Veena Concert by Sujana Vadlamani

vsarmaiitm · Post by **vsarmaiitm** » 08 May 2007, 22:28

Veena by Smt. Sujana Vadlamani
Mrudangam Sri. Delhi S. Sairam
Ghatam Sri. H. Sivaramakrishnan
Date: 8/5/07
Venue: Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Ramanujam Auditorium

List
SankarAbharanam - Varnam - Adi - Veena Kuppiar
panchmAthanga - Malahari - Rupaka - MD (S)
sarasa sAmadana - kApi nArayani - Adi - T
AngarakamAsrayamyaham - Surati - Rupaka - MD
sabhApathikku - Abhogi - Rupaka- Gopalakrishna bharati (R,S)
Sri bAlasubramanya - Bilahari -Mishra Chapu - MD
UpachAramulanu Chekonavayya - Bhiravi - Adi (R,S)
RAja RAja - Niroshata - Muthiah Bhagavatar - Adi
RTP in Purvi Kalyani, Pallavi (sadA amba neeve jagadamba gathi yani nammiti meenakshi) - Khandajati Triputa
with ragamalika in Kalyani, Kalyanavasantham and mohana kalyani
NijagA dasa - Sindhu Bhiravi - Jayadeva Asthapadi - Adi
Tillana - Paras - Adi - PSI
Ramachandraya Janaka - Kuranji - Bhadrachala Ramadas

I attended the concert from the abhogi onwards.
Overall, the concert was good though I may be biased as the artist is my wife !
Coolji was there and can give an impartial view !!
The full concert audio will be posted soon.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 08 May 2007, 23:34

unfortunate that i couldnt come to the concert. Real nice list.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 09 May 2007, 02:07

Abhogi kriti is 'sabhApathikku' vERu daivam samAnamAgumA?

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 09 May 2007, 06:05

Well I was there right from the start.I have never been to that auditorium before and my mind started absorbing the atmosphere from the moment I parked my two wheeler.

Memories of my Late friend and guide Prof Ranganathan (who was involved with this institute)started flooding in .
For more than a decade he had given me access to his wonderful library of books -and to the best of Mali and U Srinivas's Music.
An incident after he passed away , helped in making a major change in my archiving efforts.Barely a week after his death , I was aghast to see that his wife -who had little interest in these matters-was disposing all the books to a roadside seller for a price fixed on weight.And they had arrived at a sum of Rs 2000.Frantically I tried everyone I knew in Chennai to pick up books at a better price , but to no avail.
And then I made a good but difficult decision - paid her a sum that was 6-7 times the first estimate (the roadside seller was now increasing his offer) , hired a cab and moved the whole stuff to my home, where it awaits a volunteer who can scan the books for posterity.
Wonder If I am beginning to look like NM Narayanan, but that is the way it is with me.I carry my world with me into the auditorium , in its full vigour and have to unload it first before getting to the business of the day.

Before I get into the details , let me sum up the proceedings .It was a wonderful concert .Rbharath could be kicking himself for missing out.

Veena recitals have always been a tough one to assess, all these years, for the simple reason that each masters artistry is so individualistic , they seem to playing for themselves.It is almost as if they are saying : Come I am going to practise yet again and you can hear from the sidelines.But I am playing for myself first, only then for you"

And so was the case today.The artist was indeed in a prayerful mode and on occasions like this , I am always convinced that there is no instrument in this world which can match up to the Veena .
And the artist on view today was magnificent.
Pancha Mathanga is such a glorious way to start a concert.That is one krithi I have heard Sankara Iyer perform at home very often and it so quickly conveys the sense of what is going to unfold.

The first few phrases of Bhairavi was gut wrenching.In a flash, she could convey the majesty that was yet to unfold.And unfold it did , in all its beauty.
Upacharamu was indeed the highest point of the concert.
When she came to the neraval I was a bit anxious that she would go the Gayathri way , by shutting the doors on the krithi and winding up , just when I was getting into the mood.But fortunately this artist has an exuberance that takes hold of her and cannot stop until all that is happening in her mind , is out in the open.

Angarakam was a majestic rendering and I must admit that this is the most beautiful version, I have heard, till date.And I was mighty lucky to see my favourite Abhogi steal a limelight and not losing out to the much wornout Sriranjini.

The accompanists left a good deal to be desired, though.Especially considering this was a Veena concert.
I just cannot understand the need for exuberance in such an atmosphere.Imagine someone treating to me to fine liquor and just as the stupor is setting in, someone else pumps me with hot coffee to wake me up.

