Pantula ramA,13/11/11

[ganeshkant]

Venue: tatvAlOkA auditorium,Chennai

Mri:NeyvEli nArAyanan
Vio:M.S.N.Murthy
Ghatam:Trichy Murali

I was late by ~ 15 mins.

The partial list of songs:

1.rAmanukku mannan muDi – HindOlam – R
2.eppaDi manam – husEni – (SS)
3.mudhdhumOmu – sUryakantham – (R,S)
4.SrikAntha – bhavapriya – S
5.mOhanarAma – mOhanam – (R,N @ pallavi,S,T)
6.annamAchArya kriti – kadhankudhookalam – (SS)
7.ramcharitha mAnas – tulsidAs – rAgamAlika (sung in madhyama shruti)
8.mangalam – shankarAbharanam – BhadhrAchala rAmadAsar.

I might have missed to mention a couple of items since I didn’t make any note.

When I entered, the melodious hindOlam was flowing in ramA’s dulcet voice which had minor shades of HM.It was sung beautifully and Murthy’s version was equally good.The kriti was rendered with clear Tamizh diction.Some of the artists from A.P,I find can’t enunciate Tamizh.In the recently concluded BSU 2011,Malladi Bros.sang ‘thEruvadheppo nenjE’ and I couldn’t understand most part of the song.ramA is a sure exception along with artists like Hyd.sisters.

The husEni song was sung with such a bhAvam that it looked as if sita herself descended to the stage and sang it.I always liked Bombay Jeyashri’s version.ramA’s was excellent.The short AlApanai was note worthy.ramA is bit emotional,I know because during a concert a few months before here @ PSHS,she broke down during a song ( unfortunately I don’t remember it now) and it was her violinist – husband Murthy who completed it.Artists must be bit emotional that helps them to present their art with good involvement.

The sUryakantham rAgam was sung with élan and this is the second time I hear this ragam given the royal treatment; the other time was when I heard it on 01.01.2006 by Dr.BMK in Karnataka Sangha .It was the main that day.ramA excelled in all areas -rAgam,kriti and svarams ranging from mandhra sthAyi M to thAra sthAyi P.Piece de reistance of that evening.

The main mOhanam was no lesser.Till up to 60 % of the time, rAgam was built up in beautiful long and short phrases in the madhyama sthAyi and she centerd them around D where it landed each time.There were some excellent brighas both in the AlApnai and during svaram.The niraval was good too.

The short sketch of kadhanakudhUkalm was done in style.
Her voice showed a bit of strain in the fag end while singing the madhyama shruti song.There were occasional slips.But it was undoubtedly a great performance.

The percussion duo excelled.nArayanam at times let Murali play for the vocalist and he for the violinist during svaram singing in the main which was very nice.

Charsur has arranged a 6 day festival starting with this concert with ‘rAmAyanam’ as the theme.Good effort.Let me see whether I can treat myself for my birth day today by attending Amrutha Venkatesh’s concert.

[PUNARVASU]

Nice review of nice concert.BTW, Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day. I am sure you will gift yourself with a nice concert.

[arasi]

Pantula Rama appeals to me in a special way. Her voice which carries emotion at a lingering pace is charming. I was surprised to see two tamizh songs in the list. Even more pleasantly surprised to hear that she gave life to tamizh words effortlessly.

Ganeshkant,
Good review, as usual.
A good year to you, good health and happiness. Nothing like music, good music for a birthday celebration--again, though the season is not my birthday month, I feel as though each good concert is a celebration

[ganeshkant]

Thanks Punarvasu & Arasi for your wishes.

[sureshvv]

A most excellent concert. Pantula Rama's brigha delivery is unbelievable. The timber of her voice gives an ineffable lilt to the high notes - especially da and ni - and a raga like suryakantam (or sowrashtram or bhairavam) brings this out to the fore. Loved the alapana and it rang in my ears long after the kriti was over - somewhat overshadowing the rest of the items in the concert.

The mangalam was "ramachandraya janaka" and in kurinji, I believe.

[maduraimini]

Thanks for the good review. I have not heard her in person- but have been hearing good things about her concerts. The list looks good. Happy Birthday! What can be a better present than listening to a nice concert?