Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath, Naada Inbam, 9/June/2015

[sankark]

Scheduled for this evening 6:15

To be streamed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CLx_m_00JE

[sureshvv]

Out of the world endukku nirdaya... what a team on stage!

[sureshvv]

One of the best concerts of 2016. Seems to have addressed some of the criticisms levelled here in rasikas (even though i felt they were unjustified).

[thenjasatta]

Not quite.

Some people think that oscillating every note makes it Brindamma's music. The beauty lies in the right balance between plain notes, gamakas, etc.... Moments of silence in between is supremely beautiful. First, she needs to work on her tone. Use lot of 'aakaarams' while singing. It helps in improving your tone. Right now, it is sounding like a 60 year old maami singing. For example, listen from 47:31 to 47:36 when she sings karpanai swarams for Hari Kamboji. Highly unnecessary oscillations. Infact, you can see Shriramkumar cringe. In a lot of other places you can see Shriramkumar and Arun Prakash cringing together when she does those over oscillations. Infact, watch their faces when she begins the varaali alapana.

There is a lot of Vidwat (proficiency) but all in vain.

[kvchellappa]

She sang in a way that was enjoyable and as a person of her age. Music is partly in the listener also. If someone wants to enjoy, he can. If someone goes to find out what mistakes are there, he can.

[hnbhagavan]

Improvements are required for her.But i feel she has in her inner strength to give good music.I do not know why such harsh comparison in post#4.

[sureshvv]

thenjasatta... i don't this rksk is "cringing". He is putting the additional effort to reproduce the same effect as her vocalization.

As to this "excessive oscillation" business, it is your taste that finds it excessive. May be you like the more semi classical or devotional genre of CM. Excessive gamakas can be distracting to the devotional/bhakthi mood.

I have heard several people complain about this excess from certain other leading artistes also (Abhishek for instance). But that is one of the fundamental "feels" of carnatic music, and to a certain extent it showcases the level of sadhakam that the artiste has put in to be able to pull it off. Very few can sing at this gamaka density.

Arun Prakash was wonderful and at his supportive best and enjoying himself. I don't think he was "cringing" anywhere either. You may be guilty of transferring your emotions to the stage.

[sureshvv]

As to 47:31 ro 47:36, which oscillation did you find "unnecessary"? You must have noticed that the 1st 2 swara sections used straight notes, This was the 3rd, building up and in contrast. I felt it was right on the money.

[thenjasatta]

I recommend the artists to take the criticisms constructively and work on improving their vocal delivery. I am a fan of Aishwarya myself. I have told this several times before. I sincerely hope she takes my advice seriously and works on them. She has great vidwat. I dont want that to go in vain. All the best from me !

[sureshvv]

I found some areas of marked improvement.

1. Singing without any apparent straining of voice
2. Masterly use of microphone without breathing or other sounds
3. Imaginative alapana... like how she began bhairavi

[narayan]

sureshvv,
Thanks for the pointer. Good music. Yet another musician to watch for. Neraval in enduku nirdaya was enjoyable.

thenjesatta,
I am also a big fan of you as a rasika, and have requested you to improve, but all in vain.

[thenjasatta]

@narayan

I am not a performer. So, I do not know what you are talking about. Good luck!

[narayan]

Dear thenjasatta,
I know that you are not a performer. I said as a rasika.
As instructed by you, I had a closer look at facial expressions during Varali. Clearly you are more sharp sighted than me.
Thanks for good wishes, and the same to you.

[sureshvv]

The vibe I get from looking at the accompanists on the video is the exact opposite of thenjasatta's, They are both highly encouraging and working hard to keep up with her performance although they show good anticipation, KAP in particular.

[shibi]

A complete outsider's view: I found the kutcheri to be very enjoyable: lovely song / raagam selection. Anandha Bhairavi, Hari Kamboji, Varali, Bhairavi; It took me a while to *get used* to the artist's style. But I find this to be the same when I first heard even greats like MD Ramanathan etc; More philosophically, this perhaps opens up a debate as to whether music is an acquired taste or is there some pre existing *sweet spot* that rasikas expect artistes to *attain*.