LALGUDI GJR KRISHNAN AND VIJAYALAKSHMI AT KGS- 15/8/13

[CRama]

Lalgudi siblings dished out a classical feast to fans of Lalgudi as a part of the Gokulashtami Celebrations organised by KGS. They were accompanied by TVG on the Mridangam and V.Suresh on the Ghatam. The list of songs.

Mandari varnam
Ragasudharasa-Andolika
Chethasree Balakrishnam-Dwijavanthi
Sankari Sankuru- Saveri
Ithe bhagya-Kannada
Gati neevani-Thodi
Maravairi ramani-Nasikabhooshani
RTP- Desh
Devan Ke pathi-Darbari Kanada
Enna thavam -Kapi

After the brisk start with a varnam of their Guru –father, the duo played Ragasudharasa which was decorated with a few rounds of swaras. Dwijavanthi was explored in all its details by Krishnan preceeding the Dikshitar masterpiece. Elaborate kalpana swaras at pallavi made it very enjoyable.

VL played a detailed alapana of Saveri for the SS Kriti. Neraval and kalpana swaras with intricate poruttams at Syama Krishna Sodari was a proof of their vidwath. Thodi was elaborated by GJRK showing the subtle nuances of the raga which took 15 minutes. The Lalgudi Pancharathnam was played in an appropriate kalapramanam and was ornamented with elaborate rounds of swaras in two kalams. The entire song had Lalgudi stamp all over it. After the filler in Nasikabhooshani, raga Desh was taken up for a detailed exploration of its various colours. It was simply marvellous with many unheard sangathis revealed so beautifully . It was 15 minutes of trance and was followed with a tanam. The pallavi was Gopika Manohara Muralidhara Gopala Mampahi set to Tisra jathi Ata thalam. Neraval was done in Ragamalika continued with swaras in that particular raga. The ragas chosen for this were Bindumalini, Hameerkalyani, Kalyanavasantham, Brindavansaranga and Mand. After this they played the ST Bhajan in Durbari Kanada followed by the immortal song Enna thavam seythanai. I left after this and they would have concluded with the thillana.

The entire concert was reminiscent of the many concerts I have heard of their illustrious father. The noteworthy feature of this bani- clarity of notes and conveying of sahithyam so clearly in the instrument (Gayaki style) makes their concert unique and amazing. The veteran TVG added pep to the concert with his deft strokes and was ably complimented by Suresh. Their tani received continuous applause. But it was sad that there was not much audience for this high quality concert.

[hnbhagavan]

This is a disturbing trend with less audience even in Chennai,Mecca of classical Music.You can imagine the trend in other places.

[CRama]

Generally I have seen that for instrumental solos, the audience is less, whatever may be the quality of the concert or calibre of the artistes. There may be exceptions for a few like U.Srinivas, Shashank, Ganesh Kumaresh, TNK etc.

[rajeshnat]

Crama
TVG playing mrudangam at 81 must have been a delight . He is multifaceted but I like his mrudangam the most.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Rajesh: Nice review!! Yes I agree that violin solos/duets seem to attract less attention with the exception of possibly TNK --the problem with Chennai seems to be one of transportation--Mylapore/Adyar music lovers rarely dare venture into Mambalam and viceversa.
I was surprised that despite this, there were many (friends/relatives ofcourse!!) who attended my father's centenary celebs(aug 4 @ KGS) .

[hnbhagavan]

During Ramananami festival at Fort High School,the attendance for the instrumental concerts is better.GJR and LV are featured regularly.So also Chitraveena Ravikiran.
Sometimes it depends on publicity.There is a tendency nowadays to skip the concerts due traffic congestion brought about by METRO in Bangalore.
If only the government invested half the money spent for Metro on road infra,commuting would have been easier in Bangalore.METRO project is crawling ever slowly with many bottle necks.My guess is it would take at least five years from now for METRO completion and by that time I will not be enthusiastic to travel.

[hnbhagavan]

During 1980 - 2005,Lalgudi concerts would be a big draw and I have witnessed overflowing crowds in Chowdaih hall for TRIO concerts.The concerts of MSG as well as TNK also attracted good crowds.Mysore Nagaraj and Manjunath are very popular in bangalore.In Music Academy,there were fewer people for the Mysore brothers.

[Thalaivarda]

Very true. I spend 4 hours on the road daily in blr. And I really need to be spirited even on a sunday to attend a concert. The traffic is terrible.

[harimau]

Thalaivarda wrote

I really need to be spirited even on a sunday to attend a concert.

I have used Google to great effect to identify watering establishments in Bangalore. So it is not really all that difficult "to get into the spirits" if you know what I mean!

As always, Google is your friend. Of course nowadays smartphones too have apps that will help you in this regard.