Brinda Manickavasakam@Madhuradhwani on Nov 28th,2014

[rajeshnat]

Brinda Manickavasakam@Madhuradhwani on Nov 28th,2014
-----------------------------------------------
Vocal : Brinda Manickavasagam
Violin : Akkarai Sornalatha
Mrudangam : L Subramaniam - sishya of KSKalidas ( PSP school)

Concert Type : Non Nirvana - concert to follow
Day/Duration : Thursday/ 100 minutes
Concert Type/Crowd : Free concert - around 40
Hall : Arkay convention hall , Luz, mylapore

1. varnam - mohanam- Tiger Varadachari
2. ???- chakravakham - papanasam sivan???
3. arulvAi angayarkanni - dharmavati - dandapani desigar
=====

4. shree kamalAmbikAya - punnagavarAli - MD
5. tunai purindarul - varamu - psivan

6A. venkatesa ninnu (R N S T) - madhyamavati - T
10 mins alapana and 8 mins violin return
5 mins neraval in bhagavatha priyA thyagarAja nutu
9 mins swaras
6B. tani

7. rara navarAgamaliga
ambA ninnu nEra nammiti - anandabhairavi + bhairavi + kalyani +surati + gowlai ??? + bEgadA+ sahanA + kedaram + shree ragam - chinna krishnuni dasa

I was late as the concert started at 05:00 pm . I missed three.Brinda is young and has a penchant for rare numbers , the songlist indicates that . Her tutorship with many in the past and with Smt suguna varadachari in the present has indeed added a certain weight to her sangeetham.

As I entered she was just into punnagavarAli . The snake charmers raga has indeed a certain charm , while it appears very easy to sing and for many many years i used to think this is one raga that strokes a rasikas ego to feel that he also can become a singer . That is where muttuswamy dikshitar keeps a checkpoint to rasikas ego, I have indeed heard this kamalamba krithi in an exclusive kamalamba series few times , one that I recollect is vidushi seetha rajan in paricular.In that series considering other weighty kamalamba krithis , this is a bit of touch and go. Brinda gave a lovely weighty punnagavarAli essence and for me and another rasika who sat next me we felt this rendition was superb. Intense exclusive excess shakes commonly known as gamakams without an iota of voice rest made it for me.

Possibly punnagavarAli dikshitar drained her a bit , the next varamu was a bit of letdown as she had voice problem . For few sangathis especially vidhi pugazhndidum went a bit with her vidhi(vidhi in thamizh means fate) .Sivan's suddha hindolam masterpiece did not have that much intensity of azhuttam. She got it back with a lovely alapana of madhyamavati , certainly i could spot ML Vasanthakumari like touches there, brigas sparkled with nice measure of madhyama kala sangathis . THe krithi started well but zoned to excellence in neraval especially few madhayama mandara sthayi touches in key phrases bhagavatha priya. The contrast was there in swaras and overall she did a good job.

The last was a lovely head turner . THe krithi and composer was brand new to me , most or perhaps all phrases of nava ragamaliga had raga mudhra names embedded in it . For every sangathi sahithyam there was a rapid fire cittaswaras too and she also came back in reverse . IT is indeed a tough tukkada to sing and I liked that immensely, this song was a great finish.

Akkarai sornalatha madhyamavati was overshooting in alapana length - a bit of her sister subbbulakshmi touch . But i liked her returns in main krithi that kept up the tempo tight, rest she had limited scope .L subramaniam played well , nice patterns but I felt the sound could have been bit more that too for brinda who has a strong voice. I wish I was there to hear the first three. Some one can write more about the first three that I missed .

Overall a very good concert for nearly hour .

[CRama]

Thanks for your lovely review Rajesh. I wonder how you could attend this concert on a working day.
BM is an upcoming artiste of good promise. I have heard her in Deekshitar akhandam and she impressed me a lot with her weighty fare. I liked the song list in this concert. The chakravakam of PS must be Eeasane intha. Sree Kamalambikaya in Punnagavarali is rarely heard in concerts. I am very happy that she chose to sing the Ragamalika which I have heard in TVM forty years back. People used to mistake this as a Syama sastri composition because in the last charanam Syama Krishna Sahodari is coming. I have never heard this song in any concert. This concert will be in the web and today I will hear this concert.
We should hear her more in this season.

