Aruna Sairam-15Apr11-Ramada Hotel-Doha Qatar

[HarishankarK]

Concert was organised by Music Lovers Club, Doha and therefore would like to begin by thanking them sincerely.
Concert was supposed to start at 6:00 pm but started around 06:15pm (after a short speech).
Song list is as follows:

1. Paalum theli thenum - Virutham - Om Pranava Vimala Ganapathi - Mayamalavagowlai - ????
2. Subrahmanyena Rakshitoham - Suddha dhanyasi - MD - Swaras (2 speeds)
3. Balakanakamaya chela - Atana - Raga sketch - Thyagarajar krithi
4.Sada Saranga Nayane - Ranjani (Alap = 6-7 mins, Violin -5 mins, Swaras -2 speeds) - Yoga Narasimhar
5. Virutham like - Thaal yenna seiyyum, kol yenna seiyyum - Saveri (this virutham was new to me)
Muruga Muruga endraal - Periyasami Thooran
6. Ranga Baro - Sudha Saveri / Durga - PD (Filler)
7. Todi alap - 9 mins (Violin - 6 mins) - followed by
"Thayyalai keladi undan" (Anupallavi of Thaye Yasoda) - Neraval at Kalinil chilambu konja (short around 4 mins in which both speeds of neraval were covered)- Swaras around 7 mins (2 speeds) - Thani -10 mins
8. Shloka on Sarada devi - Mohanakalyani - Sangeetha Samrajya Sancharini - Bangalore Ramamurthy - sung in a very light bhajanish manner
9. Enagu aane Ranga - Mukhari - PD
10. Abhanga - Bhaktajana vatsale - Megh - Namadev (Neraval in Sajalajadhara Pitamabara in Raga 11. Puriya Dhanashree - this was really good and done a little more elaboarately than in the casette/cd version or what she usually sings in concerts - she drew thunderous applause for this one)
11. Thamarai Pootha Thadakam adi - Dandapani desikar - Sindhu Bhairavi
12. Maadu meikkum kanne - Kavadi chindu - OVK ??
13. Enna kavi paadinaalum - Neelamani - Aathur Seshayyar ??
14. Vishamakara kannan - Chenchurutti - OVK
15. Manamayakkum viruththam -Megh - Thaam theem tharanathaam - Kalinga narthana thillana - Gambheera Nattai ?? - OVK
16. Thirupalli ezhichchi for Goddess Kali (Hey bhagwathi shloka sung in a Bengali accent) and Bengali song Jago tumi Jago -???
17. Petra thaai thana magan marandhaalum - Shanmughapriya virutham followed by
Thandai thaai irundhaal - Shanmugha priya - ???

Concert ended at around 08:45 pm with 1 minute Standing Ovation
As is her wont, the concert was more in devotional fervor and most of the songs were predictable - her constant alibi for lifting numbers from her audio cds/casettes was that she was fulfilling the request chits.
Swaras for Sudha Dhanyasi and Ranjani were good. But the second speed swaras for thodi song were electrifying and drew sound applause. She drew applause for almost every song making me wonder whether the audience were genuine in their appreciation or was it a formality!
In most of the songs there was many pauses to create effect - like she would sing the madhyamakala and then stop for 5 seconds; instantaneously accompaniments also halted and then they would begin together again - this was okay but she then did the same thing for almost all the major krithis rendered by her - so became boring after sometime - i mean anyone could guess that they will all stop now for a moment !

She was very interactive and in full form and the one positive feature i noted throughout was her impeccable sruthi alignment. However in all of her song renditions there were only bare minimum sangathis - aren't sangathis very important for our music - Smt S Sowmya is the best example who still renders 4-5 sangatis and even more with great manodharma and these sangatis will not be standard one's sung by all and Sowmya's sangati's will not even be a copy of her own songs as sung in a casette or Cd - how does she manage to do this one wonders ??
Coming back to this concert - at one point AS ji asked the audience (particularly the kids) whether they wanted Maadu meikkum or Vishamakara kanna (indicating that both these requests were received on behalf of the kids) only to sing both the songs and she called all the kids to the front made them sit down and hear her - the kids obliged !

Pick of the concert was the Abhang - although she rendered it exactly as she usually does - but she did 2 things here which were different - 1. is neraval in Puriya Dhanashree raga for around 4-5 mins in 2 speeds which was good and then 2. close to the end of this song she did that 'vittal vittal' bhajan type nama chanting in 2 speeds and also invited the audience to sing with her or at least clap etc - but no one did anything but she created the devotional mood very well - i think this is ASji's forte - she should brand her concerts more as devotional concerts rather than classical concerts !
But this was good !

Jago tumi jago i guess served as Mangalam - the raga sounded like Bhupaalam but am not sure !
Will Update the Accompaniment artistes name tomorrow

The mridanagist was awesome - he simply stole the show - and the ghatam and violin was also good. Violin simly followed here sincerely and repeated all the gimmicks that were executed by ASji obediently.
But i don't know how many noticed in the hall but the mridangist was too too good - he simply elevated the standard of the renditions by his playing. He was loud but that's needed for ASji because she signs full throated naa
All said and done it was good to connect with carnatic music here in Doha after a long time.

