Maharajapuram Ramachandran - San Diego - 12th Sep 2010

[bilahari]

Maharajapuram S. Ramachandran - Vocal
Nagai Muralidaran - Violin
Mannargudi Easwaran - Mrudangam

Duration: 2h 40min

Approximate Songlist:

01. karuNimpa idi (varNam) - sahAna - Adi
02a. baktiyuDaiyAr (vruttam) - hamsadwani
02b. sadAsivan maindan gajamukanE (S @ kArtikEyanin) - hamsadwani - Adi - Santhanam

03. sadA enna hrudayadalli (N @ enna nAnO, S) - pantuvarALi/kAsirAmakriya - rUpakam
04. unDEdi rAmuDu (R, N @ kSEmakaruDu tyAgarAja, S) - harikAmbOji - rUpakam
05. himAcala tanaya - Ananda bhairavi - Adi
06. mAnamulEdA (R, S @ pallavi, T) - hamIrkalyANi - Adi

07. naLinakAntimatim - rAgamAliga
08. kSIrAbdi kannikE - rAgamAliga
09. pranatArtimagam - sencuruTTi - MV
10. rAghavEndra rAghavEndra - sivaranjani
11. nIrAjadala nayana - mAND
12. gOvindA ninna nAmamE - janassamOdini
13. bhO SambhO - rEvati
14. nI nAma rUpamulaku - sowrASTram - Adi

MSR started with a nice sketch of sahAna and sang the varNam in madhyama kAlam. The hamsadhwani that followed was easily the highlight of the concert for me. Santhanam's krithi is very beautiful and was sung emotively by MSR, and the line he took up for swara prastharam was also beautiful. Swaras had nice poruttam to the eDuppu and the shadjam and gandhAram oriented phrases were sung very nicely. MAE's accompaniment for the kalpanaswaras was excellent, and I thought we were in for a great evening.

The pantuvarALi was brisk, and MSR introduced a lot of flat notes in the kalpanaswaras, often eschewing panchamam to give a pUrya dhanaSrI feel, all the while looking eagerly at Pandit Ravi Shankar for appreciation. MSR hacked away at harikAmbOji, taking an excessively aggressive approach running here and there without much direction, leaving no pauses, etc. I was flabbergasted. UnDEdi rAmuDu was sung fairly, with some classic touches in the pallavi sangathis, bringing out the beauty of this raga (that one would not have identified in the alapanai). The neraval and kalpanaswaras were OK.

MSR took up hamIrkalyANi as main. The alapanai was similar to harikAmbOji, and there were flat notes aplenty (again, probably to evoke nods of appreciation from Panditji). The swaras were short; MSR didn't seem to spend any time on kIzh kAla swaras this evening.

The concert which had been sliding downhill from the hamsadhwani, had a brief recovery during the thani avarthanam, which MAE handled with finesse. It was an engaging, beautiful thani, but since I don't know about layam, I cannot comment about the intricacies except to say I enjoyed it thoroughly. I also enjoyed MAE's playing throughout the evening - his anticipation is excellent, and his tIrmAnams in krithis like uNDEdi rAmuDu and mAnamulEda were excellent. His clarity is also quite amazing.

The main item of the concert was concluded within 1h 45 min, leaving 45-55 minutes. I was hoping for a vinAyakar themed pallavi since it was chaturti yesterday, and I was certainly expecting some pallavi, but MSR chose to sing tukkaDas for the remaining hour. I didn't find the tukkaDa session absorbing in the least and was disappointed that a concert that had started with such promise had degenerated so.

Nagai Muralidaran played well throughout the concert, and gave apt replies. His bowing and fingering have never been the best, and he did struggle during fast fingering phrases, but he gave good support. His kalpanaswara returns were excellent this evening, though he, too, took an aggressive approach to raga alapanai.

