Ranjani Gayathri at Singapore Apr 7th

gajaa · Post by **gajaa** » 07 Apr 2018, 23:06

Just back from a scintillating experience - Ranjani Gayathri’s amazing concert in Singapore, where they are back after 8 years.
Violin L Ramakrishnam
Mridangam Sai Giridhar
Ghatam Krishna Sriram

1 Darbar Adi tala varnam - short swarams
2 Enadhu manam - Harikamboji - Papanasam Sivan
3 Pantuvarali ragam by Ranjani, followed Panniru Kann - Tiruvarutpa by Ramalinga adigalar music composed by PSN Sir (amazing neraval here)
4 Rangapuravihara
5 Todi ragam by Ranjani (graha bedam to Mohanam?) followed by Emi Jesite, swarams
6 Saravanabava- Pasupatipriya
7 RTP - Nalinakanthi- Kanda Jathi triputa talam- ragamalika swarams in
- Mukhari
- Natakurinji Neelambari parallel graha bedam
- Behag followed by an amazing tani
- Pallavi lyrics by Subrahmanya Bharathiyar
8 Virutham in Keeravani, Hamsanandi, Abheri followed by Eppadi paadinaro
9 Big Fat Ghost
10 Mangalam

My picks personally were the Pantuvarali (esplly the neraval by Gayathri), the RTP & the virutham by Ranjani. Of course, every part of the concert was rendered with utmost sincerity & gay abandon. Their voices were in fine fettle for the most part & the audience went into raptures towards the end when they took a bow. We were whistling & hooting - like we were rather at a cricket match or a superstar movie. I’m really liking this new age fandom - of great accessibility to the performers & even happier to see this happening here in Singy land!

I really need to say that the sisters went out of their way to ensure that they included a full fledged RTP though they were able to begin only at 7:45pm (scheduled to start at 7:30). The concert concluded at 10:30 pm which easily makes this concert the longest that I’ve been to in the island over the past decade.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 07 Apr 2018, 23:20

gajaa wrote: ↑07 Apr 2018, 23:06
I really need to say that the sisters went out of their way to ensure that they included a full fledged RTP though they were able to begin only at 7:45pm (scheduled to start at 7:30). The concert concluded at 10:30 pm which easily makes this concert the longest that I’ve been to in the island over the past decade.

There were reviews put by Bala747 and few more i think many touched 3 to 3 and half hours . This Raga concert is just 2 hours and 45 mins and you say it is easily longest that you attended . Looks you missed a lot of concerts. Any way Thanks for your review.

gajaa · Post by **gajaa** » 07 Apr 2018, 23:26

There were Sanjay’s concerts - 2 of them over the last 5 years roughly - that lasted almost as long as this concert or perhaps slightly shorter to the best of my knowledge. This is significant because most venues in Singapore caution performers and organizers to conclude such events by 10pm and Singapore being Singapore, everyone just follows the rule. If there’s a slight empirical issue wit the duration of the concert & my comment on it being longer, I’m happy to stand corrected.

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 08 Apr 2018, 08:32

Agree with gajaa; rare to have concerts this long and with meaningful RTPs in Singapore, especially at venues like Esplanade.

Puzzled at the need to constantly nitpick concert times.

Glad to hear the R-G sisters delivered a great concert at a beautiful venue.

Vocalist · Post by **Vocalist** » 08 Apr 2018, 14:34

rajeshnat wrote: ↑07 Apr 2018, 23:20
gajaa wrote: ↑07 Apr 2018, 23:06 they were able to begin only at 7:45pm (scheduled to start at 7:30). The concert concluded at 10:30 pm which easily makes this concert the longest that I’ve been to in the island over the past decade.
There were reviews put by Bala747 and few more i think many touched 3 to 3 and half hours . This Raga concert is just 2 hours and 45 mins and you say it is easily longest that you attended . Looks you missed a lot of concerts. Any way Thanks for your review.

gajaa wrote: ↑07 Apr 2018, 23:26 There were Sanjay’s concerts - 2 of them over the last 5 years roughly - that lasted almost as long as this concert or perhaps slightly shorter to the best of my knowledge. This is significant because most venues in Singapore caution performers and organizers to conclude such events by 10pm and Singapore being Singapore, everyone just follows the rule. If there’s a slight empirical issue wit the duration of the concert & my comment on it being longer, I’m happy to stand corrected.

