Sikkil Gurucharan-Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago-Oct 15,'11

[vasanthakokilam]

Sikkil Gurucharan (Vocal)
H.K Venkatram (Violin)
Thiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam (Mridangam)
Sama Rathi Auditorium, Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (HTGC), Lemont, IL
Organized by Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam on October 15th 2011

Song list. Corrections welcome.

1) vanajAksha ninnE kOri - Varnam - Mandari - Adi - Mysore Vasudevachar
2) entani nE varNintunu SabarI bhAgyam - Mukhari - Misra Chapu - Thyagaraja (R (Brief), niraval @ kanulAra sEvinci, Swaras)
3) thuNai purindaruL tharuna mAdhavA - Suddha Hindolam - Adi - Papanasam Sivan
4) mA mayUramEdil Eri vA ennai rakshikka - Bilahari - Adi - Mazhavai Chidambara bhArati(RS)
5) SrI varalakshmi namastubhyam - SrI-rUpakam-MuttuswAmi Dikshitar
6) dAcukOvalEna- Todi - Misra Jampa - Thyagaraja (RNS Niraval @ saumItri tyAgarAjuni mATa palkitE)
7) Thani
8 ) brOvavamma bangAru – nIlAmbari – Misra Chapu - Shyama Shastri
9) RTP - Karna Ranjani - kanDa jAthi Triputa - Jagannatha sahithE nAdha sahithE sahithE hiThe thE namasthE -
Gopucha Yati Pallavi, Existing pallavi modified by Thiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam
( raga malika swaras, I did not catch the ragas, Gurucharan announced Sumanesaranjani as one of the ragas
The other ragas are probably with ranjani in the name )
10) prabhO gaNapathE - Tilang - Adi - Agasthiyar ( as announced by Gurucharan )
11) Viruththam : Adi Adi agam karainthu - tiruvAi mozhi - brief - followed by
12) MOsa hOdEnallO nAnu - shubapantuvarALi - Adi - Purandara Dasa
13) MythrIm Bhajatha - rAgamAlika - Adi - H. H. Chandrasgekara Saraswathi
14) pavamAna sutuDu baTTu pAdAra vindamulaku - Saurashtram - Adi - Thyagaraja

My observations and feelings written down in a stream of consciousness manner.

It was an excellent concert. Gurucharan has a great voice and it was very enjoyable to listen to him,
especially singing some of my favorite ragas.

Varnam itself turned out to be memorable for me. When I listened to his brief sketch, I thought it was
raga mandAri. It came out of nowhere. it is not like I listen to mandAri every other day.
After the sketch and before starting the varnam, Gurucharan announced that the raga is mandAri. Oh My! The chair had good grip otherwise I would have fallen off it!! This kind of stuff is rare for me, the more usual scenario is the opposite, my suffering from the raga id'ing block, not able id a raga that is actually well known to me, so I will take it when it happens!!

After the varnam, Gurucharan talked briefly about the team's discussion a few days back about accommodating rasikas' requests. He said he is going to accommodate as many requests as possible. I kicked myself for not putting in Mukhari
as suggested by mahavishnu in the Miami concert thread. Gurucharan said the next song is a request by his hosts here,
the main song was determined by his Mridangist's desire to play a thani in Misra Jampa and the RTP raga was also an audience request.

He started a brief alapana of the next song. Guess what? It was Mukhari. His hosts had good taste!
So the first two songs were eventful for me.

He sang Entani Ne very well. It was quite elaborate for the second song of the concert and no complaints from me.
The alapana was brief and to the point, nirval was fairly elaborate with a short rounds of Swaras. Mukhari swaras
tend to center around a few characteristic phrases ( like R M P N D S ) but its raga bhava obviously is much more than
that and it is hard to bring them out in the kalpanaswara format. In such cases, artists typically insert the melodic flourishes in the nooks and corners where they have some freedom to step out of the strict confines of the song, niraval and swaras. I look forward to those flourishes in Mukhari and Gurucharan did quite a bit of that. Nicely done and he made my day.

