Prince Rama Varma's concert on Aug 16th at BVB, Chennai

[sindhu29]

Hi All,

Prince Rama Varma will be performing on Aug 16th, tomorrow, at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore,Chennai. The concert will commence at 7:00 pm. The organizer's have provided a link by which you can watch it live online. The link is www.chennaistream.com/sripeetam

I found this information on his site and he has a few more lined up.

Thanks,
Sindhu.

[hamirkalyani123]

And, I understand from Sri Avaneeswaram S R Vinu on facebook that he is accompanying him on the Violin. The other accompaniments are

Sri .B.Harikumar on the Mridangam and Dr.S.Kathick on Ghatom.

All are welcome.

[sindhu29]

It was a fantastic concert, mostly thukadas because it was a devotional concert. The accompaniments were very good too. I was surprised that there were so many other popular musicians singing there for the Krishnashtami festival, but nobody has posted it here.
http://www.chennaistream.com/sripeetam/
These concerts have been archived, so they can be watched at anytime which is a good thing.

[Nick H]

I missed the meat (sorry for the non-veg metaphor ) of manodharma, but I still ended up enjoying it. I think he can now take the velvet-voice crown from Yessudas!

(My wife says velvet-voice is a Kerala thing...)

The light song that he ended with ("to send everyone home happy") --- didn't know it is a Thyagaraja song! Actually, although the music sounds light, RV explained that the arrangement of syllables in the words is quite difficult. What an amazing range of composition skills that man had.

[rshankar]

Nick, IMO, I would not play up the 'velvet voice' of any artist, however deserving it is, because, people tend to be dismissive of such artists - they think the velvet voice is a God-given gift, and blow-off the hard work these artists put in, and their creativity also gets shafted.

[Nick H]

True, so I'd better not.

[arasi]

However, it's such a pleasing voice to hear--and yes, a voice alone does not a singer make. I like Rama Varma's dedication and his involvement with music. That's another reason for his sounding the way he does.

Nick,
manOdharmam is an expressive word. Happy to note that you caught on to it!

[kssr]

[quote="Nick H"]

(My wife says velvet-voice is a Kerala thing...)

/quote]

What about the king of vv- Dr.BMK. An andhra thing?
Also, IMO RV's voice is too soft. When you increase the mike volume to bring it on par with accompanyments, it starts producing a hiss/ echo. As one senior vidwan commented about him "Nalla Gnanasthan" (highly knowledgeable)- but when it comes to concerts ....???

[sindhu29]

Ha ha, Nick, I liked your metaphor! True that! But then I also enjoy his thukkadas very much. Varaleela Ganalola and Smara Vaaram were just too good! He does have a velvety voice for sure, but then that is becasue of his dedication and involvement with music like Arasi said.
@kssr: "Senior Vidhwans" are always there to comment! That's the only thing they do these days! (no offense)

[sindhu29]

There are some other good concerts there on the list. Haven't found the time to listen to most of them as I didn't know till I looked this particualr concert up. Anyone heard them? Any recommendations?

[Nick H]

What about the king of vv- Dr.BMK. An andhra thing?

I should have thought of that ... when she said it!

It is appropriate, too, because RV's present-day style owes quite a lot to the golden voice of BMK.

I absolutely disagree that RV's voice is, in any way, too soft for concerts. Perhaps the "senior vidwan" is a great deal deafer than I am? . RV has an excellent voice --- and he had an excellent voice before he became BMK's student.

[sindhu29]

Usually if A writes that a concert was good and B writes that it was bad, people who haven't attended the concert have to decide based on such conflicting reviews and it becomes difficult to do so. The nice part about this set of concerts is that we get to decide for ourselves based on what we see and hear. I think more concerts should have this facility. That will be fatnastic!

[srikant1987]

Usually if A writes that a concert was good and B writes that it was bad, people who haven't attended the concert have to decide based on such conflicting reviews and it becomes difficult to do so.

Hmm, not necessarily. Over a course of time, we get an idea of what A likes and what B likes.

That gives me an idea, though. It might be a good idea for, say, The Hindu, have TWO (or more) reviewers review the same concert.

Though that might be what you were saying ... :$

[sindhu29]

All I am saying is listening to a concert and then deciding is better than deciding based on a review!

[Nick H]

If you didn't go to the concert, then what deciding is there to do? None!

[sindhu29]

@ Nick: I just made a random statement and not as a reply to what you wrote. I guess "deciding" is not the word. Maybe "forming an opinion" about the singer or the accompanists, or the organizer or sound system would be more apt a phrase.