I guess that's the risk that is run when either of you talk about the duration of concerts "over the past decade". I am aware that the concert by Nithyashree Mahadevan in 2005 easily exceeded 3 hours (including RTP) as it was commented on at the time like it was a milestone. However, that concert falls outside of the "past decade" (but relatively not by much, especially if that was rare back then too). Actually, 2005 was a pretty good year for Singapore as it featured concerts from several other artists too (including Sudha Raghunathan, Sanjay, Ranjani Gayatri, Hyderabad Brothers, Sangeetha Swaminathan, Mysore Brothers violin, Ravikiran chitravina jugalbandhi, etc) - but I don't recall anyone talking about the duration of these concerts. If we go further back in time though, OST gave a concert in Singapore in 1999 which someone mentioned was for 4 hours.

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 08 Apr 2018, 15:21

A good concert is one where you forget the time.

musi · Post by **musi** » 09 Apr 2018, 05:58

Did Ranjani sing both pantuvarali and thodi?
Or was it a typo. Usually Ranjani sings very less alapana (usually short ones or half or one-third of the alapana) and big alapanas are sung only by gayatri.

gajaa · Post by **gajaa** » 09 Apr 2018, 07:00

musi wrote: ↑09 Apr 2018, 05:58 Did Ranjani sing both pantuvarali and thodi?
Or was it a typo. Usually Ranjani sings very less alapana (usually short ones or half or one-third of the alapana) and big alapanas are sung only by gayatri.

Good catch musi! You’re absolutely right! It’s a typo from my side. It was indeed Gayathri who sang the todi alapana. I’ve always wondered about the same point that you’ve raised. Good for discussion.

musi · Post by **musi** » 09 Apr 2018, 07:01

I heard a beautiful and blissful Nalinakanthi RTP in San diego in 2016 and that echoes in my ears till today

What a blessing for singapore rasikas

They prove repeatedly that a layman can enjoy an RTP as much as an abhang or virutham.

gajaa wrote: ↑07 Apr 2018, 23:06 Just back from a scintillating experience - Ranjani Gayathri’s amazing concert in Singapore, where they are back after 8 years.
Violin L Ramakrishnam
Mridangam Sai Giridhar
Ghatam Krishna Sriram

1 Darbar Adi tala varnam - short swarams
2 Enadhu manam - Harikamboji - Papanasam Sivan
3 Pantuvarali ragam by Ranjani, followed Panniru Kann - Tiruvarutpa by Ramalinga adigalar music composed by PSN Sir (amazing neraval here)
4 Rangapuravihara
5 Todi ragam by Ranjani (graha bedam to Mohanam?) followed by Emi Jesite, swarams
6 Saravanabava- Pasupatipriya
7 RTP - Nalinakanthi- Kanda Jathi triputa talam- ragamalika swarams in
- Mukhari
- Natakurinji Neelambari parallel graha bedam
- Behag followed by an amazing tani
- Pallavi lyrics by Subrahmanya Bharathiyar
8 Virutham in Keeravani, Hamsanandi, Abheri followed by Eppadi paadinaro
9 Big Fat Ghost
10 Mangalam

My picks personally were the Pantuvarali (esplly the neraval by Gayathri), the RTP & the virutham by Ranjani. Of course, every part of the concert was rendered with utmost sincerity & gay abandon. Their voices were in fine fettle for the most part & the audience went into raptures towards the end when they took a bow. We were whistling & hooting - like we were rather at a cricket match or a superstar movie. I’m really liking this new age fandom - of great accessibility to the performers & even happier to see this happening here in Singy land!

I really need to say that the sisters went out of their way to ensure that they included a full fledged RTP though they were able to begin only at 7:45pm (scheduled to start at 7:30). The concert concluded at 10:30 pm which easily makes this concert the longest that I’ve been to in the island over the past decade.

musi · Post by **musi** » 09 Apr 2018, 07:03

Well there is nothing to discuss there as its their choice.

gajaa wrote: ↑09 Apr 2018, 07:00
musi wrote: ↑09 Apr 2018, 05:58 Did Ranjani sing both pantuvarali and thodi?
Or was it a typo. Usually Ranjani sings very less alapana (usually short ones or half or one-third of the alapana) and big alapanas are sung only by gayatri.

