Sumithra V, Nada Inbam

V Sumithra - Dr Hemalatha - Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar

Nada Inbam, Raga sudha hall. 24th April 2006. 6pm

slOkam on rAmA - nATTai, gauLa, Arabhi, varALi, maNirangu
mAmava paTTAbhirAmA - maNirangu - cApu - MD
nI pada pankajamula - bEgaDA - Adi - T
uruga vENDAmO - kIravANi - tisra Ekam - ambujam krishna (tuned by R Vedavalli) (RN)
tuLasi bilva - kEdAragauLa - Adi - T (RS)
nI vADa nEgAna - sArangA - kaNDa cApu - T
kAru bAru - mukhAri - Adi - T
vallagAdanaka(???) - harikAmbhOji - T
rAmacandrasya - dharmavati - Adi - MD
bakthi bikshamiyyavE - sankarAbaraNam - tisra Ekam - T (RNS)
tani
slokam 'kalyANOllAsa' - mandAri, sahAnA, kApi, sindhu bhairavi
bhajarE srI rAmam - sindhu bhairavi - Adi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi

The concert started with a beautiful slokam and a surprise with the maNirangu kriti to begin with, which was well rendered. The bEgaDa which followed was good with sparkling ciTTai svarams. The kIravANi AlApanai was good and the kriti which followed was well rendered with neraval at the pallavi line 'uruga vENDAmO rAmAvenRu'

The kEdAragauLa AlApanai which followed was done very well. The kriti was rendered beautifully with nice svarams alternatively at 'tuLasi bilva' and 'uramuna'. This was followed by brisk sArangA kriti. The mukhAri kriti was rendered with a lot of bhavam, wish there was some manOdarma element attached to it as well. The fast harikAmbhOji kriti, the lines of which i could enver catch and the rare dharmavati kriti led to the main course.

The sankarAbaraNam AlApanai was done in a very logical fashion. It was good to hear an elaborate sankarAbaraNam with all the essentialities like aesthetics, sowkyam and bhavam thrown in. The kriti was rendered very elegantly with beautiful neraval in trikAlam and svarams in the pallavi line 'bhakti biccamiyyavE bhAvukamagu sAttvika'.

The rAgamAlikA slOkam was good also. Smt Sumithra has quite a few of her guru's qualities, esp. in music. Her smooth gliding transitions from one ragam into another while singing slokams, viruttams and also the neraval in trikAlam are all rubber stamps of the Vedavalli school, which she also becoming a veteran at.

Dr Hemalatha was good all thro the concert, though she seemed to be a bit lost on one or two occasions. Sri Sivakumar did a decent job.

bharath

Prasanna Venkataraman, Nada Inbam

Prasanna Venkataraman - L Ramakrishnan - R Sankaranarayanan

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha hall. 20th April 2006 6 pm

sarasija nAba - kambhOji varnam - aTa tALam
brOva samaya - gauri manOhari
ennagAnu rAma bhajana - pantuvarALi - rUpakam - BR (RNS)
srI rAmam - nArAyaNagauLa - Adi - MD
rAmAbhi rAmA - darbAr - cApu - T (RS)
Emani vEgintulE - husEni - Adi - T
kaddanu vAriki - tODi - Adi - T (RNS)
tani
mAsil Ayothiyil - bauLi, bilahari, kEdAragauLa, shanmukhapriyA
jAnakIramaNa - kApi - Adi
nanmaiyum selvamum - mukhAri
srI rAmachandra - dhanyAsi
mangalam kOsalEndrAya - madhyamAvati
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam.

I reached late and entered for the pantuvarALi kriti. The neraval at 'rAmaciluka nokada penci prEma mATalADanEpi' was good and the swarams were nice also. The nArAyaNagauLa kriti was rendered with bhavam. The darbAr AlApanai was easily the best of the concert. He made his mark with the AlApanai. The kriti was rendered beautifully with very nice svarams which was aptly followed by a good rendition of the husEni kriti.

