T M Krishna-KanchiMutt,Malleswaram,Bangalore-30thSept

[arvenky]

Vid T M Krishna - Vocal
Vid H K Venkatraman - Violin
Vid Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam - Mridangam

List of Krithis
-----------------

1. upacharamu - Bhairavi- T (N,S)
2. sri rAma jayarAma - yadukulakambodhi- T (A,S)
3. tAnam - begada
4. inta cAlamu jEsitE -Varnam - begada-VINai kuppaiyer
5. pakkala nilabaDi-karaharapriya-T (N,T)
6. rama ni samAnamevaru-karaharapriya-T
7. mOhana rama-mOhanam-T
8. Virutam - pibare rAmarasam-Ahirbhairavi-Sadasiva
9. vandanamu raghu nandana-sahana-T


Typical TMK Concert. After the begada tanam & varnam (rather should I call
tAnavarnam) got over, he said, "I think there are lot of students here.Please
do not follow this and say TMK did this hence am doing

Neraval at 'capala kOTi nibhAmbara dhara' was lovely so as
neraval "manasuna dalaci mE' in karaharapriya.

One the tani finished, he announced, (karaharapriya innum mudiyalai)"still not finished
karaharapriya" and started rama ni samAnamevaru.

Checking the request chits he received he said (adutha kacherila paadare) "will
sing in next kutcheri". He asked HKV what to sing to end the concert, someone requested
either kAnada or sahAna and he sung vandanamu raghu nandana.

Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam gave a rousing tani as usual and HKV was
very good in begada tanam, karaharapriya.

[Purist]

There were three thani's in all ( 2 brief and 1 regular). For the very first song Upacharamula it was very soft sollu thani
for about 2/3 min. After TMK ended the nereval for Prakaala rather abruptly, then followed the regualar thani ala in true
TBV's bang bang style. ( Prakaala had no alapana and swaras.). After the thani, TMK ridiculously continued with another Karaharapriya krithi-Rama Nee Samana with a nereval again. TBV contributed his mite with another brief thani (fast tempo).
In addition the audience had to put up with shruti settings (again three times) before begining, during first half and nearly towards closing. There were pauses galore all through the "concert" ( it would be a misnomer to call it so) when
the hapless listeners did not know what next , nor for sure TMK himself knew what was he doing or going to do.
A kind a total disconnect prevailed throughout. HKV on violin was the saving grace. TMK's brilliance was there
in the Bhairavi swaras and Begada Tanam, but unfortunately lost in his idiosyncrasies.
Its high time TMK shows concern to audience sensibilities or is it time for me to disconnect ? I feel sad to loose it this way.

[arasi]

The theme was RamA, whether TMK intended it that way or not, it seems. (H.K.Venkata) rAmA seemed to have performed very well too.

Bhakthavatsalam's soft sollus are a treat, indeed. But this was at the beginning of the concert, and not hence. He belongs to that set of fine mrudangam players whose competence is often marred by the noise which they fill the halls with, for whatever reason...

[Purist]

Yes Arasi, TMK was celebrating Rama Navami in Navaratri is all what I can say. The venue 'Kamakshi temple' , Golu stacked
opposite side of the dias in a medium size hall, the period of the year Dasara .... yet none of these prompted him to sing
a krithi on Devi/Ambal,nor even a virutham. (the one he sang was by Thayamnavar on Lord Shiva). Was it deliberate or accidental? God knows. /:)

[arasi]

Purist,
I wondered too as to why there wasn't any song about Devi in the concert. Then, something interesting that I had read recently came to mind. It was about how the paramAchAryA had said that there is an interpretation which says that rAmAvatArA is an avatAra of dEvi herself Is it possible that TMK had read the same?

[bhakthim dehi]

Purist, arasi
He is a paramaadvaita.. for him there is only one parabrahmam... He..the self realized TMK..

[kvchellappa]

He holds sampradaya in contempt. Would like to sing secular songs, unfortunately not many are there. Tried aatthicchoodi etc. for RTP, but realised RTP itself was a sampradaya, so sings it in a random shuffle. As it does not suit my impatience, waiting for that one fulfilling moment, which conforms to his randomness, I have decided to skip him. So many youngsters sing well and for now there is no dearth of good music, so not a miss for me.

[Rsachi]

When we encounter insanity, we start appreciating the value of its opposite.

Wait!

I realise that this example of Krishna Leela is actually about Ramleela. In the north many people celebrate Dusshera as the victory of Rama or righteousness over evil. So maybe. Some method in this madness?
Apart from the thought maybe in TMK's mind that too much praise may go to Devi's head.

[bhakthim dehi]

Singing aathichoodi (news to me) for RTP, singing all Sri Rama krithis for a dusshera concert are nothing for a person who had sung a Dikshithar krithi sans talam..

[Purist]

[quote="Rsachi"]When we encounter insanity, we start appreciating the value of its opposite.



Good one Rsachi

[rshankar]

Apart from the thought maybe in TMK's mind that too much praise may go to Devi's head.

Anyway, it's all in the family, right? The dEvi is after all, madhu mura ripu sOdari, right?

