Dr KJ Yesudas @ Rama Seva mandali

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 07 Apr 2008, 23:37

Vid Dr KJ Yesudas - Vocal
Vid Mahadeva Sarma - Violin
Vid Tiruvarur Bakthavatsalam - Mridangam
Vid Radha Krishnan - Ghatam
Sri Jagannath - Tambura Sruthi

Venue - Fort high school, Bangalore

1. Valachi vacchi - Navaraga malika Varnam
2. Vatapi ganapathim - Hamsadhwani - MD - Aadi (A, N, S @ pranava swarupa)
3. Guruvina gulama - Hamsanandi - PD - Aadi
4. Entaveduko - Saraswathi Manohari - T - Aadi
5.Enanittu mecchisuveno - Dharmati - PD - Aadi (A, S @ Enaniku mechisuveno)
6. Balakanaka - Atana - T - Aadi
7. Ennalu urake - Subhapantuvarali - T (A, S @ Ennalu urake)
8. Sriramam Ravikula - Narayana Gowla - MD (Thani)
9. Karava mugidanu mukhya praygna - Kanada - PD (raga outline)
10. Enu varava bedali naanu. - (Kannada song in praise of ayyapa)
11. Adisaya ragam (Tamil movie song) - Ragamalika (Valachi & Bhairavi)
12. Krishna Nee Begane - Yamuna Kalyani - Vyasaraya
13. Kotta bhagyare Sako sri krishna daya beko - Jaupuri? - PD
14. Rajjeva netraya raghavaya namo - ?? - ??
15. Ende kannanai inda karuppu niram - (Malayalam song)
16. Harivarasam
17. Jagadodharana - Kapi - PD
18. Thillana - Dhim natrudhim dhim tanana dhim - ??
19. Pavamana

The concert was over 3 hours duration. Predominantly purandara dasa songs and two prati madhyama raagas for elaboration. Dr KJY was in full form, and spoke a lot in between the songs, and in some places adviced youngsters and explained meanings of songs in many places.

I attended fort high school concert for first time, and what a huge crowd? Biggest so far i have seen in bangalore.

I will add more comments tomorrow..

-hari

sowmya · Post by **sowmya** » 08 Apr 2008, 06:58

Unfortunately, the crowd is restricted to only a few 'big' names. Some of the best concerts I've enjoyed in this place have been those with a very disappointing audience response... As for yesterday's concert, the sole song I liked was Baalakanakamaya. His voice is amazing, but that's about it.

By the way, a couple of corrections - No 5 is Enanittu mecchisuveno, and I think 10 is Enu varava bedali naanu.

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 08 Apr 2008, 07:10

Some additional comments-

* Varnam - Pallavi, Anupallavi & Chittaswarams sung in 2 kalam

* Swarams for vatapi ganapathim was little too lengthy. The whole piece including alapana to swarams was close to 30 minutes.

* KJY could easily touch tara styai Pa multiple times very easily during hamsadhwani swara prastara

* Before guruvina gulama - KJY gave a speech on guru bakthi, how money plays a role these days, and dedication required to learn music, and need for surrendering body and soul to guru. He said, this is his advice for students and youngsters. He also demonstrated how sareeram is important. Without naadam nothing can be done, and importance of nabhi to hrut to kantam to rasana. He demonstrated this from mandara Pa to tara styai Pa. He emphasized on importance of clean food habits.

* In saraswathi manohari keerthana - in anu pallavi typically it is sung as "cinta dIrcuTa kenta mODirA", but he split the words as "cinta dircuTaku enta mODirA" which was refreshing

* Dharmavathi alapana covered all 3 octaves and rendered very well. In the end of song he gave another short speech, and told Raaga name, scales etc. He said S to G is kharaharapriya & M to N is kalyani, and this doesn't mean singing kharaharapriya in lower half and kalyani in upper half

* In balakanaka maya - he sang all 3 charanas

* Before subhapantuvaralai - he again spoke on how Sadharana Gandhara is to be flat and no oscillation until Prati madhyamama. He emphasized on practice. For mastering kanakangi it took 4 years to get perfection before he sang in concert. He lavished lot of praise on audience also and said patience is very important. He spoke highly about Ramaseva mandali and the venue.

