Saketharaman, TKV Ramanujacharlu, Guru Karaikudi R. Mani, V. Suresh - Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, 24th December 2015

[carnaticfan1]

What a concert!

I had the privilege of attending this concert, the main pull/attraction being Mani sir of course. This was the first time Saketharaman performed with Mani sir, and it was surely a concert to remember.

Saketharaman sang very well, and the Bhairavi was especially superb. TKVR was outstanding, as usual, on violin.

Mani sir's thani was cracking as usual, with a scintillating Misra Nadai. The combination of him and Suresh is always so enthralling to watch and hear. After the thani, the audience kept clapping for a long period of time.

Oh, the sheer genius that Mani sir is!

Varnam - Vasantha - Adi
Thana Vari - Begada - Adi (O, N, S)
Kotinadulu - Thodi - Adi
Rangapuravihara - Brindavana Saranga - Rupakam (A)
Sakethanikethana - Kannada - Rupakam (S)
Upacharamulanu - Bhairavi - Adi (A, N, S, T)
Hanumanai Anudhinam - Ragamalika - Khanda Chapu
Thillana - Misra Chapu
Mangalam

[Venkataraman]

I attended this concert for the same reason... Karaikudi Mani on the mridangam. You can hear Umayalpuram a lot but Mani has been selective and you dont hear much.

Frankly Saketh is still not at a level where he can engage a Mani meaningfully. He has some distance to cover before he can. I attended his MA concert too and felt the same. He needs to settle down and be assured of himself and his music rather than relying on speed as a weapon. He also needs to get rid of those "violinish" sangathis which may have been great on his guru's violin but not from saketh's voice.

But he is talented and blessed with natural jnanam which will stand him in good stead

[natts1959]

Sir Venkataraman, Saketh is young and you would expect speed from youngsters. He will mature with age and i do expect him to give some deep music given his jnanam. May be he also need to drop his pitch a little bit. Sounds a little shrill. But nevertheless i do like his music because there is a sincerity and seriousness in what he does.

[sureshvv]

His jnanam overflows into literary and spiritual topics and makes his music that much more powerful. Voice was major drawback (causing him to be referred to as Mooketharaman in some circles) but seems to be getting better recently.