Smts. Ranjani and Gayatri at Edison NJ, Sep 24, 2010

[rshankar]

Team:
Vocal: Smts. Ranjani and Gayatri
Violin: Si H. N. Bhaskar
mRdangam: Sri Sairam
Organizers:
CMANA
Venue:
kRshNa vRndAvan, Edison, NJ
Disclaimer:
This is not a review, but just my very amateurish observations.

If you want a one-liner, then: From their elegant and tastefully color-coordinated stage presence to the last note, the concert was filled with aesthetic repose and introspection. Overall, a very good concert for a tad over 3 hours.

The list:
sAmi ninnE kOri unnAnu rA - Sri, Adi - Karoor Devudu Iyer (O[G])
rAmacandra pAhi satatam - pUrNacandrikA, rUpaka - Swati Tirunal* (S)
mansAra mati aNi - sAramati, Adi - Tanjavur Sankara Iyer
pAlintuvO - kAntAmaNi, Adi - Tyagaraja (R[G])*
navasiddhi peTRAlum - kharaharapriyA, ? - Neelakanta Sivan
SrikAmakOTi - sAvEri, Adi - Mysuru Sadasiva Rao (R[R], N, S, T)
marugElarA - jayantaSrI, ?Adi - Tyagaraja
dvirAga rAgam tAnam pallavi - Arabhi, Anandabhairavi
pallavi: "Ar abhimAnam vait(u)AdarippAr ennai, Anandabhairavi unai allAl"
rAgamAlika svarams in vasantabhairavi, salagabhairavi, sindhubhairavi
rAgamAlika viruttam (ADiya pAdattE) followed by idu tAnO tillai sthalam - behAg, Adi - Gopalakrishna Bharati
kamal mukh rAm bhajan kO diyA - bhajan - durgA - Kabirdas
AdA kOTE dhAm - abhang - bhImplAsi - Tukaram
bhAgyada lakshmI bArammA - madhyamAvati, Adi - Purnadara Dasa
maNgaLam - pavamAna sutuDu - saurAshTram - Tyagaraja

(* Songs that were completely new to me)

