manakkAl rangarAjan@rAgasudhA on April 28th,2010

[rajeshnat]

manakkAl rangarAjan@rAgasudhA on April 28th,2010
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Vocal : manakkAl rangarAjan
Vocal Support : Smt padma rangarAjan
Violin : parur MA sundareshwaran
Mrudangam : manakkAl sriram
Concert duration : 2 hours and 5 minutes with atleast 10 minutes of garlanding
Occasion and Sponsors : Guru MN kandaswamy pillai (mrudangist) yearly rememberance day.

This is my 5th or 6th concert of manakkal in the last 6 years, all occassions I have heard mAmA singing in an age where it is even difficult to believe if one can accomplish this much at this age, in 2008 I heard mAma in MA -mini when he was 84 or 85 , right now mAmA is 87 .

What was evident even yesterday is his rigour in singing , he keeps his style so intense with his bountiful brighas and a speed that is quite a challenge , in short mAmA has done asura sAdhakam and wants to give his best and avoid any light or devotional feel for the concert(case in point for most of the upcoming and established artists) .Having said that the physical age of 87 does produce quite a lot of cracks in his voice which is understandable , there were few shortcomings in this concert too perhaps one each for manakkal sr ,manakkAl jr and smt padmA that i can point out later.

1A. kedhAram alApanai for few minutes
1B. slokham - agajAnana padmArgham - nAttai
1C. bhajana seya(S) - kEdAram - AC
5 mins swaras

2. kanchadalayAdhAkshi - manOhari - MD
3. mAravairi ramaNi(R S) - nAsikAbhooshani - T
6 mins of alApanai , 4 mins violin and 6 mins swaras

4. janani ninuvinA(rAga sketch) - reetigowlai -subbarAya sAstri
5. rAma rAma rAma yEnirO - vasantha - PD

6. kandaswamiyai pOlOru mAperum laya mEthayai - atAnA- manakkal sriram sang this , possibly sriram penned the lyrics

7A. kapAli (R N S T) - mOhanam - psivan
7 mins alApanai and 4 mins violin return
neraval in "adhira muzhangum uDukkaiyum tirishUlamum ankiyum kurangamum" for 2 mins
10 mins swaras
7B. tani for 14 mins

8. shanmughapriyA devi adiyennai Adhari - navaratna rAgamAligA , I missed one of the nine garlands in rAgas "shanmughapriya + bhairavi + nAYaki + sAranga + sAramati + ranjani + mohanam +??+ shree?? - manakkAl varadarAjan
9. orupozhuddum eesan - thiruppugazh -chakravAkham - AGN
10. thillAna "needu mahima" - poornachandrikA- poochi
11. pavamAna mangalam

manakkAl sir started with a rigour of early quick turnaround krithis , the first kedaram alApanai with a brief slokham in nAttai and then jumping to a rare annamAcharya kedaram krithi with brisk round of swaras .He manintained the rigour and tempo and moved to a rare manohari rAgA and was well done.

The submain was a prati rAgA, a rAgA that may perhaps have a lot of overlap with jazz (that is how nick felt who sat beside me), i enjoyed this rendition the most, though I was not sure if it was rasikapriyA or nAsikAbhooshani during alApanai touch points.

At the end of nAsikA bhooshani,the super senior mridanga vidwan A kannan was there and he garlanded manakkAl , I am assuming A kannan must be 90, .Keeping with a kutcheri paddhati manakkAl sir moved to a long krithi of janani ninnuvinA , he rendered it quite well, to an extent from here it was quite a challenge to hear him as he was too away from mike . THe fast filler in vasantA was not that great.manakkAl sriram surprised with an atAna krithi which was a tribute to kandaswami pillai

There is a very famous recording of manakkal rangarAjan singing bhuvanuta in mOhanam, and I personally liked his choice of mohanam as in the last few concerts I have heard him sing mostly kharaharapriya and a sbharanam . Mohanam gives a lot of charm for a musician like manakkAl to be in an overdrive mode . Particularly kapAli a number where I have not heard any one singing neraval , but the vocalist singing few minutes of neraval was quite a head turner, the swaras were quick and fast with a lot of brigAs.

In the tukkada the thillAnA and thirruppuggazh was not upto the mark , but i liked the manakkal shri varadarAjan's rAgamALiga a lot , this number with every line embedded with the rAgam is very very janaranjakam had lines like sArangapAni sodhari sivakami, akhilalOka nAyaki etc. manakkal sriram if you are reading this publish your periappa's numbers and let more musicians take it up, your periappA is possibly a great thamizh composer(this rAgamAliga, few years before I heard karthikAi bAlanai in mAnd of him and one navaneeta choran in tilang all are well done) .

MA sundareswaran is such a big asset to this concert , his speed of play just suited manakkAl's overdrive mode , particularly his mohanam was most catchy with few parur glides in mohanam appeared very aesthetic. The mridangist manakkAl sriram played good in this concert.

