Amrutha Venkatesh@MusicAcademy on Dec 21st,2014

[rajeshnat]

Amrutha Venkatesh@MusicAcademy on Dec 21st,2014
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Vocal : Amrutha Venkatesh
Violin : Adithi Krishnaprakash
Mrudangam : Guru Raghavendra
Ghatam : Manjoor Unnikrishnan

Concert Type : Non Nirvana - concert to follow
Day/Duration : Sunday/ 2 hours
Concert Type/Crowd : Free concert - ~ 500(peak strenght) in ground floor ,first floor may have been empty
Sabha / Hall : Music Academy /TTK Hall

01. valaci-varnam-kedaram and ragamAliga - patnam
02. pankajAksha tava dEvA(R S)-todi-ST
2 mins alapana and no violin return
7 mins swaras

03. anandAmrithavarshini(S)-amrithavarshini-MD
3 mins swaaras

04A. tulasi bilva(R N S T)-kedaragowlai-T
8 mins alapana and 5 mins violin return
7 mins neraval
10 mins swaras
04B. 11 mins tani

05. RTP-varAli
9 mins alapana and
7 mins taanam
pallavi line was velA siva bAla varaguna sheela vandarul guhA
swaras in varali , sahana and hamsanandi
pallavi and swaras for 15 mins
RTP was for 31 mins and the talam was chatushra jathi jampa thalam kanda nadai

06. viruththam - Anju mugam thONril arumugham - kamas -???
followed by senthil vala SevaganE-kamAs - ??

07.kanaga saila vihArini-punnagavarALi-SS
08. thillana-dheemdheemdheem-ninnEnamminAnurA-katanakuthoohalam-TVGopalakrishnan

Amrutha started with kedaram valaci varnam and her voice that always has a melodic tone came out well with no hiccups , The swaras in different ragas were not that easily registered to me, with kAmbOdhi coming out very distinctly but that problem i have with almost all rendition.The next in todi was certainly a rare krithi - pankajAksha tava devi in todi , I am assuming it is a ST krithi . Her voice registers have excellent fidelity in in middle to lower sthayi and those kAla sangathis were well sung , the swaras had the right thrust and she did well.

Amrithavarshini dikshitar krithi was sung not with the emote and pace like say a santhanam rendition. But it was bit paced fast and I liked it , swaras at the end did give a fast pep that was needed at that moment, the role of two percussion was wonderful . The main in kedaragowali had its moments of aesthetic brilliance , her glides in middle to lower sthayi was well done , i also missed a little more expressive questioning bhavam of kedaragowlai , her sangathis could have had more weight for this raga. The main krithi was tulasi bilva and it was a great choice , i liked her neraval and the swaras , both were measured well in the madhyamakAla registers most of the time.

varALi as an RTP is a great choice . She apportioned right time that too considering it was just a 2 hr conert. Both alapana and taanam came out well . When she mentioned the pallavi with a complex tala my expectation was thinking it was more complicated than what she eventually delivered .Both the ragamaliga swaras were short but definitely pleased me . I particularly liked her sahana more than hamsanAndi in ragamaliga swaras.

There was a brief viruththam a touch and go with a kavadi chindu like song in kamAs . I have not heard this number senthil vala sevaganE at all . The penultimate song was superb and for me a top pick - punnagavarAli oozed with right emote and her voice had so much sowkhyam and melody that i enjoyed it so much and I felt she could have let me go with that as the last krithi . As shyama sastri was not the sangeetha kalanidhi designate the baton went to TV gopalakrishnan. TVG tillana in katanakuthoohalam had the right jathis at the beginning to give a clear kathana kuthoohalam but kind of tapered with the sahitya part little too quickly.

