Rudrapatnam brothers at Sree rama seva mandali, 11th April 2

[sowmya]

Vocal : Rudrapatnam brothers [Vid. Thyagarajan and Vid. Taranathan]
Violin : Vid. V V Ravi
Mridangam : Vid. Umayalapuram Sivaraman
Kanjari : Vid. N Amrit

Venue : Ramanavami celebrations, Sree Rama Seva Mandali, Chamarajpet, Bangalore. 11-04-2008.

[We were some 15 min late…]
1. Tulaseedala – Mayamalavagowla – Roopaka – Thyagaraja
2. Guruleka etuvanti – Gowrimanohari – Khandachapu – Thyagaraja [S]
3. Chenitodi – Harikambhoji – Adi – Thyagaraja [S]
4. Dhanyudevvado – Malayamaruta – Adi – Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer [R, N, S]
5. Manasaa shriraamachandruni – Isamanohari – Adi – Thyagaraja
6. Marakatamanivarna – Varali – Adi – Thyagaraja [R, N, S, T]
7. Bhaktajanapaalaka – Anandabhairavi – Khanda chapu – Vijayadasar
8. Athudu manasu – Kamach – Roopaka - ???
9. Uyyaala loogavayya – Neelambari – Khanda chapu – Thyagaraja
10. Eraatagu [Javali] – Kedaragowla – Adi – Dharmapuri Subbarayar
11. Raama embuva eradaksharada - ??? – Khandachapu – Purandaradasar
12. Tillana – Shankarabharana – Adi

Ramanavami season is here!! The rama seva mandali has started its yearly festival from ugadi this year, probably to accommodate the three-day conference on Ramayana.. The venue carries a new, polished look, with huge posters of the artists decorating the entrance, a neat, decorative shamiyana, and even the sponsorship banners pinned very tidily in the front [usually, they used to be all over the place].

We entered as they were concluding tulaseedala. The kritis were all rendered well. Chenitodi was a composition I hadn’t heard before. After a nice alapana of Malayamaruta, I was expecting the usual Manasaa etulo, but they rendered another rare [for me, atleast!!] kriti. Neraval was at ‘Vara maddala taalaadi tamboora veenaavaadyamula’, followed by brisk swarams.. The whole package was very good.

The main piece in Varali was again a kriti I heard for the first time. Neraval was at ‘Paramapurusha brovu neevu’. It was good, but I liked Malayamaruta better. The tukkada section was packed with some very nice compositions. The javali in Kedaragowla was sung on Umayalapuram sir’s request, and he mentioned that it was their speciality. It was indeed very good. All the accompanists provided able support.

[mahavishnu]

Thanks for the review, Sowmya. Sounds like a very nice concert. There is a measured ease with which they sing, which I find quite enjoyable. Dhanyudevvado is a very nice feature of the Rudrapatnam school.

I felt very unfortunate to have missed their concert in Cleveland this year.

I also realized when chatting informally with Sri Taranathan that he has a PhD in Organic chemistry and was working as a research scientist in Mysore for several years. A quick search on google scholar will give you a huge list of publications!

[arasi]

mahavishnu,
How well you said it! Measured ease, indeed!

[inpursuit]

This was the first time i listened to them and i thought they were very nice and pleasant to hear.
Measured ease it was...though i was hoping for more energy!
But I settled down well to listen to all the nice and unheard songs(i'm relatively new to CM).

I thought both Umayalapuram sir and Amrit played really well but does anyone think it was a little short on time?I was expecting a much longer thani.

[inpursuit]

And can anyone post the concert series of Seshadripuram College please?

[s_hari]

The concert was good, not well attended though! The songlist was well chosen with right balance. Their voice has limited range, and they seem to be well aware of it. There was no gimmics anywhere, and was well executed. They didn't involve in elaborate kannuku's and didn't do anything special and specific to grab audience attention or to get claps. VV Ravi was following them, as lakshmana would follow ramaa. UKS Sir is great as always!!! Nice to see unkown songs are rendered in concerts.

-hari