Sageetha Sivakumar at Music Academy, 20th Dec 2006

[vijay]

Accompanists:
BU Ganesh Prasad
Manoj Siva
Guruprasad – Ghatam


Sangeetha Sivakumar/Krishna’s career is a case of a talented youngster who has not completely lived up to early expectations – with the most trying phase of maternal responsibilities now behind her, we can hopefully look forward to things looking up for her on the professional front…and they are, as far as I can tell….

A mind-blowing Sankarabharanam at the Asthika Samajam some weeks back and a melancholy Kharaharapriya from her last years Academy performance (which no doubt earned her the evening slot this year) were among the reasons that prompted me to block my schedule for this concert of Sangeetha at the Academy….and I knew, from the moment she started, that my faith was not unwisely reposed. The items presented were:

Mathe Malayadwaja – Khamas – Adi – HMB
Jaya Jaya – Nattai – K Chapu – Purandara Dasa(?) – (S)
Yagnathulu – Jayamanohari/Sriranjani – Adi – Thyagaraja
Mamava Meenakshi – Varali – M Chapu (RNS)
Ma Ramanan – Hindolam – Rupakam – Papanasan Sivan
O Rangasayee – Khambhoji – Adi – Thyagaraja (RNST)
RTP – Reethigowla – Adi, 2 Kalai (eduppu on second beat)

The alaapana for O Rangasayee was the predictable focal point of the concert and the first of 4 successive renditions in the raga I have heard over the last 3 days! It was a conventional alaapana with the recommended rests on the Gandharam, Panchamam and Shadjam and the Dhaivatham came suitably ornamented...but one of my measures of a good alaapana is how successful it is in diverting my attention from the notes. By that yardstick this one was a scorcher.

Sangeetha’s voice, while rich in timbre, comes with a fairly substantial baggage of sruti lapses and vocal slips – her brighas in particular, have no more than an even probability of finishing on the desired note. A karvai on the panchamam during the Varali alaapana was glaringly discordant with the drone….but overriding all these glitches is that invaluable element of soul – "dard", as the North Indians would call it – that no amount of Sruti Suddham or technical virtuosity can make up for. A vidwan would probably advise her to work on tightening up the many loose ends in her presentation – I have no complaints with that suggestion but as a rasika all I ask is that she continue singing with the same uninhibited zeal that she does today. Sometimes I feel that the highest art can only be sired by imperfection….but I ramble…

It is unlikely for such an emotionally charged performance to leave accompanists untouched – Ganesh Prasad was not an exception and, to some extent, he shared Sangeetha’s problem of passion taxing technical capacity. His Kambhoji, finished with a tantalizing glimpse of the Kakali Nishadam, helped complete the ennobling vision of the vocalist.

On the percussion side, Manoj Siva held fort with elan and banked on the Khanda Nadai to provide a rousing tani avartanam with Guruprasad. Korvai was, as far as I could tell was in Tisram and was of 2 avarathas.

10 days into the season and after 2 days of good-but-not-extraordinary concerts, one was wondering whether the soul’s appetite was getting cloyed…I am happy to report that that is very far from the case...

Now let's wait for the Hindu's verdict!

[Mukhari]

Nicely written review!

[kamakoti]

Hindu verdict is out.

Caption says "Perfect Sruti Alignment" and at the end suggested to focus on sruti.

The reviewer has shown that he can appreciate.

May be ,this is not for all.

If we discuss further,we may end up starting a separate thread on the Review of MA

reviewer(7.30 pm slot)

[mahavishnu]

Could someone please post the link to the Hindu review for this concert?

[mahavishnu]

actually, I found the review. I guess there is a lag before the text goes online. http://www.hindu.com/ms/2006/12/27/stor ... 060200.htm