Vocal: Sri T. M. Krishna (TMK)
Violin: Sri R. K. Sriram Kumar (RKSP)
mRdangam: Sri Arun Prakash (AP)
Venue: Edisopn HS, Edison, NJ
Organizers: CMANA
When I read VK’s report of the previous day’s concert in Chicago, I knew I had to attend the one in NJ. So I made some hasty changes to my plans for the day and got to the venue just as the introductory speech was done and the artists began the evening without much further ado.
At the very outset, Sri TMK made an announcement that this is his first trip to the US in 3.5 years during which time his music has evolved and what he will be presenting will not adhere to the traditional concert format. But he assured us that everything that will be presented would be a very sincere expression of their musical thoughts (or words to that effect). I have not listened to Sri TMK live in many, many years, but I have been following his evolution and people’s reactions to it through the many reviews on this forum. So, I knew what to expect, and went to understand and experience it.
But before I start with my views on the experience (note: it is not a review, and it was not a concert), I just wanted to provide some context for them: IMO (and just mine, and I may be completely wrong), there are at least three classes of performing musicians (these are not absolutes, but rather a general framework) – 1) a group of artists that believe that it is their sacred duty to use music as a means of salvation, not just for themselves, but also for the listeners. They believe that each note is a prayer, and they need to serve as the medium to present the prayer that is inherent in each composition as well as they can, to both God and the audience, sort of like a priest. Their attempt is to invoke the divine subject of the compositions they sing, using music as the means (‘advaita siddhiki amaratva labdhiki gAnamE sOpAnamu’ – music is the staircase that leads to the realization of adviatic principles and attainment of the divine); 2) a group that believes that music is solely for the purposes of entertainment with no other lofty means to fulfil; and 3) a group that believes music is not merely a means to divinity, but divinity itself, where the compositions are just means to realize the music and the divinity therein (here, I think ‘advaita siddhi and amaratva labdhi’ = music). A prime example of the first group is Smt. MSS, who succeeded brilliantly in invoking the divine subjects of the compositions each and every time she sang, and there are many others who achieve varying degrees of success using this approach. Thankfully, there are not too many in the second group that I am aware of. I think Sri TMK may belong to the last category, and with this rather simplistic explanation, the whole experience made perfect sense to me. (I suspect he is a much more complex person with more profund and convoluted reasons for what and why he does what he does!).
As VK says, the experience cannot be captured through lists. One point is that in yesterday’s concert, TMK and Sri RKSK used the vocalist-violinist approach in each segment. Another aspect that became clear is that what was happening on stage was a musical conversation on stage, with the main ‘dialogue’ if you will, occurring between Sri TMK and Sri RKSK, and Sri AP joining in at the right moments, with perfect anticipation and responsiveness. In this context, I think the experience will be heightened if the audience was privy to the ‘dialogue’ on stage (it is possible that I am not sufficiently versed with music to have understood what was happening).
The team began the evening with madhyamAvati – Sri TMK presented a brief outline, Sri RKSK and a short return, and Sri TMK launched into pAlincu kAmAkshi of Sri Syama Sastry. Very slow rendition savoring every musical moment. To people who exclaim –‘but that is usually sung at the end’, I just want to say that to me it was no different from the vazhuvUr school beginning their dance presentations with a tODaymangaLam! It was a very beautiful presentation.
Sri TMK then launched into yadukula kAmbhOdi (he announced the rAgam after allowing people sufficient time to identify it on their own) – very serene, very beautiful, with a lovelier (if possible) response from Sri RKSK. Just when I was anticipating ‘kAlai tUkki ninRADum deivamE’, he chose the vAra kRti of Sri Muttusvamy Diskshitar, divAkara tanujam – again, rendered at a very slow tempo – simply beautiful and soul stirring.
After that rather languorous beginning, Sri TMK sang an outline of a rAga – identified it as pUrNacandrika, and very quickly launched into one of the most beautiful tAnams I have heard in a while, with fantastic replies from Sri RKSK. I did not want it to end, but it did in a very unexpected way – at a signal from Sri TMK, Sri AP readied his mRdangam, and the team seamlessly launched into a very high-energy presentation of Puchi Sri Sinivasa Ieyangar’stillAna (?) – while people may quibble about the positioning of the tillAna, IMO, it was simply brilliant in concept and execution. I am surprised more dancers don’t use this approach, with a metered tAnam of course. Sri TMK and the team showed that they were capable of handling snagatis at jet-speed as well.
