V.Shankaranarayanan, Ravi, Mannarkoil Balaji and Thavanendran at Kandaswamy Temple, KL
Shankaranarayanan disciple of Vaigal Gnanaskandan and TRS gave a stunning concert for Kandaswamy temple KL on 22-8-2009. The song list as follows :
1) Sri Vatapi Ganapathiye -Sahana-Adi
2) Nekkurugi-Abhogi-Adi
3) Thanigai Valar-Thodi-Khanda Chapu
4) Vaa Muruga Vaa-Begada-Rupakam
5) Kaa Vaa Vaa-Varali-Adi
6) Tukkada on Lord Muruga and Virutam follwed by Eppo Varuvaro and Mangalam.
It was a 2 hour 20mins gripping concert by Shankar and he never let the concert out of grip and never allowed the concert to sag by judiciously mixing the various aspects of CM in appropriate proportions so that audience never got bored at any point of time be it Raga delineation or Niraval Singing or Kalpana Swara explorations ... Shankar has a very good voice capable of producing pleasing tones with manly authority. An example of this was evident in his Thodi Thanigai Valar kriti and his intelligence came to the fore while rendering Manodharma Swarakalpanas at Thulli Vilayadi Varum. He had high creative swaras without compromising on the raga bhava and its melodic appeal. Ravi replied it very ably in the company of my mridangam and thavanendran's khanjira. Another striking feature of shankar's voice is his power and the ability to produce fast paced brigas within a small time frame. I have lofty admiration for his hardwork in getting the best of music and this concert at KL was one of his best in the recent times that i have accompanied. Kaa Vaa Vaa was rendered with a preceding Varali Raga in all its hues and flavour. His swaraprastara for Sama eduppu and also for "Pazani Malai Uraiyum Muruga" were well received.
His tukkadas and virutams were nicely sung and the popular ever-green eppo varuvaro and mangalam squared of a very nice concert.
There were speeches and honouring of artistes during the concert. But they were all well within the limits and absolutely essential points about the artistes were given as introduction. The organisers could gather a crowd of about 150-175 and they all stayed throughout the concert goes to show the quality of music rendered.
As such Kandaswamy temple at KL was undergoing Balalayam and some renovation. But the concert was held at the adjacent auditorium which had Echo but the mike was well balanced by the technician and also he made it comfortable for us. Eventhough feedback was not there we were able to hear what is being heard due to good balancing of the technician within the acoustic limits of the auditorium.
One more information i wanted to share. I have always felt Carnatic Music thrives on Sabhashs and Bales ... on that day the audience side lights were blacked out and we were not able to c the reaction of the audience for sangathis but of course at the end of every major item we could hear thunderous applause giving ample testimony of their appreciation.
Thavanendran, the local Khanjira player gave able support and didnt hinder the flow of the proceedings.
Mannarkoil J Balaji