Violin: Dr. Anjana Srinivasan
Mridangam: Arvind Venkataraman
Kanjira: karthik Venkataraman
Song List
1. SarasijAkshi Mohanam Khandajaati Ata taalam - Vina Kuppier
2. Sweta Ganapatim Ragachudamani Thriputa - Mutthuswami Dikshitar
3. KaNTa Judume Vacaspati Adi - Thyagaraja
4. Nilotpalaambikaya Kannadagowlai Adi (2 kaLai) - Mutthuswami Dikshitar
5. Karuninchudakiti Sindhumandari Adi - Patnam Subramania Iyer
6. Janani Ninuvina Ritigowlai Misracaapu - Subbaraya Sastri
7. Tani
8. RTP Poorvikalyani khandathriputa
"vElanai Siva baalanai varaguNa SIlanai nI ninai manamE"
(Ragas: varada (hamsanaadam)/valaji/hindolam/kaanada/vaasanthi/revati )
9. Asai mugam Ragamalikai Adi - Subramanya Bharathy
(Ragas: Jonpuri/Maand/kaapi/Brindavani/Behag/Sindhubhairavi)
10. Sarvaantharaatmudavu Lalita Adi - Annamachaarya
11. Thillana Khamas Adi - Vina Krishnamachariyar
12. Kaadi mOdi Kuntalavarali (Thiruppugazh) - Arunagirinaathar
13. Pavamaana Saurashtram Adi - Mangalam - Thyagaraja
It was a scintillating evening for the CM elites gathered under the auspices of the South India Cultural Association of Ottawa as the Toronto Brothers (our Forumite) Ashwin and Rohin Iyer the select students of Prof S R Janakiraman kept the audience glued to their seats for 2 hrs 45 mins.
They started with the nice VINa Kuppier Mohanam varnam Sarasijakshi at a brisk pace. That was immediately followed by Dikshitar's Sweta GaNapatim in rAgacUDAmaNi (which is the 32nd Asampurna mela karta). Rohin demonstrated his mastery under the tutelage of SRJ with very effective use of the RiShabham with lovely phrases like N D P M G M R R S N as Anjana provide able support along wih Arvind. This was followed by a beautiful Alaapana of Vacaspati by Ashwin as some of us were speculating parAtpara we were please with Thyagraja's kaNTa jUDumI. The short nerval with swaram at AlanADu with the gentle coddling of dhaivatam was just delightful. This submain laid the foundation for the treat to follow! They chose MD's kannadagowlai NilotpalAmbikayA in the measured 2 kaLai pace to be followed by a blasting of PSI's KaruNinchuTakidi samayamayyA in the rare raga sindhumandari. The chitta swarams composed by SRJ himself was simply superb. The fast pace provided a wakeup call for the Main that was to follow. An elaborate aalaapana of RitigowLai followed. Anjana was simply superbly demonstrating the skill of her training under the LGJ school. Incidentally she is the daughter of Dr. K Srinivasan (of Montreal) who developed the very first Tamil Font
(Adhawin) and is an avid fundamental researcher in the computerization of Tamil. Ashwin chose the mantra and madhya sthaayi and left the taara for Rohin to elaborate where Rohin initially had some trouble till he warmed up. The kriti was the majestic Subbaraaya Sastri's Janani ninuvina . The nereval swaram was at thaamasamu sEyakanE brOvumu.
The duo simplyexhausted the beauty of RitigowLai's exacting every ounce of melody in the NNS', prayogam! The alternate swaram singing was quite reminiscent of the MallaDi Brothers. Arvind provided able support as Karthik was getting ready for his debut.
The Tani that followed though short was just picture perfect! Karthik suddenly came alive and played a vigorous round of avartanam to thundering applause. That electrified Arvind to start his own with delightful rhythmic phrases passing between the two culminating in a joint finsh with a flourish. Arvind displayed his skill mastered under the able tutelage of
Prof Sankaran at Toronto as Kartik demonstrated his excellent training under Sri Mushnam (and he is no stranger to the visitors of Cleveland Festival annually). It is notable that nobody left their seats during the Tani as they stayed electrified.
Naturally now the awaited RTP followed. The duo chose Poorviklyani (khanda thriputa 3/4 eDam). The raga aalaapana was out of this world with all three collaborating. Ashwin focussed on elaborating of the mandra amd madhyma while Rohin in addition took care of elaborating madhyama and taara where his voice rang out melodiously in the hall with fine acoustics with Anjana synchronizing with both adding her own! The pallavi chosen was:
"vElanai Sivabaalani varaguNaSIlanai ninai nI manamE (vaDi)"
The taanam was done perfectly. As the nereval swaram started Arvind and kartik joined appropriately. The trikaalam was done exquisitely in both catusram and thisram with the able support of the percussionists. The durita kaalam thisram was indeed tight-rope walking for them but the calculations were perfect. The team proved in spite of their
youth they are also a master of kaNakku. The kalpana swarams followed now in Varada (which was the original name of what is now known as hamsanaadam), valaji, hindolam, kaanada, vaasanthi and Revati.. The trio took tuns here each displaying their versatility. No doubt the audience enjoyed every moment of it.
As time was running out there was a delightful Raagamaalika of Bharathy's Asai mugam which was generally sung in Jonpuri but modified by SRJ in the beautiful ragas Jonpuri/Maand/kaapi/brindaavani/behag/sindhubhairavi. This was followed by (you guessed it Annammacharya since how can the shishya of SRJ leave him out!) 'SarvaantharamuDavu' in Lalitha tuned by SRJ himself. A quick thillana followed in Khamas followed by Thriuppugazh in kunthalavaraaLi before the mangalam to finish with a spontaneous standing ovation from the audience.
The President of SICA Balasubramania Sitarama Sastri pointed out an interesting fact on the Guru lineage of the artistes.Thyagaraja' s shishya (and cousin) was maanaambuchaavadi venkatasubbier whose shishya was PSI whose shishya was Tiger varadachari whose shishya was SRJ whose shishyas are the toronto brothers. Thus the tradition is nicely preserved in the Guru paramapara and now it is international as all these artiste team have Canada as their home which bodes well for the future of CM internationally. Actually full credit goes to Prof SRJ for grooming these artistes tirelessly. In fact I was pleased to note that Ashwin had even acquired the body language of SRJ. The added incentive for him was having his young newlywed bride Radha Rajagopalan keeping the Tambura shruti beside him
(GBL will be happy to note that!).
As the team which is quite young keeps practising together they are sure to make waves in the CM world in future. I am sure many of you will have the opportunity to hear them this season at Chennai and Bangalore if the sabhas are promoting real talent. Don't miss them and you will not be disappointed!
The future of CM in Canada is in very good hands! God bless them!
. This is your first review where you have kickstarted with a new post.keep it going. We need more from ottawa , grab rajee gOpAlakrishnan for a concert if she is still in toronto , else check up if our young lad, fellow forumite abhishek iyer(aged 2 power 4 ) is just ready to follow the toronto iyer brothers.