After that brief change of pace, Sri TMK sang an AlApana of kannaDagauLa (he announced it), and following a response from Sri RKSK, he launched into sArangA (I was sure it was sArangA, and he confirmed it) that was very well done both by him and Sri RKSK, after which he began one of the most exquisite mukhAri AlApanas I have ever heard (out of this world, IMO), and I kept thinking that too bad VK was missing it! After being drenched in the honeyed phrases of mukhAri, when Sri TMK began ‘entani nE varNintunu SabarI bhAgyam’, it was really a bit of an anti-climax. Nothing against the presentation at all, but the AlApana had scaled heights that would have been difficult to re-ascend.
After this, Sri TMK took up one of my favorite kRtis, the rather difficult, but beautiful caturdaSa rAgamAlika of Sri Dikshitar – once again presented in his trademark, slow tempo, savoring each note. Sri AP presented his tani – again, like VK said, I am sure it had so many hidden nuances, but being a bigger ignoramus in the area of laya, it was not evident to me. The way the tani ended, and Sri TMK sang the pallavi again was also very interesting a well-done.
This was followed by the bEgaDA padam, yArukkAgilum bhayamA of Vaidisvaran Koil Subbarama Iyer – in this composition, I think the ultra-slow pace, while conveying the essence of bEgaDa, was inimical to delivering the ‘devil-may-care, gossip-mongers be damned’ message of the nAyika. Suresh will be delighted to know that he sang ‘yarukkAhilum’!
Somewhere around this time, Sri TMK was deluged by a number of chits with requests from the audience. When he could not read what was on one of the chits provided a brief moment of levity.
He then sang kunitta puruvamum – (kharaharapriya?) – it was the least impactful piece of the concert for me, and followed it with a song that was totally new to me – Sri jAnaki patE in kharaharapriya (composer ?).
He then ‘played’ with the English note – singing the notes flat sometimes, and sometimes with gamakams – it was almost hindustAni-ish to me. The audience seemed to enjoy it immensely.
He then took up bhAgESri (brief outline) followed by Sri MDR’s sAgara Sayana vibhO (I think it was one of the requests) in a pace that was even slower than Sri MDR’s (if that is possible). At the end of this kRti, he seamlessly finished the concert with the SlOkam, mangalam kOsalEndrAya, in bhAgESri. And with that 3+ hours of serene music, and a blissful experience came to an end. To me it was 3+ hours when the artists provided sincere music (Sri TMK delivered on his promise) and took obvious pleasure in every step of their combined journeys.
As I have already mentioned, Sri RKSK was brilliant, whether following Sri TMK, or his own presentations, and in the ‘dialogue’ on stage.
I can’t say enough about Sri AP – his style (or perhaps the style he employs when accompanying Sri TMK) was just right with enough pauses, enough soft playing, and when needed, energetic support – he certainly elevated the experience. Another thing that was impressive to me was that Sri AP did not come off as the proverbial ‘wOh’ [1] when Sri TMK and Sri RKSK were having one of their dialogues; instead, he knew exactly when to step in and how. And I came away with one regret that Sri MDR did not have the opportunity of signing to the accompaniment of a mRdangam artist like Sri AP.
I do want to say that while the presentation may have been unorthodox, the AlApanas, and kRtis were rendered in the most orthodox of manners (IMO).
And, despite all the controversies, and the two schools of thought regarding Sri TMK's music, if the standing ovation the team received at the end is any indication, then, the audience in NJ can say that we enjoyed the experience, and like the nAyika in the padam he sang, we proclaim this, and say, ‘yArukkAgilum bhayama, idu enna rahasiyamA?’!
[1] I am dating myself – but the reference is from the title of an old movie ‘pati patni aur wOh’ – where the wOh is the unwanted third, the mistress
If well sung, it IS a 'move you to tears' rAgA. Emotively, one of the best.