Palakkad Ramaprasad@NGS(Mini) on Sept 15th,2015

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rajeshnat
Posts: 10123
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Palakkad Ramaprasad@NGS(Mini) on Sept 15th,2015

Post by rajeshnat »

Palakkad Ramaprasad@NGS(Mini) on Sept 15th,2015
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Vocal : Palakkad Dr R Ramaprasad
Violin : Nagai Sriram
Mrudangam : B GanapathyRaman

Occasion : Guru Surajananda Day conducted by Karaikudi Mani Sruthilaya trust
Concert Type : Nirvana - No concert to follow
Day/Duration : Monday/ ~ 2 hours concert
Concert Type/Crowd : Free concert - 60 to 70 peak
Hall : NaradaGana sabha Mini Hall

I was late atleast 10 mins late I am assuming concert started at 06:30 pm
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...

2. muruga TirumAl marugA (?,N,S) - harikAmbOdhi - Tanjor Sankara iyer
Neraval in karunai kaDalE unnai
swaras for 4 mins

3. gOpalaka pAhimAm anisham (Raga sketch) - revagupti (not bhoopalam) - ST
4.maravaire ramani (R) - naasikabhooshani - T
6 mins alapana and 4 mins violin return

5. seethamma mAyamma - vasanta - T

6A. RTP in lathangi
12 mins alapana in lAtangi and 7 mins violin return
taanam for 9 mins in lAtangi
Pallavi line - alamElu mangai manAlA ambuja nAbha dayAlA
swaras in lathangi + reetigowlai + subhapantuvarAli?? + bilahari +joG???
Pallavi was for 52 mins

6B. tani for 9 mins
7. teruviniL (thirruppugazh)...murugONE ...perumAlE - shurutti - AGN Thiruppugazh

I did start on time but NGS mini hall appeared very far to cross the evening traffic. It is roughly 5 months away from CM@chennai ,while maggi noodles are banned but concerts are slowly heading towards Maggi noodles type . We have A 30 to 45 mins each with a veena extravaganza lining up 6 artists within a day in the name of veena mahotsava , it appears there is a lot of MS amma celebration concerts marking her centenary celebrations. I had to choose between ramaprasad and RK Murthy . Skipped RK Murthy at a temple in tambaram yesterday because I am pretty sure artist will come bit late and they will go around the temple with the archaka and then wrapping the concert as the crowd melts away at half point .I sticked with alwarpet NGS mini with the expectation that the concert will be around for 2 hours and it was exactly for that time (I am assuming the concert started at 06:30 pm).

THe concert was advertised as a rememberance to Guru surajananda in NGS mini hall by Guru Karaikudi mani's shruthilaya trust. My mind raced to few numbers like muruganin maru peyar azhagu in behag and another keeravani number samagana priyakaram. May be Ramaprasad sang one or two surujananda numbers before I came ,but as I walked in he was singing a lovely neraval in harikambOdhi of a brilliant sankara iyer composition, a short swara burst in one go without violin return , his swaras was lovely and with harikambodhi I was just cursing myself as to why I walked in late.

The next was a rare ST krithi gopalaka pahimAm there were lot of jathis in that composition and Ramaprasad was at ease and I thorougly enjoyed it. Nasikabhooshani raga alapana was very well done - the vivadi feel was omnipresent and I liked his rendition of the krithi .The filler vasanta was not a fast one but nevertheless Ramaprasad did adequate justice .

For the next 52 mins it was a lovely pallavi treat , I certainly did not anticipate a pallavi. Lathangi is a raga like kalyani , I am in the phase of graduating from hate to like and my taste is slowly accepting this raga lathangi . At times I wonder why is lathangi having an identity crisis atleast for many of the rasikas , despite its own distinct swaroopam. One rasika who sat next to me asked me if he was singing pantuvarali .Ramaprasad indeed sang a lovely RTP in lathangi , the alapana was never having any shades of ambiguity in its surrounding clusters of pantuvarali /kalyani. His voice was firm and the gamakas were well rounded . Taanam was very well done , very aesthetic and indeed had high doze of carnatic classicism , taanam had well rounded phrases a nom tam etc with no sag in his voice . The pallavi was perhaps taken from the lines of the popular sivan krithi venkataramana , the pallavi did not have much of laya vishesham but I dont like that much math so it did suit me as there was plenty of raga bhavam and Ramaprasad continued with his firm latch on Classical sangathis.

