Dr. M Narmadha @Asthika Samajam,Thiruvanmiyur on 1-Mar-2013

[rsbiju]

Dr. M Narmadha @Asthika Samajam,Thiruvanmiyur,Chennai on 1-Mar-2013

Dr. M Narmadha – Violin
Mannarkoil J Balaji – Mridangam
Nanganallur S Swaminathan - Ghatom

Venue: Asthika Samajam , Thiruvanmiyur, on 1-Mar-2013.

Songlist:

vanajaksha(varnam) - reethigowla-ata tAla- veena kuppayyar
vAraNa mukhavA tuNai varuvAi- hamsadhwani-rUpakam-kOTeeshwara Aiyyar
parama purusha-vasantha-adi-swathi thirunAl
raghuvamsa sudhAmbudhi-kadana kuthUhalam-Adi-patnam subrahmanya iyer
asainthadum mayilondru-simmendramadhyamam-adi-oothukkadu
jalandhara - valachi-rupakam-muthayya bhagavathar
anupama gunambudhi-atAna-khanda chapu-thyAgaraja
mA jAnaki(with tAnam)-Kamboji-adi-thyAgaraja
speech by Shri. Narasimhan , Asthika Samajam.
Bhajan -dEsh
tarAna – sindhu bhairavi
niraimadhi –hamsaAnandi- thiruppugazh
mangalam

In the world of music and love, one of the most engaging and adorable characters are undoubtedly Krishna and Radha. The miraculous combination of beauty and love comes alive to our mind with all the freshness when you listen to ‘Asainthaadum Mayilondru..’ composed by Oothukkadu venkata subbaiyer…
Dr Narmadha captured the elegance of the pace and the pauses, with all the excitement. The raga, krithi and kalpana swara renditions , each matching and complementing the overall mood of the song, conveyed the essence of the raga, and the sahitya bhava , with the mridangam adding to the beauty and joy of the experience, of the divine vision of the cosmic dance of Krishna….. some fast paced sangathis were the speciality of the song rendition , with the Parur-MSG impressions all over them.

Valaji, sounding a simple raga, creates a pleasing mood.. ‘jalandhara supeeta..’ , in praise of ‘Jagadamba’ , is one of the few compositions in this raga. A short and beautiful raga alapana, which contained a set of very impressive sancaras and some beautiful gamaka phrases , preceded the krithi.

The main raga of the evening was kAmboji..with aAn elaborate and soulful rAga Alapana,and tAnam ,in Parur style, played with mridangam in Kerala style which Shri MSG used to follow. ‘mA jAnaki’ by thyAgaraja was the chosen kriti, where he reminds ‘Rama’ that ‘JAnaki’ is the reason for all the fortune and fame he had .. A well played thani avarthanam by Shri. Balaji and Shri Swaminathan , brought a grant ending to the song of the evening.

In his speech, Mr. Narasimhan of Asthika SamAjam, ThiruvAnmiyur , talked about the legacy of Parur Tradition of violin playing, and the greatness of Shri MSG’s contributions. He said Shri MSG to violin was like Shri TN Pajarathnam Pillai to Nadhaswaram, and Shri Mali to Flute. He also shared a few anecdotes from MSG's concerts, and said Dr Narmadha , trained and blessed by Shri Parur Sundaram iyer and Shri MSG, has truly followed the Parur tradition and Shri MSG's legacy.

The concert continued with a bhajan, set to tune by Shri Parur Sundaram Iyer, in dEsh,and the tarAna in sindhu bhairavi, immortalized by Shri MSG. Dr Narmadha presented them with short but sweet sketches of the ragas. She explained how Shri Parur Sundaram Iyer had taken the best of the raga bhavas from the Hindustani classics, and used in these compositions.. The system he developed for violin had adapted techniques used in Sitar and Flute..

Overall, a great experience concert, with simhendra madhyamam, valaji, kamboji and desh still ringing in the ears…

Dr. Narmadha has posted a few clips from the concert at: http://sancara.in/downloads



best regards

biju

[cacm]

EXCELLENT review which has covered ALL aspects of the concert. Its almost as good as having been there. Keep writing reviews! VKV

[Nick H]

Its almost as good as having been there.

It even lacks the disturbance form the next-door wedding hall, which threatened, at its peak, to drown out Narmadha --- but she was not at all perturbed and won the battle easily

[cacm]

Nick,
THATS PART OF THE AMBIENCE! I claim this can be somewhat filtered out by persons like me who have listened to great music with this kind of ambiemce. However the CHENNAI Electronic amplification (including in hallowed halls like Music Academy) is a PECULIAR PHENOMENON with large amplitute white noise which cannot be filtered out! VKV

[Nick H]

I know you are very familiar with that hall. It is not one of the best in Chennai. Far from it! The acoustics are bad and the PA system is very basic, now, in fact, working only in mono with one speaker directed towards the audience. Of course, it is, itself, a marriage hall, and much better suited to that role. Until that day, I did not know there is anther hall directly next door.

But, of the worst it must be one of the best. The acoustics are actually far better than some of the more modern, bare marble halls where every sound reverberates for ten minutes and nothing at all can be heard. The knack is finding the right place, the right angle from the speaker, or distance from the front, the "sweet spot." Once this is done, so much sweet music can be enjoyed there, and this concert is added to my list. I guess that the sabha secretary is one of the city's great music lovers. I guess, too, that you could probably tell a story of the history of this sabha!

I was also there, recently, for a really great concert by Smt Suguna Varadachari.

[cacm]

Nick,
YOU ARE RIGHT. Actually some of the most memorable concerts by (for example) K.V.N., RAMANI just to name two recently have been held there& the artists THEMSELVES very much like to perform there because of : 1) The hall & its ambience 2) The audience which clearly was considered by the performers as the MOST knowledgeable & sophisticated music listeners anywhere and 3) the Secy Sri.Narasimhan. While trhe Sabha can provide only meagre financilal gains Many STILL come to concerts there to hear him recall the GREAT concerts of the Giants like Mali, GNB, MMI etc as well his savviness in promoting their disciples. Dr.Narmadha's solo is the latest in this regard & those who keep writing about MSG'S GREATNESS etc should pressure the other Sabha Secs. to promote & present persons like these in a PROMINENT way instead of presenting mediocre ones who are either well connected or are good at marketing themselves worldwide. VKV

[Nick H]

VKV, has Sri Narasimhan always used that same hall for Asthika Samajam concerts?

[cacm]

NICK, It has been used for the past many years. Before that there was another place that was demolished(?) nearby etc. But the KEY POINT IS HE is probably the only Sabha Secretary of the genre that used to exist & WHOSE LOVE OF MUSIC-without any economic clout on their part- who GENUINELY ARE RESPONSIBLE for Carnatic Music being where it is today- and NOT THE COMMONLY WRITTEN ABOUT GREAT ORGANISATIONS! THEY have always been known among those in the know to be DEVOID of Knowledge or Taste but it is the case of Marketing with a little good work that always wins out.....The post 19th century approach....VKV