TM Krishna - Toronto - April 17th, 2011

[Abhishek]

Vocal: Sri TM Krishna
Violin: Sri RK Sriramkumar
Mridangam: Sri Arunprakash
Vocal Support: Sri Vikram Raghavan

Song list:

1) varAlandu (gurjarI – Adi – tyAgarAja) [S]
2) swaminAtha (nAttai – Adi – muthuswAmy dIkshitar) [R N]
3) sri saraswati (Arabhi – rupakam – muthuswAmy dIkshitar) [S]
4) vINAbhErI (AbhErI – Adi – muthuswAmy dIkshitar) [R S]
5) chakkani rAja (kharaharapriya – Adi – tyAgarAja)
6) rAgam tAnam pallavi (varAli – khanda triputa)
pallavi: kANa kiddaikumO sabEshan darishanam, kaNdAl kalI tIrumE
eduppu: kAl edam
ardhi: half point in tAlam; after 36 aksharams
rAgamAlikA swarams: shankarabharanam, kAmboji, hamsadhwani, mohanam, amritavarshni, bEgaDa, hAmIr kalyANI, sindhubhairavi, behAg, darbAri kAnaDA, surutti, madhyamAvati, srI, brindavana sAranga?
7) shAradE karuNanidE (hAmIr kalyANI – misra chApu – Chandrasekhara Bharati – *tuned by vidwan RK Sriramkumar) [N S]
8 ) viruttam (anandabhairavi) followed by ethanai thAn veethai (anandabhairavi – Adi - Anai ayyA brothers)
9) tirupati venkataramana (sindhubhairavi – Adi – purandaradAsar)
10) rAma janArdhana – nottuswaram (shankarabharanam – tisra ekam – muthuswAmy dIkshitar)
11) rAmachandra (shankarAbharanam - Tisra ekam - bhadrAchala ramadAs)

Great concert! The highlight of the concert for me was definitely the gurjari and the abhEri submain (with the suddha daivatam instead of the chatusruthi daivatam). My views on the rest of the concert coming up shortly!

Abhishek Iyer

[srikant1987]

6) rAgam tAnam pallavi (varAli – khanda triputa)
pallavi: kANa kiddaikumO sabEshan darishaNam, kaNdAl kalI tIrumE
eduppu: kAl edam
ardhi: half point in tAlam; after 36 aksharams
rAgamAlikA swarams: shankarabharanam, kAmboji, hamsadhwani, mohanam, amritavarshni, bEgaDa, hAmIr kalyANI, sindhubhairavi, behAg, darbAri kAnaDA, surutti, madhyamAvati, srI, brindavana sAranga?
7) shAradE karuNanidE (hAmIr kalyANI – misra chApu – Chandrasekhara Bharati – *tuned by vidwan RK Sriramkumar) [N S]

Lucky Toronto! Exactly the kind of format "violation" I wouldn't mind! Neraval and swarams (in a decent ragam) after a pallavi.

Was "mO" of kiDaikkumO the ardhi? Btw I think it is darishanam, not darishaNam.

Was there no manOdharma around cakkani rAjamArgamulu in kharaharapriya? That's a good "innovation" too! It's like a summit of kalpita sangItam followed by a summit of manOdharma sangItam.

[mahavishnu]

Abhishek, I was waiting for your post! Look forward to hearing more about your thoughts on this.
It was very nice to meet you. Thanks for coming over to say hello.

Yes, it was a lovely concert. The only unusual part was the nAttai alapanai which I thought sounded very different.

The Ananda Bhairavi song was ethanai thAn vitthai (as in tricks). He got a bit emotional in the middle of the song and had to stop for a minute; sort of moved by the lyrics? Lji, do you know who the composer of this could be?

Srikant: he did sing Neraval on "Chakkaniraja". And an extensive one too.

[rajeshnat]

The Ananda Bhairavi song was ethanai thAn vitthai (as in tricks). He got a bit emotional in the middle of the song and had to stop for a minute; sort of moved by the lyrics? Lji, do you know who the composer of this could be?

