T.V.SANKARANARAYANAN IN ARKAY- 10/6/17

[CRama]

Accompaniments- Embar Kannan-Violin
Patri Satishkumar-Mridangam
Sreesunderkumar-Ganjira. List of songs.
• Virutham- Kazhalinai kaana odi vanden……
Pazhavangadi perumane Mahaganapathiye…….
Padumanabhan marugane-Arabhi
• Vighneswara subhadayaka-Arabhi-Tulasivanam (S)
• Raa Rama intidaka-Asaveri-T (S)
• Seve sree kantham-Mohanakalyani-ST (R,S)
• Koluvai unmade-Bhairavi-T (R,N,S)
• Tani
• Barayya Venkataramana- Saveri-PD
• Virutham- Kanna karmugil varna- Varamu, Hamsanandi
• Tirupativasa Venkatesa- Hamsanandi
• Virutham- Maal maruga mayil vahana-Brindavanasaranga
• Kaliyugavaradan-Brindavanasaranga-PT
• Pavamana- Mangalam

The scorching heat of Chennai in the last month had been a threat to music as well. There had been very few concerts and almost all the artistes are having their sojourn overseas. It was a welcome relief to break the monotony with the wonderful concert of TVS, as any time, TVS will present a highly enjoyable concert although the fare will be repetitions many times. The concert started after 6.30 P.M. The start was with a slokam on Ganapathy in the ragam Arabhi which gave the indication about the song to follow. The slokam on the Pazhavangady Ganapathy of Trivandrum brought really goosebumps to me as I come from that street only and brought the Pazhavangady Ganapthy in front of my eyes. The slokam looked like an on the spot creation of TVS as it had mostly the varied names of Ganapthy such as Selvaganapthy, Maragathaganapathy etc. But the raga bhavam came off wonderfully well with the gamakms and flourishing brighas in his open throat singing which was a real treat. The slokam was aptly followed by the kriti of Tulasivanam. Elaborate doses of kalpana swaram at the pallavi was icing on the cake. Mahadevan Sankaranarayanan participated equally following the kriti and in the kalpana swaram segment with the mike properly amplified, it was like a duo singing. He has got good manodharmam, voice control, vidwath and we should watch for his solo concerts.

The next song Ra Ramaintidaka was also laced with many rounds of kalpana swarams. Mohanakalyani was the first ragam of the day. When he just hummed the ragam, it was explicit and there was no confusion as to the identity of the ragam at any stage. That is the hall mark of the school. No ambiguity in the exploration of ragams. The kriti was presented in all its beauty and kalpana swarams in two kalams were presented. I felt keezh kala swarams were superficial for this ragam given the racy pace of the kriti. There was no filler and TVS took up Bhairavi as the main ragam. The ragam is one of the favourites of his school and he presented the ragam with all its splendour for twelve minutes and it was a sumptuous presentation. The Koluvai Unnade- I have never heard this in any live concert recently, was sung well with the customary neraval at Manasu ranjilla followed by elaborate swarams- again shared by father and son.

Post tani, after the filler Barayya Venkataramana, started from the Anupallavi, he started a virutham in Varamu. He could have taken a better ragam for virutham. But the virutham- again a string of names of Krishna- what all names you can imagine, it was there- may be another on the spot creation followed by a kriti in Hamsanandi- again not of great lyrical value. I don’t know who is the composer. The next virutham in Brindavanasaranga – again a string of names of Murugan followed by Kaliyugavaradan. In these aspects, he is following the other great Madurai Master- Somu. These nitpicks apart, the concert was a superb one.

