Sreevalsan Menon 14-01-11, Sankranti concert BVB B’lore

[keerthi]

Hosted by Surya Cultural organization
14-01-11, Sankranti ,BVB Bangalore

Sreevalsan.g.menon – Vocal
Charulata Ramanujam – Violin
H.S.Sudhindra – mRdangam
RanganAtha Chakravarthi – GhaTaM

1. Ninnu kOri - Vasanta VarNaM – aditAlam – TacchUr Brothers [S]
2. SiddhivinAyakaM anishaM – SaNmukhapriyA – rUpakaM [O,S]
3. vAsudEvayani - kalyANI – AditAlam – RNS [neraval at bhAva-tAla-gathulanu]
4. gOpalaka pAhi mam – rEvagupti – Mishra chApu – swati tirunAL
5. tAyE yashOda undan - RST [swaram at kAlinil silambu konja]
6. jagadOddhArana – pIlu – Adi – purandaradAsa
7. bhAgyada lakSmi – madhyamAvati – ditto – ditto

The best ever part of this concert and the next was the welcome absence of long-winded speeches. The bhAratIya vidya bhavan auditorium, on race course road, Bangalore is a very good hall, but for the creaky seats, and they’re really creaky!

Sreevalsan sang the varnam very well, taking care to stitch the syllables of the pallavi-anupallavi into meaningful words and phrases, instead of ninnukko- o-o-o-o-reee yu-u-u-u-u nnA-a-a-a- nu-u-u-ra-a-a. This is a rare practice among musicians and is worthy of emulation. He sang a few interesting, appropriate sangatis of the caranam, and switched between the sangati-s while singing ettugade swara-s and kalpana-swara-s.
Sudhindra, (who, I think, is brilliant) played vasanta varnam and not Adi tAlaon his instrument. He has internalized the phrases of the songs and adds unobtrusively to the effectiveness of the performance.

SiddhivinAyakam was good.

That the lyrical content has been, and is, secondary in importance in carnatic music is testified by the practice of singing daru-s from the nauka-caritraM and songs from the prahlada-bhakti-vijayaM in concerts.
Even amongst the compositions in these operas, there are generic ones like vandanamu or srIgaNapatini, that can be sung in any context; and ones like nAradamuni vedaLina and vAsudEvayani which are context specific; these two refer to the entry of nArada and the dvArapAla onto stage.
vAsudEvayani veDalini I dauvArikuni ganarE refers to the dauvArika/ dvarapAlaka or the vayil kAppAn; and describes his moustache and nAmam, and how he entered, while singing and dancing. The song has little to do with vAsudEva.
This song was sung in the usual fashion. However, interestingly, the dauvArika (security guard) peeked in often during this piece. The kalyAni AlApana was measured, but good and Charulata gave a very good AlApana too.

gOpAlaka pAhi, was sung well, with sangatis like rataM ayi, pada-rataM ayi, tava pada-rataM ayi gopAlaka! However when he sang the third carana, the distribution of sAhitya over the tAla was not the most aesthetic. bhujagarAja-shayana…. murashAsana where the second word overflowed into the next avarta, before the eduppu of gOpAlaka, is an awkward distribution, probably pioneered by KJY.
The lyrical beauty of the song also demands a slightly slower kAlapramAna, than most singers choose.
But then, this is just me being my nit-picky self.

TODi was good, though the krti has some sahityam booboos. Nerval and swaram at kAlinil silambu konja was followed by tani Avartanam, repetition of kAlinil silambu konja… kArvai in thodi, applause, and then on to next song. The caranam wasn’t completed.

JagadOdhArana was sung in a reposeful fashion but dovetailed into a bhajan-kirtan style Krishna jai jai! chant, which drew applause. Latter didn’t really add to the aesthetic of the song.

bhAgyada lakshmi definitely had some lyric ghotala. Dinakara-kOTi-XX-di hoLEyuva. The XX was some wrong , undecipherable word. But for that, it was sung fine.

Overall, S.J.Menon has great potential. He has a good voice, shruti alignment. He doesn’t seem to be given to excesses, and should do well!
Given the abundance of resources like publications in all scripts, and material on the internet , it is advisable to ensure correctness of words.

[arasi]

Keerthi,
Happy to see your review after some time. You know your music, and your criticism is very objective and sensible. You are so right that vocalists better spend some time on the abundant material which the net offers on getting the sAhityam and meaning rof a song right. Just as they practice and refresh their minds with the rAgams they choose to sing on a particular day, they could give some time to sAhityam too.
Yes, I like Srivalsan Menon's singing too. Considering he is not a resident of Chennai, he is being noticed these days, I think. Of late, we see more of Kerala musicians being featured in the season schedule. A good thing. It took ages for Chennai to recognize and give full credit to R. K. Srikantan and Parassala Ponnammal. Let this trend of bringing performers from other states continue.

[squims]

Thanks for the review Keerthi. Wish I could have been there. Sounds like it was a good concert. Any more concerts happening at the venue?

[rajeshnat]

keerthi
Despite no speeches , looking at the song list , it appears it is just a 2 hr concert. Looks like the concert could have atleast gone for another half an hour more.

[narayan]

keerthi, I learnt vasanta varnam as Ninne kori. Does it matter? In kalyani, isn't the line Raga Tala Gatulanu?

[rshankar]

Keerthi - very nice review, and very appropriate nit-picking!! You should review more!

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Keerthi,
Thanks for a fine review!
Your emphasis on correct sAhitya is valid - there should be no argument about it.

It was interesting to learn that vasudevayani kRti has little to do with vasudeva!
As Narayan has mentioned in post #5, should it be raga tala gatulanu? That is what I have heard before.

Jagadoddarana in pIlu and not kApi?

