Sikkil Gurucharan @ MA, 20/12

[sankark]

Sikkil Gurucharan vocal
V Sanjeev violin
Umayalpuram K Sivaraman mridangam
S Karthick ghatam

IMNSHO - this would be a top contender of the concert of the year @ MA, except for...

nera nammiti - kAnadA - kanda ata - pUchi (2 speeds). Concert was off to a grand opening
shankari nIvE - bEgadA - rUpakam - subbaraya sAstri. hummed few strains of begadA and started this grand song and what a cracker it was today. UKS's accompaniment elevated it totally
gAnamUrthE - gAnamurthi - Adi - T (rn@navanIta chOra nandasatkisOra). elaborate alapanai and terrific nereval. Sikkil was in "The Zone" totally, almost like owned "The Zone" from get go
kamalAmbA samrakshatumAm - Anandabhairavi - t triputai - MD. majestic pace and clear pronunication of words
nA jIvAdhAra - bilahari - Adi - T (rs@nA jIvadhAra). grand exercise with an explosive tani. Amarkkalamana swaras.
RTP (sendhil vaLar pazham thannai valam vandhu paNi seyya muruganE guganE varam thA) - shanmukapriyA - t triputai?. this is where the except part comes in. a very short RTP all compressed into 15 - 20 mins. Also had KuntalavarALi swarams in there somewhere, I believe. Might have been technically proficient but not a full fledged RTP with expansive alapanai/tanam and that is my gripe. RTP's don't get the right treatment they deserve?

Had to leave then. He started humming a hindustanish ragam and as I was leaving heard him singing some bhajan kind of song.

Sanjeev was just soooo good, his vinyasams and swaras were sparkling. Percussion - what to say? UKS was enhancing it on so many levels and Karthick played the perfect foil to UKS.

Sikkil has set the bar so high, others has to now measure against it.

[HarishankarK]

Thanks for the review but am no so sure.

[venkatraghavan.1955]

I remember reading that an RTP in Shanmugapriya would be a treat to the taste buds of many listeners here and looks like Sikkil wouldve satisfied their yearning. However a 15 to 20 minute RTP in a two and a half hour concert doesnt seem right if proper justice wasnt done to it like what sankark mentions. I have heard Sikkil a number of times and found that he normally shuns away from singing neraval for the main item and the aspect of neraval is normally quite less in his concerts. Maybe a personal choice to sing what he is stronger in?