Sri T. M. Krishna - Vocal
Mullaivasal Sri G. Chandramouli - Violin
Sri K. Arun Prakash - Mrudangam
Sri Anirudh Athreya - Khanjira
Kum. Emmanuelle Martin - Tambura
Sri Vignesh Ishwar - Tambura
Mahaswami Sangeethanjali Concert Series - Shanmukhananda, Mumbai, 05 April 2009
1. sarasUDA - sAvEri - adi [2] - kottavAsal venkaTarAma ayyar
2. puNNiyam oru kOTi - kIravANi - adi [2] - periasAmi tUran [RS, S at ‘annai kAmAkshi polE’]
3. birAna varAlICi - kalyANi - adi [tisra gati] - syAmA SAstri [RS, N at ‘shyAmakrishNa sOdari gauri paramEshwari girijA']
4. AnandEshwarENa samrakshitOham - Anandabhairavi - misra Eka - dIkshitar [R]
5. kali narulaku mahimalu - kuntalavarALi - adi - tyAgarAjA [R, S]
6. kAmAkshi bangAru - varALi - misra CApu - syAmA SAstri [R]
7. shri subrahmaNyAya namastE - kAmbhOji - tisra Eka [2] - dIkshitar [R, N at ‘vAsavAdi sakala dEva vanditAya varENyAya’ S, T]
8. rAgam.tAnam.pallavi - aThANA - adi [2]
‘tillaisthalam tanil ADiDum naTarAjanE, IshanE kanakasabhEshanE’ - K. Arun Prakash
adi [2] - 16 beats, 2 aksharas per beat - eDuppu 3.5 aksharas after samam
til - 1 lai - 1
stha - 0.5 lam - 2
ta - 0.5 nil - 1
A - 1 Di - 0.5 Dum - 2
na - 0.5 Ta - 1 rA - 1 ja - 0.5 nE - 7 [arudi]
I - 2 sha - 1 nE - 5
ka - 0.5 na - 0.5 ka - 0.5 sa - 0.5 bhE - 1.5 sha - 0.5 nE - 0.5
rAgamAlikA swaram: hamvIru
9. bhaja gOvindam - rAgamAlikA - adi - Adi ShankarA
10. mAnasa sanCararE - sAmA - adi - sadAshiva brahmEndra
11. karuNArasa pUrNa sudhAtE - yamunAkalyANi - adi - R. K. Shriramkumar [slOkA on Paramacharya Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati]
12. rAmaCandrAya - navarauj - adi - bhadrACalam rAmdAs
A more detailed report tomorrow, but in short, an immensely enjoyable concert which picked up steam as it progressed. The recital was anchored by a deeply moving rendition of the varALi piece, an immaculately conceived Anandabhairavi AlApanA and the sensitive, nuanced and positively revelatory accompaniment of Sri K. Arun Prakash on the mrudangam.
Sri T. M. Krishna at Shanmukhananda, Mumbai - April 5, 2009
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vijay
- Posts: 2522
- Joined: 27 Feb 2006, 16:06
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prashant
- Posts: 1658
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:01
Despite the several negative reviews popping up on this concert, I'd like to chip in with my comments which are pretty positive. I enjoyed this concert - especially after the first few pieces.
The evening of music commenced with a standard and neat rendition of the sAvEri varNam. The periasAmi tUran kIravANi at #2 was an interesting and appropriate choice, but this was possibly the weakest item of the evening. Sri Krishna seemed relatively unfamiliar with the lyrics and also had a few struggles with his voice here. Swarams were sung in two tempos at 'annai kAmAkshi', but apart from a few nice combinations, there was nothing special here. The kalyANi piece that followed was also standard fare with a few AvartanAs of niraval [which, BTW, absolutely need not be followed with swarAs. This is completely at the artistes' discretion]. The pieces until now had been rendered compentently, but without the power and elegance which are usually associated with Sri Krishna's music.