MSR did not impress after hamsadhwani. Although he has a good voice that reaches well into the mandra stAyi, his voice did not have an evenness tonight. Additionally, his shruti wavered frequently. I thought his planning - or lack thereof - left much to be desired, too. His kalpanaswaras had nice concluding patterns but were not really remarkable for bringing out rAga bhAvam. His neravals were brief. His last concert in San Diego two years ago was much better. Perhaps this was an off day. More than the music, I found MSR's sycophancy tonight particularly disturbing. He broke out at least twice during the concert expressing such pleasure and gratitude that Pandit Ravi Shankar attended the concert. When he received applause, he claimed it was only because of Panditji's blessings. He sang a janassamOdini piece especially for Panditji since Panditji had initially played the ragam. At the end of the concert, he broke out in an impassioned speech declaring that 'we are all nothing without you, Panditji...without you, there would be no Indian music overses.." etc, etc. His pandering was disgusting and pathetic.

The standing ovation at the end was pathetic too.

[mahakavi]

bilahari:
Such an honest review! You could have glossed over the negatives and paid lip service like some others do. But your conscience wouldn't let you. Your honesty is appreciated. Yes MR could have planned it better. Was it his first concert in the US this time? The jet lag could have contributed too. As for the Panditji episode, it could have been left out. He could have just acknowledged his presence and continued.

[sureshvv]

May be he was a fan of Panditji and was overwhelmed by his attendance. While it is okay to criticize general conduct during the concert, I would suggest that we refrain from using words like sycophancy and pandering which cast a shadow on the artiste's integrity.

[Mahathma]

Bilahari, nice review. I have followed your posts for a while now and i feel you are pretty restrained. I wouldnt blame you if you wrote what you did in spite of exercising the restraint you normally do. As for the Panditji episode, i really feel an artiste on stage is the King and he must be immersed in the spirit of music that is being delivered. Whether it is the prime minister or Panditji who is sitting amongst the audience must not allow him to change the quality of music he would otherwise have delivered. Having said that it indeed calls for lot of maturity to be oneself when such doyens sit in front of you .

[bilahari]

MK, I don't know about MSR's tour schedule, but I always cut the artistes slack because these overseas tours can be very rushed and stressful. The artistes were scheduled to take a flight out of San Diego two hours after the concert!

Suresh, that is a fair point and it was certainly not my intention to question MSR's integrity. But as Mahathma has pointed out, I feel MSR should not have become quite so obsessed with Panditji's presence (the accompanists certainly didn't). MSR is a perfectly competent singer who does not - or should not - need external validation.

[mahakavi]

Let us say that MR got a little bit excited by the presence of panditji and hence the impassioned speech. Otherwise, MR is a musician of solid stature and is capable of performing with the highest calibre. I hope the rest of MR's tour concerts go very well.

[mankuthimma]

http://www.mediafire.com/?ts42wqqgrqklqso

Let us say MSR did not say it musically enough
Let us wind back to a day when Pt Jasraj paid a tribute to Rukmini Devi Arundale at Kalakshetra. weeks before her passing away . Moving her to tears . Wait for the finish !!!!

[sureshvv]

Lets just say for argument's sake that Smt. M.S. was still alive and was present in the audience. What would have been an appropriate reaction from the main artiste?

Pandit Ravi Shankar is considered to be in the same league by many.

[meenat]

Your review reflected my own feelings. MR was rather overwhelmed by Panditji's presence. I am a visitor to San Diego. In this connection I would recall the concert by Ganesh-Kumaresh at the temple few yrs. back when also Panditji walked in and the duo kept their usual mien and not excited. By the way was there "His master's voice" during MR's concert?

[suma]

Bilahari, nice review. I have followed your posts for a while now and i feel you are pretty restrained. I wouldnt blame you if you wrote what you did in spite of exercising the restraint you normally do. As for the Panditji episode, i really feel an artiste on stage is the King and he must be immersed in the spirit of music that is being delivered. Whether it is the prime minister or Panditji who is sitting amongst the audience must not allow him to change the quality of music he would otherwise have delivered. Having said that it indeed calls for lot of maturity to be oneself when such doyens sit in front of you .

I agree