Rithvik Raja for Voices Of Tomorrow, 27/Nov/2013

[sankark]

Rithvik Raja - vocal
RK Sriramkumar - violin
K Arunprakash - mridangam

venue Sastri Hall, Mylapore

A very rakthi concert that didn't make me feel virakthi (enda vandhomnu illa). First ever time I am listening to Rithvik; added to my listen list - was wondering whether to go to mallAdi @ BVB or this. Very happy to have chosen this.

sAmi ninnE - srI - Adi - karUr dEvudu Iyer
kAmAkshi - bhairavi - m cApu - SS (n@shyAma krishna sahOdari). A slow number that was simply superb.
mA jAnaki - kAmbOdhi - Adi - T (ns@rAja rAja). The nereval sounded a little odd to me, may be because the gait he chose was different/slower from the gaits I have heard.
dalacinavAru - dhanyAsi - Adi - Subbaraya Sastri
I vasudhA - sahAnA - Adi - T
RTP (sankarAbarananai azhaithOdi vAdi kalyAni darbArukku) - s'baranam, thOdi, kalyAni, darbAr - - 4 kalai c triputa (I think he kept tala as 2 avartana of 2 kalai Adi), thani. Superb transitions from raga to raga in alapana, tanam and swaras.
slOkam (shAntAkaram) - Anandabhairavi, kEdaragowlai, jOnpuri
sApasyat kousalyA - jOnpuri - Adi
jagadOdharana - kApi - Adi - PD. Slower than the usual numbers I have heard and it had its own charm. In fact this gait suited it so better. One thing though he has the tendency to sing it like jagadhO and uddharanA and that sounds odd.
thOm thOm thadana (needu mahima) - pUrnachandrikA - Adi - RSI hamsAnandi - Adi - HMB
mangalam

Well worth my 90 min commute both ways just for the bhairavi swarajati.

Sighted: Amrita Murali, Bharatsundar & Ramakrishnan Murthy in the audience.

[pperumal]

Posted this on another thread.
Listened to this online with a few technical glitches.
I didn't enjoy this unfortunately.

There is way too much TMK in every movement that this boy does on stage - including the mannerisms, etc. etc..
Unfortunately for him - TMK is very much active and in the peak of his career - so Rithvik should try to not become a poor man's TMK.

That not withstanding - way too many sruti lapses - sorry but that matters a lot in my listening experience.
One or two are pardonable - but this was clearly way too many...especially highlighted by the contrasting accompanying artists.

Wishing him all the best to overcome these shortcomings.

[sankark]

What is the online URL? I can listen to Vidya Kalyanaraman tomorrow sans commute..

Never mind, got it from the other thread.

[Nick H]

I was at this concert too.

Ahhh... perhaps I should be glad that my sense of pitch is somewhat lacking, and thus I was able to enjoy the concert very much. But, of course, I don't, can't argue with pperumal. If technical deficiencies were there, then they were there, and a young star should be getting that stuff right.

This is only the second time that I have seen Rithvik Raja. I think he has a great voice, and I appreciate the gentleness of it. I wonder, though, how he is without mic, and if a bit more strength, without loosing the gentle touch, might not help.

I thoroughly enjoy his slow-paced delivery and find it full of feeling. However he also has a knack of building up neraval/swara sequences to give a mounting excitement, introducing a range of dynamism into his presentation.

Too like TMK? Again I'm lucky, because I have not seen enough of TMK in recent years to have made that connection tonight, although now it mentioned, I have to admit that there was something familiar in the gesturing and arm waving. That physical stuff was not, to me, excessive, though: I never found it intrusive, and it is something that can ruin a performance for me.

The accompaniment by RKSK and Arunprakash was really superb. RKSK seems, to me, to have an ability to blend with a vocalist in a way that I do not see in other violinists, however much I may admire them

[Rsachi]

I also watched it on the Web stream.
Many short stops in the webcast - is that why they call it artery?

Rithwik has a good voice and can go far. His Dhanyasi start was good. Swarajathi and even RTP deserve mention. Of course too much TMK in the concert and TMK stock accompanists didn't help that
Overall a reasonably good concert for a youngster.

[rajeshnat]

thOm thOm thadana (needu mahima) - hamsAnandi - Adi - HMB

sankark,
Can you crosscheck ,looking at the phrases may be it was the poochi srinivasa iyengar thillAnA in poornachandrikA.