Rithvik @ MMA on 18 Dec 2017

[shriram.krishnan72]

Rithvik Raja - Vocal
R. Satish Kumar - Violin
Aswin Sridhar - Mridangam

On the insistence of a few other forumites, I am adding the date and also mentioning the songs before going into the notes. Hope this works

01 Shlokam (sung by MSS in the beginning on Dakshinamurthi)
02 Deva Deva Kalayamite - Mayamalavagowla - Rupakam
03 Ne Nendu Vedakudura - Karnataka Behag - Adi
04 Kamakshi - Varali - Mishra Chapu
05 Shri Ramam - Narayanagowla - Adi
06 Koluvaiyunnade - Bhairavi - Adi
07 Ragam Thanam Pallavi - Kambojhi
Thisra Jathi Triputa Thalam, Kaal Edam presented in 4 Kalai, 2 Kalai and 1 Kalai (as announced by Rithvik)
(Ananda Natanam Adinar - Thadhimi Thadheem Yena Kanakasabayil)
08 Sapashyath Kowsalya - Jonpuri - Adi

Highlights:

A good vintage selection of songs a la SSI. Had shades of the old and new TMK along with other influences like MMI DKJ but he has blended it nicely with his own ideas and thoughts. He seems most at ease while the manodharma sections and his creativity was good across the board. The Kambhoji Pallavi was mindblowing and there was a good 12 minute section where he was playing around with its rhythmic complexity and mathematical structural change like it was childs play and the audience were all at the edge of their seat. It was the pinnacle of the concert. However I have rarely seen accompanying artists as bad as this. It was quite a wonder that Rithvik sustained in spite of them taking away rather than enhancing.

Positives:

His voice was in fettle. He sang open throated throughout and his Bhairavi and Kambhoji spurts were enjoyable. He took control of the concert and bullishly pushed through in spite of the accompanying artists.

His musical ideas were flowing well one after the other and he handled everything on stage effectively.

Concert planning worked well and the overall impact across the 2 hours had a lovely mixture of pace, emotion and flavour.

His Bhairavi Alapana was crisp and the start on the Thaara Sthayi was interesting and refreshing while his Varali song was emotive and sedate.

Shri Ramam was a good additional in between the lovely Varali and Bhairavi.

Mridangam was good in sections and drew sporadic appreciation from Rithvik.

Negatives:

The violinist was terrible to say the least. His pitch was never tuned and had abaswarams all throughout. It is a wonder that the singer managed. Such a dampener. How do such musicians get opportunities at the most prestigious stage? At times it was a good note one note above Shruthi but he remained oblivious. Such a pity.

The mridangist though good in parts had a mridangam that was also never tuned and he took almost 4 minutes after the first song to try and tune his instrument, banging it on both sides with stones, while the other artists and the audience patiently waited. Rithvik then had to interrupt and ask him to change to the 2nd mridangam he had as a stand by to make sure there was no more waste of time.

Thoughts:

This idea of starting the concert with a Shlokam seems to have caught on. I was at Archana Arathi yesterday where they did the same and I remember Amritha Murali doing the same too. Provides a nice calm start to the concert I feel

When the vocal musicians are of such good standard singing only with the top accompanying artists throughout the season, then why doesn't a premier organisation like the MMA pick accompanying artistes of the same calibre and filter them with the same standard as the singer?

Full marks to Rithvik for having taken control and single handedly steered the concert to success. His stage presence and stamina picked up and surged halfway into the concert when he realised he needed to hold the show on his own. The almost full hall (ground floor, don't know about the balcony) stayed all the way through and gave Rithvik a lovely ovation at the end.

Only hope there is more thoughtfulness in fixing accompanying artists from organisations so that concerts do not suffer.

I went there with great expectations and Rithvik made sure he did not disappoint. He managed to provide a winner concert and satisfy his rasikas. Cannot wait for his MFAC with RKSK, Manoj Siva and BSP. What a treat that would be . Looking forward to more concerts from him this season.

- SK72

[rshankar]

#1 Om namah praNavArthAya?

[ratanabhinav]

3 Kambojis in 2 consecutive days ( at MA)
Trichur VR ( 17 Dec morning ) , Sandeep ( 17 Dec evening ) and now , Rithvik . Wonder what's up . Who sings the best kamboji contest , is it ?

[ratanabhinav]

Glad to know that his bhairavi and kamboji ' spurts ' were enjoyable . This factor was missing last evening at the 6 : 45 PM concert . Neither were there melodic 'spurts ' nor was there any enjoyable feel. That gush of melody , coming straight out of the singer's heart and filling the listener's heart was missing .

[rajeshnat]

SK72,
I saw Rithvik having a lot of concerts with RKSK , JV , Patri, Rajeev Mukundan, Bharadwaj . Unfortunately in academy they dont allow too many exceptions to one artist one slot, so accompanist selections may be bit so so due to paucity . Liked the choice of krithis that Rithvik has chosen , nice spread of composers and also he taking up pallavi in kAmbOdhi is nice . I just googled to find that tmk has sung this pallavi but he has also had a ragamaliga in neraval. Was there a neraval or swara raga maliga or was it a single raga rtp.