[HarishankarK]

First item is Varnam in tamil.

[csuresh]

Virutham like - Thaal yenna seiyyum, kol yenna seiyyum - Saveri (this virutham was new to me)

It is "NAal yenna seiyyum"not "Thaal yenna seiyyum"

[squims]

Sounds like a pretty good concert, but as expected, with the tukkudas taking over equal priority as the rest of the concert. I might be one of the few who actually enjoy her proper carnatic renditions. Like the electrifying Todi swarams you mentioned, I think AS has great potential to deliver something of that caliber if she puts her mind to it. Sadly, her song list is stagnated, with the same things repeating over and over again (I've heard each and every item of this concert, probably in the same form on some cd or the other). Oh well... nothing we can do about it.

[HarishankarK]

I might be one of the few who actually enjoy her proper carnatic renditions. Like the electrifying Todi swarams you mentioned, I think AS has great potential to deliver something of that caliber if she puts her mind to it.

That's quite true - once at 10:30 pm AIR concert she opened with Ardhanareeswaram in Kumudhakriya and sang amazing swarams for that song and sang a v good Sri Mathrubhootham also (in Brinda Mukta style) which clearly indicates she has great potential and also creative abilities !

[arasi]

Are we speaking about the vidUshi or the performer here? Aruna Sairam has had all those merits for years. The potential was there even when she was a child. I can imagine how that tODi would have sounded. If I'm not wrong, we are discussing the performer here. She preferss to give tukkaDas-dominating concerts and she has the right to choose the way in which she performs.There are many listeners who love her performances in that format. The point is, it does not take away the vidvat she has. Of course, listeners can choose to go to a tukkaDA-oriented concert too.
Still, I wish I had heard that tODi!

pAlum teLi tEnum pAgum paruppum is by avvaiyAr.

[squims]

The point is, it does not take away the vidvat she has. Of course, listeners can choose to go to a tukkaDA-oriented concert too.

Of course Arasi ma'am, that's what I am saying. I just feel that she doesn't showcase the vidwat aspect of her music as much as she does the bhakti oriented stuff. I understand that she has all the right to choose the kind of music she wants to sing, but it leaves people like me, who have heard and loved her pure carnatic renditions, out in the cold. As an artiste, does she only care for the people who enjoy her tukkudas?

[arasi]

squims,
All I'm saying is that you and I and a number of others may prefer her singing her old repertoire, but in the end, it's her choice.
So, there we are, wishing, and that's all we can do

[Sam Swaminathan]

Harishankar

"The mridanagist was awesome - he simply stole the show - and the ghatam and violin was also good. Violin simly followed here sincerely and repeated all the gimmicks that were executed by ASji obediently."

But unfortunately, they neither had a face nor a name ! How Quaint!

[arasi]

Harishankar does say that he will give us the names tomorrow. Hope he gets them from the organizers or from someone else.
This makes me say the following: please print the names of the accompanists on your print-outs if you have already engaged them. Vocalist X and party is no fun to read. When you introduce the artistes, please say out their names clearly. A slow delivery of the name helps. If possible, start the next sentence by saying his name again: Sri/Smt So and so is a well-known violinist, mrudangam player and so on. While someone like your brother needs no introduction, I have trouble with some ghaTam and khanjari players' names.

[Aditto]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOxIKonfgJk

Glimpses of the concert

Regards,
Aditya

[mohan]

http://www.qatar-tribune.com/data/20110 ... =nation2_4
reveals the accompanists were
HN Bhaskar (Violin), K Sai Giridhar (Mridangam) and Madipakkam Murali (Ghatam)

[ravir]

....... - Om Pranava Vimala Ganapathi - Mayamalavagowlai - ????

This is a varnam (Tamil) of Tiruvarur Ramasvami Pillai, IIRC.

[HarishankarK]

http://www.qatar-tribune.com/data/20110 ... =nation2_4
reveals the accompanists were
HN Bhaskar (Violin), K Sai Giridhar (Mridangam) and Madipakkam Murali (Ghatam)

Thanks for updating the accompanists name. Had noted but missed the paper somewhere and wrote the review from memory!

[HarishankarK]

Harishankar does say that he will give us the names tomorrow. Hope he gets them from the organizers or from someone else.
This makes me say the following: please print the names of the accompanists on your print-outs if you have already engaged them. Vocalist X and party is no fun to read. When you introduce the artistes, please say out their names clearly. A slow delivery of the name helps. If possible, start the next sentence by saying his name again: Sri/Smt So and so is a well-known violinist, mrudangam player and so on. While someone like your brother needs no introduction, I have trouble with some ghaTam and khanjari players' names.

