Veena trio:NSG,Nirmala Rajasekar,Geetha Bennet, SD, Mar 24

[Sindhuja]

Mridangam: Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar
Khanjira: Karthik Venkataraman

1. Varnam: Viriboni - Bhairavi, Ata
2. Mayatheetha swaroopini - Mayamalavagowlai, Rupakam
3. Sadinchene - Arabhi, Adi
4. Janani ninuvina - Reethigowlai, Mishra chapu
5. Thanam in medley of ragas
6.Jagadodharana - Hindustani Kapi, Adi
7. Mangalam
8. Chandrachooda - Darbari Kanada, Adi

This was a very unique event and the idea of bringing together Shri Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Smt Nirmala Rajasekar, and Smt Geetha Bennet was apparently Shri V.V. Sundaram's brainchild. I had heard Shri NSG play the veena briefly while teaching his students on a popular program on TV (don't remember the name) many years ago, and so was excited to hear him play it in a full fledged concert. The varnam was a beautiful start and hearing the three veenas each with their own unique "voices" blending together was an aural treat. Mayatheetha was beautifully rendered. There seemed to be a little bit of confusion towards the end of the kalpana swaram in the final korvai, but they nicely came together and finished it nonetheless. I felt Sadinchene was rendered at a slower pace than usual, but may be it was just me. The reethigowalai alapanai was lovely with the three of them taking turns. The swaras had some interesting patterns leading to the line tamasamu seyakane brovumu followed by Janani. This was followed by a thanam in a medley of ragas. I didn't keep track of all of them but some highlights were Lalitha and Nasikabhushani by Geetha Bennet - she played some wonderful fast phrases with some "sozhattal" - Sahana and Athana by Nirmala Rajasekar, and Shri and Yamuna Kalyani by Shri Neyveli.
If I'm not misremembering, the thanams started with mridangam accompaniment but that did not follow through (I was reminded of TMK's argument at a lec-dem here a while ago that thanam should not be accompanied by percussion...). Jagadodharana was quite soulfully rendered. I'm sure the piece de resistance for most people that afternoon was the final piece Chandrachooda. It was a request from the renowned neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran (also a San Diegan) who was in the audience, and it came after the mangalam. Encouraged by the organizers, the artists yielded and it turned out to be the highlight of the evening. It was indeed a memorable performance with Shri Neyveli singing and the two ladies accompanying him on the veena. Beautifully tuned by Shri Neyveli himself, this song has been very popular in the last several years and it received resounding applause and a standing ovation.

Overall, I absolutely loved NR's playing that day. Somehow her veena's tone sounded the sharpest and clearest and her playing was just gorgeous. It was very interesting to see the dynamics between the three great artists on stage and thanks to VVS and IFA, San Diego got to witness the "premiere" of this unique event (I hear they're playing together in Cleveland too). As usual, I was let down by the length of the concert- I thought it was too short (< 2 hrs). But I felt the artists made the best of the time slot and gave a memorable performance.

[mahavishnu]

Thanks for your review, Sindhuja.
Nice to hear of VS Ramachandran's presence in the audience. He is one of my heroes! Not only a terrific researcher, but a great communicator of scientific ideas.

[Sindhuja]

Thanks for your review, Sindhuja.
Nice to hear of VS Ramachandran's presence in the audience. He is one of my heroes! Not only a terrific researcher, but a great communicator of scientific ideas.

Mine, too - especially for his TED talks. He's a regular at the SD concerts.