Madurai GS Mani@NCA on Dec 13,2006

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 17 Dec 2006, 20:51

Accompanied by MA Sundareswaran - Violin ,Srimushnam rAja Rao - mridangam, sv ramani - ghatAm and kannan - mOrsing

I have only heard madurai GS mani in print & internet forums . I went to this concert only to hear this vidwan.The influence of the accompanists was there , but Rs 50 worth of pindrop silence was definitely major. I also did not have a taste of this vidwan either through tape/CD or download. Read on with a focus on C and H ,where C stands for Carnatic and H for Hindustani.Go slowly get the feel of every number.This is like a small quiz.

The vidwan started with a C1 varnam which normally is avoided by vidwans who are little less courageous. The C1 varnam has another speciality , it is a percussion artist's juiciest fulltoss with them giving a feeling to rasikas that atleast 25% tani is over.

The next krithi was in a rAga C2 which must have been an ordinary C2 but the vidwans voice had the gAmbheeram which forces me to commit a mistake that the rAga may be a "gambheera C2" .The swarams in C2 were quite good.

The next C3 is a fairly underperformed rAga ,which is quite more known by its more prominent janya. Nevertheless the vidwan with his booming voice made it interesting .The C3 was spaced well by the vidwan, where all the three laya artists had their voracious appetite for strokes getting fully satisfied. I had the feeling that 50% tani was over

How can I define the fourth krithi which is truly in the crossroad of H and C . I prefer to define it as H4 head with a C4 tail. Brilliant touch was added by MA Sundareswaran who is generally outstanding when he glides .

The C5 krithi is rare but the rAga is distinct and popular. This was just below average.

The next H6 was very elaborate that I connected shri GS mani resembling a voice that I saw it 15 years ago in between cricket matches(that hindustani vidwan's last name is one you get after you solve the anagaram ijhso) .THe elaborate rAga alAp I liked it more than the krithi.

The C7 was a good but a brand new filler,atleast indicating that atlast "Am I a playful toy " krithi is replaced.

That was followed by a C8 , his voice booming again surprising how he could sing the Hindustani alAp of H6 and and carnatic alApanai of C8 at the same concert. The C8 krithi was a new experience with a wonderful neraval and good swaram .

Usually I hear the C9 krithi before the main , but I liked the surprise possibly indicating his confidence .

The H10 was lovely again followed by a slokha H11 ,with a nice finish on H12.

How rare were all the krithis that I felt he should give a finish that is liked not only by the vidwan and also that is suited for the majority gallery rasikas like me . This was C13.Usually this krithi many of rasikas will also sing, almost never knowing either the rAga or the composer.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 17 Dec 2006, 20:52

Well ,I tried to explain the feelings of each of the krithi with the rAga .The song list is below ,replace the C with Carnatic and H with hindustani. May be try reading the above post again.

C1 evari bOdhana - AbhOgi - Patnam
C2 gambheera gajanAyaka (S) - nAttai ??? - ???
C3 muddumOmu (S)- sooryakAntam - ThyagarAja

H4 head with C4 tail nee pAda pankajamu (R,S) - valaci - ThyagarAja
C5 chiragAnu nammitini?? (R) - shuruTTi - ThyagarAja
H6 rajendra kanye girisuthe gambeera mAlini???(R) - shuddha sArang - ??

C7 nee paadamulE - navarasa kannaDa - RS
C8 mumu rAvana bAdha nOrvaka(R,N,S) - tOdi - T
thani avartAnam
C9 chinna nAtana - kAlanidhi - T

H10 hari nAmuneranjanu - yaman - ???
H11 slokha "chinna tanni .... krishna pulakAnkuram" - mishrakAmaj
H12 Dharashanu to ganusham - mishra KamAs -????
C13 jagath jAnani - rathipathipriya -ghAnam Krisha Iyer

14 mangalam

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 17 Dec 2006, 20:55

Interesting conclusion:

Of late I am hearing just like hindustani rAgas entering into pure Carnatic concerts, there is also lot of Carnatic rAgas getting into pure hindustani music concerts. I prefer a jugalbandhi of that type,then the normal one which is predominant now where both the parties are into the same concert. Perhaps if you had heard a detailed rAga alApanai in shuddha sArang,yaman ,mishra kAmach and that great valaci,you will understand the sanctity of my statement. This is just my viewpoint, I am not thrusting this viewpoint ,you make your own conclusion.

Another point is lot of rasikas avoid the concert when there are 3 laya vidwans. I would encourage them to hear with this musician vidwan Madurai GS Mani an unknown pearl, who has such a manly voice who can even take few more laya vidwans. Overall a very good concert with lots of rare krithis and rare rAgas.