Especially in neravals when the main artist explores the myriad possibilities- mild soothing accompaniment would have meant that the accompanists too are following those line of thoughts , but No ! .
The ghatam vidwan has to smile, clap and exclaim as though the artist on view is a body builder , changing his posture every now and then to show different set of muscles..

But then I have a long history of complaining against the style of the Mridangam artist's guru Thiruvarur Bhakthavatsalams.On so many occasions I have found it to be interfering with the flow of the main music.
And to top it all , the percussionists managed to jack up their volumes to such a level that the meek artist was left with a volume that stifled the grandeur of that instrument.
Mercifully, Sairam seasoned a bit halfway through , though the ghatam artist kept clapping loudly .

To sum it up , It was a concert of a very high degree of accomplishment.Driving back home, The Bhairavi kept coming again and again to me ( My My what a raga it is ) and images of an artist who was enjoying her own music.The rapid shift from a Concentrated face to an explosive smile and back...that was a fine image to carry home.
So Sarmaji, Sorry to miss out yesterday.Will try and meet some other time.Thanks for the invitation and and the wonderful evening.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 09 May 2007, 06:30

And a few words on auditorium itself.Such a Fabulous place.
Sarmaji is it open for the public to host concerts ?
You know why I ask this question !!

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 09 May 2007, 09:43

coolkarni, I have heard her before. I know she is good and had reviewed her concert at IIT on this forum. Anyway, thanks for rubbing it in!

meena · Post by **meena** » 09 May 2007, 09:59

Deleted

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 09 May 2007, 10:27

Anyway, thanks for rubbing it in!

I will amend my remarks to Rbharath will feel like shaking his head for missing out on this ..

mri_fan · Post by **mri_fan** » 09 May 2007, 11:36

Coolkari,

I would argue that one disciple of Bhatavatsalam whose managed to avoid that at times interfering style is Neyveli Skandasubramanian (sp?). He takes a much more soothing approach which I also tend to appreciate a little more for Veena/female pitches/violin

vsarmaiitm · Post by **vsarmaiitm** » 09 May 2007, 11:50

Thanks a lot Kulkarniji for the kind review.
I have a question. What is your impression on the tonal quality of the electronic veena on which she played. Though we like it, we would like to get impressions of the rasikas !

Yes, we missed each other. Hope to meet you soon !
I will check with the organisers if they give it to us atleast to hold
a concert !

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 09 May 2007, 12:23

mri fan
What I meant to convey was not exactly the technical issue, but something bordering on that.
Take for instance the opening line of Sankarabharanam before she launched into the Varnam.
Experience tells me that the first short statement of the raga -lasting 20-30 seconds - is a very engrossing moment.Especially so if it is a ghana raga like Sankarabharana.
Now what does the specialist ghatam vidwan do at exactly the same moment ?
remove his plastic bag with a crackle and take out his water bottle.Not that he needed a swig.He places it carefully his left , taking pains to align it even.Then it is his mobile which he keeps with thud right in front of him and keeps adjusting the position.And prepares himself physically as though it is a 100 metre dash with Whoahs and Whahs.I can understand these things in a different context but here when the mood is so meditative , That is when I felt like walking out.
What does it take to sit there like a Sphinx- One look at UKS or Vellore Rambhadran or Raghu- their manner of participating in the proceedings is a performance by itself.

Sarma Saab
I was a bit put off by the tone of the Veena.But remember I am not an expert.I would have increased the Volume of the Veena by several notches to pick up all those fine modulations.And there were so many of them.The opening statement of Bilahari , for instance.
But I did not feel it took away anything from the performance.It may have its good points too.A bit easy to move around , she was almost using it the way a Sitarist hugs his Sitar and convulses as he gets those notes out of his system.
That achieved- I forgot to mention before - It was great to see the artist break into a huge rapturous smile

mri_fan · Post by **mri_fan** » 09 May 2007, 12:36

I agree with your point. Also, I bet if you take that same artist and put him on stage with TM Krishna all those antics that you described would immediately stop. ...a bit unfortunate, but that appears to be the state of things

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 09 May 2007, 13:08

Sarma Saab
I am not sure if you can call my post , a review.
For long I have taken the following words of Oscar Wilde as my guiding principle in reporting an event or participating in a forum.