In the ragamaliga the reetigowlai was superb and the last was very aesthetic - i think the ragam was jog???. Jog is lovely raga and I am glad he took that - jog is slowly jogging and is reaching a darbari kAnadA status in cm concerts . The intermediate subhapantuvarali was bit of a not so good start for the first few phrases , i felt he sang that raga for first few minutess in a no mans land but he indeed zoned well in the second half for me to get it as subhapantuvarAli??? .I am still not sure if he sang jog and subhapantuvarali. The intermediate bilahari swaras was quite good , felt he could have elaborated more.

He could have sung few more tukkadas post RTP but there was just a brief race to perumAlE in shurutti (assuming it is a thirruppugazh).The 08:30 pm close was faithfully followed.This is my third concert many years back and my other experiences were restricted to internet recordings. It would have been wonderful if he had sung for atleast 30 minutes- the last concert that i attended one of his, he sang a lovely viruththam for his rich voice it was disappointing not to hear a viruththam or a slokham.

Ramaprasad has a lovely sareeram , his voice is very deep and masculine . His gamakas are very well rounded and there is always a firm grounding on classical carnatic style , he indeed throws a bit of KVN, Ramnad krishnan and DKJ .There is no cheap sangathis to bring in a different flavor or any conscious populist route. Certainly a lovely musician with a very **sampradaya and classical ** touch ,bringing in a touch of sathiyam and Gauravam that his grandfather mahavidwan palghat mani iyer brought to CM .

I wish he pays bit more attention in presenting longer cycles of swaras , he can go bit more than what he presented, at times he builts up well but he fizzles out bit quickly in swaras .All said he created a feeling in me that i have to listen to him again .

Nagai sriram in violin was fantastic , his azhuttam is really good and at times his raga bhavam was always a notch better than Ramaprasad-particularly in ragamaliga . Ganapathyraman gave great support , the last time I noticed a lot of silence and pauses which were not to my liking yesterday he did not give any of those longer pauses , he indeed collaborated well with both the violinist and vocalist. The sound of his mrudangam had a nice mrudhu angam .

OVerall a very good to excellent concert for nearly 2 hours.
Last edited by rajeshnat on 16 Sep 2015, 13:54, edited 1 time in total.

CRama
Posts: 2939
Joined: 18 Nov 2009, 16:58

Re: Palakkad Ramaprasad@NGS(Mini) on Sept 15th,2015

Post by CRama »

Rajesh welcome back. I wanted to attend this concert. But very tired after a short trip down south. Ramprasad gives true classical fare in his concerts. So far I have attended only one- which review I posted here. We should get more concerts of his.
Correct Gopalakapahimam as REvagupti. Even though there is a Bhooplam version of this song, I presume Ramprasad has sung it in Revagupti- for that is more commonly heard version- KVN, MS. etc.

rajeshnat
Posts: 10123
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Palakkad Ramaprasad@NGS(Mini) on Sept 15th,2015

Post by rajeshnat »

CRama wrote: Correct Gopalakapahimam as REvagupti. Even though there is a Bhooplam version of this song, I presume Ramprasad has sung it in Revagupti- for that is more commonly heard version- KVN, MS. etc.
Yes I think he sang only revagupti in line with KVN version . The bhoopalam has shades of subhapantuvarali aura and I did not hear any shades of that when ramaprasad sang. I usually get confused with bowli and revagupti but I should have not stated that krithi as bhoopalam. Thank you CRama for the correction.

arasi
Posts: 16873
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Palakkad Ramaprasad@NGS(Mini) on Sept 15th,2015

Post by arasi »

Rajesh,
Thanks for the review. We don't get that many reviews of this young and talented vidvAn's concerts--also a cordial man, as I found him when we rasikAs met him at GBL's memorial concerts last December.

Finally home sweet home Rajesh, and may the coming months yield you a fine crop of concerts! Still a bit jet-lagged, I presume...

mahavishnu
Posts: 3341
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 21:56

Re: Palakkad Ramaprasad@NGS(Mini) on Sept 15th,2015

Post by mahavishnu »

Rajesh: Thanks for your review.
You are back in India?

Palghat Ramprasad is an excellent musician. I look forward to listening to his music for years to come!

VRV
Posts: 151
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 19:03

Re: Palakkad Ramaprasad@NGS(Mini) on Sept 15th,2015

Post by VRV »

Rajesh,

Glad you are back safely home after a long trip in So Cal. Also glad that you are now able to recognize Lathangi with absolutely no ambiguity. If you know what I mean.

Vinod Venkataraman

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