THe violinist and ghatam artist are new to me . I particularly liked the ghatam artist manjoor unnikrishnan for his real responsive play ,the violin vidushi adhithi played well - but her play was not a case of she uplifting the concert to any great height . Guru Raghavendra was the pick of the entire team , really fast sarvalaghu with excellent control without becoming a hindrance to any of the artist . guru raghavendra a youngster can be one top artist in the future.

Amrutha venkatesh gave a neat concert , every number was planned well and she did right justice in sequencing the numbers . May be I missed bit more weighty sangathis especially for kedaragowlai and also to an extent in varali. Her melodious voice with shruthi adherance is always in the right zone. The team indeed clicked

Overall a very good concert for 2 hours.

[Rsachi]

Rajesh
It looks like this year's ragas are Kedaragowla and Varali!
I wonder how many are singing these ragas. A quick stack up would be interesting!

[Lakshman]

The khamAs song is sendil vaLar sEvalanE by Papanasham Shivan.

[HarishankarK]

Wow, very nice list, she has covered all aspects within the allotted time. Not to mention the 31 minutes RTP, Vrittam and Thillanna also. Well balanced. For MA concert a certain level of project planning is required and Amrutha has done her planning home work well and also very good project execution. Trinity are covered too.

[sureshvv]

pallavi line was velA siva bAla varaguna sheela vandarul guhA
swaras in varali , sahana and hamsanandi

Last raga may have been Poorvi. Heard shades of the tillana. One of the few artistes that can bring out the difference.

[maduraiveeran77]

The last raga in pallavi ragamalika is sohini

[HarishankarK]

Sohini is hindustani equivalent of Hamsanandi?

[maduraiveeran77]

Yes

[venkatraghavan.1955]

A very average concert. This girl created significant waves many years ago when she entered the concert circuit in Chennai but has since steadily gone on the decline and hardly sings in the city anymore. Another bangalore based girl Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunath is far better. Amrutha now sings with a false voice and has lost depth in rendition and gamakams. Such a loss. Hear she learns from Prince Ramavarma now. Hope she recovers soon and sings music like she used to with akaram and aesthetics in mind. My best wishes to her

[harimau]

A very average concert. This girl created significant waves many years ago when she entered the concert circuit in Chennai but has since steadily gone on the decline and hardly sings in the city anymore. Another bangalore based girl Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunath is far better. Amrutha now sings with a false voice and has lost depth in rendition and gamakams. Such a loss. Hear she learns from Prince Ramavarma now. Hope she recovers soon and sings music like she used to with akaram and aesthetics in mind. My best wishes to her

I eagerly await the fireworks!

[Rsachi]

Why drag in another name from Bengaluru?
I think the two artistes symbolise almost diametrically different approaches to music. Both have appeal to me for different reasons. I also get to hear them in Bengaluru.

Now the false voice bit- I am intrigued if Amrutha sang any different in the past. It is less of a false voice and more of a squeezing effect in the upper reaches. Her strength is her diction, repertoire, ease of delivery and imagination. She also has a strength in veena playing.

I wish many long years of successful performing for both Aishwarya and Amrutha. Just as I wish other variations (of spelling & surnames) in these names standing for other lady artistes.

[Nick H]

I don't see the point in the comparison either. They are both artists I enjoy very much. I have discovered Aishwarya only this year.

I've rediscover Amrutha after a long period of not hearing her, which was not at all intentional.

Maybe I just don't understand what is meant by "false, " but I hear nothing false in Amrutha's voice.It is full, rich, and even in quality, high or low. She has taken the trouble to train in voice production and projection. She puts to shame some of the popular young men who, without microphones, can only sing to their own toes. She has lungs, and uses them for their intended purpose.

She does not use all that vocal power for games or gimmicky, but presents the music in a very straightforward manner.

Nothing false about Amrutha. Everything very real and very good.

[devan]

She lost her music after joining ramavarma.such a wasted talent.nallothor veenaiseithu...

[HarishankarK]

She lost her music after joining ramavarma.such a wasted talent.nallothor veenaiseithu...

