajan)--Ahir Bhairav(Composer unknown)
10. Thillana-Sindhubhairavi- Lalgudi Jayaraman.
11. Mangalam.
Concert Duration: Two Hours and Twenty Minutes.

The new Hall was inaugurated with this concert and had decent acoustics and remarkably,throughout the concert none of the artistes "messed" with the acoustics arrangements!! I find it a rarity in concerts in NA with all visiting artistes without exception invariably drive the audio experts to desperation with their constant tinkering!! Jayashree ad her troupe deserve credit for this gracious act of non-interference!!!

Now for the performance. I would like to call it "my" impressions rather than a review per se!!
Overall the concert had a very nice structure,good choice of krithis covering key composers(except my little complaint that there was no krithi of Muthuswamy-"Tut!! Tut!! You rasikas are too fastidous and demanding --I can hear Jayashree lament"!!!.
Back to the concert--throughout the concert there was an elegant balance with a sense of proportion unique to the composition in the Raga or Neraval or Swaram(Disclosure: I tend to adhere to the Ariyakudi Concert planning school!!)

Bhavanuha was rendered in a brisk tempo in a staccato fashion neither too hurried to strip the krithi of its Bhavam,nor too slow-paced to sound belabored. Brief sketch of the raga but no neraval or swaram.
Anandabhairavi was noted for the characteristic time-honored phrases but rendered with lots of emotion and bhavam. The krithi was slightly more fast paced than a KVN or an MDR would have adopted but nonetheless satisfying.
Karaharapriya alapana was great with flashes of SSI/TNR/MSS/. The development of the raga-- the ladder-type approach(which some forumites may not care much for but this "old foggy" neanderthal rasika likes!!!) was full of Bhava. The sancharas in the higher octaves were soothing,melodious with perfect pitch adherence. The Thani that followed was refreshing and brisk without the ear-drum-splittng acrobatics which seems to be the norm amongst percussionists today. Manoj Shiva did full justice to the PMI,Raghu school with a subdued and restrained performance. Anirudh on the Kanjira sporting the proud lineage that he hails from(Great Grandson of both Alathur Subba Iyer and Papa Venkatramiah) also matched Manoj Shiva with every korvai/sollukattu..

Bhaskar was sukham-personified and accentuated the positives of his Guru MSG-- by his mastery over the instrument--especially n Karaharapriya as well as in the Rraga Malika Viruttham that followed later.
The piece in Hamir kalyani--composed by Sringeri Acharya--Jayashree rendered with appropriate devotion and Bhavam.

In the slokam Dharbari Kanada with a generous display of the Hindusthani Style stood out as well as behag(this is a raga I continue to get more and more enchanted with each time a singer of Jayashree's stature renders a piece or two!!)--the Behag in the viruttham neatly segued into the song Velane Sivabalane in Behag.

The Bhajan Ehi Murare in Ahir Bhairav was sung with lot of emotion and passion.

This was followed by Lalgudi's Thillana in Sindhubhairavi which Jayashree rendered with such fidelity to the composition and fealty to the Guru- In my opinion nobody brings out Lalgudi's genius and virtuosity in his Thillanas better than Jayashree and there is no better litmus test of her true devotion to the Lalgudi tutelage than her rendering of his Thillanas.
The concert ended with Mangalam although the audience wished it had been longer and that is precisely the kind of feeling one should get after listening to a concert and that is the true testament to the quality of this concert!!!

[HarishankarK]

Great Review !!
Bombay Jayashree's concerts are always soul-stirring and one comes back with a very peaceful mood.

I would be grateful if i could get an audio recording of the Hamir Kalyani krithi of Guruji.

Thanks
Hari

[rshankar]

Sri RMK - excellent review...Look forward to more of these from you!

[arasi]

Ramesh,
Enjoyed reading your review. Come up with more!