Makes me think as to how much does it matter anyways as to who the accompanists are ? I know that am inviting a lot of stones (rather boulders) by saying this. But does the audience really have any accompanist preferences. Pardon me for asking this but whenever there is any advt in Hindu or web or a printed invitation, then don't most of us just only care about who's the main artiste and don't look beyond that ! Or do we ??
I mean if the concert is by Sudhaji or Sanjay ji, we will go ahead and attend it. The accompanists - will they influence our decision to attend the concert or not.
Having said that i also agree that the accompanists do have a share in the success of the concert.

[HarishankarK]

Harishankar does say that he will give us the names tomorrow. Hope he gets them from the organizers or from someone else.
This makes me say the following: please print the names of the accompanists on your print-outs if you have already engaged them. Vocalist X and party is no fun to read. When you introduce the artistes, please say out their names clearly. A slow delivery of the name helps. If possible, start the next sentence by saying his name again: Sri/Smt So and so is a well-known violinist, mrudangam player and so on. While someone like your brother needs no introduction, I have trouble with some ghaTam and khanjari players' names.

Makes me think as to how much does it matter anyways as to who the accompanists are ? I know that am inviting a lot of stones (rather boulders) by saying this. But does the audience really have any accompanist preferences. Pardon me for asking this but whenever there is any advt in Hindu or web or a printed invitation, then don't most of us just only care about who's the main artiste and don't look beyond that ! Or do we ??
I mean if the concert is by Sudhaji or Sanjay ji, we will go ahead and attend it. The accompanists - will they influence our decision to attend the concert or not.
Having said that i also agree that the accompanists do have a share in the success of the concert.

[mohan]

HarishankarK you are right that many people don't care who the accompanists are - they just go for the main artist (vocalist). However, there are others who may follow a particular mrudangam artiste such as Umayalpuram Sivaraman or Trichy Sankaran or violinist, say Mysore Nagaraj or Nagai Murali. Indeed, some accompanists are big draw cards in their own right. I remember last year when we had a vocal concert in Sydney with Akkarai Subbulakshmi on violin, several audience members said they were attending to hear this young, talented violinist.

During the music season I try and attend concerts from a variety of vocalists. Since they perform at various venues, I sometimes choose the concert to attend by considering the total mix of artistes performing. Its sometimes interesting when a particular vocalist is accompanied by a violinist or mrudangam artist who they don't always perform with.

A few years ago Kartik Fine Arts used to feature young artistes with senior accompanists during the season. I am not sure if they still do it. As an organiser of concerts, we have tried to get some good teams of artistes here. Some that come to mind include TMK with Mysore Nagaraj and UKS; BMK with Nagai Murali and KVP; Lalgudi Trio with Karaikudi Mani; TNK with UKS.

[arasi]

Accompanists do matter because they may make or mar (at least lessen the effect of) a good concert. Yes, we do like accomplished accompanists. Yet, some such accomplished ones may underplay for a younger vocalist and not gel with him at all which does not help. On the other hand, a lesser player can make the concert a better one with his enthusiasm, giving his best to support the vocalist. Then, there are accompanists who are 'made to order' as it were for the vocalist. In the end, cooperation and comraderie works.

Mohan,
As you say, when a new mix of accompanists occurs and it works, we rasikAs are happy. Then there are some accompanists who are an asset, no matter whom they accompany. Examples among mrudangists are, Sam's brother and Patri.

[srikant1987]

The accompanists - will they influence our decision to attend the concert or not.

YES! ABSOLUTELY!

For instance, I would have made an attempt to attend TMK's recent Fort High School concert had I known it was RKSK-KAP-Anirudh! I attended Gayathri Venkataraghavan to see BUG.

TMK with Mysore Nagaraj

I've seen Mysore Nagaraj exactly once, and that was with Dr N Ramani. And not seen him again since. Even though now I'm in Bangalore.

[arasi]

It means he's traveling a lot!

[Sam Swaminathan]

It is a generally accepted fact that a concert is a team effort. You need players who gell together to make a successful concert. Smt AS with totally unknown artists in a city like Chennai will not draw the same kind of crowd as with some known artists who have successfully performed with her in the past.

[arasi]

Sam,
I don't know if you read my post # 18. If I knew your brother was going to play on a given day, I'd gravitate more towards that concert if I had to choose from two or three concerts .

[Sam Swaminathan]

Arasiji...Yes I saw that..Thank you for the appreciation of my anna.....The feelings that I have expressed earlier and in posts # 9 and 21 are based on the premise that when the accompanying artists do not get a mention in the review, some how I feel they are "slighted". As has been said by you and others, they are as important as the main artist if not more. If some one can write a lengthy review of a concert and do not care to mention the supporting artists name, I can only attribute that to their lack of regard to them. This is only a general statement and I am not pointing out to any one in particular. In the previous years, I have repeatedly requested for the artists names on those reviews where they were conspicous by their absensce!

[mahavishnu]

I fully agree with Sam's views.