My impressions:
When I got to the venue and was purchasing a ticket, I heard Smt. Gayatri's voice, and was afraid that the concert had started early - but, thankfully, they were just performing some sound checks. I had time to have darSan in the lovely, quiet santum sanctorum before meeting up with some friends and finding seats in the hall that was filling up fast. The concert started at 7:15 PM (which was a mere 15 minutes later than the advertised time, kudos to CMANA) with a brief outline of the mangaLarAgam, the concert was well on its way.
The varNam was sung in two speeds and this was a rare opportunity to actually understand the simple, yet beautiful lyrics enunciated very clearly, without any form of muffling or mangling of the sAhitya. Next was a completely new one in pUrNacandrika, with svaras sung during the last iteration of the pallavi at 'rAmacandra'. manasAra mati aNi was OK. This was followed by the first AlApana of the evening - it kept us guessing (I will not embarrass myself by listing the possibilities that were entertained), until Smt. Gayatri announced that it was kAntAmaNi, and out popped another song I have not heard before. There were some nice svara exchanges between the sisters and the violinist, at pAlintu, including some jhaNTha svaras that were nice to hear, and there was a very nice korvai that Sri Sairam played to end the kRti. The next was the not-very-frequently-heard navasiddhi peTrAlum (a unique feature is the mudra 'nIlakaNThan' in this kRti) emotively sung in an 'ati vilamba' mode. Smt. Gayatri (who handles all the announcements on behalf of the duo), explained the beautiful meaning of sAvi (which the composer uses repeatedly and alternately with the adjective 'pAvi' to describe mortals who do not indulge in worship of Siva) in this composition.
Next was the 'main', I suppose: An elaborate sAvEri by Smt. Ranjani, with a lovely response from Sri Bhaskar. We were anticipating a kRti by Sri MD, but we were treated to Myusuru Sri Sadasiva Rao's emotion-filled pean to the vision of compassion who resides at the kAmkOTi pITham. Comparisons are odious, but, to me, this is yet another signature song of Smt. MSS. The sisters sang the composition very well, with clear diction, and there was an elaborate neveral at (as anticipated) 'kanja lOcanE bhavAni, kadamba vana nilayE'. If Smt. MSS' neveral at the exact point made one visualize kAmAkshi herself, the nereval yesterday brought out the rAga dEvatA. After the elaborate nereval shared by the duo, and mirrored by the violinist, extensive svaras were sung, anchored around 'kadamba vana nilayE' in the slow speed, and just 'kadamba' in the faster speed. A short tani rounded off this composition, making it a 'main'.
After a filler (marugElarA), Smt. Ranjani started with an AlApana of Arabhi that was (at least to me) a bit confusing at several places; after Sri Bhaskar's much more traditional response, Smt. Gayatri took up Anandabhairavi, passed the baton to Sri Bhaskar, and Smt. Gayatri completed that round of Anandabhiravi. Smt. Gayatri then took up Arabhi, and then the sisters alternated between Arabhi and A'bhairavi before launching the tAnam - the dvi rAga tAnam was very well done, and was one of the highlights. Then came the pallavi - I have no clue about the technicalities, but it was very well and extensively done, and then there were several rounds of svarams in Arabhi and A'bhairavi, followed by the rAgamAlika svarams. I have to mention that Smt. Gayatri sang the sindhubhairavi section, and to me it sounded uncannily like hindustani bhairavi, and it culminated in a finely controlled frenzy that reminded me of 'mAtA jAgarans' - it was superbly done. The entire RTP came to a close (after nearly an hour) with a very lovely conclusion (no clue what it is called) by Sri Sairam, and the thunderous applause that followed was richly deserved - there was a lot of 'sweat ATP' expended by the entire team over this.
The team must have heard of my hope for a viruttam - a lovely rAgamAlika viruttam that segued into the equally lovely and lilting composition 'idu tAnO tillai sthalam' followed, and was a very appropriate foil to the intense RTP. The sisters then sang a bhajan by sant kabIrdAs after explaining the meaning.
The proceedings were interrupted for a 'vote-of-thanks', and the inevitable abhang followed. The last time, I left after the abhang thinking the concert was 'over', and the sisters sang a tillAna, so this time, I was determined to stick it till the end...but to no avail. The concert ended with Sri PD's request for lakshmi to grace him/us and Saint Tyagaraja's maNgaLam.
Sri Bhaskar and Sri Sairam did not accompany the artists or play second fiddle, but truly owned the concert along with the vocalists and enhanced the listening experience immensely. Sri Bhaskar has had a long association with the duo and it is very evident in how comfortable their relationship is on stage. I was very impressed with Sri Sairam - the mRdangam 'sang' with perfect anticipation.
There were no fire-works, or breathtaking acts that made one's pulse race, or, launched the rasika into outer space, but, it was a performance that one did not want to end - reposeful, tuneful, meditative, and yes, sublime. All in all, a great end to work-week, and a typical fare from the sisters whose professionalism is something I am always impressed with.

Some stray (and unrelated) observations:
1) Seated as I was to the extreme right (facing the stage), I was startled by strange and hissing sounds that seemed to come out of the wall beside me that took me to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets right away - just as I was wondering if I need a mirror before turing around to look or needed to know parseltongue, I was informed that the sounds were from the maDapaLLi (the temple kitchen)! How mundane! Anyway, the noises of the cooking were rather distracting from that point on.
2) At several points, it was clear that sisters may have had different ideas - but this in no way interrupted the flow of the performance or detracted from it. On the contrary, it should counter speculation that a lot of their presentations are rehearsed.

[nuyorker]

pallavi: "Ar abhimAnam vait(u)AdarippAr ennai, Anandabhairavi unai allAl"

Pallavi was in Chatushra Triputa (Adi), Kanda Nadai, Eduppu @ 1/2 after samam.

