Sikkil Gurucharan@CCA on Dec 07th,2013

[rajeshnat]

Sikkil Gurucharan@CCA on Dec 07th,2013
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Vocal : Sikkil Gurucharan
Violin : Nagai Muralidharan
Mrudangam : Mannargudi Easwaran
Kanjira : ???

Concert duration/Day : 1 hour and 55 minutes / Saturday
Concert Type /Sabha : Nirvana /Chennai Cultural Academy
Crowd : 75 for a ticketed concert

1. sAMi ninnE - shree ragam - karur devudu iyer
2. nee pAdamE gathi(R N S) - nalinakAnthi - GNB
2 mins each for alapana and violin return
5 mins neraval in shree parvathi shankar chitananda shankari
swara sketch

3.manasu nilpa (R,S) - Aabhogi - T
7 mins alapana and 4 mins violin return
6 mins swaras
4. bhogheendra sAyinam - kuntalavarAli - ST

5A.nijadAsa varadA(R N S T) - kalyAni - Patnam
12 mins alapana 6 mins violin return
8 mins neraval in bhujagAdhi sayana bhoomijA ramanA
9 mins tani
5B. tani for 9 mins

6. shree parthasarathy thiruvallikEniyil - sumanEsa ranjani - rukmini ramani
7. thillana "tana dheem... unnai charaNaDainDen" - maand - LGJ
9B. shree rAmachandranukku - shuruTTi - AK

[rajeshnat]

Vidvan Sikkil Gurucharan had a very accomplished team of support – Vidvan Nagai Muralidharan in violin and Vidvan Mannargudi Easwaran in mrudangam. They were also assisted by a kanjira artist (apologies for not knowing his name) who was fixed at the last hour .The team however could not produce an entirely satisfying concert.

The first two numbers, the shree ragam varnam “sAmi ninnE”and shri GNB’s nalinakAnthi krithi were great choices to start with, considering that an early fast tempo adds a lot of aesthetics to a concert. However the relative high volume of the violin gave a feel as though it was a violin concert accompanied by a vocal artist for support. Infact few in the audience got up and gave their share of vent in particular about volume of the violin. The sound adjustment was done right, but from then on the concert still did not give an extreme satisfaction.

Abhogi as a submain was dwelled well with the krithi manasunilpa . The neraval and swaras were quite arresting with the beats of easwaran’s mrudangam falling in line with a seasoned violin nAdham of shri muralidharan.The next filler bhOgeendra sayinam in kuntalavarAli has lovely turns of sangathis that can be gripping , but however Gurucharan could not give that level of brigha polish for this swathi tirunal krithi.

The main in kalyani was Patnam Subramania Iyer’s NijadAsa varadA. Kalyani alapana is quite difficult to impress ,the usual gait of few slow glides did come out well in the first half , however the second half of his alapana did not have a right brigha embellishments for us to enjoy kalyani in total. The neraval and swaras in kalyani were quite standard.

Gurucharan ended with a highly emotive tukkada in sumanesarajani from the contemporary composer Smt Rukmini Ramani on Lord Parthasarathy in Thiruvallikeni. The customary finish in Lalgudi thillana in mAnd did not create a lasting impression.

The violinist Nagai Muralidharan has a divine melody in his bowing. His sensitivity in general for higher volume needs a bit of correction. Shri Easwaran played with exceptional clean solkattu and the tani was crisp.

Gurucharan has a high level of refinement in emote, but when sangathis demand a higher degree of weight , the finish is at times not that convincing.

Overall a good to very good concert for 1 hour and 55 minutes.

[sureshvv]

Both his Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Kartik Fine Arts concerts were excellent. Will post the BVB song list soon.

[mahavishnu]

Very interesting blend of contemporary composers in his song list. He sang the sumanesaranjani piece when he performed in Toronto last year; that was the only time I have heard this kriti.

Interesting to see that Sikkil Gurucharan is now consistently performing with the top accompanists in the league, many of them several decades his senior. Easwaran and Nagai on this occasion.

UKS has been accompanying him for a long time, but this season there is even a concert with Trichy Sankaran!