It was at this juncture that the concert started to gain momentum. Sri Krishna sang an elegantly phrased and non-standard Anandabhairavi AlApanA with emphasis on the shuddha dhaivata and IIRC almost completely eschewing chatushruti dhaivata prayOgas. He gave a brief explanation of this after the AlApanA where he pointed out that the notations for Dikshitar krithis in the SSP also hew to this approach - also, PDPS is almost never used and PNS is more common. My note-taking at this concert was relatively sketchy, so others with more comprehensive information are requested to correct and add to the information above. The Anandabhairavi AlApanA was a very neat balance of aesthetic appeal and archival value. I enjoyed it tremendously, along with the krithi that followed, a personal favorite, which was sung with feeling. Sri Chandramouli replied neatly and briefly. By this time, the artiste's voice was slowly settling down and he seemed to be getting into a nice groove.
The concert moved on nicely with the rendition of the rare kuntalavarALi piece which was preceded by an energetic and brief AlApanA with some nice piDis around the dhaivatam. The swaras were brief and entertaining. I am hearing this piece for the first time in a concert and I must say that it quite a pity that this krithi loses out in the popularity stakes to bOgIndra shAyinam, sarasara samaraika etc. It's a krithi worth learning up. The varALi AlApanA that followed was sober and eschewed unnecessary drama. The krithi rendition, however, was extremely emotional. This was quite the highlight of the concert for me. Sri Krishna sang each line at a leisurely pace, twice, and a couple of times, even thrice. It was a deeply moving experience and I will remember this rendition for quite a while. It was an extremely mature treatment of one of Syama Sastri's most emotional and weighty pieces.
No fillers - straight on to the main. kAmbhOji was developed gradually and quite gracefully with long kArvais. There were a few entertaining briga-filled phrases centered around the dhaivatam. These were noteworthy for the clarity of each individual note despite the high speed of the sanCAra. Sri Krishna's voice was noticeably better than when he commenced and he took full advantage of it during the kAmbhOji. His shruti shuddham was excellent during this AlApanA and the impact was palpable especially the first time he hit the tAra madhyamam right on the money. The krithi rendition was nice - the niraval was OK, but the swaras were excellent. Sri Krishna made a very nice decision to eschew second speed swaras for this krithi, and after a long and bhava-filled 1st-speed swaras sequence [which was very soothing], handed over the concert to Sri Arun Prakash and Sri Anirudh. The tani featured khaNDam explored in minute detail, and it was very nice to see the encouragement all the senior artistes on the stage gave to the young khanjira artiste.
aThANa was a nice choice for the RTP. The rAgam was a bit shorter than the tAnAm, but I had no problem with this since I was anxious to hear a good tAnam in aThANA. Sri Krishna sang wonderfully well - his imagination was rich with lovely combinations, and this rAgA of seemingly limited scope came alive in his tAnam - his ideas around the dhaivata were aesthetic, sprightly and a few times extraordinary. The percussion team joined in during the tArasthAyi portion, so one got to hear a couple different treatments of tAnam. A 11-minute tAnam in aThANa with relatively minimal repetition of ideas is no mean effort and was much appreciated by the audience.
The pallavi was announced as being a composition of Sri Arun Prakash. The setup was elegant and niraval was sung well. The trikalam was done with the pallavi being progressively reduced to 1/2 and 1/4 speeds before being brought back to the normal speed. It was done with minimal effort and a complete lack of aggressive thigh-slapping, which was very nice to see.
The post-main pieces were competently rendered. The yamunAkalyANi slOka on the Paramachara was soothing and characteristic of Sri Shriramkumar's excellent work as a tunesmith.
