TNS-MC-UKS & SSK for KVN Day at Brahma Gana Sabha

[erode14]

Vocal - T.N.Seshagopalan
Vocal support - T.N.S.Krishna
Vioin - M.Chandhrasekaran
Mrudangam - Umayalpuram K.Sivaraman
Kanjira - Shreesundharakumar
Thambura - Delhi Muthukumar.

Neranammithi, the ata thALa varNam in kAnadA, been a good appetizer that triggered the longing for more food to the ears and we really had a treat!

It was a complete bhAvA oriented concert and had sweet memories of ariyakudi style, as sivaraman sir mentioned in the middle of the concert, “ iyengaarvaaL ippadithaan paaduvaar.”

Anandhabhairavi AlApana took place with pleasant sangathis… chandhru sir began the rAga with, the sanAthana prayOgA… pA.. pA.. dhA…. Pa ma ga mA…. pA ma ga ri gA…. As he did not show, shades of any kIrthana, we kept guessing and TNS sang “mAnasa guru guha rUpam bhajarE”.

It reminded me the speech by shrI kunnakudi vaidhyanathan, (the then president of iyal isai nAtaka mandram), during my arangEtram, about the effects of ragas and explained how Anandhabhairavi (shrI PSN mama sang “marivErE on that day) reduces hypertension and told that is why dhIkshitharvaaL chose this rAgam and wrote “mAya maya hrithApam thyajarE.” A neat and nice swara prasthAram was there.

Though some create tension while dealing with this rAgam,:( this one was awesome.

The thiruppAvai in pUrvikalyANi, “kUdArai vellum sIr gOvindhA…” followed Anandhabhairavi and the line "kUdi irundhu kuLirndhElOr empAvAi" was appropriate also to express the extra chillness from the A/C. One mAmA and mAmi and atleast 5,6 people left the hall due to kuLir. Our Ram had fever, but, tolerated since the combination of artistes won the “cold war.”:P

ranganAyakam came next with a detailed AlApanai and TNS’s manthra sthAyi sancharams added value to it. Even if someone has been having an iota of doubt, it would have been vanished in the very second prayOgam of chandhru sir!

TNS took a hatrick by singing pUchi srInivAsaiyengAr’s sAhithyam “pArthasArathy nannu” [madhyamAvathy-rUpaka chApu] with short cycle swarams of ‘ariyakudi bhANi and ended the swara prasthAram with the abiprAyam which shri KVN used to sing often as the concert was in memory of shrI KVN on his 84th birthday.

sankarAbharaNam was main. TNS sang prAchIna sangathis of the rAgam along with his amazing creativity and brugAs and presented “endhuku pedhdhala” in a spicy kAlapramANam. The song, niraval,swaram, kuraippu everything was good. He also sang a kOrvai surprisingly after chandhru sir did his special round before thani.

Uks sir and sundharakumar performed an efficient thani Avardhanam. Sir played classical gumkis here and there and filled the auditorium with charming aRai chApus. His “kitathaka dhinakita dhinakita dhinakita” carried real swarUpam of mrudangam. He played kaNda gathi and ended with a thisra gathi mOrA – kOrvai.

marubAri thALanEnurA, jAvaLi of dharmapuri subbarAyar in ,,,,,, took flight with beautiful sangathis in the vishrAnthi and filling of jAra shikhAmaNI rArA….

The niraval in the rAgams senchurutti, nAhdanAmakriyA, yaman kalyAni and sindhu bhairavi been a highlight of the day. He sang like that. Chandhru sir’s inclusion of kAvadi chindhu portions in senchurutti, was interesting. That was followed by andri ulagam aLandhAi adi pOtri and the concert came to an end with the mangaLam “nI nAma rUpamulaku.”

[saveri]

Just to add : Viruttam was Chediyaya valvinagal theerkum Tirumale= Pasuram

What was interesting, TNS selected all the ragas sung in Madhyama sruti, and sang Sindhubahiravi also in the madhyama sruti which really took the raga in a high pitch and created a different flavour for the raga.

This was followed by Vachana Miga, Tirupugazh before the Mangalam.

What was interesting about the concert, was that TNS , presented all the favourite KVN / Iyengar numbers, and reminded the audience well of the distinct flavour of their school. Nera nammiti, Manasa Guruguha, Ranganayakam,Parthasarathi,Endukku are all some established KVN favourites. Special mention must be made on the Niraval at Veda Sastra, where he placed swaras at Veda, Sastra and Tattva. The multiple prayogams of SP , SM in Sankarabharanam to link it as SAMa ( Veda Sastra) was delectable. It is "kai vandha kalai" for TNS, but then for the listener, as always , any number of times is not enough.

What was remarkable, was that TNS proved many skeptics, who might have wondered that the styles of KVN and himself are in polarity, absolutely wrong.

Without sacrificing his own approach to music, TNS presented all the songs with ample justice to the KVN bani, the person being remembered that day. So much so that UKS told the audience that " Iyengarval ippadithaan paaduvar". Also during or after the Viruttam , if I remember right, UKS patted , TNS on the shoulder, for some excellent rendition, which really showed how enjoyable the concert was.

Yes , as Erode mentioned, the cooling system transgressed limits into chilling, and then further transgressed, into freezing !
If not for TNS's, quick swaras in Parthasarathi and Endukku, and UKS's, sparkling Tani, we would have all had frozen fingers !!!

Also the lights on the stage were behaving in a psychedellic, pattern and at one time the lights went off on the stage. It was the reverse this time.

Generally the rasikas are kept in the dark, in most auditoriums, but this time, even the stalwarts were kept in the dark for a while !!!

[arasi]

A great concert, it seems. TNS is amazing. After such a rigorous tour in the US, jet lag or not, he served up a sumptuous treat, after all...

[sarojaRamanujam]

Review of the concert of TNS at Brahmaganasabha-on 16-11-2007-KVN memorial concert.

Rasikas were treated to another fabulous concert by the sangithakalnidhi trio TNS, MC and UKS. Araadhanaa is the right word to describe the concert, araadhana of naadhopaasakas. It was a fanfare with such accompaniments but laden with bhava. All the rasikas who attended the concert would surely look forward to more such treats in the coming season.

The moment TNS started with the Kanada ada thala varnam it produced in the mind of rasikas great expectations which was realised in full. The Anandhabhairavi that followed might have kept some guessing as to what would follow but considering that it was a memorial concert and that it was Skadhashashti, it could very well be anticipated and it was of course ‘manasaguruguha .’ The Anandanbhairavi of TNS never fails to produce ananda and this was no exception.

Next was the thiruppavai koodaaraivellum in Poorvikalyani . We were treated with two thiruppavais today, this and anru ivvulagam at the end of the concert. The air was charged through out with the nostalgic memories of Ariyakudi to the rasikas of that school, the day being the commemoration of KVN. The pieces chosen and the rendering, both were deliberate attempts to bring back the memories but TNS enhanced the ariyakudi bani wth his originality and proved that he could create a colourful rangoli with in any given frame, providing a kaleidoscopic fare.
The music of TNS itself serbves as the best commentary on the thiruppavai and other pasurams. The way he sang the phraseâ€