There is a "Ethanaithan Katralum" song that is sung by TMK in his anandabhairavi CD . A very lovely number , IIRC the composer is "AnaiayyA" and I think this number is in praise of sadguru thyagaraja. Possibly it is the same number

[mahavishnu]

Rajesh, Thank you. you are absolutely right. It is the same song from the Charsur Anandabhairavi recording (Anai Ayya brothers).
ethanai thAn vitthai katralum enna, piraman ezhuthai vella....beautiful song.

[rshankar]

ethanai thAn vitthai katralum enna, piraman ezhuthai vella....beautiful song.

Another take on 'lalAThE likhita rEkhA'...beautifully rendered on the CD by Sri TMK.

[Ashwin]

There is a "Ethanaithan Katralum" song that is sung by TMK in his anandabhairavi CD . A very lovely number , IIRC the composer is "AnaiayyA" and I think this number is in praise of sadguru thyagaraja. Possibly it is the same number

Anai and ayyA were two brothers who were also contemporaries of tyAgarAja: http://www.karnatik.com/co1059.shtml

Ashwin

[Abhishek]

Srikant: You are right, it was darishanam, not darishaNam. My apologies. The ardhi was at darishanam, which was exactly after 36 aksharas.
Absolutely, we all loved the neraval + swarams in shAradE karuNAnidhE! And yes, as Ramesh mentioned, neraval and swaram was done for chakkani raja. He did swarams in chakkani, rAja, and mArgamu, alternatively. He did korraipu in all three places too.

Ramesh, hahaha sorry for the really late post! Got a bit tied up with school work. It was really great meeting you, hope to keep in touch!

Rajesh sir and Ashwin, thanks for the information on ethanai thAn vithhai. Never heard that song before this concert.

[squims]

Seems like Toronto got a great TMK concert that we at India(at least Bangalore) haven't had in a while!

[harimau]

Seems like Toronto got a great TMK concert that we at India(at least Bangalore) haven't had in a while!

Bangalore got "Jana Gana Mana"; Toronto didn't get "O Canada!". So you guys are one up!

[poincare]

I think this number is in praise of sadguru thyagaraja.

Is it really in praise of Thyagaraja? I think it is a philosophical song which suggests that "It doesn't matter how many tricks/skills you learn in life it is hard to escape the laws of fate/karma" ; gives examples about these tricks such as floating on water etc and recommends thinking about God...(I killed the beauty of the song by my explanation, but you get the idea). I think there are multiple caranams to this song. T.Viswa used to sing a melting version of this with a different caranam that what TMK sing.. TMK's rendition is also awesome..

[MV]

Yes, it was a lovely concert. The only unusual part was the nAttai alapanai which I thought sounded very different.

Sounds like a great list. I hope we get to hear the Gurjari and RKS Sharade somewhere (I'm sure no recording was done). The nattai alapana could very well have been different. TMK tends to sing the MD compositions with the swaras from the Dikshitar paddhati. I know he has sung Bala Gopalam in Bhairavi and Parandamavati in Dharmavati (and probably many others) with the arohanam/avarohanam of that tradition. Fascinating.

[mahavishnu]

MV, The manram usually records the kutcheris for limited, non-commercial circulation to members for fund raising. I am not sure if it this particular concert was recorded.

Sadly, TMK rarely repeats songs on the same tour; except on request. The Sharade piece in Hamir Kalyani is definitely worth several listens. I have only heard an elaborate treatment of Gurjari by Sri S Ramanathan (there is a wonderful commercial release with MSG/Karaikudi Mani). It was nice to see Semmangudi style kalpana-swarams in this ragam. And as Abhishek noted, he sang Abheri with D1.

And yes, Anai Ayya brothers composition is not about Tyagaraja Swami.

Abhishek, was your esteemed guru sitting in the first row? I just wanted to make sure that I recognized the right person!

[gardabha_gana]

Seems like Toronto got a great TMK concert that we at India(at least Bangalore) haven't had in a while!

That is many times the case with artistes .... I have seen that only gayana samaja (probably due to the venue name) in bangalore have folks performing in top form. Of course, some artistes are venue neutral - but only a few of them

[MV]

MV, The manram usually records the kutcheris for limited, non-commercial circulation to members for fund raising. I am not sure if it this particular concert was recorded.!

Oooh Mahavishnu Sir... would consider becoming a member of your organisation to lay my hands on this recording!

[mahavishnu]

MV, I am sure the office bearers in Toronto would be delighted to have someone from NZ as a member!