TMK @ NGS ,28.8.2011

[ganeshkant]

Concert in memory of Veena Seshanna.

R.K.Sriramkumar - Violin
Srimushnam Raja Rao - Mirudhangam
B.S.Purushothaman - Kanjira.

Song List:

Undethi Ramudu Hari Kambodhi - S
Thyagaraja Palayamam - Gowla - S
UBhaya kavEri ranga -Gamanasrama (Veena Seshanna kriti)- (R,S)
Sri Ramam - Naryana gowlai - RNT
Thava ripo - Yamuna kalyani
PArukuLLe nalla nAdu - jOnpuri
Managalam kOsalendhrAya - Chencuruti,peelu,puunAgavarAli,nadhanAmakriyA
ThillAna - chenchuruti.

It was an outstanding concert.TMK was in full form and glowing.The voice easily traversed between anu-mandhra N to upper octave N.The renditions were soulful esp.the gowlai no.There were surprises in the selection of Gamanasrama as sub-main and NG as main.The NG was forceful yet sweet.

If at all I have to say something it is about the handling of Gamanasrama Alapanai.could have been bit slow.Though Krishna's first phrase itself confirmed the raga lakshanam it would have registered well had it been a bit slow.RKSRK was outstanding throughout.His Gamanasrama registered very well replete with the rAga bhavam phrase to phrase.

Rajarao played suiting TMK's style but loud at times esp.during thani.BSP palyed well.

I feel really glad that I attended this concert

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Nice to see a Veene Sheshanna composition in the song list!

Upaya kaveri ranga -Gamanasrama (Veena Seshanna kriti)- (R,S)

should be

uBhaya kAvEri ranga

[rshankar]

Whose composition was the tillAnA?

[mahavishnu]

Ravi, My guess is that he would have sung Veena SeshannA's tillAna in senjurutti (tiranA tana dheem ta tiranA).

[tyagarajadasa]

Wow! NG main! I would give anything to listen to this concert!

--Gokul

[grsastrigal]

The advantages of attending Sunday 11 AM concert are many,
-Have lunch and attend the concert. You have to just skip precious afternoon nap. For TMK, it is ok.
-No traffic jam, being Sunday.
-Afternoon concerts are always free.
-You can talk to stalwarts leisurely, if you have close proximity with them.
-If you don’t have AC at home (or want to save Electricity), napping in venue like NGS with full AC, on a Sunday, is like “vaikuntam” !!!
When TMK is performing in front of senior vidwan, he should have started with a varNam or should have rendered a decent main rAga or done some justification in SeshaNNa Kriti, on whose behalf the programme was conducted.
All the three was missing. His NG rAga rendition was not ”A” class, not because of TMK, but because of rAga, he has chosen. Some of the rAga alapanas are like “swimming in well/tank” as SSI says. Some of the rAgas are swimming in sea/river. There is nothing in NG, chosen as main, for more than 5 min. Sriramkumar return was better than TMK.
Better rAga selection would have satisfied our “afternoon soul”. Good to see Sri.Nedanuri got up before he started NG.
I don’t agree artists referring to books/papers while singing the song. TMK referring papers for SeshaNNa kriti and for Barathiyar song. Somtimes comparisons are inevitable. I could not stop thinking of Sanjay rendering “Karashri” kriti at the same venue couple of months back without referring any paper.
GamanAshrama rAga alapana was not fuly justified. There is an RTP of Gamaashrama of Malladi brothers, Sri.Nedanurigaru must have been proud of his disciples after listening to TMK.
I still love going to TMK concert. His neraval in “guruguha” of Gowlai kriti and fast swarAs in Harikambodhi were a real beauty. Of course, the accompaniments, especially the tani of of SMR and Purushotam , was excellent.

[ganeshkant]

When TMK is performing in front of senior vidwan, he should have started with a varNam or should have rendered a decent main rAga or done some justification in SeshaNNa Kriti, on whose behalf the programme was conducted.

The concert was already delayed and started past 11.30.hence varnam may not be that mandatory.What do you mean by a decent main rAgam ?It is because of rasikas who fail to support artists when they venture out new things We are hearing the so called decent main rAgams clad "ARACHAMAVU CONCERTS".TMK must be knowing more than any body else about the limitation and scope of NG.yet he took it.Let us laud him not curtail him.

-If you don’t have AC at home (or want to save Electricity), napping in venue like NGS with full AC, on a Sunday, is like “vaikuntam” !!!

It seems U listened to the concert not sitting in NGS but in vaikuntam.Such self confessions are always welcome.
NedanUri himself told that once he sang Ahiri as main in a concert and sang rAgam for ~20 mins.and got a affectionate admonition from SSI who was in the audience.Our problem is we concentrate on every thing other than the music.The exit of NedanUri might be due to personal reasons.

[srikant1987]

Some of the rAga alapanas are like “swimming in well/tank” as SSI says. Some of the rAgas are swimming in sea/river. There is nothing in NG, chosen as main, for more than 5 min. Sriramkumar return was better than TMK.

The whole list is rather short -- how long was the concert?

N'gauLai can definitely be mained (scope-wise), since I feel it will have scope comparable, if not slightly greater than, k'gauLai -- which is rather commonly mained, and has been used for pallavis also. However, with such a short list, unless the concert was like 1.5 hours, it is likely the n'gauLai was rather stretched and boring.