[Enna_Solven]

keerthi, I learnt vasanta varnam as Ninne kori. Does it matter? In kalyani, isn't the line Raga Tala Gatulanu?

This is what Lakshmanji has:

vasantA : Adi : Tachur Singaracharyulu.

ninnu kOriyunnAnurA nenarunci nannElukOrA
pannaga shayanuDau shrI pArthasArathi dEvA

sUnasharuni bAri kOrvalEra

[keerthi]

Sreeni, narayan,

you are both right, it is rAga-tAla-gatulanu. 'My bad', as they say.. I suppose I spliced bhava-rAga-tAla-mOdini from another kalyAnI krti, with rAga-tala-gatulanu of this one. This is the punishment I get for being too hard on sahitya-inattentive performers!

Sreeni,

We seem to call 'jagadOddhArana' a kApi song, but I am convinced it sounds more like pIlu. You could say kapi, if you like.


squims,

This was a one-off event, but the bhAratIya vidya bhavan does occasionally host music and dance programmes.


narayan,

variants like ninnu and ninne exist, but given that ninnE ends on a long vowel, my instinct says that ninnu is better[the corresaponding swara is a short one]. Both convey approximately the same meaning.


Thanks everyone for your kind words.

[vasanthakokilam]

Good review, keerthi.

Your point about vAsudEvayani is well taken. It made me look up Sri. Govindan's site for the details. Whether such context-specific songs have a place in a regular concert is an interesting point you have brought up. My only feeble counter point is, if it is not sung in concerts or released as 78 RPM records, there is much less chance that I would have been introduced to this song.

btw, apologies to nit pick a possible typo, but in 'kArvai in thodi, applause,then on to next song", did you mean 'kOrvai?

[rajeshnat]

We seem to call 'jagadOddhArana' a kApi song, but I am convinced it sounds more like pIlu. You could say kapi, if you like.

keerthi,
This krithi is usually referred as hindustani kApi which is only piloo right.

[keerthi]

vk,

I am not saying that context specific songs shouldn't be sung in concerts. I am not interested in giving any prescriptions. These songs from operas like the pallaki-sevA-prabandham(s),rAmanAtakam, the various koravanji dance dramas and other dance-drama compositions, or yakSa-gAnam-s, as tyAgarAja called them are all in the extinct/ endangered red book.

I am saying that these entered the concert platform around the time music performances were delinked from temple and court recitals, and a new flexibility entered the performance scene.


kArvai refers to an elongated gamaka-embellished note, while korvai is a rhythmic pattern. I referred to the former, which too I think is a popular term used in 'carnatic' music jargon.

rajesh, I suppose given how the older kApi has gone for cosmetic surgery and come back with enhanced organs, we could call this contemporary kApi of carnatic music close to pilu.

[sramaswamy]

gOpAlaka pAhi, was sung well, with sangatis like rataM ayi, pada-rataM ayi, tava pada-rataM ayi gopAlaka! However when he sang the third carana, the distribution of sAhitya over the tAla was not the most aesthetic. bhujagarAja-shayana…. murashAsana where the second word overflowed into the next avarta, before the eduppu of gOpAlaka, is an awkward distribution, probably pioneered by KJY.
The lyrical beauty of the song also demands a slightly slower kAlapramAna, than most singers choose.
But then, this is just me being my nit-picky self.

Let me join you in that nit-picking. And in case of some singers - not just "slightly slower", wa.. yyy slower.

And a wonderful review Keerthi!

[rshankar]

kArvai refers to an elongated gamaka-embellished note, while korvai is a rhythmic pattern. I referred to the former, which too I think is a popular term used in 'carnatic' music jargon.

Again, like usi, kArvai has a different meaning in dance, where it refers to a beat without footwork.

[vasanthakokilam]

keerthi, ok, got it in the context-specific songs. I interpreted what you wrote as a case in point for why sAhityA is secondary in concerts. Anyway, that 'secondary-ness' is unfortunately true even out side this context.

Thanks for the clarification on the thodi kArvai. The 'applause' part made me wonder since there is usually that after a kOrvai. Now I know what you meant. In another thread, this kArvai stuff is being discussed in the more general meaning of an elongated note, gamaka or otherwise.

Ravi, Good to learn from you what kArvai is meant in dance. I see some, though feeble, connection between the two meanings.

[mahavishnu]

I suppose given how the older kApi has gone for cosmetic surgery and come back with enhanced organs, we could call this contemporary kApi of carnatic music close to pilu.

Perhaps many of you have seen this. Here is a nice demonstration of the differences between hindustani kapi (with anyaswarams to give it a pilu flavor) and karnataka kapi by Prince Rama Varma. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KLfzWjhGXE

Keerthi, Thanks for a very nice review. I agree with your point about singing songs from an opera, out of context. However, there are some very good stand-alone pieces from Prahlada Bhakti vijayam and Nowkacharitram which are good on the concert platform, for e.g. Vandanamu raghu nandana or jhootha murare.

[thenpaanan]

...
Sreevalsan.g.menon – Vocal
Charulata Ramanujam – Violin
H.S.Sudhindra – mRdangam
RanganAtha Chakravarthi – GhaTaM

...

This song was sung in the usual fashion. However, interestingly, the dauvArika (security guard) peeked in often during this piece. ...

Great review! I am intrigued by this comment above. Could you elaborate? Do you mean that the actual security guard of the music hall peeked in during the piece? If so that would be a stupendously astounding subtlety/coincidence that only you could have noticed.

-Then Paanan

[keerthi]

Could you elaborate? Do you mean that the actual security guard of the music hall peeked in during the piece?

Yes, that is what happened..

[cienu]

Lovely Review Keerthi
And yes , the chairs at BVB squeak like bandicoots ! Someone does need to grease them !