[rajeshnat]

Thanks for your lovely review Rajesh. I wonder how you could attend this concert on a working day.
BM is an upcoming artiste of good promise. I have heard her in Deekshitar akhandam and she impressed me a lot with her weighty fare. I liked the song list in this concert. The chakravakam of PS must be Eeasane intha. Sree Kamalambikaya in Punnagavarali is rarely heard in concerts. I am very happy that she chose to sing the Ragamalika which I have heard in TVM forty years back. People used to mistake this as a Syama sastri composition because in the last charanam Syama Krishna Sahodari is coming. I have never heard this song in any concert. This concert will be in the web and today I will hear this concert.
We should hear her more in this season.

Working day but being a Thanksgiving day for my America Babus , i could leave early for few days.
May I know who was the artist who sang this rare ragamaliga that you heard in TVM ?.

[CRama]

I do not remember who sang those days. But it was quite popular in TVM in those days. It was taught in the AIR by SRi.R.Krishnaswamy (we have discussed about this vidwan earlier) and my mother also learnt it and she used to sing this often. But I could not record those days.

[Nick H]

I like Brinda very much. I was impressed watching her expression of total concentration, with occasional bright-light flashes of delight, when she is playing tambura and supporting her guruji, Suguna Varadachary. I asked around and found that she has been on the stage since a very young age, although she is hardly more than young still.

I thought that Brinda's voice reflected more of Suguna on this occasion.

Suguna Varadachary is one of our great Vidushis. Her concerts are always great events, we are lucky enough to get to hear her fairly regularly, and yet she does not seem to get much mention on rasikas.org. The last time that I saw her, in Thiruvanmiyur, she delivered a blisteringly good concert, with a neraval in the main piece that left the entire audience moved and stirred. I felt it, but not having much knowledge, checked with her student, Aishwarya Shankar, a few days later that, even for a senior artist, this was indeed an exceptional event: she said, yes, it had been,

Rajesh, CRama, or someone... I couldn't even find a thread for Smt Suguna Varadachary in the Vidwan/Vidushi forum. If indeed there is not one, I wish that you would start one. She is not only a great artist, but she is one of those great artists who is also a great teacher, and is helping to ensure that youngsters such as Aishwarya and Brinda are taking a great tradition forward.

[hnbhagavan]

There was another scheduled concert of Lalgudi Siblings.Any review of the concert is welcome.

[CRama]

I checked my treasure chest and was able to locate the same song sung by some vidwan from my land. I could not identify the name though. Pl see the link below.
Amba Ninnu nera nammiti-Ragamalika
Link
https://www.sendspace.com/file/wb6ard

In the version of BM, she has sung the chittaswaras culminating with the reverse order of chittaswarams at the end.But in this version, he has not sung the chittaswarams. Another interesting variation– in the last line of the charanam, the Malayalam vidwan has sung as Syamakrishna sahodari sree Rajarajeswari as was sung in those days in TVM. But BM has sung the same as Chinnikrishna sodari. I will be happy to receive your comments on the link given by me.

[CRama]

Nick, your point well taken. After this season, I will start a thread on Suguna Varadachary . The inputs I receive during the season concerts will add quality to the discussion.

[Meenalochani]

I fully agree with what has written on Suguna Varadachary by Nick and others. Like Nick, I am an ardent fan of Suguna and have been hearing her concerts, though not many, regularly. Her music is very traditional and inspiring combined with a beautiful voice. For the past few years she has been very much part of the Cleveland Aradhana family of organizers especially in the training of students in the education series Sustaining Sampradaya and one pf its best teachers. Her Carnatic music lectures whenever she conducts are also very informative. Her students Brinda Manicavasagam, Vidya Kalyanaraman are already giving concerts and carrying her tradition forward. For more information, please read the following article about her published in Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp ... 272434.ece

Meenalochani

[arasi]

I like Brinda's music too.

CRama,
There already is a thread on Suguna Varadachari in Vidvans and Vidushis started by saranga in 2011. I just came upon it, searching for something else.