The suddha hindolam song (thuNai purindaruL) was new to me. It sounded like Hindolam but not quite. It was sung quite fast and it was a nice segue to the next song after the elaborate and desirably heavy Mukhari.

The bilahari song (mA mayUramEdil Eri vA) was also new to me. Many Bilahari songs have some laya vishEsham given the prominence of janta prayOgAs and other laya heavy prayOgAs and this song was no exception. In fact, it started like a pallavi line of an RTP. It continued in that laya prominent manner throughout. This song really added to the dynamics of the concert and made people sit up. As Akellaji says strength in laya gives confidence, this song helped Gurucharan showcase that he is a confident singer.

SrI varalakshmi namastubhyam provided the necessary contrast, being a calmer and serene exposition.

( May be there is a pattern here in terms of good concert planning. Though rasikas' requests probably messed up his original plan, he still had enough to provide the right balance. )

The thodi main was very good. Gurucharan's alapana was fine but his violinist H.K. Venkatram's alapana sounded even better and more coherent. Some ragas are like that and thodi and instruments get along better in my perception of such things.
dAcukOvalEna was a very good choice. In a way it is good that his Mridangist had put in the request
for the tala to be Misra Jampa. I had heard dAcukOvalEnA a few times( most probably Ariyakudi, Alathur and MSS versions ). This song always sounded a bit exotic to me and it did this time as well ( in a good way ).

Brova vamma in nIlAmbari was quite slow and elaborate. Sri. Bakthavatsalam also played in a relatively subdued manner, quite appropriate for the mood of the song.

There was a bit of discussion with the audience on the RTP raga. He said a request had been put in for Karna Ranjani. I do not know this raga and so I did not join the chorus of approval, not that there was that much of a chorus of approval..
But I think the one who put in the request also seconded the request and the motion passed!! And so it was Karna Ranjani.

This is one of those times to test myself: Can I enjoy an alapana and thanam in a raga that I do not know anything
about? It is hard not to try to make sense of the raga..I know it is a curse for many CM rasikas. OK, so went my mind
trying to fit what I heard into the ones I know of. It sounded a bit like Sivaranjani and also like my favorite rare raga Dayavathi which I had written about in other threads. And at times it reminded me of ratipathipriya ( jagajjananI sukhapANi )
but only a little bit. But there were enough other things there. So, after a minute or two, I settled down to enjoy the singing just for the sheer musical values. The raga itself was quite pleasant. The thanam was just a bit more of a challenge in these situations ( again that curse!! ) but I managed to sit back and enjoy the thanam for what it is. Again, it was pleasant overall.

The Pallavi was a nice surprise and I got a lot out of it. Gurucharan announced that the pallavi has a gopucha yati structure ( and it was easily evident when he started singing ) and it was composed by his beloved mridangist, Sri. Bakthavatsalam. He added that Sri. Bakthavatsalam took a famous old pallavi and modified it slightly.. He then added 'so he says'. The audience had a good laugh at that. (Gurucharan and Bakthavatsalam had a good rapport going throughout the concert.)

The structure of the pallavi was interesting enough, and by now the raga had soaked in me enough and Gurucharan did enough variations on the pallavi line to make the pallavi portion very engaging. So answering my own question, yes it is possible to enjoy an RTP in a raga that one does not know much about. Though alapana and thanam was bit of a strain, the pallavi was like any other good pallavi that one usually relates to. He also sang ragamalika swaras ( probably in ragas with ranjani in them ) but I did not get any of them. In the middle of the ragamalika swaras, Gurucharan announced that one of them was sumanesaranjani. OK, fine.
(That sumanesaranjani did sound unique and odd enough for me to take notice. I checked it out later. Interesting Aro/Ava.)

The thukkadas after that were quite enjoyable. Gurucharan was quite at ease with these songs. 'prabhO gaNapathE' was quite energetic when he started the song and then he pumped up the energy level one more notch towards the middle and end, O.S. Arun'ish. Maithreem Bhajathe was quite serene as one would expect.

