Prapancham Balachandran@nadOpasanA on Feb 18th,2015
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Flute : Prapancham Balachandran
Violin : MA Sundareswaran
Mrudangam : Prapancham Ravindran
Kanjira : papanasam kumar
Occasion : Nadopasana festival for nearly 10 days
Concert Type : Nirvana - No concert to follow
Day/Duration : Wednesday/ ~ 2 hour concert
Concert Type/Crowd : Free concert - ~100
Sabha/Hall : Nadopasana in ragasudha hall
Previous Concert : I could not attend , but youngster vidushi shankari , who is the daughter of Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam sang.
01.valaci number
02. shree mahagaNapathi ravathumA( S )-gowlai-T
5 mins swaras
03.entarO mAhanubhAvulu (R)- shree ragam - T
04.Theradhiyaka Radha - gowlipantu - T
05. ninnE nammithi nayya (R S)-simmhendra madhyamam - MV
8 mins alapana and 6 mins violin return
12 minute neraval and swaras
06. enta muddO (R) -bindhumAlini - T
2 mins alapana and no violin return
07A. rAma kathA sudhA (R S T) - madhyamAvati - T
6 mins alapana and 5 mins violin return
7 mins swaras
07B. tani for 10 mins
08. karunai deivamE (R)- sindhubhairavi - madurai sreenivasan
3 mins alapana and 2 mins violin return
09. jagadOdharana (R) - hind kAPi or piloo - PD
10. pavamana
Prapancham Balachandran@nadOpasanA on Feb 18th,2015
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rajeshnat
- Posts: 10123
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04
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rajeshnat
- Posts: 10123
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04
Re: Prapancham Balachandran@nadOpasanA on Feb 18th,2015
In Us there are holidays like thanks giving and day after thanks giving . I personally had to do some activity when I took 1/2 a day off in MahasivarAthri and a full day off for day after mahasivarathri . That gave me an opportunity to attend 2 concerts in two days.
While it was a sudden spike of concerts in mahasivarathri as though it was an apple stock when they released a new version of iPhone , it was complete dryness on the day after mahasivarathri . While glancing THe hindu engagement column on The day after mahasivarathri in chennai -there was a bharatanatyam performance in mylapore , a sangeetha upanyasam in Vanimahal . THe sangeeetha upanyasam was not by visaka hari but by a vidwan whose name was Erode balaji bhagavathar. The spelling was just bhagavathar if it was erode balaji bhagavathars i would have thought that would have been erode nagaraj and mannarkoil balaji plunging from mrudangam to sangeetha upanyasam (Just kidding balaji and nagaraj do take it in jovial sense ). As usual the ragasudha hall had one concert with its hall loaned to another sabha and that was this flute concert.
I saw the patron nadopasana sreenivasan sir and talked with him and asked him -Why you are holding nadopasana concerts in ragasudha and not in PS high school .He told me I have touched 80 and I donot get administrative support from ps high school and I have to do everything by myself. In ragasudha I am helped by many. He particularly complained in ps high school 4 or 5 people will be seated under each fan spreading themselves and in this hall that will not happen. I thought it was a fair statement and I was guilty of what he complained . He also thought possibly I was also right that one concert is gone in another hall as ragasudha would any way defaultly have a concert with the naadainbam banner. Attn Harimau This point is for connecting a post long time back between both of us.
While Checking balachandran's website it was mentioned that he was a disciple of flute maestro Ramani . Atleast from 2002 to 2010, I have noticed there will be many festivals where there would be one flute concert and that would be grabbed and taken by R Ramani. So to an extent the ecosystem certainly did not give an opportunity for any other flautist to show their vidwat and establish little more brand recall in atleast last 20 years .
Prapancham Balachandran started with valaci , I was not sure with the number may be that was the usual valaci varnam . The blow was bit too mild and that is the way I think flautist settle unlike a vocalist who likes to usually throw their voice. Valaci was just ok and from the next gowlai he entered into a zone of excellence .
The mahaganapathi ravathuma in gowlai was blown with right thrust and the blow was little more high and pointed in swaras . From gowlai onwards What can i say a certain feel of ramani in 90's and 2000 days was omnipresent with the naadham and also the sequence of numbers. The next alapana in shree ragam was not that crystal clear for me to disambiguate from her cousin madhyamavati , but I liked the pancharatna krithi a lot - there is an intrinsic layam to some T compositions and this was one that showcased well sadguru's bhavam with nice non overlapping brisk returns by MAS towards the second half.