[Nick H]

Yes, Rajesh has located it already. I looked, I even searched without success. I did not think to look back so many years. I hope we may keep it more active.

I cannot post informed reviews of concerts, with song lists and ragas, but I am delighted to be able to add my subjective remarks after others have given the "meat" and the learn-ed commentary.

[arasi]

Nick,
There are experts, there are knowledgeable rasikAs, and then simply rasikAs--like you and me! We are in the majority in a concert hall, and power to us :-BD (have to admit, couldn't resist using this smilie )

[Nick H]

arasi... you know raga from ragtime. You are an expert )

[arasi]

The way the experts tear them to rags (mmm...analyze them to the minutest detail), I'm a lost soul in the sea of rAgAs! Still, no complaints. Discovering a new rAgA is still serendipity for me...

[makham]

CRama: The artist who has sung Amba Ninnu nera nammiti-Ragamalika in the link https://www.sendspace.com/file/wb6ard, could it be Shri Nellai TV Krishnamurthy?

[CRama]

Makham. Certainly not Nellai Krishnamurthy. It should be some younger vidwan. My guess- it could be Alleppey Sreekumar (Omanakutty's son in law) or Kavalam Sreekumar.

[Jigyaasa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H40Cq_IdNm4

The song in ChakravAham is 'ranganai tudippOrku iDarEdu' by Papanasam Sivan

[kssr]

While listing smt. Suguna varadachari's disciples, her son, Bharat Kumar should not be left out. You may recall that he gave a brilliant concert in nada neeraajanam. For some reason he is not pushing forward in the concert arena. Possibly due to personal /professional commitments elsewhere. Hoping to listen to Brinda, Bharat Kumar and others in Bangalore in the coming months.

[Nick H]

Bharat Kumar should not be left out.

Indeed. Excellent singer.

[rshankar]

Is Bharat Kumar the artist previously known as Bharat Sundar, or are they two separate vidvAns?

[mahavishnu]

Ravi, No they are very different.
V. Bharat Kumar is the son of Smt Suguna Varadachary and is/was a student of Sanjay Subrahmanyan.

[rshankar]

Ramesh...thank you.

[manickavasakan.s]

Dear Rasika friends,
The second song of the concert was in Ranganai thuthipporkku by Sri Papanasam sivan.
The nine ragas that form the ragamalika (last piece of the concert) are
Anandha bhairavi,
Bhairvai
Kalyani
Suratti
Gowla
Begada
Sahana
Kanthamani
Sri

With sincere regards,
Manickvasakan S

[Jigyaasa]

Gowla
Kanthamani

gauri
kEdAram

[sureshvv]

What a little scholar! Can't believe that just a few years ago she was a little yea high kid.

[harimau]

Can't believe that just a few years ago she was a little yea high kid.

The proper expression is "knee-high to a grasshopper".

Since nobody offered a Tamil translation for that, here is mine:

vettuk kiliyin mutt(u)alavu

வெட்டுக் கிளியின் முட்டளவு

[arasi]

Hadn't heard that expression until you quoted it, Harimau.
In Tamizh, we call a spade a spade--it's not merely something which hops through grass but is a veTTu (chopping, chomping of crops) kiLi (parrot colored, and resembling) thing.

[Ponbhairavi]

Is the knee of a grasshopper higher than its head?

[arasi]

veTtukkiLi came into the picture merely because it was the nearest 'sounding' to muTTkku

[Nick H]

Is the knee of a grasshopper higher than its head?

Come to think of it, yes it is! But it is still not very far off the ground

[harimau]

veTtukkiLi came into the picture merely because it was the nearest 'sounding' to muTTkku

No. Vettuk kili is the word in Tamil for grasshopper. It just so happens that it rhymes neatly with muttu which is Tamil for 'knee'.

[Ponbhairavi]

We are all in for a big surprise , when by a little push on that muttu ,the vettukili soars to an unimaginable height of more than twenty times its size

[arasi]

Harimau,
I wasn't clear in what I was saying, I think. Of course, veTTukkiLi IS a grasshopper. muTTu and veTTu...that's why it didn't turn out to be a thUkkaNAngkuruvi

[kssr]

Coming back,

BIRUnda manickavachakam Kacheri VIRundaa IRUndadhu.