Pantula Rama - 5-Apr-2015 - Seshadripuram, Bangalore

[ranjanimalavi]

Pantula Rama - Vocal
M S N Murthy - Violin
H S Sudhindra - Mridangam
Gururaj M - Morsing

1. endu kaugalintu - SudhadEsi - T (S)
2. Edari Sancharintura - Sruthi Ranjani - T (RS)
3. chEdE buddhumAnurA - aTANa - T (RS)
4. P(r)akkala Nilabadi - Karaharapriya - T (RNS)
5. Kodanda Ramam - Kokilaravam - MD
6. RTP Bilahari
Pallavi: Sri Raghurama Charu Tulasidala dama, Shrungara Rama
Ragamalika: Sahana, Nalinakanthi
7. Thani.

Wonderful concert from start to thani.

Raman

[braindrain]

Post main was equally interesting set of kritis..

08. shLOkam ( shrI rAma rAma rAmEti )- chenchurutti

rAma rAma rAma rAma rArA sItArAma - chenchurutti - ?? ( had mudra 'tyAgarAju' )

09. pUla pAnpu mIda bAga - Ahiri - Thyagaraja

10. nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshtram - Thyagaraja

( all the charaNams ; she usually sings the entire mangalam)

Pallavi was set to 2 Kalai Adi, eduppu after 6 aksharam )

Awesome concert indeed.

[mahavishnu]

Thanks for the report, Ranjanimalavi & Braindrain.

Sounds like an excellent concert. Many rare pieces: suddhadESi, srutiranjani, kOkilarAvam!
08. is a composition of Thyagaraja (Please see: http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.co ... -rama.html)

[keerthi]

Pantula Rama – Vocal
M.S.N.Murthy – Violin
H.S.Sudhindra – Mrdanga
R.GururAj – Morching

1. Endu kaugilinturA – Suddha Deshi - tyAgarAja
2. E dAri sancarintu rA – Sruti ranjani - tyAgarAja [A,S]
3. cEDE buddhimAnu - aThAna – tyAgarAja [S]
4. Prakkala nilabaDi – KharaharapriyA – M.chApu - tyAgarAja [A,N,S1 & S2]
5. kOdaNDarAmam – kOkilAravam – M.DikSitar
6. RTP Bilahari – AditAla “shrI raghurAma cAru-tulasI-dama! shRngAra-rAma”
6a. Percussion Avartanam
7. rAma rAma rAma rAma rAma rA rA sitArAma – janjUTI - tyAgarAja
8. pUla panpu mIda – Ahiri – rUpaka – tyAgarAja
9. nI nAmarUpamulaku – SaurASTra mangaLam

Suddha deshi was sung well. Reminded me of the near forgotten kAmAkSI mam pAhi of dikSitar. Also of the time when I heard the Odissi sangeet version of this rAga from Ramhari das; came back and googled the rAga, but the only results were for a film titled ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’. There are clearly big domains of knowledge that haven’t percolated into the internet.

Srutiranjani was excellent. The Alapana had a distinct identity from the very similar kAntAmaNi, and was replete with lovely mg\s and m\rg\s phrases. The kRti was sung in a version slightly different from Balamuralikrishna’s – his uses p as the nyAsa note prominently; this version mostly landed on the g. Swarakalpana often landed on a sariga E dari or sadA E dAri. MSN Murthy was in his element, and wove some lovely patterns like sR, sP, sD, E dAri.

Rama sang ghRnAkara, while I’ve heard it as guNAkara. Overall the text of the song is enigmatic, and the tune was suitable for it. The Alapana, swarakalpana, meaningful repetition of sAhitya, all made it very memorable for me.I think forumite ramakriya had once translated this song into Kannada, in a setting very close to the original.

cEDe buddhimAnu was the usual high-speed tornado. I noticed that the pallavi-anupallavI both had the same eDuppu in Smt Rama’s pATham. It is not so in many other versions, and I think it is best to have symmetric eduppu-s for the P and AP where possible. H.S.Sudhindra played very well, in keeping with the rhythm of this song, rather than delivering a generic AditAla.

