suryaprakAsh@manakkAl's residence on April 14th,2007

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 15 Apr 2007, 21:03

rasikas.org concert #3 was held in Shri manakkAl rangarAjan's residence.
SuryaprakAsh was accompanied by MA Sundareshwaran in violin and R.SankaranArayanan - Mridangam

First and foremost that needs to be mentioned is manakkAl and his family's hospitality was very touching .When I entered into their house , I could even see a brief writeup on rasikas.org and the artists in a white board.The concert went from 06:30 pm to 10:00 pm and manakkAl's family was at ease possibly they are so used in seeing Shri rangarAjan singing concerts for atleast that span.

1A.long slokham "vandE mAtaram ambikA bhagavathim " - bhairavi - ??? (popularized by GNB)
1B.shrI kamalAmbikAyAH - bhariavi - MD

2. brOva bhaaramaa(S) - bahudaari - T
3. brief introduction by all three artists

4A. sadA nin pada mArgam(R,S) - bhavapriya - suryaprakAsh
25 minutes rendition
4B. brief lec dem on swara aksharam explaining his own krithi

5. marugElarA - jayanthashri -T
6. nimma bhagya doDDhadO(R) - atANA - purandaradAsar
7. sevikka vendum ayyA (S)- AndhOlikA - MuttuthAndavar

8A mOhana rAmA (R N S T)- mOhanam - T
15 minutes of alApana, 6 minutes of violin return, 10 minutes of neraval and 17 minutes of swaram
8B. tani for 10 minutes
9. Speech by nAgeshwaran

10. RTP - simmhendra madhyamAm -
pallavi "nAyakanE vinAyakanE varamurAllavA vallabhA"
7 minutes of alApana , 9 minutes of tAnam and 24 minutes of pallavi and swararAgamAliga in simmmadhyamam + dEsh + begaDA + darbAri kAnadA
11. beautifully short and precise speech by shri manakkAl rangarAjan

12 . mAyee sAvarE (bhajan) - sindhu bhairavi - meerA bhajan
13A. viruththam "kUnram erindhaDum" - kedAragowlai + ranjani + mAnd + bhimplAs -thirumurugAtrupadai
13B. kandan karunai - bhimplAs - guhan
14. pavamAna (mangalam)

SuryaprakAsh started with a very elaborate slOkham "vandE mAtaram ambikA bhagavathim". The bhairavi pattern of the slOkham was exactly maintained for the Dikshitar's kamalAmba navaaVarnam krithi that followed . Certainly a great 20 minute start. brOva bhaaramaa was taken off with gusto with very good sarvalaghu patterns

A swara aksharam krithi based on Lord muruga was preceded with a very grand bhavapriya alApanai. Certainly the mmi tradition of singing an alApanai with a distinct early piDi where rasikas like me could identify within few seconds was evident in bhavapriya. Suryaprakash rendered the bhavapriya swarams in first speed , that suited well to for his swara aksharam . He briefly explained the composition and particularly his statement that "I have a forum to take my own krithis" was honestly refreshing.

The excellence that was present till now dipped slightly in his marukElara . He caught up well again with a detailed alApanai of atAnA .Coolkarni's chit was answered where he took purandaradAsar's krithi nimma bhagya doDDhadO . I felt purandaradAsar has perfectly structured krithi clearly defining atanA. The diction of sevikka vendum was perfect, another round of exhaustive manOdharma swarakalpana followed.

I adore mmi school for their mOhanam than most of their contemporaries simply because I feel mOhanam is a very chiseled rAgam,their school gets it the best . SuryaprakAsh rided us a in a long six flags roller coaster mohana ride (sa ri ga pa da sa), the neraval was excellent . Perhaps the swarams were little long but definitely mOhanam was dissected inside out. With a slightly long talk shri nAgeshwaran, I thought RTP will be another wish unfunfilled at 9pm .