Excellent violin accompaniment was provided by H.K. Venkatram. He was introduced as a person with dual professions, a professional violinist and a career at Intel, Bangalore. He was very good through out, providing the right proportion of responses. His Thodi alapana was excellent.

Thiruvarur Bakthavatsalam's presence was felt throughout since he plays with gusto, dynamism and energy. His theermanams were quite energetic and draws attention to them. And so was his thani, especially given that he asked for Misra Jampa and got it. It was quite elaborate, vibrant and enjoyable. I know a few people feel he bangs on the drums a lot. Yes, he does that but he does enough other things with it to make that high energy wholesome. I will leave it to the knowledgeable folks to write about any technical aspects.

Overall, an excellent and enjoyable concert.

[rajeshnat]

VK
Lovely review. Shri DKJ used to sing this bilahari number

[arasi]

The cuckoo sings a review! Thanks, VK.You should do it more often. I'm sure Mahavishnu is happy too that you responded to our request.

Gurucharan is endearing himself among rasikAs by singing several of their requests. Considering his khAndAn, no wonder he has a rich store of songs.
I got to know karNaranjani when TNS tuned Ambujam Krishna's Om namO nArAyanA in that rAgam--popularized by MLV and of course, Sudha Raghunathan. When Sudha was a teen, she had sung it ever so sweetly for the composer, and I had the chance to listen to the recording soon after, during one of my not-so-frequent trips to India in those years.
Which rAgA was the dEvar nAmA in?
I had no clue at all about sumaneSa ranjani until recently.

The viruttam Gurucharan sang is a tiruvAi mozhi.

[mahavishnu]

Thanks, VK for a lovely review.
Interesting pallavi structure. I haven't heard Gopucha yati other than to describe Tyagaraja Yoga vaibhavam, Raja yoga ... etc.

And I fully agree with your take on Sri Bhaktavatsalam's style.

[maduraimini]

Very good review, VK. I am glad you got to hear the Mukhari. Gurucharan not only sings well, but cares for the audience's thoughts and views.

[vasanthakokilam]

With Arasi's help, the devar nama has been identified. Thanks Arasi.

12) mOsa bOdE - shubapantuvarALi - Adi - Purandara Dasa

Updated the song list with this info and labeled the viruththam as a tiruvAi mozhi.

[Ranganayaki]

Thank you, Vasanthakokilam for a most enjoyable review.

The chair had good grip otherwise I would have fallen off it!!

!!

Sharing a link to a tillana in Karnaranjani, composed by Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?x0mfwv7r82cfa86

Info: Janya of kharaharapriya.
Arohanam: S R2 G2 M1 G2 P D2 S Avarohanam: S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S

[Sreeni Rajarao]

12) mOsa bOdE - shubapantuvarALi - Adi - Purandara Dasa

Updated the song list with this info and labeled the viruththam as a tiruvAi mozhi.

It is probably mOsa hOde?

I am just guessing here - Not that I am familiar with any song that starts with mOsa hOde, but mOsa bOdE does not sound right.

We need some more investigation here, for sure!

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks for all your feedback and comments.

Sreeni Rajarao: I think you are right.. I looked it up and there is a song 'Mosa hOde nallO nAnu Mosa hOde nallO'. See if I transliterated it correctly. Gurucharan was splitting it as mOsahO dEnallO for singing purposes and I misheard it as mOsabO. From one internet account, this seems to be first song Purandara Dasa composed right after that jewelry incident. I tried to look up the lyrics. But it is not coming up in an obvious manner. For a song with such great provenance and providence, I expected a lot more hits. May be Lakshman or Ramakriya will have this song in their databases.