Kharaharapriya – Alapana and Swarakalpana both used the sancaras mr/pm and s/mr/pm a couple of times too many. This, in my book, smacks of saindhavi’s lakSya. [This is probably the legacy of the late lamented Nedanuri gAru. He has used a rsr/p m in his tune of Okaparikokapari]

The krti was sung very well with sensitive distribution of the Sahitya syllables in a smooth flowing setting, rather than the cluttered, somewhat stiff and faulty setting seen in certain other pAtha-s. Neraval was at two lines - ‘tanuvuce vandanamonarincucunnAru rA’ and ‘manasuna dalaci mayi maraciyunnAru rA’. Her style of neraval was impressive – first kAlam neraval was a free-flowing near stream-of-consciousness auditory painting drawn with words, with changing emphasis and repetition; while setting the ground for the rAga development. The second stage neraval was tightly crafted and took the rAga bhAva to saturation, while the sAhitya’s meaning and integrity persisted from the previous exercise.

The two stages of the neraval did for me what the abhinaya-heavy pUrvAnga and the nRtta-prominent uttaranga of a varna do, in a good bharatanAtya performance.

Swarakalpana was sung at both tanuvuce and manasuna very intelligently, and this was continued right upto the kuraippu, wherein she sang alternately phrases ending on m and d for Avartas of diminishing length. Murthy followed closely and reciprocated all of it.

kOkilArava was interesting, with a gAndhAra that wasn't the usual highly oscillated tODi gAndhAra; and the song definitely had more kOkilArava than the kOkilapriya-coloured versions we usually hear.

The RAga-tAna-pallavi was just above average. Good Alapana, with hints of Dorakuna and nA jIvAdhAra. Good if brief tanam with all the right syllables; followed by a rather simple Adi tala pallavi. Swaras were sung for a couple of rounds at 'srIraghurAma' as well as at 'cArutulasI'. The word dAma was pronounced sometimes as dAma, and sometimes as dhAma, which could have been avoided.

Swarakalpana continued into sahAna, naLinakanti and then back to Bilahari for kuraippu and muktayam. If I remember right, Rama sang the nalinakAnti segment with a lot of sgrmgs, while Murthy played it sgrmgrs like we are used to hearing. Jayan or R-M can confirm.

H.S.Sudhindra generally plays sensitively, and delivered a good tani Avartanam, with a tricky syncopated pattern before the trikAla muktAyam. He always gets the mike volume set to a moderate level, and also plays with restraint. Gururaj seemed to struggle initially during the tani, but caught up and finished the muktAyam.



The janjUti divyanAma is now a rarity, and it was welcome. She sung it somewhat differently from the way I know it, but it was beautiful, nonetheless. The Ahiri pavvalimpu song, I has learnt in Tisra NaDai Adi, but was sung here in rUpaka. This latter seems the more appropriate tAla. SahityakSaras were placed impeccably in this Ahiri song which is tricky and can seem to be wordy in patches.

The 'complete' mangalam was dignified and appropriate, and the audience hooured it by sticking to their seats, not treating it like the dinner bell in a kalyANa-kaccEri.

Despite my countless nitpicks, it was a very very good concert.

[bhakthim dehi]

Keerthi
What was the dhaivatham used in the krithi endu kaugilinthura?

[prahalad_rag]

D1 was sung. It had shades of Saramathi.

[bhakthim dehi]

Thank you prahlad

[arasi]

Thanks all for your posts about one of my favored musician and her partner (they go together so well!). Heard her friend (of the same school) Manda Sudharani yesterday and this morning her promising daughter Sruti Ravali. That school brings something different but distinct to CM.

Keerthi, your posts are like a master class every time (wish I were smarter and younger to be a good student ).

Yes, I like her singing all of the mangalam lines too, just as I would like vocalists singing two more relevant lines in VAzhiya Sentamizh