OS Thyagarajan@Mudhra on Dec 29th,2015
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Vocal : O S Thyagarajan
Violin : H N Bhaskar
Mrudangam : Mahavidwan Trichy Sankaran
Ghatam : N Guruprasad
Concert Type : Nirvana - No concert to follow
Day/Duration : Tuesday/ 2 hours and 30 minutes concert
Concert Type/Crowd : Ticketed - 90 peak
Sabha/Hall : Mudhra/RKM School
1. sAdinchanE - Arabi
2. nI pAda pankajamula(S) - bEgadA
3 mins swaras
3. bhakti bicchamiyyavE (S)- shankarAbharaNam
6 mins swaras
4. mitri bhAgyamE beginning with citraratnamaya (S) - kharaharapriyA
8 mins swaras
5. eti janmamidhi (R N S) - varAli
7 mins alapana and 2 mins violin return
4 mins neraval in sAgara shayanuni tyAgarAja
swaras for 7 mins
6. ika kAvalasinadEmi(Swara sketch) - bAlahamsa
7. aTu kArAdani - manOranjani
8A. inta sowkhya (R N S T) - kApi
11 mins alapana and 7 mins violin return
10 mins neraval in swara raga sudha rasa laya
swaras for 8 mins
8B. tani for
9. dasaratha nandana - asaveri
10. sompaina .. chalarE rAma - Ahiri
11. uyyalAlooga vayyA - neelAmbari
12 . nee nAma - sowrashtram
OS Thyagarajan@Mudhra on Dec 29th,2015
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rajeshnat
- Posts: 10144
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04
Re: OS Thyagarajan@Mudhra on Dec 29th,2015
I certainly went to the concert to not just hear OST , but also hear the magical touch of the maestro mahavidwan Trichy sankaran sir. It was a ticketed concert, the audience count could have been far better - but the team really did a great job. The start was a pancharatna krithi . OST voice is definitely not having a melodious overtone but it is brigas and sangathi weight in plenty .There is always a very intense viruviruppu in his presentation.
The Arabi was well done with some excellent rotation between mrudu angam and ghatam -pancharatna start is definitely even better than any of the varnams atleast from the angle of percussion pakkavadhyam-upapakkavadhyam rotation. For the first 4 krithis atleast there was a bit - tiny bit of alapana sketch for two krithis ,it was mostly krithi and swaras in rapid fire mode. Begada swaras with rare krithi nI pAda panakajamula was well done - sankaran was already in form from the start his rolls were brilliant.
What a lovely shankarabharanam by the team. Sankaran mastery was brilliant with superb speed and arresting laya poruttam - O gosh he was playing so well .OST sang a lovely swaras in shankarabharanam more like Semmangudi in madhyamakAlam . Another weighty raga kharaharapriya was next with OST singing from anu pallavi , the looping from anupallavi to pallavi was a joyful handover with sankaran smashing like a ping pong ball table tennis artist from china in an olympics. In swaras I did notice OST voice in few swara prasthanams in kharaharapriya was bit mottai sangathis and he sang bit less in shruthi - but he made up very well after a few sangathis .
The first raga alapana came after nearly 45 minutes and he took up varali . Usually alapanas generally begin with few arresting meditative sangathis than a salvo of brigas - but OST went more with salvo of brigas . I was wondering ,perhaps little more grind to give a distinct varali raga bhavam would have been better . HNB played a nice varali return very short - he was not disturbing either OST or the roaring tiger sankaran. Neraval and swaras in varali was well done with sankaran packing a delightful punch
Two rare T krithis came up - both balamhamsa and manoranjani was brisk . I was bit praying that i dont need either a kambodhi or a kalyani as he was heading for heavy ragas and those were missing heavy ragas . My telepathy with OST worked as it was a kapi main. OST influence in general with Ramnad krishnan is indeed there for many songs. Kapi alapana was well done for brigas but i missed few meditative hues of this raga. The inta sowkhya krithi one of T's masterpiece was sung well - sankaran calibrated with so much laya that swara and raga took a slightly back seat in my usually ragaphilic head . What mastery by sankaran sir in swara raga LAYA sudhA.