[rshankar]

Thank you for pointing that out.
There is a concert planned (October 29th?) at Rutgers by the same team billed as a 'special' concert - a HM/CM jugalbandhi. No clue who's organizing it, but sounds interesting.

[bilahari]

Ravi, thanks for the very nice review! This kAntamaNi is new to me, too, so I'd probably have entertained some rather ridiculous options as well! The RTP looks very interesting. And you got a viruttam!

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Ravi,
I was eagerly waiting for your report and it is very good as I expected!

The concert must have been a treat. And, I am happy to see Mysore Sadashiva Rao's compositions making it back to concert circuit lately.

[cienu]

Thanks for the review Ravi. As Bilhari mentioned in his earlier post the sisters seem to be in great touch..

[nuyorker]

Their pallavi, simply put, was brilliant. Clearly prepared well in advance, but fabulous nevertheless. They did, however, skip tisram in the anulomam section of the pallavi, as far as I remember.

Gayatri sings out of this world ... what can I say? She's a head and about a couple of shoulders above her contemporary CM peers. Her voice modulation is perfect, her manodharmam reserves aplenty, and she's nailed the art of the muddippu (finishing) to the u.

I will be driving 4 hours for their Boston kutcheri next Sunday, hoping to hear a detailed rendition of a rakthi raga like Kedaragowla/Surutti/Devagandhari. Never had the opportunity to hear one of these ragams in their concerts.

There is a concert planned (October 29th?) at Rutgers by the same team billed as a 'special' concert - a HM/CM jugalbandhi. No clue who's organizing it, but sounds interesting.

Is this going to be just the sisters singing CM/HM ragas/pieces or are they actually performing with another Hindustani musician?

[rajeshnat]

mRdangam: Sri Sairam
I was very impressed with Sri Sairam - the mRdangam 'sang' with perfect anticipation.

Ravi
That was a very great review. THe mRdangam artist is Delhi sairam , who is a student of Tiruvarur bhaktavatsalam. How could you miss Delhi ?
Can you squeeze your memory to list out the ragamaligas of viruththam.

[rshankar]

Rajesh you are correct...He is Delhi Sri Sairam. viruttam - nuyorker correct me if I am wrong, but the rAgas were SaNmukhapriya, hamsAnandi and behAg.
I think the HM/CM will feature just the sisters - possibly with the same team.

[arasi]

Ravi,
Like Sreeni, I was waiting to read your review as well. Thanks!
From what I gather, they seem to be in their elements now and are veering more towards the clasical mode in their repertoire, if I'm not mistaken. bhAvam and sAhitya Suddham are very much their forte. They seem to be varying their song lists too.

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks for the excellent review, Ravi.

>(* Songs that were completely new to me)
Quite appropriate given the town where the concert took place

[rshankar]

Thank you everyone - again - this was just my impression. I am hoping that nuyorker will post his view/review as well for all of us (especially me) to figure out if the take was/is different (although it can't be very different, given that a trip to Boston is in offing). (I have assigned nuyorker a male gender more by inference, and I could be totally off - If I am, my apologies!)

[rshankar]

>(* Songs that were completely new to me) Quite appropriate given the town where the concert took place

I think we were being used to (dress) rehearse for the upcoming season!

[nuyorker]

nuyorker correct me if I am wrong, but the rAgas were SaNmukhapriya, hamsAnandi and behAg

I am pretty sure that it was Shanmukhapriya (Gayatri), Brindavana Saranga (Ranjani) and Behag (Gayatri).

I am hoping that nuyorker will post his view/review as well for all of us (especially me) to figure out if the take was/is different (although it can't be very different, given that a trip to Boston is in offing)

Shankar, your review was excellent and any additions on my side would be largely redundant and biased, since I've already admitted to being a fan of their music. I'm not exactly bowled over by the abhangs, Mira bhajans and matching sarees (alright, alright, the matching sarees are freaking cool), but more often than not, their kutcheri fare is outstanding.