Note:
Hope you liked the half baked creativity in this review.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 17 Dec 2006, 21:26

Are you sure C5 is a Tyagraja kriti?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 17 Dec 2006, 21:45

Rajesh,
Nice review.
kalaimAmaNI Sri Madurai GS Mani is well known to the members of this forum, thanks to Kji's service:
See: http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=30&p=3
There are some links u/led by pnkchry as well..do not know if they are still active...

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 18 Dec 2006, 15:46

Lakshman wrote:Are you sure C5 is a Tyagraja kriti?

LJi , I should have put a ?? for the shuruTTi krithi . Apologies ,please take your time to correct it as I am seeing too much posts. Also let me know about the gambheera gajanAyaka rAga too, I tried googling a lot , perhaps only Shri Madurai GS Mani , knows.

mahesh_narayan · Post by **mahesh_narayan** » 18 Dec 2006, 20:21

Isn't Nee Pada Pankajamule of Tyagarajaswami in Begada?

kaapi · Post by **kaapi** » 18 Dec 2006, 20:38

Nee pAdamUle is in navarasa kannada and composed by pUchi

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 18 Dec 2006, 21:00

Tx kaapi, I used RS as the short form for ramanAthapuram Sreenivasa Iyengar ,who is also poochi IyengAr.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 18 Dec 2006, 21:04

rajeshnat: I am unable to trace any of the songs with ??? in your review.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 18 Dec 2006, 21:30

LJi,
With you unable to trace , that speaks how rare krithis that Madurai GS Mani has taken. Next time If I hear Shri GS Mani , I will walk up to him and then notify you too.

Note:
1. I was referring that inspirational Mile sur mera tumharaa with that booming BhimSen Joshi voice. So the anagram solution was joshi. This inspirational number usually comes in Doordarshan telecasted cricket matches atleast few decades before , may be mid or late 1980's. There is a quite a lot of manly voice that I am able to connect with Shri GS Mani and Shir BhimSen Joshi.

2. On a side note Mile sur mera tumharaa is in sindhubhairavi. The rAga sudda sArang was announced by Shri Madurai GS Mani . I always find it difficult to distinguish Hindustani Sudda Sarang and Carnatic HamsanAdam.

3. I was referring the naan oru vilayAtu bommaiyA krithi in the clue "Am I a playful toy"

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 19 Dec 2006, 07:38

ni pAdapankajamu in valacI is his own composition

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 19 Dec 2006, 09:33

there is also lot of Carnatic rAgas getting into pure hindustani music concerts.

Can we have some names of ragas , artists..

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 19 Dec 2006, 18:56

naan oru vilayAtu bommaiyA = Am I a playful toy !!!

:O

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 20 Dec 2006, 00:00

Interesting quiz Rajesh - I am happy to report that I got 0 ot of 10!

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 20 Dec 2006, 00:02

Kulkariji - how about Charukesi/Kiravani etc...mostly Sitarists and other instrumentalists. Among vocalists, I also heard the Mishra Bandhu take on a Carnatic Mela - I forget which one now...Hamsadhwani of course has become fairly popular now

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 20 Dec 2006, 03:07

Amir Khan has sung it
so charukesi must have been around in HM for quite some time now.

Yes Keervani- you are right.Misra brothers themselves have sung a magnificent keervani in an OSHO concert-Commercial release.

Dhani is still performed rarely though(Shudh Dhanyasi ??)

BTW I was told Gayatri Girish recently sang a jugalbandi with a HM artist and took up Janaranjini.
Any one knows about it ? That is a welcome departure , as far as choice of raga is concerned.Wonder what was the HM equivalent ?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 20 Dec 2006, 05:25

coolkarni wrote:BTW I was told Gayatri Girish recently sang a jugalbandi with a HM artist and took up Janaranjini.
Any one knows about it ? That is a welcome departure , as far as choice of raga is concerned.Wonder what was the HM equivalent ?

There was no HM equivalent, AFAI can tell:
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/12/08/stor ... 701000.htm

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 20 Dec 2006, 06:34

Thanks Ravi..

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 20 Dec 2006, 10:52

coolkarni
Apart from few that has been mentioned, I also know AbhOgi is also featured into hindustani concerts. I am not aware of the artists though.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 20 Dec 2006, 11:05

Rajesh, You are quite right. Abhogi has been in vogue in Hindustani music for many years. Pt Ravi Shankar composed a large vocal ensemble piece in Abhogi that was performed at the Festival of India in the 60s/70s (which featured a very young Lakshmi Shankar, Chaurasia and even L Subramaniam). In recent years, Rashid Khan and Veena Sahasrabuddhe have done extensive pieces in Abhogi.

mahesh33 · Post by **mahesh33** » 21 Dec 2006, 09:30

I attended Madurai GS Mani's Academy concert. Dhenuka though short and sweet, was very creatively sung...beautiful. It stll lingers...a day after.