Vid. Seetha Rajan at Raga Sudha Hall

[Rasikapriya2013]

NAADA INBAM – July 27, 2014

Vid. Seetha Rajan

Vid. M.Rajeev on the Violin, Vid. Thanjavur Ramadas on the Mridangam, Vid. B.S.Purushothaman Ganjira.

(Concert in Commemoration of Birth Anniversary of Sangitakalanidhi Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer)

Song list

Deva Deva Kalayami - Maya malava gowlai - Swathi Krithi

Dinamani vamsha - Harikamboji - Tyagaraja Krithi

Karunayelagante - Varali - Tyagaraja Krithi

Varanyeshwaram bhajeham sadha - Devagandhari - Muthuswamy Dikshitar

Ardhanaareeshwaram - Kumudakriya - Muthuswamy Dikshitar

Marivere gathi - Ananda Bhairavi - Shyama Sastri

Sri Kanthani - Bhavapriya - Tyagaraja Krithi

Pahimam Sri - Kalyani - Navarathri krithi by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal

Emani Veginthune - Huseni - Tyagaraja

maulau ganga (shlOka) - This was rendered as a raga malika - Begada, Saveri, Sahana and ending in Kaapi - Appayya Dikshitar

Aravinda padhamalar nogumo - Kaapi - Ambujam Krishna


Here is a link to the recording of the concert which was streamed live by Parivadini.

http://youtu.be/vSouxZZY-to

Smt Seetha Rajan dedicated her concert to her Guru by rendering some of the songs that was popularized by Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.

Her's was a music rich in melody, fresh with creativity, strong in laya, brimming with devotion and which brought a gentle calmness to the mind of this listener.
A music which overshadowed her strained voice and touched the soul !
Be it her very melodious Devagandhari or the lilting Anandabhairavi or the graceful Kalyani, each one was rendered with such ease and authority.
My personal favourite was the Shloka which brought tears to my eyes. Came home and found the composer and its meaning.
Listened to it one more time to soak in the beauty of the lyrics and music !
The accompanists were equally melodious. M. Rajeev on the violin was brilliant with his ability to absorb and play, completely complimenting to the feel of each song rendered.

Here is the Shloka by Appayya Dikshitar and its deep meaning which is soaked in Bhakthi.

maulau ganga shashAnkau
kara caraNa talE shItalAngA bhujangAha
vAmE bhAgE dayArdrA himagiri tanayA
candanam sarvagAtrE

idam shItam prabhUtam
tava kanakasabhA nAtha sODum kva shaktihi
cittE nirvEda taptE yadi bhavati na tE
nitya vAsO madhIyE

Meaning:

On your locks are the river Ganga and the moon. On your your feet and arms are the cold serpents.

On your left is the compassionate daughter of the snow mountains and you have applied the cool sandal all over your body.

How, O Lord of the Golden Cosmic Hall, are you able to bear such cold atmosphere?

You are welcome to stay eternally in my heart which is hot due to the sins I commit.

[priyaram78]

Thanks for the review. I attended this wonderful concert but came in late and could listen to only a few songs. Loved the rendition of Ardhanarees waram. Marivere gathi was excellent. Bhavapriya was great. Had to leave after this. Hope to attend more concerts in the future.

I really enjoyed the ambience at the concert hall. It was very well air conditioned. Wish all the concert halls make listening to concerts a pleasant experience.

[vasanthakokilam]

I watched some portions of this concert at the parivadini youtube channel ( link provided by Rasikapriya2013 above). It was quite excellent. The SSI influence is quite palpable. What she said at the beginning is quite interesting about what she learned from SSI. It is not the songs, she says, but the subtler aspects of singing and performance, like what the techniques to use to emphasize certain aspects of it so it is attractive to the audience etc. ( I am paraphrasing here, so please listen to it if you understand Tamil ).

That made me think about an important aspect which we normally do not talk about much. The reason SSI rendering of his trademark songs sound different from other musicians is because he seemed to have done a few things differently at the technique level ( which is what Ms. Rajan is refering to ).

Dare we call that 'innovation'? Not today because his bANi is part of the 'traditional fold', but then in his early times. Was he slammed by the self-proclaimed Cognoscenti with narrow taste of his times for those "innovations" as we see it done by today's Cognoscenti of similar taste bandwidth? Especially when he was starting out....Or SSI was quite original ( and clever ) in charting a bANi for himself with such below the surface level changes while still satisfying and conforming to the tastes of those folks?

[Rasikapriya2013]

The beauty of our music is that it can be improvised, approached differently by either changing the tempo, breaking the sangathis, adding new ones within the parameter set by the "Raga".
I am sure any change during any period is always met by both kinds of criticism.
Yes, One has to be not only intelligent but also brave, they must completely believe in themselves and in their music to introduce new methods.
Music that sounds pleasant to the ears stands the test of time.