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Accompanied by V.Sanjeev - violin, ArunprakAsh -mridangam and BS PurushOtaman -kanjirA
THis concert was a sequel to Shri Tanjore S kalyAnarAman dvd presentation (when I have time I will write more about that especially brilliance of tsk dvd that was screened before),I went at 06:15 pm pm to see the dvd presentation.
Then there was a brief vote of thanks by vidushi bhushany kalyAnarAman , the expectation in me was there that Ranjani gAyathri would have done adequate home work to present a concert kind of a fitting tribute to TSK. Alas was it there or not Read on?
In line with a fitting tribute for TSK:
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1. neeve naNNu "varnam"- ranjani
I am assuming this varnam was sung by TSK. Usually TSK sings ranjani beautifully, RG did a very good rendition, just perhaps their voice did not open up well
4. Palintuvo Palimpavo (R S) - Kanthamani - T
TSK is considered a genius in handling prati melakarthas. GAyathri sang a very beautiful rendition of KAnthamani alApanai for about 6 minutes ,with5 minutes violin return by sanjeev. The swaras were quite good with a very nice rendition of krithi
8. nAtha hare jagannAtha hare(R) - madhuvanti - Ashtapadi
Madhuvanti tukkada by TSK is sublime (especially this no and the other kanda nAl mudhalai).They sang this ashtapathi with gAyathri singing an excellent alApana to begin with.
Debatable perhaps not in line as a fitting tribute for TSK:
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2. shree mahAganapthi ravathumA (S) - gowlai - MD
3. evarani nee - devamruthavarshi - T
I am not sure if TSK sang the above 2 numbers , the sisters sang the evarani quite well, and the gowlai swaras were presented quite well, but the quick turns of md krithi in gowlai was not that great.
5. vA murugA vA - bEgaDa - spencer venugOpAl
6. saravana bhava samayamidirA ?? - pasupathipriyA -hmb
I always associate the first venugOpal bEgaDa with DKJ, not sure if TSK has sung it . IIRC TSK is more known to present NS Chidambaram songs. Still putting that TSK applicability aside , the sisters did not present too well , at times when two singers sing medicrity sets in as they go in tandem , that was the case here for RG.The fast no of HMB was just very good , the presentation at times was lacking in azhuttam
7. sari evarammA (R N S T)- bhairavi - SS
sari evarammA is perhaps one krithi that TSK has not sung , more a DKJ-DKP favourite .Even putting applicability aside , the main was just just good. The alApana was for 11 minutes where initially ranjani sang for about 4 minutes (not that great), then gAyathri giving a nice face lift fror about 7 minutes.The krithi presentation was quite good,neraval for 10 minutes was more satisfying than the swaras for 7 minutes (not satisfying not just because of low minutes but also because of their delivery)
Definitely not that debatable as a fitting tribute for TSK:
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TSK was way ahead of times , the sisters could have researched a bit more of TSk , say presented a bharathiyAr composition, or some other sloKha or some other bhajan ,tsk has given countless of those and he has tuned them tooo. But RG sisters did is their usual playing to the gallery in their own way. I have nothing against this type of songs , but I felt they could have given a more well rounded tsk tukkada.
Well what the sisters presented ,
9. A Bang "nAma thujE" - mAnd - sant tukkaram
I heard the same with them no few years back,Just did not suit well , that too nAtha harE before had an end towards like an abhang where they have alApanish phrases , to an extent following that with this A bang did not gel well , they missed a good chance to take us towards a fitting tribute to TSK.
The violinist was the best in the team today, very good azhuttam sanjeev did a very good job.The mridangist ARun PrakAsh played OK felt as always little more strokes especially in bhairavi would have lifted well, I did not hear that much BSP.tani was an average one.it
I turned to smt bhushany kalyAnarAman who was sitting in the up balcony behind me and JAlrA adhichufied (as in recommending the vidwan)
for some vidwan who was known as subrA in school and asked you are holding once a year of TSK rememberance day, perhaps you could have chosen an artist like sanjay subrahmanyan(sanjay is now in australia it seems...) .RG sisters are very capable musicians and any one can emulate any artist of yesteryears in a thematic concert. They could have done that for Shri TSk, but it was not the case, better luck next time. Even assuming it was not a thematic concert of TSK, still the presentation was just not that elegant.Overall a good to very good concert from 6:55 pm to 9:00 pm, among all the RG concerts that I have attended so far this appeared the bottom of all, they are usually far far better.