In the last few songs before asaveri, OST announced that he is dedicating to sadguru Thyagaraja this concert till now . Usually he takes up a thamizh krithi like kana vendamo post main .OST continued to jokingly say that I am also going to sing the rest of the concert with T krithis . The asaveri was well done . Ahiri did not have that serene bhavam , and his usually most repetitive neelambari uyyalAlooga was just ok- he was not giving me the neelAmbari rasa that well.
HN bhaskar was like many in the audience enjoying the magic of TS with his nod . HE played a wonderful kapi and it was lovely melody. With speed , he is not losing the bhava and melody- perhaps that is the reason that he is most sought out violin accompaniment in this year - bhaskar is every where and a fine vArissu for the Parur MSG school.
Guruprasad played very well - but when a roaring mrudu angam gets into the ring the ghatam gets lost aurally . I liked him the best when he played the pancharatna.
Trichy Sankaran and his roll
----------------------------------
Sankaran Sir was superb in many counts . IN tani it was not a very long one but the first round itself was immensely satisfying . His patterns are just kaleidoscopic - in the sense embellishments for the same sangathis even when sung twice by vocalist is so different from the first . Also his ability to control the volume despite maintaining the speed is just spectacular. O gosh in the shankarabharanam krithi and swaras and in kapi neraval - the embellishments of sankaran in terms of left -right balance and i felt as though the vocalist vocal chords are the two hands of mrudangam - what a synchronization.
Few words about Mudhra
----------------------------
Mudhra from last year has this novel idea of ticketing along with a snack or coffee with the canteen . They provide a small stub and with that you can go to the canteen . I had a taste of dosa and it was very good (sesha caterers). I skipped kApi as I had the insight that there is going to be surely a grand kApi. Also for many years there is this railway tracks and train disturbances - they have put adequate sound barriers to seal that - so no disturbance . Also the decoration of the stage had enough lights (not that i care but it is perhaps done for their paalam tv). Most importantly they dont have evening I and II slots , they have only one evening concert.Also with quite a lot of parking slots - it is easy to make it to the place especially on a working day.
At sharp 06:15 as advertised - my earlier concert that i attended sankaran namboothiri started . But yesterday there was a delay- it would be good if they maintain the academy punctuality there. But certainly serious music is indeed there in mudhra
Few things that could be better
----------------------------------------
1. His choice of sticking to T is slightly monotonous. T is my favorite vageyakkara too .
2. I would love to hear an RTP from him . With his intensity and nearly zero sag - would be wonderful to hear especially taanam . How wonderful it would be with OST brigas and Sankaran fireworks in a pallavi especially if there is mrudangam play during taanam.
OST is 68 but he is singing like 35 to 45 . Two sishyas are singing only to his ears . I will put him in the bracket of four or five singers where if u listen to their 2 and half hours concert it is equivalent to three hours. For a change - I am not complaining that he sang for just 2 and half hours.
3. Towards the end of shankarabharanam swaras the controlled aggression of TS and Guru was an uncontrolled bang . But it just went away after that .
Overall an excellent concert for two and half hours.
The Arabi was well done with some excellent rotation between mrudu angam and ghatam -pancharatna start is definitely even better than any of the varnams atleast from the angle of percussion pakkavadhyam-upapakkavadhyam rotation. For the first 4 krithis atleast there was a bit - tiny bit of alapana sketch for two krithis ,it was mostly krithi and swaras in rapid fire mode. Begada swaras with rare krithi nI pAda panakajamula was well done - sankaran was already in form from the start his rolls were brilliant.
What a lovely shankarabharanam by the team. Sankaran mastery was brilliant with superb speed and arresting laya poruttam - O gosh he was playing so well .OST sang a lovely swaras in shankarabharanam more like Semmangudi in madhyamakAlam . Another weighty raga kharaharapriya was next with OST singing from anu pallavi , the looping from anupallavi to pallavi was a joyful handover with sankaran smashing like a ping pong ball table tennis artist from china in an olympics. In swaras I did notice OST voice in few swara prasthanams in kharaharapriya was bit mottai sangathis and he sang bit less in shruthi - but he made up very well after a few sangathis .