(I have assigned nuyorker a male gender more by inference, and I could be totally off - If I am, my apologies!)

Yup. Last time I checked, definitely male.

[cmlover]

Thanks Shankar
Now we eagerly await the team at our town on Oct 15th. Being durgashtami I am sure there will be more devi kritis. Any rate from previous experience I can confidently say they never disappoint.
Your personal review is very enjoyable with your typical stamp. Finally did you get to visit the maDappaLLi and get a treat too
chevikkuNavu uLLa pOthu vayiRRukkum Sirithu eeyappaDuM

[ragam-talam]

navasiddhi peTRAlum - kharaharapriyA, ? - Neelakanta Sivan

rshankar - this kriti is set to misra chapu talam.

[arasi]

Ravi,
I like the way you clearly label the organizers and the venues. I hope like Rajesh's 'good, excellent and so on' guage, this is picked up too by other reviewers. Reason? All the confusion I had initially when I started attending the Chennai Season. The papers and other sources would mention just one, and we would not know where the particular sabha was holding a concert under the given banner on a given date!

[Abhishek]

There is a concert planned (October 29th?) at Rutgers by the same team billed as a 'special' concert - a HM/CM jugalbandhi. No clue who's organizing it, but sounds interesting.Is this going to be just the sisters singing CM/HM ragas/pieces or are they actually performing with another Hindustani musician?

According to their blog, it will be just them singing both CM and HM. What a treat for rasikas in NJ!
Read about it here: http://ranjanigayatri.blogspot.com/

[mankuthimma]

HM Learnt only by listening .
I Never knew that it could be learnt that way too . Anyway one can never feel old when the world is learning new ways .
No wonder there are people who make fun of learning HM that involves mastering Sa for six months .
What an irony !!!!
To a HM Practitioner CM looks so intimidating .
To a CM Practitioner HM looks so easy .

http://www.mediafire.com/?jk2c35dpsen6kng

Here is a glimpse from a wonderful evening when I watched 90 % of a jampacked KGS hall empty itself after an OST Concert.
Right in front of this HM artist's eyes .Who then sang to an empty hall .
And look what he has to say about his art . After 50 Years , he thinks he is still a starter.This was a concert where the artist was seen nurturing his first student , after a decade of tutelage , through the various steps in a concert .
Oversimplification is the bane of our times . Especially when names like Mansoor and Ginde are bandied about

[mahesh3]

K-ji, do u have the full charukeshi? wow...

[mankuthimma]

K-ji, do u have the full charukeshi? wow...

http://www.mediafire.com/?94a5yhasjskdm
Three tracks for you in this folder .Charukesi and one each of Mansoor and Ginde

[thenpaanan]

http://www.mediafire.com/?94a5yhasjskdm
Three tracks for you in this folder .Charukesi and one each of Mansoor and Ginde

Thimmaji,

That folder is empty now. Was that my error?

-then paanan

[mankuthimma]

No I have been reworking the folders to make them fit a particular pattern for my blog.
It was cramped with too many unconnected links.
Sorry if you had not downloaded it yet. That may happen to some more links if not downloaded .
Restored here. With a bonus video of Mansoor singing a serene Bihaagada and closing it with a Nat Behag
http://www.mediafire.com/?a9e9qfbvyfgq1

[gnarsim]

RU SWARA presents
"RANG"
Friday October 29th at 7:30pm
Vocal Concert
Ranjani & Gayatri
Accompanied by H.N. Bhaskar (Violin), Delhi Sairam (Mridangam), and Sai Shyam (Tabla)

Cook Campus Multi-Purpose Room
Rutgers University (Cook Campus)
59 Biel Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Tickets:
Adult (Advance): $15.00
Adult (at Door): $20.00
Non-Rutgers Students (with valid id): $10.00
Children (8 and below): FREE
Rutgers Students/Faculty (with valid id): FREE

Advance Ticket Contacts:
Gopal Narsimhamurthy: (732) 821-1659
Yash Bhalerao: (732) 355-9464
Naveen Basavanhally: (609) 466-1220

Questions/Concerns
Email: [email protected]

[skrishnan]

Hi,

Just one more addition to the song list. The first raga during the ragamalika swarams for the pallavi was actually Natabhairavi, which then followed by vasanthabhairavi and the others.