Gowlipantu was blown in an usual thrusty speed and I liked that . The submain prati was ninne nammi nayya - I certainly did not have any ambiguity in his simm madhyamam - flute gets bit tricky to disambiguate prathi ragas especially between simm madhyamam and dharmavati. THe swaras with a touch and go neraval was elaborate and i liked it .
Entha muddo in bindumalini needs a bit more relaxed play , i felt a shade of higher percussion there bit robbed that magical relaxed sofa sogasu in enta muddO. Madhyamavati as a main despite a preceeding shree ragam was welcome . This raga is always a flautist favourite bit going out of currrency among vocalist . I was thinking he will play my favourite madhyamavati palinchu kamAkshi considering he already completed a T and a MD number. But madhyamavati went in rama katha ragasudha way. madhyamavati was bit too concise and I felt not that elaboration .
He took the longer version of flute and I liked his magical blow of sindhu bhairavi alapana . Sindhu bhairavi did not get pedestrianized as a chinese soup it distinctly retained the stand alone clasical status.I donot know what it takes for a flautist to use longer version of flute for few more songs , but if they do that I welcome it and I get an extra motivation to attend more flute concerts. The last number was another instrument favourite jagadOdharana in piloo was good . It was a near 2 hour concert that got over with pavamANa
MA sundareswaran violin was showcased without robbing the sensitivity of the flute blow. There was a little extra intrusion perhaps in madhyamavati or some number before the tukkada. Prapancham ravindran played well for his younger brother . I did ask ravindran who is his guru and added if he has any srimushnam raja rao connection as I did hear few of those flashes . In his tanjore thick tongued humour he initially replied enakku ambathu vayasu aachu (I am already 50) perhaps thinking that I assumed him as a youngster when I asked his guru. Ravindran then said that he is from tanjore vaidyanathan school and learnt from father of Late Tanjore Upendran . Upendran's dad name slips me now.
I used to always wonder if there is one concert in chennai what would be the audience? . For a city that is about to touch 1 crore it is just max of about 100 in audience. I would partially blame prapancham balachandran for that . He spoke no word and I dont recollect any media exercise of branding himself and the instrument.All he did was touched the small cup of water that the kanjira artist used perhaps indicating the madras water crisis that appears to strike soon. He was lost in his music but his mannerism was bit of minority side of tanjore . I personally come from that belt of tanjore - lot of people are either too pushy/overtly expressive and very few of them are very inside looking and closed.Balachandran appears too closed . Perhaps he is just like another flautist KV Ramanujam whom I admire a lot . In one or two concerts that I attended of KV Ramanujam he opened his mouth just once to announce to say that the next composition was his own in sumanesa ranjani.
We have Right to music , education and seminars to music but all that is not working for sure. It is just the appetite for hearing music and time for that leisure especially for flute concerts has plummeted. I believe the first step is that the flute artist has to push himself/herself more in media .It is time for a majority of flautists to market much more in media as they risk themselves to be annihilated.
Overall a very good concert for nearly 2 hours.
While it was a sudden spike of concerts in mahasivarathri as though it was an apple stock when they released a new version of iPhone , it was complete dryness on the day after mahasivarathri . While glancing THe hindu engagement column on The day after mahasivarathri in chennai -there was a bharatanatyam performance in mylapore , a sangeetha upanyasam in Vanimahal . THe sangeeetha upanyasam was not by visaka hari but by a vidwan whose name was Erode balaji bhagavathar. The spelling was just bhagavathar if it was erode balaji bhagavathars i would have thought that would have been erode nagaraj and mannarkoil balaji plunging from mrudangam to sangeetha upanyasam (Just kidding balaji and nagaraj do take it in jovial sense ). As usual the ragasudha hall had one concert with its hall loaned to another sabha and that was this flute concert.
I saw the patron nadopasana sreenivasan sir and talked with him and asked him -Why you are holding nadopasana concerts in ragasudha and not in PS high school .He told me I have touched 80 and I donot get administrative support from ps high school and I have to do everything by myself. In ragasudha I am helped by many. He particularly complained in ps high school 4 or 5 people will be seated under each fan spreading themselves and in this hall that will not happen. I thought it was a fair statement and I was guilty of what he complained . He also thought possibly I was also right that one concert is gone in another hall as ragasudha would any way defaultly have a concert with the naadainbam banner. Attn Harimau This point is for connecting a post long time back between both of us.