The first raga alapana came after nearly 45 minutes and he took up varali . Usually alapanas generally begin with few arresting meditative sangathis than a salvo of brigas - but OST went more with salvo of brigas . I was wondering ,perhaps little more grind to give a distinct varali raga bhavam would have been better . HNB played a nice varali return very short - he was not disturbing either OST or the roaring tiger sankaran. Neraval and swaras in varali was well done with sankaran packing a delightful punch
Two rare T krithis came up - both balamhamsa and manoranjani was brisk . I was bit praying that i dont need either a kambodhi or a kalyani as he was heading for heavy ragas and those were missing heavy ragas . My telepathy with OST worked as it was a kapi main. OST influence in general with Ramnad krishnan is indeed there for many songs. Kapi alapana was well done for brigas but i missed few meditative hues of this raga. The inta sowkhya krithi one of T's masterpiece was sung well - sankaran calibrated with so much laya that swara and raga took a slightly back seat in my usually ragaphilic head . What mastery by sankaran sir in swara raga LAYA sudhA.
In the last few songs before asaveri, OST announced that he is dedicating to sadguru Thyagaraja this concert till now . Usually he takes up a thamizh krithi like kana vendamo post main .OST continued to jokingly say that I am also going to sing the rest of the concert with T krithis . The asaveri was well done . Ahiri did not have that serene bhavam , and his usually most repetitive neelambari uyyalAlooga was just ok- he was not giving me the neelAmbari rasa that well.
HN bhaskar was like many in the audience enjoying the magic of TS with his nod . HE played a wonderful kapi and it was lovely melody. With speed , he is not losing the bhava and melody- perhaps that is the reason that he is most sought out violin accompaniment in this year - bhaskar is every where and a fine vArissu for the Parur MSG school.
Guruprasad played very well - but when a roaring mrudu angam gets into the ring the ghatam gets lost aurally . I liked him the best when he played the pancharatna.
Trichy Sankaran and his roll
----------------------------------
Sankaran Sir was superb in many counts . IN tani it was not a very long one but the first round itself was immensely satisfying . His patterns are just kaleidoscopic - in the sense embellishments for the same sangathis even when sung twice by vocalist is so different from the first . Also his ability to control the volume despite maintaining the speed is just spectacular. O gosh in the shankarabharanam krithi and swaras and in kapi neraval - the embellishments of sankaran in terms of left -right balance and i felt as though the vocalist vocal chords are the two hands of mrudangam - what a synchronization.
Few words about Mudhra
----------------------------
Mudhra from last year has this novel idea of ticketing along with a snack or coffee with the canteen . They provide a small stub and with that you can go to the canteen . I had a taste of dosa and it was very good (sesha caterers). I skipped kApi as I had the insight that there is going to be surely a grand kApi. Also for many years there is this railway tracks and train disturbances - they have put adequate sound barriers to seal that - so no disturbance . Also the decoration of the stage had enough lights (not that i care but it is perhaps done for their paalam tv). Most importantly they dont have evening I and II slots , they have only one evening concert.Also with quite a lot of parking slots - it is easy to make it to the place especially on a working day.
At sharp 06:15 as advertised - my earlier concert that i attended sankaran namboothiri started . But yesterday there was a delay- it would be good if they maintain the academy punctuality there. But certainly serious music is indeed there in mudhra
Few things that could be better
----------------------------------------
1. His choice of sticking to T is slightly monotonous. T is my favorite vageyakkara too .
2. I would love to hear an RTP from him . With his intensity and nearly zero sag - would be wonderful to hear especially taanam . How wonderful it would be with OST brigas and Sankaran fireworks in a pallavi especially if there is mrudangam play during taanam.
OST is 68 but he is singing like 35 to 45 . Two sishyas are singing only to his ears . I will put him in the bracket of four or five singers where if u listen to their 2 and half hours concert it is equivalent to three hours. For a change - I am not complaining that he sang for just 2 and half hours.
3. Towards the end of shankarabharanam swaras the controlled aggression of TS and Guru was an uncontrolled bang . But it just went away after that .
Overall an excellent concert for two and half hours.