[Lakshman]

rshankar: the ST song is rAmacandra pAhi satatam. Here are the lyrics. Did they sing all the caraNAS?


rAmacandra pAhi satatam. rAgA: pUrNacandrikA. rUpaka tALA.

P: rAmacandra pAhi satatam ravi vamsha dIpa ramaNIya kAlaya
A: sAmajEndragatE bhavasAgara pOtAnata kAmadAna paTutama kAma sundarAnga vibhO
C1: maunijana sEvya caraNa krpArasAbdhE mAruti sannatapAda mAnanIya kIrti
vAsamakhavO pAlAnga kAntE bhAnu himakara nEtra phAla shObhi su-lalAma
2: kIsha nikara parivrta drtAvanijA kaTAkSa bhAsuradAma nAshitAngri
sEvAlOla nikarAmaya pAsha vAraya mAmaka pApajAtam dinamanu
3: cAru bAhu shObhi kArmuka sAkEta dhAma jAtarUpa nibha vasana ghOra
raNa taTa bahu dhIra kapi varahara vArirAshi ghana mada vAraNaika paTushara
4: rAvaNArE kuru kushalam lOkatryApi ranjanIya mrdu hAsa bhAva dukkhESu
krpayA bhavya lIlamAkShipa mAm pAvana shrta shrI padmanAbha rUpadhara

[rshankar]

Lji - It's been a while, so I do not recollect. However, I have signed up for the CD of the concert, so I will check and let you know when I get it.

[prasadvrg]

Hello Shankar,
Thanks for the nice write up of the concert.
I had the opportunity to attend their concert in Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai in 2008 December(27thDec). They sang:
Navasiddhi petralum in Karaharipriya,
Sri Kamakoti in Saveri,
Palintuvo in Kantamani and
the Pallavi was in 2 ragas, Arabhi and Anandabhairavi. The ragamalika swaras included all the ragas you mentioned.

Aboout kantamani ragam, when I listened to it I first thought it was Chandrajyoti ( Bagayanayya). How closely is Kantamani related to Chandrajyoti. Can anyone through light on this please?
Thanks and regards,
Prasad

[Abhishek]

Hello Shankar,
Thanks for the nice write up of the concert.
I had the opportunity to attend their concert in Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai in 2008 December(27thDec). They sang:
Navasiddhi petralum in Karaharipriya,
Sri Kamakoti in Saveri,
Palintuvo in Kantamani and
the Pallavi was in 2 ragas, Arabhi and Anandabhairavi. The ragamalika swaras included all the ragas you mentioned.

Aboout kantamani ragam, when I listened to it I first thought it was Chandrajyoti ( Bagayanayya). How closely is Kantamani related to Chandrajyoti. Can anyone through light on this please?
Thanks and regards,
Prasad

kAntAmaNI is actually a mElakartA rAgam. It goes like this: S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N1 S, S N1 D1 P M2 G3 R2 S (you can think of the first half as kalyANI and the second half as kanakAngI)

ChandrajyOti, on the other hand, is a janya rAgam, which can be derived either from the 40th mElakartA navaneetam or the 41st mElakartA pAvani. Its scale goes like this: S R1 G1 M2 P D2 S, S D2 P M2 G1 R1 S

As for the difference between the two rAgams, kAntAmani has the chatuSruti dhaivatam and antara gAndhAram, whereas chandrajyOti has shuddha rishabham and shuddha gAndhAram.
Also, chandrajyOti doesn't have a nishAdam.

Hope this clears your doubt!

-Abhishek.

[prasadvrg]

Thanks Abhishek for the information.
You are very knowledgable.
Thanks and regards, Prasad