While Checking balachandran's website it was mentioned that he was a disciple of flute maestro Ramani . Atleast from 2002 to 2010, I have noticed there will be many festivals where there would be one flute concert and that would be grabbed and taken by R Ramani. So to an extent the ecosystem certainly did not give an opportunity for any other flautist to show their vidwat and establish little more brand recall in atleast last 20 years .
Prapancham Balachandran started with valaci , I was not sure with the number may be that was the usual valaci varnam . The blow was bit too mild and that is the way I think flautist settle unlike a vocalist who likes to usually throw their voice. Valaci was just ok and from the next gowlai he entered into a zone of excellence .
The mahaganapathi ravathuma in gowlai was blown with right thrust and the blow was little more high and pointed in swaras . From gowlai onwards What can i say a certain feel of ramani in 90's and 2000 days was omnipresent with the naadham and also the sequence of numbers. The next alapana in shree ragam was not that crystal clear for me to disambiguate from her cousin madhyamavati , but I liked the pancharatna krithi a lot - there is an intrinsic layam to some T compositions and this was one that showcased well sadguru's bhavam with nice non overlapping brisk returns by MAS towards the second half.
Gowlipantu was blown in an usual thrusty speed and I liked that . The submain prati was ninne nammi nayya - I certainly did not have any ambiguity in his simm madhyamam - flute gets bit tricky to disambiguate prathi ragas especially between simm madhyamam and dharmavati. THe swaras with a touch and go neraval was elaborate and i liked it .
Entha muddo in bindumalini needs a bit more relaxed play , i felt a shade of higher percussion there bit robbed that magical relaxed sofa sogasu in enta muddO. Madhyamavati as a main despite a preceeding shree ragam was welcome . This raga is always a flautist favourite bit going out of currrency among vocalist . I was thinking he will play my favourite madhyamavati palinchu kamAkshi considering he already completed a T and a MD number. But madhyamavati went in rama katha ragasudha way. madhyamavati was bit too concise and I felt not that elaboration .
He took the longer version of flute and I liked his magical blow of sindhu bhairavi alapana . Sindhu bhairavi did not get pedestrianized as a chinese soup it distinctly retained the stand alone clasical status.I donot know what it takes for a flautist to use longer version of flute for few more songs , but if they do that I welcome it and I get an extra motivation to attend more flute concerts. The last number was another instrument favourite jagadOdharana in piloo was good . It was a near 2 hour concert that got over with pavamANa
MA sundareswaran violin was showcased without robbing the sensitivity of the flute blow. There was a little extra intrusion perhaps in madhyamavati or some number before the tukkada. Prapancham ravindran played well for his younger brother . I did ask ravindran who is his guru and added if he has any srimushnam raja rao connection as I did hear few of those flashes . In his tanjore thick tongued humour he initially replied enakku ambathu vayasu aachu (I am already 50) perhaps thinking that I assumed him as a youngster when I asked his guru. Ravindran then said that he is from tanjore vaidyanathan school and learnt from father of Late Tanjore Upendran . Upendran's dad name slips me now.
I used to always wonder if there is one concert in chennai what would be the audience? . For a city that is about to touch 1 crore it is just max of about 100 in audience. I would partially blame prapancham balachandran for that . He spoke no word and I dont recollect any media exercise of branding himself and the instrument.All he did was touched the small cup of water that the kanjira artist used perhaps indicating the madras water crisis that appears to strike soon. He was lost in his music but his mannerism was bit of minority side of tanjore . I personally come from that belt of tanjore - lot of people are either too pushy/overtly expressive and very few of them are very inside looking and closed.Balachandran appears too closed . Perhaps he is just like another flautist KV Ramanujam whom I admire a lot . In one or two concerts that I attended of KV Ramanujam he opened his mouth just once to announce to say that the next composition was his own in sumanesa ranjani.
We have Right to music , education and seminars to music but all that is not working for sure. It is just the appetite for hearing music and time for that leisure especially for flute concerts has plummeted. I believe the first step is that the flute artist has to push himself/herself more in media .It is time for a majority of flautists to market much more in media as they risk themselves to be annihilated.
Overall a very good concert for nearly 2 hours.