SuryaprakAsh@vAnimahAl on Dec 25th,2010

[rajeshnat]

SuryaprakAsh@vAnimahAl on Dec 25th,2010
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Vocal : SuryaprakAsh
Violin : kumbakOnam M R gOpinAth
Mrudangam : Tanjore Murugabhoopathi
Ghatam : AS Shankar

Concert duration/Day : 2 hours and 25 mins/ Friday Morning
Sabha : Shree thyaga brahma sabhA

1. sarasooda (RS) - sAveri - patnam
2. paripAlayamAm (S) - reetigowlai - ST
4 mins swaras

3. O rAma nI nAmamEmi rucirA (R N S) - poorvikalyANi - BR
8 mins alAPanai , 5 mins violin
9 mins neraval in "tumburu nAradulu Dambu mEEraga"
5 mins swaras
4. sabhApathikku - AbhOgi - GKB

5. viDajAladurA(S) - janaranjani - T
4 mins swaras

6A. nAdOpAsanace(R N S T) - bEgaDa - T
12 mins alApana and 6 mins violin return
neraval for 3 mins for "tantri laya svara rAga vilOlulu"
11 mins swaras
6B.tani for 13 mins

7. RTP in KApi
13 mins alApana
7 mins tAnam
12 mins pallavi and swaras in kApi + chandrakowns
pallavi line was "neerajAkshi kamAkshi nikila lOka janani"

8A. viruththam "oNrE sEiga nanRE sEiga indrE sEiga" - sindhubhairavi -??
8B. nAlai eNDru oRU nAL varumA - sindhubhairavi - madurai somu

The concert had a very limited no , just 8 for a 2 and half hours is a perfect recipe .The concert started with a brief introduction by sabhA patron who also fixed begaDa as a main. Suryaprakash started with a brief rAga alApana in sAveri and sang the varnam in both speeds, with very good gelling from the team.

Spontaneity and Sowkhyam only comes with perhaps a very well set extremely competent accompanist . I guess without that the chances are slim to zero , be it any where the concert is. From reetigowlai the concert reached a very steady excellence throughout . Suryaprakash over a period of atleast 2 years has added a lot of base to his voice , it was very shrill say till 2005 or 2006. But this reetigowlai with a lovely diction and a gentle swaras did appear very janaranjakam(I guess it has to do with that lovely raga reetigowlai).

The submain can be perhaps called an early main , nice alApana in karunA rasa and a very very sweet return by gopinath did add lot of sowkhyam . This poorvikalyAni is madurai somu uruppuDi , u can say there is a bit of Adharam (assertion) in this poorvikalyAni which is usually not found in other poorvikalyAni krithis . This is not the first time I am hearing this krithi by him , certain a great pick in his kitty. neraval in poorvikalyAni was very imaginative with a sprinkle of swaras , bit of kanakku orientation there

For the vilambit he took the sAbhApathikku a bit slowly and with his open throated voice AbhOgi gelled well , what a viDajAldurA , a 5th gear Over drive mode , if he was fast, the fingers of Murugabhoopathi were faster and it was really superb kalpana

BegaDa was understandably bit heavy . I have not heard this vidwan singing a begada as a main ,He came up with a very nice touch of alApana , the violin return was again very well done. The krithi nAdOpAsanace is usually heard only in the PS high school nAdOpAsanA sabhA , and it was well done , liked his gaNam there and krithi had the right polish. A longer neraval would have been better but he was making way for pallavi. Swaras were very creative with a nice rotation by the team

Everything bit paled when compared to pallavi . What a pallavi it was, a treat of true coffee . It had a bit of cafe Latte to start with where there was a bit light coffee to get your senses worked , the lattE gave way to slowly a very highly original kumbakOnam degree coffee when kbkm mr gopinath started playing. It was creative , the cinnamon was added with murugabhoopathy joining in the tAnam and it was a sizzling Cappuccino, the TAnam was really well done. Suryaprakash will go in history as one of the top 10 kApi singers ever and I personally pick this raga as my personal favourite of his. Pallavi was a simple pallavi it was centered on rightly exposing kApi aesthetics. I think the swaras were really well done , especially that chandrakowns , it was so long that the accompanist themselves were lost with so much AhAs

The viruththam was very short and a bit of right choice of words like oNrE seiga nanrE seiga indrE seiga and then ending with nAlai endru oru nAl . Particularly indrE saiga(indrE means today) and then doubting with nAlai eNdru oru NAl varumA (nAlai means tomorrow)kept few of us chuckling , another brilliant madurai sOmu no that has a very lovely janaranjakam (what a great vidwan was madurai somu).

[rajeshnat]

Few words about Accompanist:
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KumbakOnam M R gOpinath is one of the best accompanist , his guru is not that well known but he is very sought after . I guess one of the main reasons is he is the vidwan who gets the highest mark for not intruding at all , there are always right gaps , the manodharmam of singer is always enhanced with his aesthetic and timely mute and rightly joins with a very concise returns .

Tjr Murugabhoopathi callibrates beautifully , nice patterns and the speeed is so right for expressive vidwan like suryaprakash. His style is very effortless and there was no over banging at all. Pepped rather lifted immensely to give the "spontaneous sowkhyam" throughout. His tani was well done . There was very good support by the ghatam artist AS Shankar .

There was not much to say in terms of what went bit negative , excepting perhaps the early sAveri start till the second speed was bit not to my liking. I also met kamalAmbA and gobilalitha sir (briefly talked with them), infact kamalAmbA spotted me.

There were about 80 folks and almost all of them stayed in this morning concert. Overall as a team an excellent concert .

[kamalamba]

Attended this excellent concert.
The Poorvi Kalyani kriti was rendered excellently and the RTP in Kapi was brilliant. Overall very enjoyable concert.

I wish sabha's could also see the audiences pulse before almost forcibly getting artistes from the stage. I realize time is key, but there can be a bit of finesse employed by sabha management people.

[rajeshnat]

kamalAmbA
Just curious on chandrakowns. A year back u wrote a review of him singing chandrakowns swaras in singapore. I had a chance to hear once chandrakowns swaras some time later after you posted in singapore ,this vanimahal is significantly different in kalpana from what I heard before? By any chance was this chandrakowns long swaras different from what you heard in singapore(in case you recollect)

[arasi]

Kamalamba,
Didn't know you were in town. Your parents couldn't make it this year, I know.
If only sabhas give Suryaprakash more evening slots for him to give unhurried performances!

[kamalamba]

Hi Rajesh
Although I really enjoyed both the Chandrakauns versions, I do not remember well enough to comment on the extent of similarity.
However, this ragam is one of my favorites and is relatively less used in CM; SP does a fantastic job of rendering it (as well as rendering a host of other HM ragams).

Hi Arasi,
sorry for the late reply. I was there only for 4 days and have been traveling ever since.
My parents were in Madras for about a week, but attended only 2 concerts. Suryaprakash's concert was one of them.