[rajeshnat]

Few shortcomings in this concert:
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# Since manakkAl rangarAjan was sitting in a chair and with manakkAl mostly singing in a straight posture he was atleast half a feet away ,many a times his intent was only to be appreciated , musically i could not hear much as he was singing away from mike

# Smt padmA sang very straight to the mike and her voice is a bit of elderly DKP. Despite she giving an able support and she was only singing at the right time .It was quite a challenge to hear the non synchronized voices of manakkAl and his wife padmA(In general male female voices donot sync together , lord brahma has generally not helped there I guess, so blame lord brahmA there not smt prema and rangarAjan sir ). Having said that it would be wonderful if manakkAl sir is assisted by a male vidwan ,one of the days I am hoping to hear that combo.

# With a garland break at the end of submain, sriram's rendition before main in atAnA would have been perhaps more appropriate if he had sung in the beginning as a tribute than as a prime time filler.It was quite a challenge to hear that number in the middle of the concert that too with no pakkavAdyam support,it robbed a bit of cohesiveness of the concert.

Kudos to first generation disciples of kandaswami pillai ,arunprakash and mannArkoil balAji for conducting this yearly rememberance day .They did with lot of devotion and respect to their guru. We also had the second generation disciple of pillai ,he was our nick and he was very satisfied.balAlji,were there any other sishyas apart from you and arun?

All said and done , manakkAl shri rangarAjan has a lot of classical vigour, performing a wholesome concert at this age is simply great. As I came back from the concert my thoughts was just as before ,that I must have heard manakkAl atleast few decades back , but neither any one took me to his concert then nor any one told me about this vidwan till the advent of internet forums .

My ears are more optimistic toward hearing manakkAl varadarAjan compositions sung by vidwans and vidushis of today(performing vidwans and vidushis go knock rangarAjan sir's house in indiranagar and get varadarAjan sir's krithis).Overall a good concert of an exemplary vidwan who must have been truly outstanding few decades back .

[Nick H]

3. mAravairi ramaNi(R S) - nAsikAbhooshani - T
6 mins of alApanai , 4 mins violin and 6 mins swaras

This seemed like a very adventurous and atypical piece. Out of context, I might not even have recognised it as carnatic! I enjoyed it very much.

I have sometimes wondered why, over the not-very-many years I have been attending this event, the organisers do not select one of MNK's students to play mridangam. Perhaps because the guru puja is necessarily organised by said students. This is not at all a criticism of Sriram: quite the opposite, it is the prelude to praise! Noting how familiar the composition of his tani felt, I asked him, afterwards, if he had based it on PSP/MKN school and compositions. He said yes, of course! I thought that this was a very nice touch.

[cmlover]

Excellent heart-warming review Rajesh. I thought Mankkal never ages. Perhaps the voice may give-in but his vidvat only keeps increasing. His brother varadarajan was redoubtable in the olden days and if he had survived we would have a matchless pair in synchrony. Neither have I heard any of his compositions. The family owes it to us to publish them and Manakkal should release a special CD. Though Mohanam is not his forte (Todi belongs to him), as one of the old guards he could hold his own even with the fabled MVI. I envy the opportunity you have of listening to him from time to time. Olden days at least we used to hear him often courtesy of AIR. It appears AIR has forgotten him! But we oldies will never forget him as he is ever fresh in our memories! By God's grace let him complete his century singing all the way!

Thanks Rajesh!

[rshankar]

Rajesh, nice review...
The slokam is 'agajAnana padmArkam'

[prasanna]

8. shanmughapriyA devi adiyennai Adhari - navaratna rAgamAligA , I missed one of the nine garlands in rAgas "shanmughapriya + bhairavi + nAYaki + sAranga + sAramati + ranjani + mohanam +??+ shree?? - manakkAl varadarAjan

shanmughapriya + shankarabaranam + bhairavi + nAYaki + sAranga + sAramati + ranjani + mohanam + shree

[Nick H]

Excellent heart-warming review Rajesh. I thought Mankkal never ages.

It was another of those occasions on which I amazed by the youthfulness of some of the older performers of carnatic music.

[mridhangam]

I am posting pictures i took with my mobile



























These are all the images.
Nick there was another disciple Shivashankar Reddy. Trichy Murali Ghatam vidwan has fond remembrances of Guru MNK and had come many times to sir's house.

I thank one and all who attended the function.

Mannarkoil J Balaji

[thanjavooran]

Mannarkoil J Balaji avl,
Excellent coverage. Many thanx.

Thanjavooran

[Nick H]

Thank you so much for the pictures --- and, of course, for your continued efforts in being a part of this event.

I have never had a photograph of MNK, but have always felt that, even as a lapsed student, there should be one in my puja room. I will now be able to download your picture of the picture.

[cmlover]

Many thanks Balaji for those fine pictures...

[prasanna]

http://www.mediafire.com/?ket1z2dtkwm

A recording of Shanmugapriya Devi sung in the 90's