* After krishna nee begane - he spoke about loving each other, talking to each other, adjusting and not to fight. In the passing, he mentioned about hogenakkal issue!

* He is 68 years old, and towards end had minor difficulties with his posture, and was seen changing his posture once in a while. He said, on every birthday he visits mookambika temple

* He got chits with request for songs. One gentleman requested him to sing RTP when he was almost through with concert!!

* He explained meaning of lyric song #15 (malayalam song) which talks about reasons for krishna being black. He was kind of satirical on white skin, and on difficulties on getting married if someone is black.

* He got a request on Jagado dharana from a foreigner lady, and he was asking her whether she knows kannada (she said yes!). He sang the song, but it was incomplete. He said, he will complete it next time, if by god's grace he gets another invite, and will satisfy other rasikas requests also.

* Many of songs, i heard for first time, particularly purandara dasa keerthanas. It is indeed refreshing to hear new songs presented classically.

* He had a monitor in front of him ( a laptop )? Is this to refer to lyrics or something else?

-hari

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 08 Apr 2008, 07:14

Thanks sowmya for correcting #5 & #10. I fixed them now.

I am not a mad fan of KJY. It was amazing how he maintains his voice at this age, and also how he carried along the audience with him till the end.

shadjam · Post by **shadjam** » 08 Apr 2008, 08:05

hari, thanks a lot for the detailed review. Did he cover all the three octaves completely or did he cover only parts of the mantra sthayi and tara sthayi in the Dharmavathi alapana? If he covered the entire three octaves that would be an amazing voice range. I will open a new thread to discuss this without hijacking this thread. Thanks.

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 08 Apr 2008, 08:09

I mean from Mandara Pa to Tara Pa... So, it is parts of 3 octaves..

-hari

shadjam · Post by **shadjam** » 08 Apr 2008, 08:19

Thanks, hari.

braindrain · Post by **braindrain** » 08 Apr 2008, 09:49

Hari, Thanks for the review..

What was impressive of the organisers was the fact that everything started on time. Usually, the function starts late and continue till 7:30 and the singer will be left with less than 2 hrs for the concert. It was a welcome change, the function started at 6:00pm and was done by 6:40 , to start the concert at 6:45 as scheduled.

13 kotta bhagyavE sAkU srIkrshNa daya bEku - shaNmukhapriya

14 rAjeeva nEtrAya raghavAya namO - Annamacharya krithi ( was it sung in srI ?)

15 enthE kannanitra karuppu niram - malayalam bhakti song.

16 harivarAsanam

thathwamasi · Post by **thathwamasi** » 08 Apr 2008, 22:08

The song Adhisaya Raagam from the film Aboorva Raagangal - Isnt the first bit supposed to be a raagam called as Mahati (I myself ain't sure. Grapevine has it that MSV wanted to use an aboorva raagam for the song and hence Dr.M.Balamurali Krishna Suggested that raagam.). Not sure whats the difference between Mahathi and Valaji.

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 08 Apr 2008, 22:17

Okay, that seem to be correct. Mahati has just 4 swaras and is a deviation from the theory that 5 swaras are needed at a minimum. Hope someone will be able to fill in with details..

Sundara Rajan · Post by **Sundara Rajan** » 15 Apr 2008, 01:10

s_hari: I was not there; but my guess is that he used the laptop in place of sheets of paper that he used in the past for reading/singing the script/composition from. That is improvement ! This habit may be a carryover from play back singing in the film world. That should help any artist whose repertoire is limited.

manikand28 · Post by **manikand28** » 15 Apr 2008, 08:01

I have few artists use laptop in bayarea also in place of papers. One notable artist who uses it regularly is Babu Parameswaran in Northern California Arangetram season in Summer.

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 15 Apr 2008, 09:53

Mahati: S G P N S/ S N P G S
Valaji: S G P D N S/ S N D P G S