By now we all know the drill. Krishna is a professional maverick. As he himself admits to, these are not kutcheris but spontaneous creations: flights of musical fancy that he and his team assemble on the fly depending on the moment.
I am not in judgment of Krishna's music, his "freedom-from-the-known" Krishnamurthi-isms, his almost abrasive personality or even his irreverence. In fact, I find all of these qualities quite amusing and perhaps even endearing. If I sat down in the same room as him, we would probably agree on many things. So, my words are not to be taken as a critique of Krishna as a musician or even his style of performance art. I also think very highly of his talent, his wonderful vocal prowess with a range that can go down to the lower shadjam with the kind of fidelity and timbre that could make a cellist's A string feel envy.
All that said, I walked away from the concert somewhat disappointed. I was waiting for the A-hA moment, but somehow it never came. There were a few genuinely wonderful musical ideas buried here and there, but they seemed obscured by his brand of surrealism and the random juxtaposition of musical ideas that seemed to create more entropy than he perhaps intended to.
None of the concert's spirit can be captured by cataloging what he sang. But here is a list, just for reference.
Paiyyada paimida- nadanamakriya - madhyama sruti (NS)
vanita rO ee vanne lEla - jAvaLi - anandha bhairavi - dAsu sreerAmulu (S)
jayantasENA - rAgam - TMK
jayantasEnA - tAnam - RKSK
bhairavi - rAgam - RKSK
bhairavi - tAnam - TMK
manavinAla kim - naLinakAnti - T (N @ ghanuDaina shrI rAmacandruni)
sankarabharanam - alapanai + sri kamalambikayA kaTAkshitOham (MD)
dwijAvanti - cEtasri bAlakrishnam - RKSK (violin solo)
dhanyAsi - alapanai (without violin accompaniment TMK)
tani - khanda triputa (misra nadai)
mOhanam - brief rAgam + tAnam
kahAn kE pathik kahAn - tulsi dAs bhajan
ragam- tAnam - kAnada - neranammiti (double speed)
Orajupuchu - kannaDa gowLa
vAdinEn vAdi - thirumangal AzhwAr pAsuram.
mAnava janma doDDadu - pUrvikalyANi
mangaLam kOsalEndrAya (sung in pUrvikalyANi).
Krishna started the concert in Madhyama sruti with a padam, which must be a first. This was followed by the less frequently heard jAvali in Ananda bhairavi. As he began his short raga sketch, I found that in the lower part of the octave, he might have well transgressed into rItigowla territory. Similarly, when he started singing Mohanam later in the evening, it felt that he might have hit a few bilahari notes. Perhaps these were both early ideas as they brewed into this decision about which way to go, but they made me a tad uncomfortable.
The lack of the build-up of significant momentum from the development of many ideas made me feel like having started with a very good apéro but somehow having the course end right there.
The best moments of the concert were during his sankarabharanam, Sriram's dvijAvanti and his absolutely superb rendition of manavinAla in naLiNakAnti. I believe Krishna really excels at singing this song and his choice of kAlapramANam (faster than his usual speed) felt just right. I think the way he sings the charanam lines "kani mAnav(A)vatAruDai" gives me goosebumps every time and today was no different.
There were several times during the concert when Krishna would feel this sense of "uNarchi vasam"; almost solipsistically trapped in his own feelings. I take them to be genuine and I can see that he is really enjoying the music he seems to be engaged in. I can feel his angst, well almost.
He even gave a little speech in the end, almost reprimanding people for not seeing the world the way he sees it. He was not trying to be "unpredictable", he said dismissively. He also said that he was tired of being portrayed this way over the last 3+ weeks (perhaps here in this forum and elsewhere).
My thoughts on this. I have no problem with his taking on the century-old "kutcheri" system. While he is at it, I also wish he could go after all the caste voodoo, misogyny, bigotry and all else that should rightfully be booted out of the system.
But if you are going to replace the kutcheri with something, a whole lot more thought needs to go into the alternative. Carnatic music has certainly evolved over the centuries and who knows which way it will go in another couple of hundred years. But if you are looking for a structured paradigm shift, it requires more than a "shuffle" function; as spontaneous and genuine as it may be. This form of music builds on ideas and their development in context. Again, I am not judging this concert format. My comments are just about his music itself.
I wish Krishna success in these experiments, but he should perhaps take his audiences on a gentler ride than what he has in place now.
Sriram Kumar played incredibly well. His bowing matched Krishna's voice perfectly and his accompaniment to the tAnam in mOhanam in the lower stAyi was probably one of the highlights of the evening for me.
KAP: Well, there are people who love him and people who don't love him so much, to put it mildly
I am probably in the latter category. "Nalla kai", as any seasoned lover of the pazhani school would tell you. But somehow I find his playing to be consummately lackadaisical and bordering on nihilism (not minimalism). I also take strong exception, whatever spontaneity there might be, to having a tani constructed without the framework of a kriti. Having said that, I must confess that KAP played a good tani today and explored some interesting nadai variations, which is more than I have seen him do in the recent past. And please. No more comparisons to Ramabadhran sir. That is just not right.
At the end of the day, I felt that I heard some good music but went home wanting to listen to a "kutcheri", however you define that term.
P.S: Props to Sankritilaya for managing an event of this scale, probably one of the largest concerts in N.America this year. Very civilized arrangements for parking, ticketing, queuing etc. I also had the pleasure of seeing Sindhuja, Gadolinium and ManiSubramaniyan just after the event. I hope we can get to hear their opinions as well
I relied on phonological cues when spelling those phrases, rather than semantic ones.
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