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semmu86
- Posts: 960
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:39
Re: OS Thyagarajan@Mudhra on Dec 29th,2015
Thanks Rajesh. A bad miss for me.
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mahavishnu
- Posts: 3341
- Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 21:56
Re: OS Thyagarajan@Mudhra on Dec 29th,2015
Rajesh: Lovely review. In the middle of all the capricious, star-crazed Chennai music scene, it is nice to hear of such amazing performances by a caliber of musicians that can take professionalism to a different level altogether. I especially like how you have termed TS as "mahavidwan". I can imagine how his playing yesterday fully justifies this status.
Like Semmu, I really wish I could have also been there to savor and relish such a fulfilling concert. Are there any other OST-TS concerts left this season?
Like Semmu, I really wish I could have also been there to savor and relish such a fulfilling concert. Are there any other OST-TS concerts left this season?
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rajeshnat
- Posts: 10144
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04
Re: OS Thyagarajan@Mudhra on Dec 29th,2015
There was a IFA crt where Vijay was paired with Sankaran Sir. There was one with Lalgudi siblings /malladi and ravikiran with Sankaran Sir. I donot have any information in general with concerts of sankaran till i see that days paper.mahavishnu wrote: Are there any other OST-TS concerts left this season?
IF there is a person known to Sankaran or if there is any facebook crap - I would love to generally know what are the concerts of Trichy Sankaran sir - so that i can take few more - before he goes back as Toronto Sankaran.
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CRama
- Posts: 2939
- Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58
Re: OS Thyagarajan@Mudhra on Dec 29th,2015
Rajesh, Thanks for your lovely review. OST generally do not present RTP. However, last year in Mudhra, he sang a RTP in Kambodi in some new tala. Bhakthi bikshameeyave- I have never heard in any live concert. Reg crowd, I have generally seen that OST is not a crowd puller ( I have seen him only in Mudhra).
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ram1999
- Posts: 555
- Joined: 26 Nov 2015, 17:20
Re: OS Thyagarajan@Mudhra on Dec 29th,2015
Good musicians generally do not pull big crowds. And Sri OST belongs to that genre. You want to listen to real classical music, OST is one of the few today.
He is also very vocal about his liking towards Thyagaraja Kritis. In one of the live recordings (available in the youtube), he makes a statement after singing a beautiful asaveri that he has been branded as a musician who has a bias towards Thyagaraja kritis. And he goes on to say that he feels proud about it and that he and his guru Sri TMT share the great composers name. What a beautiful concert that is which has an exquisite Sankarabaranam.
Regarding RTPs, he does not sing RTPs much. To me, singing an RTP is only to showcase ones virtuosity. OSTs music is more of bhakti and classisism. You want a rocky and thuderous RTP, go hear some other musicians
He is also very vocal about his liking towards Thyagaraja Kritis. In one of the live recordings (available in the youtube), he makes a statement after singing a beautiful asaveri that he has been branded as a musician who has a bias towards Thyagaraja kritis. And he goes on to say that he feels proud about it and that he and his guru Sri TMT share the great composers name. What a beautiful concert that is which has an exquisite Sankarabaranam.
Regarding RTPs, he does not sing RTPs much. To me, singing an RTP is only to showcase ones virtuosity. OSTs music is more of bhakti and classisism. You want a rocky and thuderous RTP, go hear some other musicians
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Venkataraman
- Posts: 24
- Joined: 13 Aug 2015, 22:30
Re: OS Thyagarajan@Mudhra on Dec 29th,2015
Sir, OST is a huge artist. His music is on par with the legends of TVS and TNS. However he always remained in the shadow and finally has faded away even when he is still singing well. Reason?ram1999 wrote:Good musicians generally do not pull big crowds. And Sri OST belongs to that genre. You want to listen to real classical music, OST is one of the few today.
To me the reason is that he has not updated himself nor has he evolved as an artist. He still gives the same as he did 10 yr back which was the same as he did 20 yrs back! At the top you cannot be static. people will have nothing to look forward to and just move on. Its just human nature.
In my opinion, in CM the only area that you can give the biggest variety is compositions - different compositions, composers neraval is different places and so on. Sanjay's success is largely because he excels in this area