[ragh_avan]

cannot understand why he is degrading his own music. IMHO he is the best singer in the present generation who can stick to the most traditional style of singing. If he wanted to innovate why cannot he sing rare ragas rather than singing 2 krithis of the same raaga in successio; this does not speak high of his musical abilities considering he is much more capable of this. Maybe his ego has made him stuck in a groove; sad for him and hundreds of his fans such as me who want so much more from him rather than this.

[Rsachi]

Ragh_avan,
People who study such idiosyncrasies attribute such behaviour to three possible causes :
1. Extreme conceit that "I am so good whatever I do becomes the new standard"
2. Extreme contempt for audiences that " whatever I do is absolutely fine, anyway they don't deserve any better"
3. Extreme insecurity:" my god, what CAN I do that's so different, far-out and matchless!?"

There is a parallel fourth reason - substance abuse -but perhaps we can rule it out in this case.

[Purist]

# 12 :Ragh_avan,

I had similar feeling of frustration after attending the Kanchi Mutt prog. If I were to give a punch line .." Krishna scratches
his head during a concert , the audience scratch theirs leaving the concert "

[vasanthakokilam]

I am going to be disappointed if the TMK concert this weekend turns out to be a good old regular one.

[CRama]

VK, TMK sings for only people like you. Have a nice musical evening. But note to post a review of the concert.

[vasanthakokilam]

CRama, that was mostly in jest. I have never been to a TMK live concert, regular or the head scratcher. Which ever way he goes, there is going to be something new for me.

I will be fine with quirks like taking pauses between songs, thinking about what to sing etc. In fact, I wish there is pause after some elaborate songs. That will give me time to recover.

And I will be fine with him singing a varnam in the middle. Tanam before a varnam? Actually that is an interesting twist and he can make it work.

But I would not know how it will sit with me with two songs in the same raga back to back or stopping with just an alapana etc.

[mahavishnu]

VK: I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Krishna's concert in Chicago.
My gut tells me that you will quite enjoy it.

[Rsachi]

Here's my Carnatic alphabet soup,
I am the adorable TMK.
I have all the pieces in a scoop-
Ready to mix, randomly, my way.

Ragas whisked up in a heady fume,
I stir them with my peacock plume,
Don't suspect I am losing my mind,
If I sing Todi twice, three tanis you find.

You know I'm the one and only TMK,
I present Pavamana first. Then into Varnam I stray:
"evari bōdhana vini
īlāgu jēsēvurā?"
"On hearing whose advice
Did you act thus?"

[kvchellappa]

That TMK is a creative artist has ample testimony in the comments here. He was disdainful about people who hide behind pseudonyms, possibly he does not mind them in the audience.

[munirao2001]

TMKrishna uvaacha

1.Once a musician has truly absorbed the aesthetics that exist in every component of raga, tala, dhatu and matu, all the rules that govern manodharma sangita stop appearing as conditions. In essence, the ‘rules’ are not restrictions but defines of the aesthetics of music.

2.But like all performance related conditioning, I believe that it is the musician who conditions the audience and not the other way round.

3.A musical high can be achieved by the sheer investment of the musician towards expression of the underlying aesthetic beauty of his presentation. The musician is as much in a state of wonder at the creation as is the audience.

4. Excitement must be the result of a pursuit of the aesthetics of the form rather than appreciation for the presentation.

5.A musician should contribute something new and distinct to the human experience. This stored experience of music is necessarily an emotive one, both for the creator and the listener. Irrespective of how a musician views the idea of art or emotion, she knows that the listener is touched by the experiential quality of music.

6.Once we respect the aesthetics of music and its demands on all concerned, it will determine how the music is positioned among the musically inclined.

7.Just as it is possible for an art musician of the highest caliber to render a full concert where at the heart of his rendering is the religious thought underlying the lyrics, it should be possible for another art musician of the same caliber to offer a full concert in which the power of his musical abstraction proceeds with no assistance from words with linguistic meaning. Complimented by his instrumental accompanists and the wordless magic of the alapana, kalpanasvarams, tana and the tani, he should be able to transport his audience to musical fulfillment. I pose this hypothetical horizon not to undermine, much less negate, the syllabo-melodic content of art music, but merely to untwist the two strands and hold them apart for detached contemplation.

Madhva Muni uvaacha

I have attended only one of TMK's concert in TMK paddhati. I had a mixed feelings, may be due to my conditioning of the mind with ARI paddhati. I will check the quality in his music in the ARI paddhati and TMK paddhati. If the quality of manodharma music is far superior in comparison with his ARI paddhati quality in music, I may uncondition my mind, listen and enjoy the pleasure TMK is partaking.

[tiruppugazh]

The musician is as much in a state of wonder at the creation as is the audience.

TMK is definitely in a state of wonder at his own music. Not sure about the audience.

Excitement must be the result of a pursuit of the aesthetics of the form rather than appreciation for the presentation.

Audience understands presentation more than aesthetics of the form. It is better that the pursuit is undertaken at home.

A musician should contribute something new and distinct to the human experience.

If it is musical it is ok. Unfortunately in TMK's case the "new and distinct" contribution is only non musical.

If the quality of manodharma music is far superior in comparison with his ARI paddhati quality in music, I may uncondition my mind, listen and enjoy the pleasure TMK is partaking.

The quality of his manodharma has been the same for the last 10 years or so in whatever paddhati he renders.