Sri Chandramouli provided solid support to Sri Krishna - his bowing was a bit harsh at just a few places, but overall, his playing was complementary to the main artiste and enjoyable, especialyl the mandhrasthAyi phrases in kAmbhOji. Sri Arun Prakash was in awesome form. He played so beautifully for krithis - his accompaniment was beautiful for the kIravANi krithi and the line 'Siva saCCidAnanda rUpENa muktEna' in AnandEshwarENa was aesthetically embellished. He has a wonderful ability to recede into the background when the main artiste is in full flow, and pick up the tempo whenever it is required. I have always enjoyed his playing, but yesterday was quite special. He was an asset to the concert each and every time he played. He was capably supported by the smiling young Sri Anirudh, who gave a very good account of himself and did a very creditable job trying to reply to some tough questions posed by Sri Arun Prakash in the tani. It is quite clear that this young man has a great future in this field and I hope to hear more of his playing soon.
Sri Krishna provided dignified music with a weighty and appropriate selection of krithis for the occasion. He showed quite clearly why he is an extremely sought-after concert artiste. His attention to detail in actively managing his concert: taking care of his voice, allowing it time to settle down, choosing appropriate krithis to do so, and then ramping up the power quotient once this had happened, was the hallmark of an intelligent and aware musician. An enjoyable evening of music, with the varALi, aThANA and Sri Arun Prakash's playing as memories to cherish.
The evening of music commenced with a standard and neat rendition of the sAvEri varNam. The periasAmi tUran kIravANi at #2 was an interesting and appropriate choice, but this was possibly the weakest item of the evening. Sri Krishna seemed relatively unfamiliar with the lyrics and also had a few struggles with his voice here. Swarams were sung in two tempos at 'annai kAmAkshi', but apart from a few nice combinations, there was nothing special here. The kalyANi piece that followed was also standard fare with a few AvartanAs of niraval [which, BTW, absolutely need not be followed with swarAs. This is completely at the artistes' discretion]. The pieces until now had been rendered compentently, but without the power and elegance which are usually associated with Sri Krishna's music.
It was at this juncture that the concert started to gain momentum. Sri Krishna sang an elegantly phrased and non-standard Anandabhairavi AlApanA with emphasis on the shuddha dhaivata and IIRC almost completely eschewing chatushruti dhaivata prayOgas. He gave a brief explanation of this after the AlApanA where he pointed out that the notations for Dikshitar krithis in the SSP also hew to this approach - also, PDPS is almost never used and PNS is more common. My note-taking at this concert was relatively sketchy, so others with more comprehensive information are requested to correct and add to the information above. The Anandabhairavi AlApanA was a very neat balance of aesthetic appeal and archival value. I enjoyed it tremendously, along with the krithi that followed, a personal favorite, which was sung with feeling. Sri Chandramouli replied neatly and briefly. By this time, the artiste's voice was slowly settling down and he seemed to be getting into a nice groove.
The concert moved on nicely with the rendition of the rare kuntalavarALi piece which was preceded by an energetic and brief AlApanA with some nice piDis around the dhaivatam. The swaras were brief and entertaining. I am hearing this piece for the first time in a concert and I must say that it quite a pity that this krithi loses out in the popularity stakes to bOgIndra shAyinam, sarasara samaraika etc. It's a krithi worth learning up. The varALi AlApanA that followed was sober and eschewed unnecessary drama. The krithi rendition, however, was extremely emotional. This was quite the highlight of the concert for me. Sri Krishna sang each line at a leisurely pace, twice, and a couple of times, even thrice. It was a deeply moving experience and I will remember this rendition for quite a while. It was an extremely mature treatment of one of Syama Sastri's most emotional and weighty pieces.
No fillers - straight on to the main. kAmbhOji was developed gradually and quite gracefully with long kArvais. There were a few entertaining briga-filled phrases centered around the dhaivatam. These were noteworthy for the clarity of each individual note despite the high speed of the sanCAra. Sri Krishna's voice was noticeably better than when he commenced and he took full advantage of it during the kAmbhOji. His shruti shuddham was excellent during this AlApanA and the impact was palpable especially the first time he hit the tAra madhyamam right on the money. The krithi rendition was nice - the niraval was OK, but the swaras were excellent. Sri Krishna made a very nice decision to eschew second speed swaras for this krithi, and after a long and bhava-filled 1st-speed swaras sequence [which was very soothing], handed over the concert to Sri Arun Prakash and Sri Anirudh. The tani featured khaNDam explored in minute detail, and it was very nice to see the encouragement all the senior artistes on the stage gave to the young khanjira artiste.
