Rithvik Raja @ Naada Inbam

[venkatraghavan.1955]

Date 26th December 2014
Time 10.15 AM - 12.30 PM
Venue Ragasudha Hall

BU Ganeshprasad (Violin)
N Manoj Shiva (Mridhangam)
Anirudh Athreya (Ghatam)

1 Varnam, Sriragam, Adi, Karur Devudu Iyer
2 Anandanatana, Kedharam, Mishra Chapu, Muthuswamy Dikshithar (NS)
3 Ramabhakthi, Shuddha Bhangala, Adi, Thyagaraja (RS)
4 Rajuvedale, Thodi, Rupakam, Thyagaraja (RNS)
5 Paridhanaminchithe, Bilahari, Khanda Chapu, Patnam
6 Sukhiyevvaro, Kaanada, Adi, Thyagaraja (RST)

After listening to a bunch of concerts on Christmas day I was thinking of going for an early morning concert given that the only options viable were RR and KG (K Gayathri) Since I listened to KG elsewhere recently I decided to head to RR who sang a good concert at Charsur (Review of Sandeep and RR posted in this forum)

After a sedate start with a peaceful varnam, RR sang a nicely paced Anandanatana with neravals and kalpanaswarams in 2 speeds at Sangeetha Vaadhya. The swarams were all only one avarthanam in both the speeds and showcased the competence of the artistes and the ability of Kedharam as a ragam. He then started a ragam with GRSD, SR, and I thought it was Abhogi but then came RMP and I was confused as I had not heard this ragam before. In the next phrase he sang the first line of Ramabhakthi as a sangathi and expanded the ragam for another couple of minutes and brought out the nuances very aesthetically. First time I am hearing Shuddha Bhangala being elaborated after MMI. Ganeshprasad played a flashy ragam as a response. The song was sung at a crisp pace with a generous round of kalpanaswarams that set a good mood for the remainder of the concert.

The short and sweet Thodi alapana was brisk and focussed more on the thara sthayi with Rajuvedale being sung with fervour and punch. The neraval and kalpanaswarams reminded me of listening to TMK sing this in a cassette that was released sometime in the early 2000s. Paridhanaminchithe was sung as a filler with a lovely chittaswaram and some fine percussion accompaniment. The pick of the day for me was Kaanada which was sung for 10 minutes traversing all the octaves. The most touching part was when he held the tharasthayi panchamam in an open throated manner for about 5 seconds in perfect shruthi after creating a lovely feeling with his sancharis on rishabam. Ganeshprasad played a melodious Kaanada which seemed like it was inspired by Lalgudi given some of the phrases that he played. Sukhiyevvaro was the song chosen with kalpanaswarams at the pallavi. He also sang the inspiring MMI koraippu at Ga Ga which prompted immediate appreciation and ecstatic smiles from Manoj Shiva and Anirudh who then played an inspired thani that was lovely to listen to and melodiously filled with naadham. RRs musical preferences are evident from his choosing of ragams and keerthanas. Hope he continues on this path and sticks to classism and tradition. The concert was very satisfying and set me up for listening to more concerts through the day.

I immediately left and rushed to the academy to listen to Sriranjani who was wrapping up Aarabhi when I entered. Youngsters are making amazing waves this year. It was a double treat to also listen to Ramakrishna Murthy after Sriranjani. I see that the reviews for both of those concerts are already out so I will just comment on those. Forum members are very active and im finding it tough to keep up. I am going to post a separate topic on all the youngsters I have listened to this season with a few statistics once the season is over. Yet to catch Bharath Sundar. Any other picks?

:namaste:

S Venkatraghavan

[vasanthakokilam]

Forum members are very active and im finding it tough to keep up.

That is indeed a good problem to have Second and third reviews of the same concert are quite welcome. Please add your review to the same thread.

I am going to post a separate topic on all the youngsters I have listened to this season with a few statistics once the season is over.

Please do, that will be wonderful.

[tanapp]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tsTcxIMceU

Since I did not find a more recent review of Rithvik Raja's concert, I am taking the liberty of posting my conversation with him in this thread.

It just amazes me that some of these youngsters are driven with such high levels of inspiration, to carry this art form further on one hand; while also keeping in touch with the realities of demography of rasikas in India and elsewhere in the world; what should be should not be done while exposing the kids to Carnatic music etc.

I thought his answers were well reasoned, concise and clear. Refreshing.