The main tODi AlApanai was normal and the kriti was rendered with neraval and svarams at the caraNam line. The rAgamAlikA pieces which followed were nice. The artist did a good job with the concert. The violinst stood up to the main artist at all occasions. The mridangist was very supportive and good in is tani as well.

bharath

Rajeswari Padmanabhan, Veena Balachander Trust

Rajeswari Padmanabhan - Veenai
B Ganapathi Raman - Mrudangam
Madippakkam Murali - Ghatam

Veena Balachandar Trust, Sastri Hall. 13th April 2006. 7 pm to 8 pm

shrI jAlandharam - gambIra nATTai - Adi (RS)
manavyAlakincarA - naLinakAnti - Adi - T
eduTa nilichitE - sankarAbaraNam - Adi - T (RTS)
kalayE - kApi - kaNDa tripuTa

The concert started with a beautiful AlApanai of gambIra nATTai and the kriti was well rendred and the swarams which followed were too good. The naLinakAnti kriti had a few nice sangatis rendered. The main sankarAbaraNam AlApanai was very good and showed all the nice sancarams and so did the tAnam in slow tempo. The kriti was rendered beautifully with very well structured swarams. The kApi kriti was good also. Smt Padmanabhan played a very good concert and the accompanists did a good job also.

Kalpakam Swaminathan, Veena Balachander Trust

Kalpakam Swaminathan - Veenai
S R Padmavati - Veena Support
Thanjavur Subramanian - mrudangam
H Sivaramakrishnan - Ghatam

Veena Balachandra Trust, Sastri Hall. 13th April 2006. 5 pm to 6 pm

varNam - nATTai - Adi
srI mahAgaNapatim - aTANA - Adi - Jayachamraja Wodeyar (RS)
bruhannAyaki - AndALi - Adi - MD
dEvI mInAkshI - kalyANi - rUpakam - taccUr singAchAri (RT)
eDu nammina - sAvEri - Adi - Patnam Subramania Iyer (RNS)
ambara chidambara - suruTTi - kaNDa cApu

The concert started off which a brisk rendition of the varNam. The AlApanai of aTANA which followed was very beautiful and neatly showed the nuances of the ragam. The kriti was rendered well. The swarams which followed were very good as well. The AndALi kriti was very good also.

The kalyANi AlApanai and tAnam showed all the beauty of the ragam with all the gamakAs clearly shown and the tAnam also was beautiful. The kriti was a rare one and was rendered well. Quite against the expectations of many rasikas for a kalyANi main, the The sAvEri AlApanai was much more enjoyable. The kriti was rendered well and the neraval and svarams were rendered well again to finish with a beautiful suruTTi kriti. It was an issue of classism to the fullest from the start to the finish. Smt Swaminathan treated the audience with good quality music. The accompanies did a good job.

Suguna Varadachari, Music Academy, Shyama Sastri Day

Suguna Varadachari - Chertalai Sivakumar - Thanjavur Subramanian

Music Academy, Shyama Sastri Day. 11th April 2006 6:30pm

trilOkamAtA nannubrOvu - pharaj - mishra cApu
ninnuvinA marigaladA - rItigauLA - tisra Adi
karuNajUDavammA vinammA - varALi - mishra cApu (R)
mAyammA nannubrOvavammA - nATTakuranji - Adi (RS)
bRhannAyakI nannu - madhyamAvati - tisra maTya (R)
sari yevarammA - bhairavi - khaNDa jhampa (RNS)
taniyAvardanam
kanakashaila vihAriNi - punnAgavarALi - Adi
sankari sankari - kalyANi - aTa

I entered while Smt Varadachari started the varALi kriti. It was rendered very well. The nATTakuranji AlApanai was very good and showcased a few rare sancArams. The kriti was rendered well with beautiful svarams. The madhyamAvati AlApanai which followed was very good also. The kriti was rendered beautifully.

The main bhairavi AlApanai was very well elaborated. It showed all the essential nuances of the rAgam and the kriti was rendered soulfully with beautiful neraval and svarams at 'mAdava sOdari gaurI amba'. The punnAgavarALi kriti was too good also.