TVS always delivers seemingly simple uncomplicated music, but of great intrinsic worth. At 72, he brings so much enthusiasm, energy in his music and enjoys what he sings, and takes the accompanists and audience along with his ever smiling face. His voice was in top form and the music just flowed like a river right from the word go. The swara patterns were as intricate as ever, keeping the sarvalaghu as base and at the same time, with the subtle mathematical patterns peeping in at key junctures. Embar Kannan provided excellent violin support. The alapana of Mohanakalyani and Bhairavi was a perfect match for the manodharmam and stage craft of TVS. His neraval and swara returns also followed the main artist admirably. Patri Satishkumar embellished the concert with his anticipation and follows up of the kritis, using the deft strokes with the right amplification and sunadam, but thunder and lightning appeared during the tani. Sreesunderkumar complemented with the rest of the team admirably and the tani was quite engaging. An excellent concert for two and half hours.

[arasi]

R ama,
Thanks for your review which vividly brings to mind the joy of listening to TVS in earlier years. The song list is so very refreshing. His voice at this age is as appealing and lilting, it seems! Mahadevan needs to be heard more as a soloist, from what you say. The vazhi of MMI, if it can be kept alive by the family as well, what more can rasikAs ask for?

Since I didn't see Mahadevan's name at the top, I assumed that TVS sang without vocal support...

[Lakshman]

CRama: Permit me to correct the asAvEri song title. It is rArA mAyiNTidAka.

[arasi]

koluvaiyunnADE

And other songs which with diacritical writing would make it easier for those who do not know the languages to read them right...

[melam72]

No English Note? No Eppo Varuvaro? Abachaaram! Abachaaram!

[arasi]

apachAramO?

[Sivaramakrishnan]

TVS has been an avid promoter of Tulasivanam kritis since long. The compositions are in simple Sanskrit mainly on deities of Kerala.

CRama's affinity to Pazhavangadi has prompted me to tell more about Tulasivanam.

Another kriti on Vighneswara that found wide acceptance is 'Bhaja maanasa vighneswara satatam' in Bahudari (tuned by late Mavelikara Prabhakara Varma) - again on Pazhavangadi Ganapati : reason being the composer (a retired bureaucrat R Ramachandran Nair better known as Tulasivanam) belongs to Trivandrum. The Krti i duly caught the attention of Mandolin Srinivas who included it in many of his concerts with the result one can listen to the song in the nook and corner of Tamilnadu. It is a favourite among Nagaswara vidwans too. (When I asked a vidwan in a remote temple in Tanjore who was playing this very nicely, he was too happy to admit that he learnt it from a recording of 'Mandolin Tampi'). The Pallavi with a smart eduppu (Aadi taalam) @ 'Kaal idam' is a performer's delight for kalpanaswaras.That much about Tulasivanam-TVS-Bahudari.
TVS's son Mahadevan is an excellent singer. He is sure to reach serene heights. An excellent person too - yathaa pitaa!!

[vijay.siddharth]

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like most Tulasivanam krithis are on Vinayaka and are used to begin concerts. At least, that is what I've learnt from observing TVS song lists...

[Sivaramakrishnan]

May be Tulasivanam has composed several kritis on Lord Vinayaka. Numerous compositions on other deities are also available. Maharajapuram Santhanam, R K Srikantan are among other leading vidwans who have also cut records exclusively on Tulasivanam songs.
TVS invariably prefers Tulasivanam for Pillaiyar song in his concerts.

[CRama]

Tulasivanam (Ramachandran Nair, I.A.S) composed songs on many deities and got them set to tune by many leading musicians of the seventees like Mavelikkara Prabhakara Varma and many others. Those songs were popularised through the Tulasivanam sangeethothsavam held in the Teerthapada mandapam, Trivandrum from 1970s. That gave us the opportunity to listen to several stalwarts of those days like DKJ, TRS, TNS, Santhanam, RKS, Dr.S.Ramanathan, etc. Many LP Records were also released. Vinayaka songs by TVS, Songs on Venkatachalapathy by TNS, Songs on Manjunatha by RKS, Ayyappa songs by Santhanam etc. Among all these singers, TVS is one vidwan who religiously sings those songs in all the concerts and they mostly happen to be songs on Vinayaka which he has recorded for the LP.

[Vocalist]

in all the concerts

Maybe almost all, but not all.

[Lakshman]

Another delightful song is bhajAmahE shrI vinAyakam in hamsadhvani.