Ranjani Gayatri@MFAC on Oct 12th,2013

[rajeshnat]

Ranjani Gayatri@MFAC on Oct 12th,2013
-----------------------------------------------
Vocal : Ranjani Gayatri
Violin : chArumathi raghuraman
Mrudangam : Delhi Sairam
KanjirA : KV Gopalakrishnan

Concert duration/Day : 2 hours 25 minutes /Saturday
Concert Type : Nirvana (no concert to follow)
Hall : MFAC hall
Occasion : Navaraathri Isai iyal nAttiyam vizha

1. neevE nannu (varnam)- ranjani -either GNB or composer is unknown
2. paradEvatE uNpAdam nambinEn (S)- maNiraNgu- papAnAsam sivan
2 mins swaras
3. nee padamE gathi(R) - nalinAkAnthi - GNB
6 mins vocal alapana and 5 mins violin return

4. nannu brOvu lalitA (R N S)- lalitA - SS
8 mins alapana and 7 mins violin return
7 mins neraval in "shyamA krishnuNi sODhari kaumAri"
7 mins swaras
5. mAravairi ramani - nAsikAbhooshani - T

6. maragatha vallim (R S T) - kAmbOdhi - MD
13 mins alapana and 10 mins violin return
11 mins swaras
6B. tani for 9 mins

Ranjani Gayatri sisters concert has a really high janaranjakam quotient .It is atleast 3 to 4 years since i went to hear their concert . Incidentally this concert was held as a festival where a tv channel was also covering the same . For atleast 3 to 4 songs the 3 video cameras were on.To an extent, with the tv coverage in mind , the sisters announced the first few numbers and I am assuming the first few numbers were custom tailored to fit in for the TV so that there is a right ad break.

They started with a right polish and when they announced the varnam is ranjani , I was thinking shri gnb varnam(ambOruha pAdamE) but it was another GNB varnam . Ranjani rAgam adds a real bright start and indeed it was the case . The next maNirangu shivan krithi was rare and it was a very well rehearsed presentation with a round of swaras . nalinakanthi alapana was sung by gayatri , one can spot a lot of omnipresent KVN'ish typecast sangathis and they came with a gnb krithi with few round of cittaswaras , that had a right polish in presentation.

The submain was lalita where the alapana was sung by ranjani. Ranjani voice has a bit more broader bass, to an extent the sangathis were not very manodharmic in alapana , they made up very well in the krithi and the neraval was really nice with a nice showcase of swaras. Considering that it was the only neraval they could have gone bit more .

The filler was nAsikABhooshani it just went as a well rehearsed presentation . It was clear then to me that with T, sivan and SS being sung before, i was thinking about maragathi vallim when gayatri sang the kAmbOdhi. Gayatri sang a very nice open throated kAmBodhi showcasing the kAmbOdhi in its typical grandeur . Usually this krithi- maragatha vallim many musicians donot sing a neraval and as guessed the sisters gave a round of swaras only skipping the neraval. Some where in the midway point of kAmbOdhi swaras i enjoyed RG singing the swaras in quick succession- but felt they could have gone bit more.

[rajeshnat]

7A. viruththam AAnAdhu selvathu aRum payargaL - Arabi
+ kamba madhayAnai - brindavanasArangA
+ chEdiyAi valvinaigal - hamsAnandi
7B. sreenivasa thiruvEnkata - hamasAnandi - psivan

8. Abhang JEkhA ranjale - bairAgi - ??
9. takka dheem ... mAmayiLaiyiL mAthavam sEiyum - shuruTTi - ????(Madurai Srinivasan)

When double singers are singing there are advantages in singing viruththam/slokham , they can quickly take one after another ragamaliga ragas in viruththam (which single singers have to give violin return for voice recuperation). That aspect of vocal extra endurance adds more stickiness to all the rasikas. The viruththam was really top notch with Gayatri soaring in Arabi and reaching a climax in hamsanAndi with Ranjani taking an intermediate brindavana sarangA it was janaranajkam at its best.

They went with a bhang in a revati raga deiavative called bairAgi , it was well accepted by their near captive crowd , for me i liked it more in the first half. Then a brief shuruTti thillAna was sung(Lji help needed in thillana composer).

ChArumathi raghuraman is an excellent violinist , incidentally there was bowing strength , but one thing I did not like is the proportion of violin return in every song , it was longish (may be RG sisters tailor it that way so that there is more of voice rest in between alapana and song).Pakkavadhya proportion of alapana was a casualty.

The volume of percussion was bit high especially for the first two songs when it was loud when few in the audience requested it to be lowered .From #3 onwards the controlled aggression of delhi sairAm with KVG did up the concert . Delhi Sairam has a real power and it is nice to hear him after a long time. The tani was very nice .

RG sisters have a pulse in the audience . They have really mastered their stage craft like thanking all the rasikas at the beginning , annoucing that despite being navarAthri after a series of songs and just before viruththam - gayatri announcing today being saturday will go for a viruththam on perumAl etc, also announcing the social message of the abhang etc , they pay a lot of attention which is commendable.