Sri Sivakumar on the fiddle was good and did a good job with all the manodarmam parts. He followed the kritis with good anticipation.

Sri Subramanian on the mrudangam played well. Though his tani sounded not much different from what one could play for Adi tALam.

R Vedavalli, Musiri Chambers

R Vedavalli - Vocal
V Sumithra - Vocal Support
Usha Rajagopalan - Fiddle
Manoj Siva - Mrudangam

Musiri Chambers, 9th April 2006. 4 pm

intha chalamu - bEgaDa varNam - Adi
yajnAdulu sukhamanu - jayamanOhari - Adi - T (S)
mEru samAna - mAyAmALavagauLa - dEsAdi - T (RNS)
mATi mATiki - mOhanam - cApu - T
varugirAnO vArAnO - kannaDa - Adi - Arunachala Kavi
kanogonu saukhyamu - nAyaki - Adi - T (R)
giripai nelakona - sahAnA - Adi(2) - T (RS)
nIvADanE gAna - sArangA - kaNDa cApu - T
muttu kumaraiyyanE - sankarAbaraNam - tisra Ekam (2) - rAmasvAmi sivan (RTNS)
taniyAvardanam
slOkam - 'vAmE bhUmisudA' - sAvEri, shanmukhapriyA, dvijAvanti
rE rE mAnasa - dvijAvanti - Adi - ST
tillAnA - hamsAnandi - Adi - Mudicondan Venkatarama Iyer
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T
svasti prjApya - madhyamAvati.

The concert started with a nice short sketch of bEgaDa to be followed by the varNam. The jayamanOhari kriti was rendered with nice svarams.

The first AlApanai, mAyAmALavagauLa, was a neat elaboration of the ragam showing essential phrases. The kriti was rendered in dEsAdi tALam with beautiful neraval and svarams at 'gaLamuna shObhillu kanaka bhUSaNamula'. The mOhanam kriti which followed was rendered in a leisurely pace showing the gamakkas and the lakshaNas of the rAgam. The kannaDa kriti was good also.

The nAyaki AlApanai was something to remember for quite sometime to come. It showed the essential sancArams of the rAgam with all the aesthetics thrown in. The kriti was rendered well. The sahAnA AlApanai which followed was another masterpiece with a lot of classism filled in it. The kriti was rendered with beautiful svarams at the pallavi line with the sArangA kriti to follow.

The main course, was a sankarAbaraNam AlApanai with a lot of unheard sancArams and it was very enjoyable. The AlApanai was done very well, with Smt Sumithra sharing some bit. The tAnam which followed was too good also. The kriti, though small, was rendered well with neraval and svarams at the pallavi line. The mEl kAla svarams were rendered in the mEl tALam (tisra Ekam, 1 kaLai) in which the tani also was played. The slOkam and the dvijAvanti kriti were good also.

The violinst was good in all parts. Her rAga essays, of mAyAmALavagauLa, nAyaki and sahAnA were all very good. She only got to play the tAnam for sankarAbaraNam which did a good job with. Her neraval and svarams were all good and measured upto the main artist.

The mrudangist did a very good job with accompanying. He played according to whatever was sung with great anticipation. His tani was good also.

bharath

Manasa Nayana, Nada Inbam

Manasa Nayana - A G Venkatasubramanian - Trivandrum Rajagopal

April 8th, 4:30 pm. Raga Sudha Hall.

kanakAngi - tODi varNam
vandE anisham aham - hamsadvani - Adi - MV (S)
kAmAkshI - varALi - cApu - SS (RNS)
aparAdamula - rasALi - Adi - T (S)
evari mATa - kAmbhOji - Adi (2) - T (RNS)
tani
jagaddOdAraNa - kApi

It was nice concert. All the Alapanai were measured and were done with good sense of the rAga bhavam. neraval at 'suka shyAmalE siva sankarI' for the varALi kriti was good with svarams in kIzh kAlam alone. the rasALi svarams were good. The neraval at pallavi line for the main kAmbhOji kriti and the svarams which followed were good also. Even the short sketch of kApi was nice

The accompanists were good and did their job well.