The icing for me in the concert was his rtp. Simm madhyamam alApanai was excellent .TAnam was outstanding where he split both without and with mridiangam for 9 minutes. pallavi was very good , Desh and darbAri kAnaDa swara patterns were simply out of the world manOdharmam. SuryaprakAsh said he wanted to begin on the auspicious day of new years day where he took a pallavi on lord vinayakA .

I always feel suryaprakAsh as an allout musician. Well that was demonstrated to me in the last viruththam (his choice of rAgas were all good starting from the thrusted kedaragowlai to a ranjagamAna ranjani ,ending with bhimplAs). The top class tukkadA kandan karunai was sung with extraordinary gusto especially I love when the krithi has a crescendo and a blank in the lines "parAshakthi".

About Accompanists:
MAS was excellent in all his replies . He played the best in simm madhyamam and bhavapriya , there was a slight dip in his mOhanam. The blue eyed boy for the concert was certainly R.Sankaranarayanan. Fantastic pakkavAdyam support , even though the concert was for 3 and half hours , he had the same enthusiasm as his guru srimushnam. Particularly his take and run in the tAnam second half was superb.

overall a concert between excellent and outstanding. Coolkarni , ananth, rajesh, rajumds,vijay ,nick,vgv were present .I could see all of us enjoying a lot. Just perhaps I am awaiting their reviews(Vijay promised one ) .

Our concerts are getting better and better and as larry king says in CNN , let me add a punch on behalf of coolkarni "We are just warming up"

ram · Post by **ram** » 15 Apr 2007, 21:24

Darn ... had to miss this one

Must have been a very good experience.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 15 Apr 2007, 23:21

ram:
Watch out for srkris. He does not like four-letter words--veiled or open!
However, 'ayyO" is OK even though it is also a four-letter word!!!

ninjathegreat · Post by **ninjathegreat** » 16 Apr 2007, 03:13

wow. rajeshnat, you have given a great review!

Thanks for pointing the thread out, DRS sir - I kinda ssumed it will be in the gen discussions sections like the last time...

Ninja

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 16 Apr 2007, 03:36

>>1B.shrI kamalAmbikAyAH - bhariavi - MD<<

This should be SrI kamalAmbAyAh param

..6. nimma bhagya doDDhadO(R) - atANA -<<

nimma bhAgya doDDadO

mantra · Post by **mantra** » 16 Apr 2007, 06:18

I missed this one!!!.. I would love to have the recording but nothing can beat the LIVE experience.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 16 Apr 2007, 12:28

Rajesh I remember saying I'll tag on to your review - which is what I am doing now. I lack your diligence and expertise for contributing anything more.

I fully endorse Rajesh's views of course - the concert never sagged. Fantastic teamwork. Sankaranarayan is bound to go places - his drum sounded exquisite (maybe it was just the acoustic but credit is due nevertheless). MAS was as usual brilliant - one of the sharpest minds in CM today.

Suryaprakash himself was as radiant as the noon sun and just as scorching in its heat - one was struck by his technical expertise and tonal fidelity but most of all by his infectious zeal and passion. His composition in BHavapriya, a garland of swaraksharas, was a fine example of his musical astuteness. The alaapana that preceded it was a demonstration of how to decipher a raga that confounds the singer with familiar but misleading signposts.

Highlights for me were the Bhairavi krithi, (half of which I unfortunately missed) swaras for Bahudari and Andolika, MAS' taanam and response in mohanam and Sankaranarayanan's patterns for Sevikavendum Aiyya. Swaras by Suryaprakash for Desh and Darbari during the RTP also deserve a mention.

My thanks to the gracious Manakkal family for a warm and wonderful venue!

