Abhishek Raghuram at KGS on 11/12/11

[CRama]

Abhishek Raghuram accompanied by Akkarai Subbalakshmi on the violin, Ananthakrishnan on the Mridangam and Guruprasanna on the Ganjira presented a very good concert. The list of songs:
Varnam- Kalyani- Adi.
Gajananayutham-Chakravakam-Adi-Deekshithar
Biranabrovayide-Kalyani-Adi (Tisranadai)-Tarangampadi Panchanada Iyer
Chetasree Balakrishnam-Dwijavanthi-Adi-Deekshitar
Devadevam Bhaje-Hindolam-Adi-Annamacharya
Sree Chamundeswari palayamam-Adi-Bilahari-Mysore Vasudevacharya.
Thirupugazh-Sindubhairavi.

Before the rising of the curtains we could hear a medley of many ragams- many Hindustani ragams also which Abhishek was singing probably for mike testing. That itself was so capitivating. He commenced the concert with Kalyani varnam. After a brief alapana, he took Gajananayutham and decorated with swarams.He started Biranabrovayide without any raga alapana. Neraval was skilfully done at Neepaadapankajamu and elaborate swaraprastharams in the second kalam which reflected on his aesthetic and intellectual approach to music. Raga alapana of Dwijavanthi followed. It was very elaborate for about 10 minutes and very nicely presented. It contained lost of akaara phrases and he had enough breath control. But the alapana was mostly of fast sangathis.For a raga like Dwijavanthi slow paced and medium paced sangathis will add more beauty to the ragam. Akkarai Subbalakshmi's return was most appropriate and the entire ragam was covered in 3 minutes. But Abhishek did not sing the madhyama kalam in the anupallavi. Seems he forgot the sahithyam.No swarams were presented for the song. Devadevam Bhaje, the composition of Annamacharya was presented next.Elaborate swaras having intricate poruthams were presented which took the audience to a trance. The main song of the day was Bilahari. I was very happy at this selection. Because you will never get a very elaborate Bilahari. I expected a pallavi. But the kriti of Vasudevacharya was taken up for a very elaborate treatment. Raga alapana was done for 15 minutes and the violinist took 10 minutes for return. The alapana was very imaginative - but here too mostly fast sancharas only. My personal two cents- he employed too much of brighas- in each word- which affected the aesthetics of the kritis.The entire song with neraval- at Raaka nishakara sannibhavadane and elaborate swarams took one hour. The thani by the artists took 15 minutes and he concluded with a thirupugazh in the ragam Sindubhairavi.

The accompanists contributed a lot in lifting the concert to a very high level. Abhishek presented a wonderful show. Violin was very good support- she excelled in her alapanas and swara returns. The Mridangam by Ananthakrishnan- he was closely following Abhishek through his anticipations and embellished the concert during the neravals and swara excercises. His thani alongwith Guruprasanna also invited repeated applause on each round. The audience presented a standing ovation at the end which was highly deserved.

[mahesh3]

Before the rising of the curtains we could hear a medley of many ragams- many Hindustani ragams also which Abhishek was singing probably for mike testing. That itself was so captivating.

Waah!

[mahesh3]

The Mridangam by Ananthakrishnan- he was closely following Abhishek through his anticipations and embellished the concert during the neravals and swara excercises. His thani alongwith Guruprasanna also invited repeated applause on each round. The audience presented a standing ovation at the end which was highly deserved.

Waah re Waah!

[rsrini080463]

I agree with CRama on his pre-concert alaaps - they were fabulous; though the concert was good, my observation is his poor time management, which I had noticed across many concerts; had the time management been better, he could have sung a Bharathiar song - marking the birthday of the genius

[CommonMan]

Time management has been his perennail problem.. The other issue I have with Abhishek is that in the past two or three years, the "classical" depth has been decreasing - in the same time, his fan following is also increasing - probably thats the reason he is resorting to this style. I may also have this feeling because I belong to the "old-timer's" listening style (and am also old- lets face it)....Having said that, I strongly feel that 60-70% of his raga delineation falls on the "light-clasical / hindustani" style, which never used to be the case before....If his grandfather had been alive, he would have kept a check on this, I believe.....

[pavithrac71]

I really enjoyed the concert !