gAyathri VenkatarAghavan@Bharat kalAchAr on Dec 11,2006

[rajeshnat]

Accompanied by Akkarai subbulakshmi - violin , manoj shiva - Mridangam and Trivandrum rAjagOpal - kanjirA

1.sarsijanAbha - nAttai - Parameshwara bhAgavathar
2.gOpalaka pahimAm - revagUpti? - ST
3.seshAchala nAyakam (R,N,S) - varAli - MD
"aravinda patra nayanam, gOvindam muruga sayanam" - neraval

4.seetha rAman ezhundu arulinAn - Anandabhairavi - ArunAchala kavi
5.paraakEla nannu paripaalimpa (R,N,S) - kedaragowla - shyamakrishna
neraval in "???hariyada hArugathe gagAna neela jO chada???"
6. sri raama naama bajanaisey manamE - atAnA - pApanAsam sivan
7. paramAthmuDu - vAgadeeshwari -T

8.kaligiyunte (R,S,T)- keeravAni - T
9.varuvaarO varam taruvaarO - shyamA -GKB
10A.parkkum pOrulum (viruttam) - bhimplAs -???
10B.vellai thAmariyil - bhimplAs - subramania bharathi
10.kallArkkum katravarkkum - kurinji?? - ???
11.prakalAdha nAthadhi (mangalam) - saurAshtram + madhyamavAti


Smt gAyathri venkat started with a nAttai that was very good .I thought the next was revagupti,not bhOOpAlam though everybody assumed it as bhOOpalam with that Nalli rAgas at a glance book.

THe melody of swati's krithi was then given a right contrast with the very good varAli alApanai.Just a good neraval , swarams appeared good with she likely giving a little sign at the end of varAli as though she is ending.But there was a good surprise she took another few minutes of long swaram with that distinct varAli gAndhAram as a pivot.Without the piDi gA , how can varAli be great.

There was incessant chatting (perhaps more as it was a free concert), which did not allow me to concentrate totally during Anandabhairavi.The Anandabhairavi krithi was new with the shade more resembling the popular palukE bangAru .

Usually this vocalist is more known to bhAvam with I thinking that she cannot take a very expressive rAga with more voice azhuttam. Nope she got this shyamakrishna sastri krithi very well with a nice rAga sketch of kedaragowlai.The krithi was excellent throughout.

The next aTAna brought back the doubts .AtAna was somewhat average as she did not get the questioning rAga swaroopam .Just perhaps she had to sing with a little higher pitch.

The keeravAni alApanai was the best in the concert .She took a nice straight to the core start(no simm madhyamam) with a lovely middle spreading the rAga with more akaram and less breath cycles.She raised my expectation a lot.

An excellent alApanai need not necessarily end with an excellent main krithi. An average kaligiyunte with her voice strength dipping a bit . The dip got longer as the pakkavAdyam did not adjust appropriately .She tried singing a one liner neraval ,then deciding to go directly with swaram. Definitely a correct move.The swarams were good in the mid section.

The bhimplas viruttam was emotive .The free concerts near my home is a pain by itself, because you see so many known faces.NAn paittuvaren ,ammAva kettadha Sollu , eppadi irukka un wife (all are best wishes greeting)all ending with what may have been a bhAvam filled kurinji or a shankarabharanam.

The mridangist played well , may be he must have callibrated to keeravAni better. akkarai gave fitting response ,but her proportion attribute needs little attention(perhaps a good choice to observe is KumbakOnam M R Gopinath). rAjagopal in kanjira was ok.

[rajeshnat]

Note:
#1 Since I heard Sowmya's bhoopAlam ,if I could not spot a subhapantuvarAli tinge ,I am assuming I have to fight with revagupti or bowli.Certainly not accusing any morphing here.

#2 The silence of Shri ramani's flute for a Rs 50 near my house is worth than the free concert.Bharat kalAchar make people pay atleast Rs 25 in your pre concert season, otherwise you will end up in a Bharathiya vidya bhavan route.

[rshankar]

"aravinda patra nayanam, gOvindam muruga sayanam" - neraval

It should be 'gOvindam uraga Sayanam'

uraga = snake = AdisESa

gOvinda, with eyes like lotus leaves, who reposes on AdisESa...

A sentiment that was expressed way back when by Purandara Dasa in his malahari gItam, padumanAbhA - he describes the lord as 'udadhi nivAsa, uraga SayanA'