Good catch musi! You’re absolutely right! It’s a typo from my side. It was indeed Gayathri who sang the todi alapana. I’ve always wondered about the same point that you’ve raised. Good for discussion.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 09 Apr 2018, 07:04

There is an advantage for RaGa sisters or any of the female vocalists.The accompaniments participate to only limited extent.Over the years this has not changed.

gajaa · Post by **gajaa** » 09 Apr 2018, 07:55

hnbhagavan wrote: ↑09 Apr 2018, 07:04 There is an advantage for RaGa sisters or any of the female vocalists.The accompaniments participate to only limited extent.Over the years this has not changed.

I don't quite understand this. Can you please elaborate?

sowmyamohan2005 · Post by **sowmyamohan2005** » 09 Apr 2018, 09:22

What is Big fat ghost?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 09 Apr 2018, 10:04

Big fat ghost = paNDarIcE bhUt mOThE

Charu Venkat · Post by **Charu Venkat** » 11 Apr 2018, 10:35

Wait, did we attend the same concert?

Very plain and ordinary singing by the duo. It seems saree-shopping has taken precedence over actual singing. All pieces presented (except the submain) were old pieces from the repertoire.

As a cousin put it, there is no point in attending concerts by the likes of Ranjani Gayatri and Sikkil Gurucharan more than once a year, since they pander to the drooling bovine masses and don't endeavour to actually try anything new.

Plastic, gimmicky, semi-classical music from a mutual admiration society of sisters. A disappointment!

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 11 Apr 2018, 13:09

If they try anything new, they will become tup-tup in your other pseudonym! They cannot sing for false charm and wild cats.

grsastrigal · Post by **grsastrigal** » 11 Apr 2018, 16:38

Last week, they were to perfomr at kapAli temple at mylapore. Huge crowd got disappointed. May be Singapore trip made them to cancel that programme.

It is postponed to this Sat.

SrinathK · Post by **SrinathK** » 11 Apr 2018, 17:56

Charu Venkat wrote: ↑11 Apr 2018, 10:35 Wait, did we attend the same concert?

Very plain and ordinary singing by the duo. It seems saree-shopping has taken precedence over actual singing. All pieces presented (except the submain) were old pieces from the repertoire.

As a cousin put it, there is no point in attending concerts by the likes of Ranjani Gayatri and Sikkil Gurucharan more than once a year, since they pander to the drooling bovine masses and don't endeavour to actually try anything new.

Plastic, gimmicky, semi-classical music from a mutual admiration society of sisters. A disappointment!

Looks like Melam72 isn't going to be missed...

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 12 Apr 2018, 04:40

Harsh with
All that ire!
Roaring
Irritable
Masquerading
Awesome, awful
Unyielding...

Malignant
Evasive
Lampooning
Agitating
Misbehaving

Churlish?
Hostile?
Acerbic?
Resenting
Unnecessarily?

SabashBale · Post by **SabashBale** » 12 Apr 2018, 09:22

Anbaana
Rasikathvam Niraindha
Aasayaana
Srimathi
Indian Born (un)Confused American

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 12 Apr 2018, 09:31

kvchellappa wrote: ↑11 Apr 2018, 13:09 If they try anything new, they will become tup-tup in your other pseudonym! They cannot sing for false charm and wild cats.

Tup-tup is reserved for what Melam72 called the chariot driver.

These artists remain the Duelling Abhangists in my reviews and comments.

There is, and can be, only one Harimau who doesn't have any other handles on this website!

Do not be fooled by imitations, no matter how glitzy they look!

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 12 Apr 2018, 09:35

arasi wrote: ↑12 Apr 2018, 04:40 Harsh with
All that ire!
Roaring
Irritable
Masquerading
Awesome, awful
Unyielding...

Malignant
Evasive
Lampooning
Agitating
Misbehaving

Churlish?
Hostile?
Acerbic?
Resenting
Unnecessarily?

There is no need to conflate me with any other poseur on this website.

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 12 Apr 2018, 10:11

engappan kuthirukkulle ille!

Charu Venkat · Post by **Charu Venkat** » 12 Apr 2018, 13:25

kvchellappa wrote: ↑11 Apr 2018, 13:09 pseudonym

My name is Charu Venkat. I don't know about other members, but I use only this idea.

And I don't seek to impress anyone. I just seek to offload excess vitriol here and watch the fun

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 12 Apr 2018, 13:46

I suspect KVC is just "watching the fun"

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 12 Apr 2018, 18:37

Harimau,
Fair enough. You might not have known them. But truly, they knew each other--coming from Singapore (besides being espoused).

