Hyderabad Brothers @ Krishna Gana Sabha, Dec 13th

[kedharam]

Hyderabad Brothers
Sri. Nagai Sriram – violin
Sri. Srimushnam Raja Rao – mrudangam
Sri. E. M. Subrahmanyam – ghatam

SrI – sami ninne kori, varnam
Sindu kanada – nannu kanna thalli, T
Dhanyasi – MIna lochna brOva, R (seshachari), S, SS
Shanmukhapriya – R (ragavachari), marivere dikkevaraiyya rama, N @ sannutaanga shree venkaTesha neevu, PS
Nijamarmamulanu – Umabharanam, T
RTP – kambhoji, pallavi text: “Elara sAmi, pagavaru emi bodhinchiro”, tisra triputa
Swararagamalika in kamas, kedaragowlai
thani
Ahiri – mayamma, SS
Left after this

Of all the 3 concerts that I attended, this was indeed a vintage Hyderabad brothers of the early 90s kind of a concert for me.

The concert opened with the resolutely traditional srI raga varnam…
The aesthetic elegance of dhanyasi came alive in Sri. Seshachari’s alapana and they broke into their inimitable rendition of mIna lOchana with passionate fidelity…
With staunchly authentic hold of the notes, Sri. Ragavachary wooed shanmukhapriya thru gut-wrenching phrases then explored every element of potential for aesthetics during the neraval at “sannutaanga shree venkaTesha neevu” filtering through their romanticist sensibility and the young Sri. Nagai Sriram countered with some expressive playing in tandem reflecting their vocal poise...
RTP - The alapana of Sri. Seshachari had all the ingredients of classicism with luminous sancharas floating with remarkable ease in the best of tradition and ingenuity … the engrossing account of thanam uncurled with melody trickling in with an unnerving confidence … and the pallavi, “Elara sAmi pagavaru emi bodhinchiro”, simmering in the melodic core of kambhoji with an endearing liveliness rolled in to the beats of tisra triputa and the swararagamalika had all the nearest ragams like kamas, kedara gowlai, and bilahari as Sri. Seshachari demonstrated beautifully followed by thani by Sri.Raja rao and Sri. Subrahmanyan contributing to a feel of exuberance…and then came the much awaited mayamma, (I can never get enough of this composition) negotiating the shift naturally from the energetic intellectual exercise of pallavi to the reflective introspection in ahiri echoing the anguish of the composer with poignant conviction …

Stopped by the canteen to get some coffee…there was this huge melee for take outs… as I struggled to negotiate the shift from ahiri to the ruckus over masala dosai, I realized it was indeed dec canteen season in chennai.

[mahavishnu]

Kedharam: Thanks for the review. It is good to see them back in the old 90s form. They did not sound very inspired the last few times I heard them.
I heard the brothers were quite chatty during this concert and gave a min-talk on kambhoji's raga lakshanam before the RTP. Is that true? If so, do you recall what was said?

Here is the Hindu's review of this: http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/12/17/stor ... 080200.htm

[mahavishnu]

oh and one more thing... I think the concert was on Dec 13th (not the 18th)

[kedharam]

Whenever the brothers team up with Sri. Raja Rao they are quite chatty since Sri. Seshachari is a laya expert. They were encouraging the ever smiling Nagai Sriram throughout. During the swararagamalika, Sri. Seshachari demonstrated the differences and similarities between kambhoji and its nearest ragams like kamas, kedaragowaali making the structurally complex work seem simple...almost like a music lesson.

I went for their concert at Parthasarathy swamy sabha and I don’t remember much abt the concert. Surrounding noise, poor sound system and power failure - totally spoils one’s concert experience.

[kedharam]

sorry, i am not able to edit the date.

( mod note: Date changed to the 13th )