k gAyathri@ps high school on July 23rd, 2010

[rajeshnat]

k gAyathri@ps high school on July 23rd, 2010
--------------------------------------------------------
Vocal : k gAyathri
Violin : sp ananthapadmanAbhA
Mrudangam : R.SankaranArayanan
Concert duration : 2 hours and 15 minutes
Sponsor : rAga tharangini
Theme : GNB centenary (assuming as I heard lot of GNB compositions)

1. varnam???
2. uNdEdi rAmudu- harikAmbOdhi - T
....

3. shree chakra rAga nilayE (R S) - shivashakthi - GNB
7+ minutes of alApanai, 5 mins violin return
3 mins swaras
4. shree kumAra - atAnA- ST
5. kamalAcharaNE - amritha behAg - GNB

6A. mAmakulEshwaram (R N S T)- tOdi - GNB
15 mins alApana and 6 mins violin return
neraval for 8 mins in "shree rAjam harihara sudham sumasa guhaDrAjam???"
8 mins swaras
6B. tani for 10 mins

7.Kannanidam Eduthu Solladi - shenjuruTTi + punnagavarAli + nAdamAmakriyA- Ambujam Krishna
8.murugaNin marupeyaR - behAg- swami surajAnanda
9. parulanna mAta - kApi - Dharmapuri SubbarAyar
10. neeraja dhala nayanA - mAnd- mannArgudi sAmbhasiva bhAgavathar
11. nee nAma

I was half an hour late , just went in to hear a lovely alApana which I thought it was varamu till she announced it was shivashakthi , I think few months back in the same venue Raji gOpAlakrishnan also sang the same rAga with me wrongly assuming it was varamu(It took me 10 years to graduate and confidently say that varamu and hindOlam are different , but I guess I have to be born again to know the varamu-shivashakthi difference).

The alApana of shivashakthi was excellent and it was the top pick of the concert, extremely engaging with an emphasis on both sowkhyam and controlled aggression .The tOdi alApana also stood very tall nicely covering all octaves with some excellent nAdaswara piDi too. kum k gAyathri indeed shines well in alApana.

But however atleast in this concert ,i felt for all the songs there was not much vocal blend with the mridangam play of shankaranarayanan. Incidentally both the vocalist and mridangist are top notch stars to watch out for , but however they were caught with the mediocrity bug that always shows its head in few concerts .

The shivashakthi krithi and swaras were just good, I enjoyed the atAna which to me was bit rare as it is in a slower tempo then most of the atAna songs that are in circulation. amrithabehAg was not that well done and the blend of rAgam and layam was quite dissonant.Incidentally I felt KG did try to go with a faster GNB'ish kAlapramanam for this amrithabehAg but she ended a bit slower too, somehow the finish was not that clean.

She sang quite well this tough uphill climb krithi of mAmakulEshwaram .I felt little more internalizing would have been better. The neraval was just good and the swaras were a notch better.In the tukkadas there was quite a lot of variety in terms of a touch of semmangudi, santhAnam and MLV popularized krithis , few of them like AK's rAgamAliga and behAg were quite enjoyable and well done .The last mAnd was very low key and I did not like her rendition.

The violinist was good , the mridangist was bit loud in the tani, he was perhaps very creative or may be the strokes that he tried just did not gel that well during krithi rendition.Shankar tried to be very strokeful as his guru srimushnam ,that perhaps may have not gelled that well with few rare krithis that are not that much in circulation . Certainly KG is a very creative and an aesthetic musician .But yesterday I felt it more only in her alApanas .

The cindrella time has moved from 9pm to 8:30 pm in the last few years in chennai sabhas, incidentally yesterday it was moved to 08:15pm when she sang mangalam which was definitely a disappointment.Overall a good to very good concert.

[Sathej]

6A. mAmakulEshwaram (R N S T)- tOdi - GNB
15 mins alApana and 6 mins violin return
neraval for 8 mins in "shree rAjam harihara sudham sumasa guhaDrAjam???"
8 mins swaras
6B. tani for 10 mins

The Neraval line would read as sumashara guhAgrajam shrI rAjam harihara sutam.

A nice, leisurely GNB Krithi in Tisra Eka 2 Kalai.

7.Kannanidam Eduthu Solladi - shenjuruTTi + varAli + nAdamAmakriyA- Ambujam Krishna

The Ragams for this Ragamalika would be Senjuritti, Punnagavarali and Nadanamakriya.

Sathej

[rajeshnat]

sathej
Tx wanted to add varAli left it as varAli.smile is punnaga(i).

Arasi,
Did smt AK or whoever the tunesmith was take up this krithi along the same rAgas of the popular krithi shree chakra rAja which has the same 3 rAgas in the same order (shenjuruTTi,punnagavarAli and nAdanAmakriyA)excluding the 4th rAga.

[arasi]

Rajesh,
There are only two rAgams in this--sencuruTTi and nAda nAmakriyai. Don't know if AK thought of the ragams for the song. VVSadagopan tuned it.

[mahakavi]

mAmakulEshwaram (R N S T)- tOdi - GNB

Is this song on sabarimalai ayyappan or on the local ayyanAr deity in GNB's ancestral town near MayilADuturai?

[ragam-talam]

rajeshnat, thanks for the review and bringing to our attention yet another artiste.
Who is her guru?

The cindrella time has moved from 9pm to 8:30 pm in the last few years in chennai sabhas, incidentally yesterday it was moved to 08:15pm

Nicely put. I suppose in the age of 20-over cricket and mini-lunches, we may soon have mini- and micro- concerts!

[arasi]

Suguna Purushotham.

[Gamakam]

Mahakavi,

The song refers to the sAstha in Anandatandavapuram (near his home town).

[mahakavi]

Gamakam:
Thanks. I thought it was on the village deity. The word "ayyanAr" is more commonly used in and around MayilADuturai. I have heard "shAstA" in the KAraikkal area.

[ksrimech]

Arasi, Smt MS sings kaNNaniDam eDuttuccholladi as a rAgamAlika in senchuruTTi, punnAgavarALi and nAdanAmakriyA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY8APCpVSUU

[sangithapithu1]

Alapanas of thodi and sivasakthi were the highlight of the concert. Good ideas.

Overall a very good concert

[sureshvv]

Sivasakthi was presented as a straight subset of Varamu. I think I have heard versions which had hints of Bagheshree. May be some of those type of sancharas were omitted. Found that aspect somewhat wanting.

[kssr]

k gAyathri@ps high school on July 23rd, 2010
with some excellent nAdaswara piDi too..

Can someone tell what exactly is the Nadaswara Pidi. I hear a lot about it, esp in connection with GNB baani. If anything on youtube or a short audio clip would help.

Heard the guru Smt.Suguna Purushotham, this week end. Silky soft voice. Very pleasant hearing. There was one of her own compositions on Saint Thyagaraja in Atana. One of the few kritis that capture your attention the very first time you listen to it. Very good and appropriate wording in Tamil which fits the raga and thala. I have unfortunately not noted down details of this concert to start a separate thread. It was a private concert for an invited audience.

[hamsadhwani]

There was one of her own compositions on Saint Thyagaraja in Atana. One of the few kritis that capture your attention the very first time you listen to it. Very good and appropriate wording in Tamil which fits the raga and thala.

That must be "kanden kanden... ayyatrinai kanden kanden"