Siddharth,
One of the youngest members at Rasikas.org, Singaporean, bright as anything, you might lead us to light as folks here are circling around the theme of an Oscar winning performance for Joanne Woodward

vijay.siddharth · Post by **vijay.siddharth** » 12 Apr 2018, 18:59

arasi wrote: ↑12 Apr 2018, 18:37 Siddharth,
One of the youngest members at Rasikas.org, Singaporean, bright as anything, you might lead us to light as folks here are circling around the theme of an Oscar winning performance for Joanne Woodward

Honestly, I am just as confused. It seems like we are in a plane getting diverted from a Ranjani Gayatri concert to concert lengths to a bizarre interlude about saree selection (???) and then into the woods of Harimau's spears and then into vitriol... Is it just me, or has Rasikas.org become too complex for human comprehension?

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 12 Apr 2018, 19:18

Do not worry, Siddharth. That is the way to grow up!

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 12 Apr 2018, 19:19

By the way, two confirmations received. One more awaited.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 12 Apr 2018, 20:34

Siddharth,
Just like you, we the elders need to grow up too

We are back on terra firma. Now, were you at the concert?

ramarama · Post by **ramarama** » 13 Apr 2018, 05:54

I was at this concert too, and well, there is some truth to both the reviews.

Among Carnatic/Hindustani musicians, there is a wide variety of styles of rendition, grooming/costume standards

, audience orientation (versus say, a purely scholarly/pedantic orientation) - and each kind of artiste has his/her own audience. With all the information out there (and in here!) and the thousands of free MP3 files and youtube videos on the net, we all know what to expect from each artiste and very rarely do competent artistes (of any of those styles) disappoint. They might have an off day of course, where the voice does not co-operate, or there is a mike system or an organizer related problem, or a sub-par accompanist, or just a general mood issue (they are all human beings, in case we forget) - but I think 95% of concerts by professional artistes are about the average for what they promise - it is a very high peaked distribution in terms of quality. They would not survive at any level if it were not so.

Some artistes are regularly attacked with (very Trump like) epithets on this forum , and while it may give that poster the cheap thrill of trolling the artiste or his/her fans, they do little to throw any light on a particular performance. We could do this to every single artiste of today and yesteryear, reduce them to an unflattering sobriquet. Indeed, we could do that to all the posters on this forum, or to pretty much any human being - pick on something that we do not like about them, and reduce their existence to that one characteristic in some pithy provocative nickname. There is a fun Seinfeld episode in which the protagonist, the stand-up comedian Seinfeld, reacts to a heckler in the audience by showing up at her workplace and mocking her performance. Would be fun if the artistes being mocked mercilessly showed up here to throw epithets back at the trolls.

That sort of name-calling (or berating them in a concert review for delivering exactly what they promised) or calling attention to their sari selection is highly disrespectful to both the artiste and the art form IMHO. Just because an artiste is out in public earning his/her livelihood, and the internet is a fairly anonymous forum, it seems like it is OK to indulge one's worst instincts on fora like this. In most debates, when a debater descends to name-calling, or attacking the dress or demeanour of the other, you know it is an acknowledgement of defeat.

But it is the right of every rasika poster to be disrespectful. Just like those who dislike an artiste are free not to go to a (ticketed) concert of that performer, those who read this forum for insight are free to ignore these trolls.

I think Ra-Ga delivered what the audience expected - a very balanced selection of songs and ragas, great synchrony in singing, very good shruti adherence (as far as my relatively untrained ears could tell), and (as Mumbai-raised musicians) the expected abhang. The huge audience (one of the biggest I have seen at the Esplanade for a Carnatic concert) left mostly feeling wow-ed. Yes, there was no great soulful exploration, deeply moving alapanas, or highly creative singing pushing the boundaries. But that is not what one expects, I think from a concert of Ra-Ga held in a hall that can seat over 1800. They played to the gallery and the gallery loved it. They asked the audience how they should end the concert - and that abhang popularized by them was the request they got.