But again, n'gauLai is not such a well-known rAgam, and that can make it seem more boring. It will be a better idea to make it a pre-main rAgam. Also, it's better to open that rAgam with an uruppaDi (after maybe a short sketch), maybe with NS, since uruppaDis introduce a rAgam better (reliably).

Btw did Prof T N Krishnan stay for the concert?

[ganeshkant]

Upaya kaveri ranga -Gamanasrama (Veena Seshanna kriti)- (R,S)

should be

uBhaya kAvEri ranga

Thanks.corrected in the main post.

[bilahari]

NArAyaNagowLa surely can be elaborated? Were not extensive pallavis said to be sung in this raga once upon a time? I do think that ragas like NG and mAnji have become restricted in scope these days due to the comparative popularity of their immediate neighbours, kEdAragowLa (/suruTTi) and bhairavi. As such, any exploration of the peripheries of these ragas will make the rasika (or even the musician) think it's impinging on said neighbour's territory. That's a pity - nArAyaNagowLa is such a beautiful rAgam! I applaud TMK and Sowmya and whoever sings this ragam still.

[Purist]

NArAyaNagowLa surely can be elaborated? Were not extensive pallavis said to be sung in this raga once upon a time? I do think that ragas like NG and mAnji have become restricted in scope these days due to the comparative popularity of their immediate neighbours, kEdAragowLa (/suruTTi) and bhairavi. As such, any exploration of the peripheries of these ragas will make the rasika (or even the musician) think it's impinging on said neighbour's territory. That's a pity - nArAyaNagowLa is such a beautiful rAgam! I applaud TMK and Sowmya and whoever sings this ragam still.

NarayaNagowla ragam is a tricky one and needs sharp watching in not falling into diwjawanti/sahana/kedaraowlai/suruti traps.
That perhaps is the reason why not many venture. I recall Semmangudi dwelling on this point while rendering 'Sri Ramam' krithi

[srikant1987]

Where's the dwijawanti/sahAna trap in n'gauLai?

Actually, there should be a nArAyaNagauLai trap in dwijavanti rather than the other way round.

[rshankar]

Sreeni, given Sri TMK's SSI connection, that was what I would have assumed. Just wanted to be sure!

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Ravi,
I think you are answering to Mahavishnu's post #4 above.
My assumption is the same as yours about the tillAna that was sung.

Mahavishnu,
You mean dhi ra nA tana dhim ta dhirana (and not tiranA tana dheem ta tiranA), right?! And junjOti rAga.

[mahavishnu]

Sreeni: Yes, the same. Although I have heard people pronounce it as both dhiranA and tiranA (see for e.g in this clip http://www.charsurartsfoundation.org/ca ... ts_id=2995)...

The blurred /ta/ and /da/ distinction in diglossic languages like tamil could lead to different pronunciations.

[ganeshkant]

In today's morning Chennai A AIR concert heard NSG sing NG as sub main and the same kriti.A very soothing rendition.

[rshankar]

Sreeni/Ramesh - sorry for the mixup!
This I think is one of the few tillAnAs that Smt. MSS has sung (and perfectly lovely version) - the caraNasAhityam is in telugu, right?

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Ravi,
I believe you are right - the caraNasAhitya is in telugu.

I believe that is true for all of Sheshanna's tillAna-s (there are other beautiful tillAna-s in bEhAg and kApi that were very popular in the old Mysore school, especially among the vaiNika-s.

tillAna-s were given high prominence in the vaiNika community during Sheshanna's time. There are many other tillAna-s composed by Mysore vaiNika-s, Sheshanna's contemporaries and juniors. It is unfortunate that these other gems are not seeing the light of the day.

I can share the bEhag and kApi tillAna with you if you are interested)

Sorry for the digression from TMK's music but I was compelled to write about the tillAna-s created by Mysore vaiNika-s (cue here for Keerthi to write another scholarly essay!)

[grsastrigal]

Sreeniji- Very interesting to know about Seshanna's Tillana. Please upload and send the link to my gmail id. Coming back to TMK's concert..
I could not find Sri,TN Krishnan, when the concert started. Entered the hall at 11.15 and noted Sri.Nedanuri, Smt.Vijayantimala Bali and sabha secretaries. He must have left early.

Another advantage of afternoon concert is the duration. Even if it started late, it can continue. In NGS, the next programme was 4.30 PM. No need for TMK to shorten his concert.

Ironically, he was talking to some of the listeners for half an hour after the concert. He could have rendered RTP (without Arunkumar pallavi !!!) in that time.

Another problem was with TMK on that day was his pronunciation. He started “Undedhi RRRaamudu”. I did not know whether TMK was angry with Lord Rama. As the meaning goes- “It is indeed Rama only”. He did not need to stress the “R”. He should be careful or need to face the wrath of Anjaneya !!!

TMK needs to understand that his rasikas have big appetite for music. We are ready to take 4 hours concert. Actually, the call was almost full, no one moved till the last song.
Another concert is coming on Sat evening at Music Academy.

[Sreeni Rajarao]

Grsastrigal Sir,
Please see the thread under Vaggeyakara section for Veena Sheshanna compositions - I have provided some YouTube links for the tillAna related discussion. I am planning to upload some more items and provide links.

[rajeshnat]

Here is undedi, for listeners.

GRS,
I donot know why you upload TMK's concert having known his stand on the same.

[grsastrigal]

Sorry Rajeshji. Removed