aThANa was a nice choice for the RTP. The rAgam was a bit shorter than the tAnAm, but I had no problem with this since I was anxious to hear a good tAnam in aThANA. Sri Krishna sang wonderfully well - his imagination was rich with lovely combinations, and this rAgA of seemingly limited scope came alive in his tAnam - his ideas around the dhaivata were aesthetic, sprightly and a few times extraordinary. The percussion team joined in during the tArasthAyi portion, so one got to hear a couple different treatments of tAnam. A 11-minute tAnam in aThANa with relatively minimal repetition of ideas is no mean effort and was much appreciated by the audience.
The pallavi was announced as being a composition of Sri Arun Prakash. The setup was elegant and niraval was sung well. The trikalam was done with the pallavi being progressively reduced to 1/2 and 1/4 speeds before being brought back to the normal speed. It was done with minimal effort and a complete lack of aggressive thigh-slapping, which was very nice to see.
The post-main pieces were competently rendered. The yamunAkalyANi slOka on the Paramachara was soothing and characteristic of Sri Shriramkumar's excellent work as a tunesmith.
Sri Chandramouli provided solid support to Sri Krishna - his bowing was a bit harsh at just a few places, but overall, his playing was complementary to the main artiste and enjoyable, especialyl the mandhrasthAyi phrases in kAmbhOji. Sri Arun Prakash was in awesome form. He played so beautifully for krithis - his accompaniment was beautiful for the kIravANi krithi and the line 'Siva saCCidAnanda rUpENa muktEna' in AnandEshwarENa was aesthetically embellished. He has a wonderful ability to recede into the background when the main artiste is in full flow, and pick up the tempo whenever it is required. I have always enjoyed his playing, but yesterday was quite special. He was an asset to the concert each and every time he played. He was capably supported by the smiling young Sri Anirudh, who gave a very good account of himself and did a very creditable job trying to reply to some tough questions posed by Sri Arun Prakash in the tani. It is quite clear that this young man has a great future in this field and I hope to hear more of his playing soon.
Sri Krishna provided dignified music with a weighty and appropriate selection of krithis for the occasion. He showed quite clearly why he is an extremely sought-after concert artiste. His attention to detail in actively managing his concert: taking care of his voice, allowing it time to settle down, choosing appropriate krithis to do so, and then ramping up the power quotient once this had happened, was the hallmark of an intelligent and aware musician. An enjoyable evening of music, with the varALi, aThANA and Sri Arun Prakash's playing as memories to cherish.
Last edited by prashant on 06 Apr 2009, 16:48, edited 1 time in total.
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bilahari
- Posts: 2631
- Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 09:02
Great review, prashant. The moment I saw puNNiam oru kODi at the top of the list, I thought it would've been very interesting (since TMK has lately had a habit of singing weighty compositions up front, and I personally enjoy this trend), but I guess it didn't work that well. ATANa RTP- sigh. When will I have the privilege to hear such music.
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shankarabharanam
- Posts: 296
- Joined: 24 Apr 2006, 09:12
A complete disppointment right from the word go..Having taken Kamboji as the main, I expected TMK to give full justice...I would say he disappointed completely by singing neraval only in the first kalam and then taking over the swaram, which again apart from few passages wasn't that great.. I would accept with Prashant's review that neither Kiravani nor kalyani was a grand affair..Krishna was not at his best at SFAS yesterday....
Would like to put behind this concert and wait for a grand affair next time...
Would like to put behind this concert and wait for a grand affair next time...