I also feel that some change has come in her music after she has joined Prince Rama Varma. One thing is her voice has mellowed down a bit and the brightness and full throated singing (which i liked in her music) is not there now. But now she has added a lot of calmness and sowkyam to her style which is welcome, but she is still quite young and continue for some more years at a higher pitch and brighter tone, i feel.
Ramavarma's music also has the same softness and effortless ability to reach all tara sthayi and lower octaves without being over-loud. She has incorporated the same thing into her music but it is too early.

[sureshvv]

A very average concert.

Agreed. At least in comparison to her MFA and Charsur concerts. The Todi, Kedaragowla and the thukkadas were great. The other items were a bit academy-ish.

Amrutha now sings with a false voice and has lost depth in rendition and gamakams.

Disagree. Unfortunately it seems we are so used to top-of-the-lungs screaming using loud microphones and blaring speakers that we are unable to appreciate modulated, sensitive singing. There is plenty of gamakams, jaarus and what not. You just need a quiet audience and decent acoustics. Please listen to the radio rebroadcast of her MFA concert (may be on sangeetapriya now).

Update: Here is one part (Shankarabharanam main)

http://www.sangeethamshare.org/tvg/SEAS ... _Venkatesh

[Rsachi]

Thanks for the link, excellent recording.
I am listening to the ST song in Shankarabharanam.

[venkatraghavan.1955]

@sureshvv - Agree with what you say about top-of-the-lungs screaming, but that does not make this open throated singing. She croons when singing on top and though the

gamakams, jaarus and what not

are there its still not open throated or from the front voice like me. I was merely making a statement saying out of the two people who are singing regularly from bangalore I like AVR better. Not making a comparison on their music against each other. Sorry about that.

After seeing Rsachi and Nick Hs vehement disapproval I thought I was mistaken. Glad to know a few agree with me. Interesting how the same music is looked at by different people.

[vasanthakokilam]

Noted that the link above is not for the concert under review here, if that Shankarabharanam is not considered deep enough or classical or azhuththam-ful, I concede I do not know what such things are.

Interesting how the same music is looked at by different people.

venkatraghavan.1955, ain't it the truth! As long as such expression/commentary/like-dislike is genuine and coming from the heart (and not overly a priori conditioned) that is all fine. That is the natural order of things.

[Rsachi]

Can someone kindly share a link to Amrutha's vocal rendition recording from the pre-Rama Varma era so I can understand what is the voice change happening?
Many thanks

[sureshvv]

She croons when singing on top and though the gamakams, jaarus and what not are there its still not open throated or from the front voice like me.

Use of head voice is appropriate and makes listening to carnatic music pleasant. We seem to tolerate this from artistes only after they bust their voice after years of abuse.

[venkatraghavan.1955]

Use of head voice is appropriate and makes listening to carnatic music pleasant. We seem to tolerate this from artistes only after they bust their voice after years of abuse.

@vasanthakokilam - Absolutely agree that it is the natural order of things.

@sureshvv - You have a fair point there I guess. Maybe our perception of what open throated singing has been marred by voice abuse. But Amruthas earlier concerts were definitely more open throated. Maybe some of her old charsur albums would be good examples.

[Ramasubramanian M.K]

Just a historical,PERSONAL anecdote; My father the late K.S.Mahadevan was Indian Express Music critic for over 30 years. he was "plugging" Amritha V since 2004 to the Sabhas in Chennai without any success(that she was from out of Chennai and relatively unknown to the "clannish" Sabha authorities in Chennai was also a factor!!). Finally in September 4 2006, a FEW Hours before my father passed away he gets a call from one of the Chennai sabhas(my mother took the call) saying that the artist my father was championing has been given a slot in the upcoming December Festival.Subsequently she has had several chances in the last 8 years or so.

While "launching" any artiste even with talent may seem arduos --today it is even tougher to stay in the orbit--the review seems to underscore this!!!