On the flip side they appear to sing in quite a rehearsed sangathis with quite many cliched phrases , I could not spot a lot of "On spot" manOdharmam in their concert . Their USP is the intrisic advantage of being a double singer where at times they can afford to sing in succcession without violin return (especially in viruththam/slokham) is adding more extra special oomph effect. In this concert with a skip of neraval in main , I was thinking of RTP(considering that too a big sabha as MFAC), but that did not happen.

All said they have an excellent vocal throw with shruthi suddham ,especially when gayatri loses herself in music , she appeals immensely.

Overall a very good to excellent concert for 2 hours and 25 minutes.

[Lakshman]

The tillAnA is by Madurai T.Srinivasan.

[rshankar]

Rajesh, DKJ has sung the same tillAnA many times..it is on his beloved karpagAmbikA after all!
Smt. MLV in a CD for Smt. Krishnaveni Lakshmanan of Kalakshetra has the best version for dance.

[malavi]

Neeve nannu ranjani varnam is by sri.G.N.Balasubrahmanyam according to my guru.can anyone clarify about the composer.

[mahavishnu]

It appears that GNB also has a varnam in Ranjani with the starting words neevE nannu (http://vasapi.guruswara.com/glibrary/0/0/8/page:6). More commonly sung is his ranjani varnam, ambOruha pAdamE.

Lakshman-ji can clarify.

[rajeshnat]

It appears that GNB also has a varnam in Ranjani with the starting words neevE nannu (http://vasapi.guruswara.com/glibrary/0/0/8/page:6). More commonly sung is his ranjani varnam, ambOruha pAdamE.

Lakshman-ji can clarify.

mahavishnu,
You may be right , the varnam neevE nannu had phrases like shree kamAkshi .

Lji
May I have the lyrics of both ranjani varnam of GNB and LGJ

[Lakshman]

ambOruha pAdamE (tv). rAgA: ranjani. Adi tALA.

P: ambOruha pAdamE nammiti akhila jaganmAtE nI
A: pankEru hAsanAdi vinutE inkevarunnAru brOva talli
C: inta calamu sEyaka


nIvE nannu (varNa). rAgA: ranjani. Adi tALA.

P: nIvE paripAlincavamma ninnE namminAnu IvELa
A: kannatalli nIvugadA karuNatOnu gAci brOvavamma
C: nIkEla dayarAdu kAmAkSi

[rajeshnat]

Lji
Do you have the lyrics of LGJ ranjani varnam.
RG Sisters sang the GNB varnam

[Lakshman]

rajesh: Lalgudi has not composed a varNa in ranjani.
The varNa nIvE nannu is attributed to GNB by Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana in his book Sangeethasudha. But it is not in the three published books of GNB.
I have the lyrics of another varNa which has slightly different wording.
nIvE nannu pAlicavamma. rAgA: ranjani. Adi tALA. Composer: Not known.

P: nIvE nannu pAlincavamma ninnE nammitinamma I vELa
A: kannatalli nIvu gadA karuNatOnu brOvu kanjalOcani
C: nIkEla dayarAdu shrI kAmAkSi

[rajeshnat]

Lji
The sisters sang the phrase shri kamAkshi instead of kamAkshi. So the composer of the varnam is either GNB or composer is unknown as posted previously.

[Rajagopalan_V]

Hello all,

On the Khamboji Maragatha Valli kriti -- I vaguely recall this from the 'Isai Vaseekaran' DVD on GNB. TM Krishna was mentioning about a cassette of one of GNB's concerts from the past wherein the master had sung this kriti.

Apparently it was so good that between him (TMK), Sowmya, Vijay Siva, Sanjay, et al, they used to exchange the cassette and listen to it repeatedly for 100s of times till they, in the process, had 'ensured'(!!) that the cassette was broken!!!

Was searching all over the net and in Youtube for this masterly rendering. Wondering if it is available online and anyone has access to it.

I am not sure if the DVD itself contains this song as I had watched it only in parts.

Over to the accomplished veteran Rasikas here to 'rediscover' this masterpiece and share it for the benefit of the entire Rasika-dom.

Thanks a lot.....

[rahul4liv]

You can listen to this piece by GNB if you open http://www.gnbalasubramaniam.com/HisMusic.htm. Not sure if it is the same recording.

[Rajagopalan_V]

Thanks a lot rahul4liv. Quite like the cassette in question, the page appears 'broken' for me on IE browser Could not play the song. However, it plays on Google Chrome and have listened to it a couple of times now

As you mentioned, not sure if this is the 'broken cassette' version though. He was going gaga about the swara segment especially. This clipping has a good swara segment too lasting a few mins. Definitely liked it as a lay rasika. However, would like informed Rasikas to share their views if they observed anything extraordinary here. Just so it helps us understand the intricacies of swara singing and the nuances therein that we need to watch out for. Thanks.