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 16 Apr 2007, 12:50

drshrikaanth wrote:>>1B.shrI kamalAmbikAyAH - bhariavi - MD<<
This should be SrI kamalAmbAyAh param

DRS,
I referred the pdf that is hosted in http://sky.prohostin.com/guruguha/
The pallavi line is SrI kamalAmbAyAh as you say, but the title in the pdf is misleading as shrI kamalAmbikAyAH. My smudged notebook is what you say. Tx for both corrections.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 16 Apr 2007, 13:02

vijay wrote:Rajesh I remember saying I'll tag on to your review - which is what I am doing now. I lack your diligence and expertise for contributing anything more.

vijay,
You only lacked a pen and paper that's all that is needed for diligence. On expertise , I was thinking till I talked to you that bhavapriya is misguided by only two signposts (subhapantuvarAli and shanmughapriya),till you told me that tOdi is also there to misguide .Modesty before honesty is not a good thing.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 16 Apr 2007, 15:20

should have been an awesome concert. I had to miss it, coz something cropped up at the last moment.

btw, is nimma bhAgya doDDadO also rendered in bEgaDa???

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 16 Apr 2007, 15:34

I have heard and learnt nimma bhAgya in kalyANi.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 16 Apr 2007, 15:36

rajeshnat wrote:
vijay wrote:Rajesh I remember saying I'll tag on to your review - which is what I am doing now. I lack your diligence and expertise for contributing anything more.
vijay,
You only lacked a pen and paper that's all that is needed for diligence. On expertise , I was thinking till I talked to you that bhavapriya is misguided by only two signposts (subhapantuvarAli and shanmughapriya),till you told me that tOdi is also there to misguide .Modesty before honesty is not a good thing.

That just demonstrates a certain familiarity with the Melakartha scheme. OTOH, I got something under 10 on a quiz you maxed! No false modesty my friend...

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 17 Apr 2007, 18:18

vijay and others who were in concert,
Did u notice any shruti bedhAm that was done in rAga alApanai (RTP) from simm madhyamam to bowli???

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 18 Apr 2007, 16:16

Not sure but there were some varja phrases....around n R G R n, i think...not sure whether that leads to bowli. What are the combinations in Shanmukhapriya that would lead to bowli?

kalgada78 · Post by **kalgada78** » 18 Apr 2007, 18:39

I don't see a possibility of Bhowli,but Bhoopalam or Revagupti?..Yes.
When you do the shift to NishAdam,
Ni Sa Ri Ma Pa Ni - Ni Pa Ma Ri Sa Ni will give you BhoopAlam
Ni Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni - Ni Pa Ma Ga Sa Ni will give you Revagupti.

Sarma.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 18 Apr 2007, 21:55

Ranjani and Gayatri in their concert here last yera sang an RTP in simm madhyama(m) and the Sruti bhEdam they created was to bhUpALa(m)...

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 21 Apr 2007, 11:37

The photos of the concert are uploaded in the below url.
http://picasaweb.google.com/rajeshnat/S ... il14th2007

If you are using the slide show link ,I am only seeing the captions only after I click twice the "hide captions" link and "show captions"(that comes up after you click hide captions) link.

Or
If you are not using slide show link, you can just highlight on the photo to get the full text of caption.
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The audio-video recording of the concert is in the other link that cool is loading.
http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=2448&p=2

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 21 Apr 2007, 11:45

excellent pictures.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 21 Apr 2007, 18:25

Thanks Rajesh!
cute titles

meena · Post by **meena** » 21 Apr 2007, 22:56

rajesh

thanks for the pics.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 22 Apr 2007, 04:02

Rajesh,
Cool pictures with Cool, Mrs. Cool and all! Catchy captions too. The full moon faced girl IS Purnima--Suryaprakash's daughter. I see her mother too in one of the pictures. Suave you too, with a notebook. pusthakam critic's hasta bhUshaNam--not a singer's

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 22 Apr 2007, 07:54

Sitting by the side of Rajesh , I had opportunities to observe how the minds of such reviewers work.
It is just not the act of jotting down the list and penning a few random thoughts - as I might have believed till now.
There is a very conscious attempt to find every little teeny weeny bit that would help in communicating all that transpires onto print .Strange symbols and markings , all over the page.
A sudden turn of phrase by the artist , and a quiver here passing from the face of rajesh , through his pen , and through the ink on to the paper.
Thanks.Thanks to all reviewers here on this forum.For taking the trouble of doing this service - in spite of all the risks .
Thanks for making this thread on Reviews , one of the most vibrant ones , here.