[shriram.krishnan72]

@rshankar - Yes. Thanks for pointing that out. Will make a note of that

@ratanabhinav - I agree. Why can't the organisation write to artists once they submit the lists and make sure that these are also spread out rather than being all cramped up together. And by spurts I meant lovely moments of flourishes. It was enjoyable all the way.

@rajeshnat - Rithvik with Patri? I have of course seen a lot of JV and Manoj Siva with him. That should be an interesting combination. Any concerts you have been to with this duo?

[shankarabharanam]

Lets not forget young male singers who were moved to the main slot like Bharat and RKM get good deal with accompanists. So listeners not only go to enjoy the main artist but maestros like Umayalpuram or say Trichy Sankaran. It is heartening to see youngsters attending and supporting each other but I don't see their updates on FB in case of women musicians. Let me give an example. The moment Bharat started his concert at MA my entire FB timelines was filled with updates saying 'Strong start" or "Brilliant concert." Mind you it included all these young guns mentioned in the post.

Whereas the very next day Vidya sang there and hardly anyone posted about it except one or two who appreciated. The same in the case of Nisha. I don't know if it is groupism or the bias towards women musicians. Of course Vidya didn't get big names as accompanists. Common the likes of Sudha Ragunathan, RaGa, Sowmya or BJ were refused by the same big guns.

I don't want rasikas to get me wrong. I am not taking away Bharat's efforts here. But I feel this teaming up and projecting one musician over other isn't healthy. Mind you Bharat and Vidya, both entered around the same time and have been promoted the same year. Of course they seem to be good friends too. But whether it is the rasikas mindset or herd mentality, I don't know. This is true even with rasikas attending senior vidwans and vidushis.

[shriram.krishnan72]

@shankarabharanam - Such a lovely point you make. It is true that the top guns do not accompany women and hence the ones they do play for get exposure and popularity much sooner and climb the ladder quicker. Now that you mention it I agree that the preference subconsciously seems to be for male musicians than the female ones among listeners and maybe also the musicians. Of course no one is saying Bharat's efforts were in vain or that Vidhya does not deserve it but the moment we read more about one over the other then we do look at it differently. Though intentional groupism or bias seems a bit farfetched to me. Valid argument raised. But I still do not understand the members with season passes not showing up or rather showing up to a few first timers and not to a few others.

[Jigyaasa]

Rithvik Raja - Vocal

02 Deva Deva Kalayamite - Mayamalavagowla - Rupakam

The choice of this composition confuses me, especially at an Academy concert.
While it is undoubtedly a beautiful composition, it is sung by practically every musician repeatedly in almost every sabhA/katcheri location.
There are so many gems in mAyAmAlavagauLa waiting to be unearthed by a plethora of composers. Just Muthiah Bhagavatar and Papanasam Sivan to start off! I used Sri Lakshman's list and picked a few below that I have not ha the pleasure of hearing (except SrIvidyA vEdya as one of the cAmuNDAmbA aSTOttara SatanAma kritis).

Adityam - adi - Muttiah Bhagavatar
dinamaNi vamsha - tishra roopakam - Muttiah Bhagavatar
hara mrityunjaya - adi - Muttiah Bhagavatar
shri vidyA vEdya - roopakam - Muttiah Bhagavatar
tAraka naama - aadi - Muttiah Bhagavatar
kalinarulaku - Adi - Mysore VasudEvacarya
cintayEham jAnakIkAntam - m/jhampa - Mysore VasudEvacarya
dEvAdi dEva nannu - rUpaka - Mysore Sadashiva Rao
ANDavan nIyE - Papanasam Shivan
caraNa pankajam - Papanasam Shivan
inda parAmukhamA - Papanasam Shivan
mahimai ariya - Papanasam Shivan
manamenum malarAl - Papanasam Shivan
mAyam EdO - Papanasam Shivan
padamalarE gatiyena - roopakam - Papanasam Shivan
shrI harE - Papanasam Shivan
unakkum enakkum - Adi - Papanasam Shivan
nIlOtpalAmbikAyAstava - cApu - Muttuswami Dikshitar
dEvee shree tulasamma - adi - Tyagaraja

[bforbeta]

Devi Shri Thulasamma was sung by Malladi Brothers in their concert in Mylapore Fine Arts.

Partial song list:

1. Tharuni varnam - Kambodi
2. Nee bhajana - Nayaki
3. Devi Shri Thulasamma - MMGowlai
4. Mama hurdaye - Reetigowlai
5. Smaramyaham - Ramapriya
6. Sivagama sundari - Mukhari
7. Dwijavanti RTP - Sri Anjaneyam Ramapriyam Sundaram Manoharam Bhaje (The day being Hanumath Jayanti) with Ragamalika swara
8. Ennaga Manasuku - NIlambari
9. Paluku tenela talli - Abheri
10. Sapasyat kousalya - Jonpuri