Suryaprakash@OVK Festival (PS high School) on Sept 25th,2014

[rajeshnat]

Suryaprakash@OVK Festival (PS high School) on Sept 25th,2014
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Vocal : Suryaprakash
Violin : Dr Narmada
Mrudangam : TR Sundaresan
Ghatam : S Venkataramanan

Concert Type : Nirvana - no concert to follow
Day/Duration : Thursday/ ~ 2 and 1/4 hours
Occassion/COncert Type : OVK Jayanthi Celebrations/Free
Crowd : ~80
Hall : Tag Dakshinamoorthy Hall , PS high school , mylapore


.....

3. kalyana ramA(R N S) - hamsanAdam
14 mins alapana and 6 mins violin return
neraval in rAghava rAmA raghurAma janakajA ramaNa manOhara sItA for 9 mins
4 mins swaras

4. aadum varai avar Adattum (R S ) - huseni
3 mins alapana and 2 mins violin return
4 mins swaras

5A. taayE yashodhE (R N S T) - tOdi
14 mins alapana and 7 mins violin return
5 mins neraval for kAlinil shilambu konjak-kaivaLai kulunga muttu mAlaigaL asaiyat-teru vAsalil vandaan
8 mins swaras
5B. tani for 11 mins

6A. viruththam - tiruvarutpA of ramalinga adigal
KArAya vannA maninvannA kannA - Ahiri +
KArAya vannA maninvannA kannA - sahAnA +
seerAzh vazhvu - manirangu??? +
sree rAmA rAma yenavE - yamunAkalyAni +
narAyanAya vamAnAyA - shenjurutti
6B. muddu krishna mEmudham - shenjuruTTi

[rajeshnat]

I went about 25 to 30 minutes late and I am assuming I missed atleast 2 to 3 songs(some one can write what was sung that i missed).As a composer , OVK is very special in few ways. The compositons at times are very lucid in words even a dash of colloqialism is there especially in thamizh , in his sanskrit compositions which i dont understand at all ,I also see a kind of having an extra punch of vallinam usage like tamizh.

For the performing musicians it is always not that easy to sing OVK like a typical T composition. There is always density of sahithyam in his compositions , that extra density can make renditions bit more suited for bhajanai then a typical krithi based carnatic concert. The challenge is to present more gamakams in OVK compositions without giving a flavour of bhajanai.

As I entered hamsanadam got started and that turned out to be the best of the concert . A typical hamsanadam takes a role of fast filler ,I somehow like this particular krithi of OVK kalyana rama after the very first time when I heard Shri TNS singing which breaks hamsanAdam from the shackles of a fast filler to a expressive submain .Hamsanaadam needs more representation for its catchy muse. The kalyana rama was sung with such high verve and more than anything I like the line he took for neraval - rAghava rAmA raghurAma janakajA ramaNa manOhara sItA , the hamsanAdam gamakam had so much of friendly alternate key words like rama , ramana sita and with a dash of supporting swaras hamsanadam made my day.

THe next rakthi raga in huseni was well done , the alapana was crisp to give the beauty of huseni . I have not personally heard the krithi aadum varai aadatum in a live kutcheri other than a famous maharajapuram santhanam casette of OVK exclusive krithis where he sang this song aadum varai . Suryaprakash rendition of the krithi was not that much in line with santhanam style but a more of karaikurichi arunachalam typecast of slightly racy briga filled huseni . The last 4 mins of poruttam swaras in huseni ending in fast exchanges with aadum varai sangati was lovely and it was creative.

The main in tOdi he dedicated to Mandolin srinivas . I have heard few of srinivas todis and I dont recollect taaye YashodE of his (hear venkatakailasam upload of cesi nadella - mandolin srinivas and TNR are nearly the same in todi). The alapana was nice and the rendition of krithi was well done . Neraval was not that great as any of his previous concerts of kalanil silambu that I have heard of SP- also I could not spot that much of mmi there . He had a shade of Alathur like sangathis which are not my cup of tea. Swaras in Todi was bit too short falling in line with the 9pm close target.

The last viruththam was fantastic - very very detailed and he said he dedicated that viruththam to ramnad krishnan - the sahana was the pick of all ragas . I found a more KVN approach there it was leisurely and every raga was sung with lot of depth - there was no touch and go there . He ended with a OVK muddu krishna , a OVK krithi that starts deceptively in a easy fashion but with lot of solkattu and jathis and sangathi density - one can loose the focus of not giving any extra carnatic shenjurutti gamakam - but however that was not the case .He managed it well.

This is the first time I am going to this hall after it is refurbished with AC and the hall now looks as a clean auditorium where sound setting is very nice with the hall completely sealed . The percussion skin however did not get that well tuned with the AC and the shruthi of both percussionist was not to my liking . Tani was very good where both TR sundaresan gave a high energy close to taaye YashodhE along with S venkataramanan who had a very high share of passivity in the first half . Dr narmada was the best in hamsanAdam where the speed and a shade of cut bowing gave an intense showcase of her illustrious appa MSG . In todi I could not spot much of carnatic intensity - her violin return could have had more of intense todi gamakam .

I wish I did not miss the first half an hour of concert . Overall a very good to excellent concert- the vivacity and verve that is needed to sing OVK was always there with suryaprakash .

[sridhar_ranga]

1. Slokam- VandE mAtaram ambikAm + bhajasva SrI tripura sundarIm - nAdanAmakriya, Adi (S)
2. enna punniyam SeydEnO - rItigowla - m chApu

[Nick H]

Rajesh, perhaps you could have a different classification for concerts that have a late start time and limited end time as something a little less than nirvana? Particularly for an artist like Suryprakash, who likes to give a concert of at least three hours.

It was a great pleasure to see Suryaprakash after such a long time, both personally and musically. I thought there was a great teamwork with Narmada: a wonderful combination.

Whilst the new PSHS Hall is bright and clean, and with improved sound, they could save money on electricity and make us a little more comfortable by reducing the AC settings a degree or two. I find a shawl to be necessary.

[bhakthim dehi]

Rajesh

Was there any usage of Shatshruthi dhaivaitham in hamsanadham

[rajeshnat]

Rajesh

Was there any usage of Shatshruthi dhaivaitham in hamsanadham

Yes

[bhakthim dehi]

Which phrase? I ve heard few people saying this krithi has Shatshruthi dhaivaitham. But the popular version does not have. can u please tell where did he use that svaram? was the song recorded

[rajeshnat]

bhakthim dehi,
I donot have the recording of this kalyana rama . In my archives I have one that he sang few years back - have to search that. If I get that I can pass you- give me next weekend.