S. Sowmya - Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana

gopalank · Post by **gopalank** » 14 Apr 2007, 09:29

Sowmya, Amrita Murali, Vellore Ramabhadran, AS Murali
Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana, April 12th, 7 pm

vanajaksha - reetigowla - khanda ata
varalendu - gurjari - T (s)
mayura natham - dhanyasi - md (r, n, s)
parengum parthalum - kalyani - ghanam krishnayyar
manasuloni - varamu - t (s)
venkata saila - hamirkalyani - subbaraya sastri (r,s)
parvati ninnu ne - kalgada - ss
vazhi maraittirukkude - nattakurinji - gkb (r)
rtp - bhairavi - adi, 2 kalai - "kuvalayadala nayana hare krishna..."
tani avarttanam
smara sundaranguni (javali) - pharaz - dharmapuri subbarayar
pusadharamu (padam) - todi - kshetrayya?
shri madhava - behag - papanasam sivan
villinaiyotta (kavadi chindu) - mahakavi bharatiyar
tillana - purnachandrika
mangalam

Kind of puzzled by the absence of any reports from Cleveland this year. Thought I'd contribute my two cents... excuse mistakes if any. Am writing for the first time after being a silent observer of this forum.

Sowmya's was easily the most spectacular concert among the ones that I attended so far at Cleveland this year. Everything went right in making this concert a success... good acoustics; excellent tonal alignment between the vocal and the instruments, esp. Ramabhadran's mridangam; main artiste with a voice in fine fettle and a concert that seemed properly planned; good selection and execution of pieces... and most importantly, from a personal perspective, a choice of ragams that I love! The Todi padam was the crowning glory in 3 hrs of musical bliss. God bless this fine artiste. Hope someone better qualified than me can give a more detailed and enlightened report.

meena · Post by **meena** » 14 Apr 2007, 09:38

Pusa daramu riti bondina is Govindasvami Ayya's
Villinaiyotta paruvam is Subramania Bharati's

kssuresh · Post by **kssuresh** » 14 Apr 2007, 10:42

Is it not "puruvam"?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 14 Apr 2007, 10:57

Yes puruvam (eyebrow) and not paruvam (time/age/puberty etc etc...)

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 14 Apr 2007, 20:43

gopalanK,
You have given us a very good review. More from you will be appreciated. I am among the many who could not make it to Cleveland this year and we want to hear more about the star of ArAdhanAs. Please post more, and the request extends to others who were there too. After all, it is the thirtieth special year of the ArAdhanA.

villinai oththa puruvam vaLaiththanai vElavA, vaDi vElavA! (vElavA, the one who has bow shaped eyebrows). The next line has bhArathi's stamp. He doesn't say 'you smashed the mountains' the way an ordinary poet would say. (veRpu=mountain, noRungip poDip poDi Anadu=got broken into smithereens). The beauty (murugu, azhagu) of shaNmukhA is juxtaposed with his heroism throughout the song.

Sowmya would have sung it commendably...

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 14 Apr 2007, 23:45

...not only the beauty and heroism are divulged side by side but also his passion and love for vaLLi in the line "kuRavaLLiyaik kaNDu sokki maramena ninRanai" (you looked at vaLLi, got enchanted and stood like a (motionless) tree.

"villinaiyotta..." song is a much longer (and greater treasurehouse) than the segment that is normally sung.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 15 Apr 2007, 09:50

BTW, murugan turned into a vEngai maram not because he was enchanted with vaLLi, but because he had to hide when he heard nambirAjan (her father) returning home from the forest....But this imagery is used by many composers...Kottamangalam Subbu used it in a song in vIrapANDiya kaTTabomman - S Varalakshmi sings 'manam kanindarUl vEl murugA, puLLi mayil Erum mAl marugA' - a madhyamakAla like goes 'tOgai vaLLi tanai nADi vEngai maram Agi ninra azhaga'

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 15 Apr 2007, 22:06

Bharathi's emphasis is on "sokki"--enchanted. Enchantment comes first. Turning into a tree for escape purposes comes next.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 16 Apr 2007, 08:34

Sub,
I can see it both ways. Sokki maramena ninRanai--you were so stunned by her beauty and were petrified--all right, turned into a tree, if not petrified wood. In another sense, Sokki, yes, you were so enchanted that you would even turn into a tree to avoid Nambi rAjan coming between you and vaLLi...

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 18 Apr 2007, 21:18

As I understand, he turned into a tree to avoid beeing seen by nambirAjan...the tiNai was a place where young (presumably umnarried) girls watched the crops from - young men who had no connection with the girls were not supposed to be there, and punishment for being caught there would have been dire indeed. (The tiNai was almost like the kannimADam, although it was out in the open).

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 18 Apr 2007, 21:38

Ravi,
thinai is a grain like rice--a staple food (thEnum thinai mA uNDU, thALAda vikkal koNDu). thinaip punam--the field where thinai grows. pulam too means a filed...

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 18 Apr 2007, 22:06

Arasi,
I thought tinai was the grain - millet, and tiNai(puram) was the platform where the girls sat to frighten the birds away.... anyway, you get the meaning!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 18 Apr 2007, 22:12

d'accord...

msureshh · Post by **msureshh** » 06 May 2007, 21:56

one small correction in the list - Venkatashaila vihara (Amir Kalyani) was followed by Parvathi ninnu ne in Kalagada. composition of Syama Sastri. mu

overall was an excellent concert. special recognition to the beautiful alapanai and thanam for Bhairavi RTP