The critic is he who can translate into another manner of a new material ,his impression of beautiful things. The highest ,as the lowest .form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. The Picture of Dorian Gray

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 09 May 2007, 13:36

coolkarni wrote:The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.

,
Your writing style in any post is consistently great especially the way you connect your personal experience in past to a musical event sprinkling with apt quotes. But I had to bang my head to read the above oscar wilde quoted line , till I googled to find out what the quote meant. The commas are very important for the above line .
â€˜the highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode of autobiographyâ€™.

Just helping fellow folks who may have the same problem .

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 09 May 2007, 13:55

Sorry Rajesh
This forum is definitely becoming a finishing school for the likes of me in grammar, lyrics etc etc.
Will be more careful next time.

Hope the googling led you to some wonderful sites.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropol ... oscar.html

here is one of my favourites, in case it escaped you.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 09 May 2007, 15:16

two perfect samples of relative volumes and allowable exuberance in a Veena Concert.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/7a32nc

http://www.sendspace.com/file/mb0cs2

one is a Sangita Kalanidhi and the other is not

vsarmaiitm · Post by **vsarmaiitm** » 09 May 2007, 16:09

coolkarni wrote:I am not sure if you can call my post , a review

Any comment, that views the event again is a re-view

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 09 May 2007, 18:09

Importance of the correct use of a comma:
[quote]A panda walks into a cafÃ©. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.

â€œWhy?â€

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 09 May 2007, 20:15

Cool,
How much is a performer on stage conscious of his movements (or lack of it)? The example you gave of Vellore, UKs and Raghu is noteworthy. They are not only a treat to listen to, but are also studies in stage etiquette. I love the way they sit straight, concentrate on what is at hand and neither distract nor get distracted. Their manners on stage (we are not talking about shallow social etiquette but of artistic sensibility). We as listeners are sometimes harsh to fellow rasikAs when they distract. That kind of distraction is negligible, compared to what goes on on the dias where it all happens...

vsarmaiitm · Post by **vsarmaiitm** » 11 May 2007, 21:48

Full audio of the above concert is available at the following link:

http://mme.iitm.ac.in/vsarma/personalwe ... 080507.mp3

Will appreciate your feedback : [email protected]

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 12 May 2007, 10:41

Wonder if any one got the name of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi who plays one of the two tracks in Post 16

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 12 May 2007, 10:54

the bhairavi piece seems to have encountered some problems while converting to mp3.the track keeps stalling at intervals.
Please check if it is so at your end also.

In my experience, this happens if you are running some other application while the conversion is being done in the background-especially if the PC is an older version.

vsarmaiitm · Post by **vsarmaiitm** » 12 May 2007, 17:43

The organisers gave me the mp3 file.
I will try to get the original wav file and see if this issue can be sorted out.

Sangita · Post by **Sangita** » 13 May 2007, 02:32

Coolji,
The Sangeetha kalanidhi is Shri TNS. The other vainika is Shri Chitti Babu.

thanks for the tracks.

Sangita

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 13 May 2007, 06:09

you win the prize.
ask me for any track you love.I will see If I can oblige !!

meena · Post by **meena** » 13 May 2007, 06:27

Yeh, that was no quiz. The clips are tagged -Chittibabu-Gurvayoor Dorai and Madurai TN Seshagopalan-AIR

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 13 May 2007, 06:38

oops

Sangita · Post by **Sangita** » 14 May 2007, 08:37

Cooliji & Meena,
As a long time vainika and a rasika of veena, I could immediatly recognise who they were...honestly did not look at the clip tags...

As a vainika who follows Shri KSN patantara, I would really love concert tracks of Shri KSN which are hard to come by. ...that is if Coolji still wants to oblige

thanks
Sangita

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 14 May 2007, 08:55

KSN
A pity.Except for a duet with Semmangudi.
Is that commercial , by any chance?.If not I can upload.
Thats is after Thanjavur confirms thatb it is not in one of those sangeethapriya links !

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 14 May 2007, 14:27

cool, the tracks have the names. however, i guess the kalanidhi dint kalanidhi for the veena proficiency...

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 14 May 2007, 22:38

Coolji,
Yes, that SSI Duet with KSN is a commericially available album.
Did you get to listen to the KSN concert at MA on Dec 24 1972? Chaste music.
It is available on the Rubin Mama web page. If you want, I can send you the link(s!).

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 15 May 2007, 05:28

ksrimech
please send the links.thanks