R K Sriramkumar@Dallas Nov 4th 2016 - MSS Remembrance presentation and concert

[shankarank]

Was about 10 minutes late.

This is the first insider presentation of MSS @ Dallas - as opposed to P.C. Ramakrishna voice narrative that starts with discrimination against her during her debut in the then Madras.

RKS covered a vast panorama of topics ranging from her life, music, philanthropy, social aspects and personal interactions, mentoring, anecdotes. Very bhAva filled presentation. Her notebook image with Surdas bhajan appended with meaning in Tamizh - was a moving tribute to her meticulousness.

Almost an hour and half presentation was followed by a two hour concert.

R. K Sriramkumar violin
J. Vaidyanathan Mridangam.

1. Swara rAga Sudha, SankarabharaNam - Adi - tyAgarAja - straight opener launch
2. varALi rAgam, maragata maNi vaRNa - Adi - tyAgarAja
3. Short dvijAvanti rAgam - cEta Sri - rUpakam 2 kaLai - dIkshitar
4. pArvati ninu nE - kalgaDa - Adi ( tiSra gati) - SyAmA SAstri
5. Bhairavi rAgam, tanam, ghana rAga ( pancaratna rAgams of tyAgarAja) rAgamalika tAnam ending in reverse order back to Bhairavi
- koluvai yunnADE - Adi - 1 kaLai - tyAgarAja , tani
6. A behAg rUpakam kriti of Purandara dAsa
7. a short tiSram piece - don't know the rAgam.
8. varugalAmo - mAnji - miSra cApu - gOpAla krishna bhArati
9. tirupugazh?? - suruTTi
10. mangaLam.

A wonderful serene concert - with bhava and majesty infused in equal proportion.

He chose the 4 -kaTTai Sruti ( DKJ/DKP) Sruti ( for J.V avAttu Sruti ( Sruti of his household) and what a rich tone on his Mridangam). RKS' presentation made you focus on the music and the shrill was forgotten soon. Lot of courage to do a solo in this Sruti.

swara rAga sudha was a majestic launch - with good aesthetic kArvais at the edges and subtle off beats by J.V. Concert went on the upswing from then on with weighty choices like varALi. cEta Sri was in the right kAlapramANam - that brings the laya sowkyam along with rAga richness. pArvati ninu nE - had some unique touches that I don't recall hearing with Sri DKJ or other renditions. It felt like one of those SSP refits - but very stirring.

RKS when he presents bhairavi - all its weightiness is brought in with succinct but all encompassing coverage and progress. Being an instrumental he included a nice tAnam. A majestic koluvai followed in all its glory again in the right kAlapramANam. Some people did tALam in 2-kaLai - tempting - but I remembered it as 1-kaLai having watched it done. The kOdaNDapANi phrase lands on a palm up position if done in 2-kaLai - somewhat counter intuitive. RKS fixed it before Anupallavi by showing it to be 1-kaLai.

This kriti is a vara prasadam for any Mridangist to show case their expressions - the kriti of carnatic music IMO and J.V did full justice.

tani was brilliant as always - and we @ Dallas got the privilege of honoring and listening to two scholar musicians a second time ( after their Vijay Siva accompaniment earlier) under the auspices of Smt MSS remembrance event and with personal effort of well wishers and friends.

varugalAmO was a moving slow rendition KVN style. He did a short rAgam before start that made people wonder why bhairavi again.

I may be biased by TMK's recent write up on his friend - but then my hands ( which did the tAlA) won't lie even if my fingers ( while typing do). vai poi sullinum kai poi sollAdu. He brought out good verve without loss of bhAvam. I cannot call it gayaka style violin recital - as there are not many that sing like this these days. I cannot also call this an instrumental concert - as he did not utilize much of its advantages and techniques and even the expedient Sruti of choice, except that he can hold kArvai without worrying about breathing/voice felicity.

[thanjavooran]

Shri shankaran,
Thanks for the excellent review. Good selection of songs.
With wishes,
Thanjavooran
06 11 2016