I found a Sruthilaya link for the song sung by kids (Sweta Narayan, Swathi Narayan), in a different rAgam but the lyrics are the same.
http://www.shrutilaya.org/events/09-13- ... madevi.m3u

The kids sing it with an easy to hear 'h' - mOsahO denallO

[arasi]

VK,
I do the 'Cheshire cat' now--yet, that's how I recollected it. Allow me for some senior moments

Sreeni,
Coming from you, it must be right. I don't have PD's song book handy.
........
And yes, by googling, I found several examples!
Thanks!

[srikant1987]

After the varnam, Gurucharan talked briefly about the team's discussion a few days back about accommodating rasikas' requests. He said he is going to accommodate as many requests as possible.

That is very good, especially for places where concerts aren't held too often. It can be sad when a non-favourite after non-favourite is sung, but all the more depressing if you have to wait for a month or more for the next concert.

[rshankar]

The kids sing it with an easy to hear 'h' - mOsahO denallO

I guess it should be mOsa hOdenallO - mOsamAi pOnEnE...

[arasi]

Ravi,
EmATRap paTTEnanRO!

From reports, it seems as though rasikAs don't have to say that of Gurucharan--not only of his singing, but also about the way in which he seems to oblige rasikAs with their requests

[ganeshkant]

When I just saw the song list,I thought what could be the compulsion to have such a list ! - Mukhari,varamu,karnaranjani and of course Sri.But when I progressed reading,I understood.Yes,it was all requested.It is good on the part of SGC.Thanks to him.

[vasanthakokilam]

Ganeshkant: Mukhari and Karnaranjani were the audience requests. May be the other songs were also requests,
but he did not mention them.

What made you wonder about the song list?. Are you thinking that these four ragas cluster around the same mELA?
The experience in the concert hall did not indicate any kind of sameness. In fact, I thought he balanced it
very well. Asking mainly to understand what the typical expectations are.

[ganeshkant]

What made you wonder about the song list?. Are you thinking that these four ragas cluster around the same mELA?

Yes.KharaharapriyA.

[barrakooka]

I got to know karNaranjani when TNS tuned Ambujam Krishna's Om namO nArAyanA in that rAgam--popularized by MLV and of course, Sudha Raghunathan. When Sudha was a teen, she had sung it ever so sweetly for the composer, and I had the chance to listen to the recording soon after, during one of my not-so-frequent trips to India in those years.

I thought 'Om namo narayana' was tuned in karna ranjani by Sri Charumathi Ramachandran. If I recall correctly, I have heard her mention it in a lec-dem. It was first sung by MLV (her guru).

[arasi]

Indeed, Barakooka! You are absolutely right! Yes, Charumathi tuned it, MLV sang it, but what I mentioned was a personal recording the composer played for me, of young Sudha singing it.
If I'm not mistaken, TNS sang it in concerts. Since he has tuned many of AK's songs, I got mixed up.

[Lakshman]

mOsa hOdenallO. rAgA: punnAgavarALi. cApu tALA.

P: mOsa hOdenallO nAnu nOsa hOdenallO
C1: shESa shayananige sEvakanAgade vAsudEvanige dAsanAgade
2: mallige mulle maruga davana tandu pullAbjAkSana pUjeya mADade
3: yauvanadalli shrI haripada nambade mUvattu varuSa mOhAbdiyalli biddu
4: lajje biTTu nA gajje kaTTi koNDu sajjarondige sarvadA kuNiyADe
5: suravara taruvAgi su-sthiravara vAdanta purandara viTTalana caraNava piDiyade

[ksrimech]

11) Viruththam : Adi Adi agam karainthu - tiruvAi mozhi - brief - followed by

ADiyADi agam karaindu isai pADippADik kaNNIr malgi engum
nADi nADi narasingA venRu vADi vADum ivvANudalE. (tiruvAymozhi 02.04.01)

[Sundara Rajan]

Item 3 "thuNai purintharL" has been presented by many in rAga "varamu", an associate of HindoLam. The same rAga may have another name "suddh hindoLam"

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks Lakshman, ksrimech.

Sundara Rajan: yes, it is another name.