The late greats in both Hindustani and Carnatic music all had their favourite ragas and compositions which they would deliver over and over again and whose fans would otherwise have been disappointed - wonder how badly they would have been shredded on this forum of so many internet Subbudus.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 13 Apr 2018, 06:26

RamaRama
What a post and what fluency . Brilliant!!! May I also know your thoughts on the concert on the side of what you enjoyed and also on the side of what you did not enjoy.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 13 Apr 2018, 08:17

kvchellappa wrote: ↑12 Apr 2018, 10:11 engappan kuthirukkulle ille!

Clueless as usual, I see.

But that is to be expected from someone who plays jaalra to the tup-tup artist.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 13 Apr 2018, 08:19

kvchellappa wrote: ↑12 Apr 2018, 19:19 By the way, two confirmations received. One more awaited.

Perhaps you should look for technical clues such as IP addresses from which the posts originate rather than from equally clueless sheeple.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 13 Apr 2018, 09:05

Sheeple are way better than the teeming hordes of asinine mules that seem to be coming out of the woodwork these days...

ramarama · Post by **ramarama** » 13 Apr 2018, 18:30

rajeshnat wrote: ↑13 Apr 2018, 06:26 RamaRama
May I also know your thoughts on the concert on the side of what you enjoyed and also on the side of what you did not enjoy.

I attended this concert not as a Ra-Ga fan but just to see how they have progressed in their music since I last heard them many years ago. I am amazed by the fan following that they have developed over the years and they are still fairly young in the "business," especially in the singing business. This concert of theirs was not a particularly moving one to me personally - I like the music of MDR, Voleti, Semmangudi, BMK, Ravikiran, TMK - there is a certain mastery of raga and raga music that you can hear in their concerts and I was looking/listening for that kind of mastery. This is clearly a subjective judgment but I didn't get that sense that they were delivering their own unique understanding of a raga that they had internalized.

But they have worked very hard at presenting neat raga sketches, a singing style that hits all the right notes, swarams that are well-composed (whether spontaneously or rehearsed, it is hard to tell, but it does not even matter that much I think) and rendered, they had a nice variety of ragas and kritis and were wonderfully synchronous in their song renditions. They aimed to please - they announced that the Brindavana Saranga piece was a "day before" audience request - and they pleased their fan base. There were moments of beauty in the Pantuvarali alapana, and the abhang was rendered at tremendous pace with Hindustani style taans that showed good voice control and power (at the end of a two hour plus concert).

I don't think the Esplanade concert hall is a great auditorium for Indian music solos - it is cavernous, and grand, but there is a certain distance of the artistes from the audience - and that spoils the intimacy of the concert experience. Given that constraint, it is impressive that they managed to connect with the large, applauding audience, which largely stayed until the very end.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 15 Apr 2018, 08:38

""Post by gajaa » 09 Apr 2018 02:25

hnbhagavan wrote: ↑09 Apr 2018 01:34
There is an advantage for RaGa sisters or any of the female vocalists.The accompaniments participate to only limited extent.Over the years this has not changed.
I don't quite understand this. Can you please elaborate?""

In the last Music season Music academy scheduled Amrita Murali's concert with R K Shreeram Kumar and Arun Prakash.
The RaGa concert was jam packed even including the Screen in the mini hall.After the RaGa concert there was a big exodus heading out and even the screen mini hall had only a few people.The accompaniments for Amrita Murali were really one order better than what RaGa sisters employed.
As far as already well known popular female vocalists are concerts,the accompaniments do not matter.

devan · Post by **devan** » 15 Apr 2018, 08:59

You are wrong. Hn. Baskar played.

devan · Post by **devan** » 15 Apr 2018, 09:01

For rg also he played. He played back to back.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 15 Apr 2018, 10:16

I stand corrected.In the Academy H N Bhaskar accompanied.I agree.But Mridangam for RaGa was Saigiridhar.

kvchellappa · Post by **kvchellappa** » 17 Apr 2018, 09:35

Easy prey for the tiger:
"Perhaps, if a sculptor wanted to symbolize carnatic music, the sculptures would be those of Vid. Smt. Ranjani and Vid. Smt. Gayatri! Such a brilliant concert it was, in Sri Rama Seva Mandali's Ramanavami celebrations!"

HarishankarK · Post by **HarishankarK** » 18 Apr 2018, 09:31

Charu Venkat wrote: ↑11 Apr 2018, 10:35 Very plain and ordinary singing by the duo.

My impressions are quite similar - few years back they were good classical singers - but in the recent past they are singing in fast pace and also singing more of popularity than actual music.