MS Sheela and Party @ SICA OTTAWA on 26th October

[cmlover]

Smt. M.S. Sheela - Vocal
Sri. Mysore Srikanth - Violin
Sri. B. Sivaraman - Mridangam

Song List

1. Calamela (VarNam) - Darbar - ThiruvoRRiyUr Thyagayyar
2. Bhakti biksha mIyavE - Sankarabharanam - Thyagaraja
3. Amba vaaNi nannu AdarincavE - KeeravaaNi - HMB
4. Maathangi sriraaja raajeswari - RamamanOhari - MD
5. BAlE baalEndu bhUShaNi - RitigowLai - Thyagaraja
6. SArasamukhi - Gowda malhar - HMB
7. MIvalla guNa dOSha - Kaapi - Thyagaraja
8. Maal marukA ShanmukhA - Vasantha - PSivan
9. PAhi sadA padmanAbha - Mukhaari - Swati
10. Nannu pAlimpa - Mohanam - Thyagaraja
10a. Tani
11. Govinda gopala gopika vallabha - Ragamalika (kaapi, Purvikalyani, Revati) - Vaadiraja
12. Ranga BaarO - Sindhubhairavi - Purandara dasar
13 Pavamaana - Sowrashtram (MangaLam) - Thyagaraja

From start to finish it was an electrifying concert. The artiste and her team were in excellent form, shall I say Sowkhyam. It was a cold evening at Ottawa and it took some time for them to warm up. But then it was a non-stop feast of melody. Sheela has a voice traversing the three octaves without effort and the accompaniments unobtrusively supported her melody. Thyagaraja dominated the day especially the Mohanam was out of this world reminiscent of the best of the Maharajapurams. The mukhari was equally elevating as she delivered the Swati's masterpiece with poise. Even the thukkada pieces were well chosen. Sheela should be complimented for her diction and she is the picture of perfection as she sings without any unnecessary bodily contortions. It is a pleasure to watch her. The youngsters who attended the concert in large numbers have a good lesson to learn from her on conserving their energy and focus on voice control.

The accompanists Srikanth and Sivaraman gave full cooperation. Sivaraman came to life on the short Tani displaying his merit that he learned from his venerable guru T K Murthy.

On the whole it was a grand musical treat for the elite CM audience of OTTAWA.

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks CML for the review. Sounds like a great concert even going by the song list. Her live concert still eludes me and I will have to find a way to make it happen. Great to hear that she is going strong.

Since she sang 'PAhi sadA padmanAbha', I figured that is a good excuse to listen to it today. The first one Google came up with is an M.S. Sheela rendition of it. Pleasant coincidence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HRmZzRuZZE

[pperumal]

I had the pleasure of hearing her way back in 1998 at cleveland.
and i strongly believe that she is a phenomenal musician - one who can definitely give much more than she does

[cmlover]

Vk
Thanks for that link which was only a shadow of her rendering at Ottawa with a superb aalaapana of Mukhari and
an equally superb swara prasthaaaram! She is blessed with a great voice suitable for traversing the high octaves!

[varsha]

Thanks for the review . Such a dainty list of krithis - oozes RK Srikantan from start to end .
2014 - or may be it started earlier - shows a happy solid robust trend of deserving performers getting their due , even if in distant lands . A pity when it comes to patronage of the same artists back home .
This is indeed a wonderful gift from the Indian diaspora to their roots.A big thanks to all guys there - from vkv , cl vvs to the entire community for making some of us very happy .
A MSS with a difference but very under rated .
Thanks

[cmlover]

She was not under rated here at Ottawa
The problem may be at home! Out-of-state vidwans/vidushis are not accorded their rightful place @ Chennai
You are right about Cleveland and the rest of NA where only quality counts!

[arasi]

CML,
Thanks for the review.
I heard that MukhAri which VK has posted. A new one for me, and a very good one.

I'm glad Sheela is giving a lot of concerts in NA this year. One in Ottawa too where you are having a few more concerts these days, it seems--for the elite and the little ones alike!

[Sreeni Rajarao]

CML,

Thanks for the review! I am very happy to read about Smt Sheela and Team's successful tour of N America.

I believe they are concluding their trip with their concert in Toronto today Oct 27th (it is probably over as I write this post).
Looking forward to read about that concert too!

As I had posted here: http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=22006,

I hope NJ, NY, Richmond and other concerts were well received also.

Srinadh,
I was expecting a report from you of NY concert. Did I miss it?

[rajeshnat]

cml
Thank you for the review. Her voice has a lovely throw at times the texture of her voice is to me like smt arunA sayeeram, her diction is great irrespective of any language and also there is always a touch of smt MLV'ian daredevil style. She is a complete musician. May I know if there was neraval in her concerts , I am guessing she may have passed it in nannu pAlimpA -mohanam and kept just one in either raamamanohari,sbharanam or keeravani.

[Rsachi]

Folks,
Ms Sheela has a wide repertoire. She has sung several light music and popular Kannada songs very well. Just the other day we went to a Navaratri programme and heard her inimitable voice singing rare Shlokas and songs so well.

[ramnath61]

cml Uncle,
Thanks for your usual excellent review about concerts in Ottawa. These are records for posterity.
- An Ottawan and SICA member.

[cmlover]

Rajesh
In short Sheela combines the over-all best of MLV and MS in melody and bhavam and in diction that of DKP!

[pattamaa]

Rajesh
In short Sheela combines the over-all best of MLV and MS in melody and bhavam and in diction that of DKP!

I think, this is too much to compare as above...

[cmlover]

That is no exaggeration. She however does not imitate any of them and has her distinct classical style.
It is but my personal opinion!

[arasi]

Your "Has her distinct classical style" and Rajesh's "She's a complete musician" echo my own impressions about her music.