Vocal Concert by R K Srikantan and R S Ramakanth

[abhiramkeshav]

At Jayanagar, organised by Advaitha Samsthe on 13th June 2010.
Vocal: Vid. R K Srikantan and Vid. R S Ramakanth
Violin: Vid. M A Sundaresan
Mridanga: Vid. Arjun Kumar
Ghata: Vid. Giridhar Udupa

01. varNa - ninnE kOri - kAnaDa- Adi - tiruveTTiyUr tyAgayya
02. gajAnanayutam - chakravAka - Eka - dIkshitar
03. hamsadhwani AlApa - jayamahishAsuramardini - rUpaka - muttaiah bhAgavatar
04. vandE sadA padmanAbham - navarasakannaDa - Adi - maharaja swathi tirunal
05. dEvagAndhAri AlApa - tulasamma - Adi - tyAgarAja
06. mukhAri AlApa - entani nE varNintu shabari - rUpaka - tyAgarAja
07. taNi in rUpaka tAla
08. koniyaDe - kOkiladhwani-Adi-tyAgarAja
09. kalyANi - varavakoDu enage - khanDa chApu - kanakadAsa
10. tOdi - kangaLidyAtakO kAvEri rangana nODadA - rUpaka - shrIpAdarAya
11. bEhag - maDi maDi maDi endu - Adi - purandara dAsa
12. tillAna - dhIm dhIm dhIm .. - kannaDa - Adi -
13. mangala

Review :
This one was a poignant concert by the nonagenarian legend Dr. R K Srikantan and Prof. R S Ramakanth. With excellent accompaniment by the accompanying artists, the vocalists took the elite audience to the core of aesthetics. This concert was organized by Shri. Arun Kumar of Advaitha Samsthe and the hall was a very good one with good acoustics. The concert began with nennE kOri - a varNa in kAnaDa, which was followed by gajAnanayutam in chakravAka with swarakalpana at gajAnanayutam. Then came the AlApa in hamsadhwani which had a special flavor, followed by jayamahishAsuramardini, with swarakalpana at jaya... Later, AlApa by Vid. Ramakanth in dEvagAndhAri was very good bringing out the bhAva of this special rAga which was complimented extraordinarily on violin by M A Sundaresan; a rare krithi - tulasamma followed this. The main item was mukhAri (entani nE) which was elaborated with AlApa and swarakalpana and nereval at kanulAra sEvinci. taNi in rUpaka was very very good. After taNi, there were dEvaranAma's which were rendered very well each starting with a short AlApa. The concert ended with a tillana in kannaDa. One could notice good diction, bhAva and very good krithi-rendering - some signatures of RKS style. All the krithi's were rendered with full bhAva with full justice to the rAga-bhAva. The accompaniment on violin was just too good. Vid. M A Sundaresan's essays in dEvagAndhAri, mukhAri and bEhag were outstanding. Vid. Arjun Kumar and Vid. Giridhar Udupa followed up very well to make the concert a grand one.

[semmu86]

Was this concert @ Bangalore? But what a great list. One can go to a RKS concert just to listen to him sing the varnam alone. Such energy, exuberance and exhilarating music. The adi thAlam kAnadA varnam is a rarely heard one these days and not many sing it. And also the RKS special, "jayamahishAsuramardhini" which i feel epitomizes hamsadhwani.

Curiously though, as there seems to be a long discussion in the other thread regarding left handed artists, we had two left handed artists handling the percussion in this concert

[rshankar]

Any pointers to a vocal version of #3, jayamahishAsuramardini? I have not heard this one...

[abhiramkeshav]

Was this concert @ Bangalore? But what a great list. One can go to a RKS concert just to listen to him sing the varnam alone. Such energy, exuberance and exhilarating music. The adi thAlam kAnadA varnam is a rarely heard one these days and not many sing it. And also the RKS special, "jayamahishAsuramardhini" which i feel epitomizes hamsadhwani.

Curiously though, as there seems to be a long discussion in the other thread regarding left handed artists, we had two left handed artists handling the percussion in this concert

Yes. This concert was in Bengaluru. It was for an invited audience. Yes. This kAnaDa varNa is rare. RKS had sung this varNa about 2-3 years back at NMKRV college when Mysore Nagaraj and SrimushNam Rajarao, HS Sudhindra (double-mridanga) had accompanied him. swara to jayamahishasuramardini was notable , but more appealing one was his AlApa of Hamsadhwani. It stood different from other hamsadhwani AlApa's I have heard till date.

[keerthi]

Any pointers to a vocal version of #3, jayamahishAsuramardini? I have not heard this one...

http://sangeethamshare.org/gvr/Song_Req ... ar-RKS.mp3

By RKS himself.

[rshankar]

Thank you Keerthi!

[ragam-talam]

12. tillAna - dhIm dhIm dhIm .. - kannaDa - Adi -
...
The concert ended with a tillana in kannaDagowLa.

Was the thillana in Kannada or Kannadagowla? Please clarify.

Seems like Jayanagara-vaasis were treated to a great kutcheri.
Was this concert recorded?

[keerthi]

Was the thillana in Kannada or Kannadagowla? Please clarify

It was kannaDa. the tillAna is by vInE shESaNNa, and employs an occasional kaisiki nishAdaM.

[abhiramkeshav]

12. tillAna - dhIm dhIm dhIm .. - kannaDa - Adi -
...
The concert ended with a tillana in kannaDagowLa. Was the thillana in Kannada or Kannadagowla? Please clarify.

Seems like Jayanagara-vaasis were treated to a great kutcheri.
Was this concert recorded?

It was in kannaDa. Sorry for the confusion. It was a mistake to have written it as kannaDagowLa in the write-up. Now it has been corrected. Thanks for pointing it. And this concert was I think for an invited audience; it was organised by Shri. Arun Kumar at his house in a beautiful auditorium. Thanks a lot to Shri. Arun Kumar for organizing this concert by RKS with a very good pakkamELa. This concert has been recorded.

[semmu86]

This concert has been recorded.

Any access to that by any chance, with all the required permissions? That must have been one great concert.

Thanks.

[abhiramkeshav]

This concert has been recorded.
Any access to that by any chance, with all the required permissions? That must have been one great concert.

Thanks.

It was a good concert. But the artists denied the permission to upload. Sorry

[gardabha_gana]

Was this concert publicised ? Where do I find out such info. kpjayan's site didn't have it ? http://kpjayan.wordpress.com/upcoming-c ... bangalore/

-Srikanth

[kssr]

"Yes. This concert was in Bengaluru. It was for an invited audience. "