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narayan
- Posts: 385
- Joined: 05 Oct 2008, 07:43
I caught only a bit of the concert (the last hour and a quarter or so), but I must say that that part was good. Vasavadi neraval in an extremely quiet and thoughtful atmosphere, slow swarams with non-standard phrases (PMDPDD, S,S, was quite audacious in Kambhoji, I thought, and in fact, I don't remember a single PDSRG Vasavadi!). You could actually hear the tambura shruti during the neraval swaram which was a welcome change. Charanam given slightly short shrift as expected after the neraval swaram (as I think was pointed out elsewhere), but it was acceptable. Athana ragam was good, Chandramouli's reply quite wholesome. Tanam was exciting and the audience had a cathartic clapping after every round. Krishna displayed a few signs of aggression here and there, for example, a chopping motion with the right hand, but I found it easy to forgive! Interesting pallavi and I'm happy to have caught some of the new wave compositions of musicians, which I think is essential for the liveliness of the art, per se. The Bhaja Govindam was serene and tuneful. So I thought it was good, overall.
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shriranjani
- Posts: 44
- Joined: 12 Apr 2009, 23:14
Morning concert of TMK at the inauguration of the Padma Ranga chamber Music auditorium on 5/4/09
1)Sri Gananatham Bhajare-Ishamanohari-Dikshitar
2) Beautiful Varali foll. by Neeve Vaikuntha -Purandaradasa-neraval at Paravasudevane
3)brief sketch of Yadukula kambodi foll. by the popular Kalai Thooki-Marimutha Pillai-very slow rendering
4)Shiva Darushana-Shuddha Dhanyasi-Purandaradasa
5)evocative Mukhari foll. by Palisamma muddu Sharade-Purandaradasa-lovely neraval at Shrungarapura
6)Manasa Sancharare-Shama-Sadashiva Bramhendra
7)Shloka-very absorbing-Shive Shringaradra in ragamalika-kamas,dhanyasi,sahana,sindhubhairavi,saranga,kambodi,jonpuri-
8)Sapashya kousalya-jonpuri-Swati Tirunal
9)Mahadeva Shiva Shambho-Revathi-Tanjavur Shankar Iyer foll. by shloka Mangalam Kosalendraya in the same ragam and ending in Suruti.
The heavy presence of kannada compositions was probably because the donor family,which financed the acoustically beautiful auditorium are Kannadigas.The hall does not use visible mikes and the decor is beautiful.The sound level is very comfortable and enjoyable.
1)Sri Gananatham Bhajare-Ishamanohari-Dikshitar
2) Beautiful Varali foll. by Neeve Vaikuntha -Purandaradasa-neraval at Paravasudevane
3)brief sketch of Yadukula kambodi foll. by the popular Kalai Thooki-Marimutha Pillai-very slow rendering
4)Shiva Darushana-Shuddha Dhanyasi-Purandaradasa
5)evocative Mukhari foll. by Palisamma muddu Sharade-Purandaradasa-lovely neraval at Shrungarapura
6)Manasa Sancharare-Shama-Sadashiva Bramhendra
7)Shloka-very absorbing-Shive Shringaradra in ragamalika-kamas,dhanyasi,sahana,sindhubhairavi,saranga,kambodi,jonpuri-
8)Sapashya kousalya-jonpuri-Swati Tirunal
9)Mahadeva Shiva Shambho-Revathi-Tanjavur Shankar Iyer foll. by shloka Mangalam Kosalendraya in the same ragam and ending in Suruti.
The heavy presence of kannada compositions was probably because the donor family,which financed the acoustically beautiful auditorium are Kannadigas.The hall does not use visible mikes and the decor is beautiful.The sound level is very comfortable and enjoyable.
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arasi
- Posts: 16873
- Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30
I was surprised by such a presence of kannaDa songs. Very nice, though you give us the reason. Siva daruSana and pAlisamma muddu SAradE -I haven't heard them in Suddha sAvEri and mukhAri before They are usually sung in madhyamAvati and subha pantuvarAli, I think.
Last edited by arasi on 13 Apr 2009, 05:17, edited 1 time in total.
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shriranjani
- Posts: 44
- Joined: 12 Apr 2009, 23:14