Rudrapatnam Brothers - 9 April 2011 (Bangalore)

[srikant1987]

Sri Ramanavami Sangeetotsava
Sri Vani Vidya Mandira - Basavesha Nagar

RN Thyagarajan & RN Taranathan - Vocal duet
CN Chandrashekhar - Piteelu
Srimushnam Raja Rao - Mrudanga
V Ranganatha Chakravarthy - Ghata

nIrajAkSha (varNam) - kalyANavasantam - Adi - Mysore R.N.Shrilata (sketch)
divAkara tanujam - yadukulakAmbhOji - caturashra Eka - MD (S)
muddu mOmu - sUryakAntam - Adi - T (S)
maRi vERe dikkevarayya - Shanmukhapriya - Adi - PSI (R, NS @ nannu brOvaka yuNDuTa nyAyamA?)
nA morAlakimpa - dEvagAndhAri - rUpaka - T (sketch)
cEtulAra shrngAramu - bhairavi - Adi - T (R, N @ vANi suraTicE visarika vAsi, S @ pallavi)
tani Avartane
?

[mahavishnu]

Nice list. I've never heard the varnam in kalyanavasantam.
Is it all the bisibele that has changed your vocabulary?

[Lakshman]

nIrajAkSa ninnE namminAnu. rAgA: kalyANavasanta. Adi tALA. Composer: Mysore R.N.Shrilata.

P: nIrajAkSa ninnE namminAnu nApai krpa jUDarA
A: kOrikalanosaga vEmIrA parula vEDalEnu nApAli shrI rAma
C: tAmasamEla dayAnidhE

The song list seems to be incomplete.

[srikant1987]

I generally feel beginning concerts with an antaragAndAra rAga helps bring more charm and impact *, and thought divAkara tanujam might be a superb choice to begin this concert with. Alas, while they did sing it (sometimes our prayers come true!) they did so after the depressing kalyANavasantam. Well, I do like the bhAva of k'vasantam (among the umpteen scalar rAgas available in the world), but not THIS early on!

The krti divAkara tanujam and to some extent cEtulAra shrngAramu would be my pick for highlights of this concert.

I was disappointed by sUryakAntam, and depressed by Shanmukhapriya. I expected more rakti rAgas.

Vidwan CN Chandrashekhar gave very good replies to yadukulakAmbhOji swarams (oh, I forgot to tell -- their swarams for divAkara tanujam were excellent), and also to the sUrykAntam swarams (which were good too -- or as good as sUryakAntam can be).

I was disappointed by the shortness of the dEvagAndhAri sketch too -- and the volume had been raised to deafening levels (though I was sitting just in front of a speaker and shifted to a safer place after the dEvagAndhAri piece got over). In fact, it was such a short sketch that the Brothers mostly sang it together!

A few days ago, I was thinking that in duo singing, cApu tALa songs might be harder, and I think part of their success in krti renditions today might be because they'd chosen Adi tALa mostly (with a rUpaka -- and an Eka).

Interestingly, the Brothers finished their swarams for "nannu brOvaka" of S'priya with S to begin the line at R, where as CNC finished swarams at N and forced the line to begin at S. Where as, the Brothers finished bhairavi swarams at N and began cEtulAra with S and CNC finished swarams at S and began the line at R (most of the times).

The kOrvai the Brothers had planned for the bhairavi was amazing, and began with a S,N,D,P,Maa (like the krti).

The tani could have been shorter (maybe I felt that way just because it was getting late for me!). Anyway, I liked Sri Raja Rao's tishram kOrvai and both of Sri Narayana Chakravarthy's kOrvais. The exchanges during koraippu were interesting too, and Sri Raja Rao was generous in appreciation for his upapakkavAdya counterpart. He also played a few rounds of sarvalaghu after koraippu before going to the faran, encouraging Sri Charavarthy to add in as he wished. Especially in the beginning, it turned out very aesthetic.

* haMsadhvani, nATTai, kalyANi, saurAShTram, MMG -- EVERY one of these is G3!

[srikant1987]

Btw the black-haired brother (who sits to their right) did the S'priya AlApane and the grey-haired brother did the bhairavi. I felt they could have swapped, since the grey-haired brother's voice seemed better suited for briga.

Lakshmanji,
I don't remember the full lyric of the varNam as they sang.

[bilahari]

Nice review, Srikant. Thanks. I haven't heard the R brothers yet.

How odd that the vocalists and violinist interpret the eDuppu swara differently! Surely the violinist should follow what the vocalists are singing?

I also generally agree about G3 starts in concerts. Although I will always be up for a nera nammiti or viribhOni or vanajAkSa (rItigowLa), that might be because of the grandeur of the compositions themselves.

SUryakAntam...I've heard some pieces in this, including an RTP by Sanjay, but find it entirely bland still.

[ranjanimalavi]

I thoroughly enjoyed concert. I haven't listened to them for a long time.

This is the first concert in this venue, which is too far for me.

Wind was still, nice breeze followed, and picked up more force when the bhairavi was sung.

I have to leave after the thani.

Raman