Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekharan - Ananya, Bangalore – 3rd December 2016

[keerthi]

Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekharan - Ananya, Bangalore – 3rd December 2016

Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekharan – Veena
Anooru Anantakrishna Sarma – Mridanga
Ranganath Chakravarti – Ghata

The concert was hosted by the Belakavadi Sangeeeta Sabha, that felicitated Smt Bhagyalakashmi, and conferred the title ‘Srivara-sangeeta ratna’ on her. Attendance and the quality of the music were in inverse proportion to each other.


01 SarasudA – Saveri Varnam –AditAlam KottavAsal VenkataramaNayyar [O]
02 gam gaNapate namaste – dUrvAnki – caturashra Ata – J.C.Odeyar [O,S]
03 divAkaratanujam shanaishcaram – yadukulakambhoji – Adi tAlam [A]
04 sarasvati namostu te – sarasvati – rUpakatAlam – N.S.Ramachandran [A,S]
05 sadAnanda bhakti – Raghupriya – Kotiswarayyar [AS?]
06Amba nAdu vinnapamu – tODi – DeshAdi – Pallavi GopAlayya [ATNS-]
06a Tani Avartanam
07 Bhajare Yadunatham – Pilu – SadAshiva Brahmendra [O]
08 MantrapuSpam

Smt Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekhar [BC] is a highly original veena artiste, who has moulded her own craft by synthesizing elements of Vina vAdana from several styles. Her instrument and the mike setup she has are excellent, with great tonal quality, that is unmarred by any electronic distortion or tininess.

The outline of Saveri was the grain of rice that predicted the pot [sthAli-pulAka-nyAya], that was the rest of the concert. The ekasruti Dhaivata played in the pit of the instrument, and the subtle handling of the gandhara in the r fret were most educative. I chose a seat such that I could see both her hands at work. Anooru [Shivu to his friends] played the sAveri varnam and not merely Aditalam – particularly in the cittaswaram. Few people may know that he is a top class vocalist, who brings in those sensibilities into his mridanga playing.

gam gaNapate had a lovely AlApana, combining elements of naTanArAyaNi and gaudamalhAr, and BC sang parts of the song in a soft sruti-aligned voice. A few rounds of svarakalpana iced the cake.

The beginnings of yadukulakambhoji seemed to have a hint of nilAmbari, but quickly settled in with the classic phrases. While many reckon this song in the caturasra Eka tAla, some also employ the Adi tAlam, and BC did the latter.

Sarasvati Alapana was excellent - no clichéd phrases, no cloying melodramatic sancaras, she brought out the contemplative aspect of the raga with patterns like s,r-s,r n,,d – p,d-p,d m,,r. She also employed some innovative strumming techniques, using her thumb to pluck the mandra Sa string, for long gapless passages of AlApana; like Emani Shankara Shastri used to. Some sangatis were played simultaneously on the second and third string, creating a rich resonant effect.

Raghupriya is a tricky rAga with the longest chromatic string of svaras – dnsrg are all continuous notes on a fretboard. However, it has been handled with flair by the musicians from Dr Pinakapani’s school – Voleti, Suribabu etc. BC played it very intelligently, and KoTiswara Ayyar’s composition too was good.

The ToDi AlApana was grand, many many memorable moments, and the tAnam was top class as well. Having saturated the chamber with all flavours of tODi, she segued into the Ghana-rAga-pancaka – nAta, gauLa etc, and her skill in making the seamless transitions in the most unexpected moments was admirable. The methodical AlApana, built in two stages, traversing three octaves and more speeds, was very good.

Never having heard Amba nAdu from an instrumentalist – [it is quite challenging, because of the long kArvai at the end of the pallavi] it was a treat for. Neraval was at the popular spot ‘vArAhi vaiSNavi sumangali’ immortalised by Musiri. BC’s ability to combine complex gamaka-laden phrases with the contrasting plain-note passages was instructive. After several rounds of swarakalpana, including some rounds of khanda-naDai gallops, came rAgamAlika swarakalpana in hamsAnandi (sohini), revati (bairagi) and gurjari toDi.

A well-proportioned tani Avartana was followed by a brief vote of thanks, garlanding etc. Bhajare yadunAtham had a plaintive alApana of PIlu in the beginning, and the selection from the mantrapuSpam gave a sober, prayerful ending to a superb concert.

[rajeshnat]

Bhagyalakshmi Chandrasekharan - Ananya, Bangalore – 3rd December 2016

The concert was hosted by the Belakavadi Sangeeeta Sabha

Keerthi
I just googled to find ananya is in malleswaram . Is the venue of this concert in Malleswaram or where was it?

[HarishankarK]

I thought Saraswati Namostute is GNB composition?

[hnbhagavan]

Ananya is in Malleswaram.

[rajeshnat]

I thought Saraswati Namostute is GNB composition?

There is two saraswati namostute , one by NS Ramachandran and the other saraswati namostute sharade by GNB - both in saraswati ragam

[srikant1987]

Also isn't divAkara tanujam set to Eka tALa?

[keerthi]

srikant

While many reckon this song in the caturasra Eka tAla, some also employ the Adi tAlam, and BC did the latter.

rajesh, Ananya [which translates to unique or one-and-only] operates out of a basement opposite the Goverment Girls School, 11th Cross Malleswaram. It is the brainchild of a certain Mr Raghavendra, and is an important centre of Music in this corner of the woods. They bring out an important bilingual journal [English and Kannada] with good content, on Indian Music and Dance.