70 Violins at Sri Ramaseva Mandali, 10th May 2008

[sowmya]

70 violins led by Vid. Kanyakumari
Mridangam : Vid. P Satish Kumar
Kanjari : Vid. N Amrit
Morching : Vid. Rajashekhar
Tabla : Vid. Udayaraj Karpur [I think that was the name. not sure…]

Venue : Ramanavami celebrations, Sree Rama Seva Mandali, Chamarajpet, Bangalore. 10-05-2008.

1. Sarasijanabha – Kambhoji – Khanda Ata – Swati Tirunal
2. Nammamma shaarade – Hamsadhvani – Adi - Kanakadasa [R, S]
3. Endaro mahaanubhaavulu – Sri – Adi – Thyagaraja
4. Mokshamugaladaa – Saaramati – Adi – Thyagaraja [O, S]
5. Revati – Adi – Kanyakumari
6. Anupamagunaambudhi – Athana – Khandachapu – Thyagaraja
7. Raghuvamsha – Kadanakutoohala – Adi – Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer [O]
8. Krishnaa nee begane – Yamuna Kalyani – Adi – Vyasaraya
9. Sharashara – Kuntalavarali – Adi – Thyagaraja
10. Swararaagasudhaa – Shankarabharana – Adi – Thyagaraja [R, S, T]
11. Note – Shankarabharana – Adi – Muttiah Bhagavatar
12. Jagadoddhaarana – Kapi – Adi – Purandaradasa
13. Tillana – Sindhubhairavi – Adi – Kanyakumari [O]
14. Bhagyada lakshmi – Madhyamavathi – Adi – Purandaradasa

The 70 violin ensemble was orchestrated with the 70th anniversary of the Ramaseva mandali in mind. I must confess I didn’t have too many expectations when I went to this program. I had thought that sychronising so many instruments would be a monumental task in itself, and wasn’t expecting any serious music. Hence, I was pleasantly surprised with the very high quality of music I heard.

If the synchrony achieved was amazing, so was the mike arrangement. While the violins could clearly be heard when they were playing individually, it wasn’t noise when everyone was playing together. The volume was at a very comfortable level. The four percussionists supported the ensemble very well.

The program was very well structured, and the violins almost sang like one! And Kanyakumari never dominated the program. Many of the performers got their chance in alapana and swaras, and produced great music. The Saaramati piece was beautiful. The alapana of Shankarabharana was grand. It was passed from hand-to-hand all around the stage, and each of them came up with endearing sancharas. Of course, there was no well-rounded effect that can be expected when a single person is dealing with the whole alapana, but the total effect was still good. And the manodharma part of it didn’t seem to have been rehearsed. She seemed to be randomly pointing out people and asking them to play next, and they rose to the occasion without hesitation!

The most surprising thing for me was to learn that all of them were not Kanyakumari’s students. I had just assumed they would be. But they were from different places, and learning from different gurus. Many senior professional violinists were also part of the group. I thought it must have been much tougher bringing together such a diverse group, each with their own style of playing, into playing so well in concert.

[mri_fan]

There's sare some small youtube videosI would really like to see the shankarabharam piece at some point

Awsome:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TXCRo7xEVXo&feature=related

[shankarabharanam]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIsnaSa_GvI
More video clippings of this concert...

[rshankar]

An interview with Vid Kanyakumari, with a mention of this concert:

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/05/09/stor ... 170100.htm

[harish.krishnan213]

That hamsadwani piece was Kanakadasa's Nammama Sharade UmaMaheshwari..

[sowmya]

Thanks...

[tkb]

I am pleased to inform that i was there in the concert and here is a link for one of teh track which a Kanyakumari madam's own composition on Revathy http://sangeethamshare.org/sathya/70vioilinEnsemble/