Abhishek Raghuram @ Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha

[mahesh3]

A review emailed to me by someone.


Quoting:
"Here is a wonderful Review by ShriRamaswamy Narayanan
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ABHISHEK RAGHURAM sang for SriParthasarathiswami Sabha last evening. He made us wonder whether it was end of season or beginning. High octane energy and amazing range of voice cud be ascribed to his youth. But his musical impulses were fresh and dazzling despite more than 15 concerts last month. He was generous too and sang for 3 1/2 hrs,and rasikas were punch drunk from beginning to end. Abhishek started with Kanada varnam Nenarunji,followed by Dikhshidar's Asaveri navagraha krithi Chandrambajamanasam. Next he sang a charming Nattakurinji ragam and a rare piece Amba Raghavaya ( GNB),and proceeded with an elaborate niraval in all three kalas and a melodic misram,all within the first half hour of the concert,looked like he came all ready and tuned! Now came Charukesi. Abhishek presented the eternal enchantress in a refreshngly different way,stressing the madhyama and melkalams thro mile long karvais. Mysore Srikanth responded beautifully with bold bowing on his violin.As expected,the great Thyagaraja krithi,Adamodigalana came.Abhishek sang it with a mood matching the saint's devotional fervor,the lines soaked in melody,bhava and sowkyam,so were the swarakalpanas that followed. Maharaja's Sarashaksha paripalayamam came straight,and all thought its a filler before RTP. But trust Abhishek to spring a surprise or surprises! He made it the centrepiece for total vinyasam on Panthuvarali even w/o ragaalapana.In every syllable of keerthana rendition,the incredible niraval and meteoric swarakalpana,Abhshek made sure the grand swaroopa of panthuvarali was ever present. He never let go of GA and wove patterns around it. He chose the lines Bhamini samudhayajayamohana padmanabha kamala for a half hour niraval,for which he took the word BHAMINI as the fulcrum around which he wove layer after incandescent layer of manodharma. He stood long and smooth in melshadjam,as the house erupted in repeated applause. Not enough for Abhishek, he climbed still higher without a break into pure Hidustani. Panutvarali's northern cousin Purya Dhanasree was revealed for close to 5 mins,contrasted with our own,any Hindustan maestro wud have said:Wah,Wah....at this virtuoso performance. Again,Srikanth equal to the occasion,and his answers were absorbing. By now,the audience,as said,was punch drunk,standing,clapping,demanding....One mami wanted Mayamma,another mama shouted Bindumalini,Bindumalini! Abhishek smilingly obliged. Mayamma(Ahiri) and Endamuddo followed after a lovely flash of Bidumalini as a bonus. 2 1/2 Hrs and i thought its all over. Abhishek sprang the final surprise,launching into RTP for a full hour! Khamas was his choice,and he etched it with traditional pidis as well as his own brilliant touches.Karvais here were miles long,Khamas came out shining like burnished gold,again,Hindustani cousin KHAMAJ was clearly contrasted for 5 mins. brisk thanam,pallavi,misranadai,on Venkataramana,swaramaliga.....thani by Anantha R.Krishnan and Sri Sundarkumar ,kanjira,was long and lively after Panthuvarali,with kanjira scoring in subtle touches.....Rasikas came out determined to chase Abhishek to his next concert,wherever its going to be!"

[hamsadhwani]

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ABHISHEK RAGHURAM sang for SriParthasarathiswami Sabha last evening. He made us wonder whether it was end of season or beginning. [/quote]


How interesting! I was talking to my mom this morning, who attended the concert and she said the exact same thing "ippo dhaan season oda first kutchery maari avvlo nanna paadinaa(n)" - these were her exact words.

[mahesh3]

But his musical impulses were fresh and dazzling despite more than 15 concerts last month.

And, 18 in the 6 weeks crisscrossing the United States preceding the 15. Carnatic music seems worse than cricket, to take up as a profession.

[naarayanan]

jet speed swaras and not a single off key note anywhere. and when he dwelled on the upper registers, oh what a purity of notes. smooth and silken.........he has the most beautiful and dulcet voice on the circuit as on today. and the way he enjoyed the violin and asked the soundman to raise its volume not only here but also when akkarai was playing wonderfully at the jaya tv thamizhisai concert.... the way he obliged with all the song and raga requests with a serene smile...... this man has arrived.

[hamsadhwani]

Is Abhishek trained in Hindustani as well?

[isaiisai]

my inability to properly write a review for this concert is directly proportional to exactly how intoxicated i still am after the concert. 3.5 hours of abhishek magic at the end of the season, the conclusion of which was perhaps his best concert, yet? the atmosphere in this concert was amazing. the hall was packed to the brim with eager rasikas and the energy which fed from the musicians on stage to the audience and back was extraordinary.
notable pieces in the concert was slow niraval in nattaikurunji. and as much as he perhaps showed a different aspect of his musicality, he gave the audience what they were waiting for with a supremely power packed saarasaksha in pantuvarali. the conclusion of neraval and swarams elicited pandemonium in the audience. though his concluding swaram for dhaarini telusu in ngs was the biggest eruption from an audience i have witnessed in recent times, saarasaksha came in a close second. especially, the combination of singing in different nadais was incredible to watch and hear. then was the rtp after much debate from audience requests. abhishek masterfully placed khamas ragam as a warm blanket of peace and relaxation, like the calm after the storm. his pallavi in viloma mishra chapu entitled, "venkata ramana sankata harana, thirupathi" was representative of his complete command of the gamut of emotions and energy in a carnatic vocal performance. a thoroughly satisfying performance, again from the young master.

[mahavishnu]

Abhishek's pantuvarAli is to die for. He excels in SarasAksha especially with neraval in BhAmini...
I'm glad he chose to make this the piece de resistance.

[sureshvv]

See how nobody is talking about innovation or bemoaning the fact that he didn't sing the alapana for the "main" piece?

Another thing that I think he might have done is jump 2 octaves (we all might have heard 1) couple of times

[sridrect]

Great show young man!

[sridrect]

Oh GOD ! Please ensure this concert is released by CDW !

I am glad that AR has proved some of the forumites wrong ! I am referring to the thread that I started on his JAYATV concert and how a few folks "rammed" his music out of shape !!!

Go AR Go !!!