Vasudha Ravi, Ramanavami concert, Nada Inbam

Vasudha Ravi - Melakaveri Thyagarajan - Erode Nagarajan

Nada Inbam, Ramanavami Concert.
7th April 2006 6 pm

1- manamohana - mohana varna - ata tala
2- mamava pattabhirama - manirang
3- vandanamu jesedara - kamas
4- shree raama ninna - saramathi
5- maravakave - sama
6- yemaiya rama - kambodhi (RNS)
7- palaimparava - arabhi
8- rama rama guna seema - simmendra madhyamam (RNST)
9- bhavayeham - behak
10- janaki ramana - kapi (slokam 'rAmAya rAmabadrAya...')
11- annalum nokimaar- hamir kalyani
12- seetha kalyana - kuranji
13- ramachandra prabhu - sindhu bhairavi
14 - mangalam jaya mangalam - madhyamavathi

Concert was a well planed one. The AlApanais were done well, but for a few instances when one felt the artist could have done better in finishing each phrase with an apt kaarvai and not abruptly. Decent concert. Did not attend the full concert, so not much to write in detail.

A Sundaresan, Shyama Sastri Day, Music Club IIT Madras

A Sundaresan
V V Ravi
Mannargudi Eswaran

Music Club IIT Madras Shyama Sastri Day

6th April 2006 7 pm

nA manavini vinu - saurAshTRam varNam - catusra jAti aTa tALam (R)
nannu brOva rAdA - janaranjani - cApu (RS)
sankari sankurU - sAvEri - tisra Adi (RNS)
brOvavammA - mAnji - cApu
ninnE namminAnu - tODi - cApu (RNS)
taniyAvardanam
brova samayamidE - punnAgavarALi - Adi (R)
sankari sankari - kalyANi - kaNDa aTa

The concert started with a beautiful sketch of saurAshTRam with the varNam rendered beautifully. The janaranjani AlApanai which followed showed the essential sancarams of the rAgam. The svaram which followed were good also.

The AlApanai of sAvEri was very good and the kriti was rendered with neraval and svarams at 'shyAma krSNa sahOdari shyAmaLe sAdOdari'. The clever usage of a catusra kArvai for a tisra naDai kriti all thro' the svaras was nice. The mAnji kriti was rendered with a lot of bhavam.

The main tODi AlApanai was good and revealed all the beauty of the grand rAgam. The kriti was rendered with neraval and svarams at 'kAmAkshI kancadaLAyadAkshI'. The punnAgavarALi AlApanai was too good as well and so was the kriti which followed.

Sri Sundaresan did a great job handling the Shyama Sastri kriti with a lot of ease. His rendition of kritis and also the manOdarmam were all too good.

Sri Ravi on the violin did a good job in all his replies to the main replies. He showed his capablities of being a good violinst in each phrase he played.

Sri Eswaran was just amazing. His playing for each kriti and each sangati and very apt following for the neraval and svarams were all good. The tani was very good also.

bharath

R Vedavalli, Bharat Kalachar

Smt R Vedavalli - Vocal
Smt V Sumithra - Vocal Support
Sri V L Kumar - Violin
Thanjavur Sri R Kumar - Mrudangam
Sri H Sivaramakrishnan - Ghatam

Bharat Kalachar, Sri YGP Auditorium.

2nd April 2006. 6 pm

dinamaNi vamsa - harikAmbhOji - dEsAdi - T
ninnu jUci - saurAshTRam - Adi - Patnam Subramaiya Iyer
sari evaarE - srIranjani - Adi - T (RS)
AragimpavE - tODi - tisra Ekam - T (RNS)
mari vErE - Anandabhairavi - cApu - SS (RS)
varugirAnO vArAnO - kannaDa - Adi
parama pAvana rAmA - pUrvikalyANi - Adi - Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar (RNS)
taniyAvartanam
pAsuram 'Anirai mEikka nI' in kapi, nIlAmbari, varALi, suruTTi, madhyamAvati
adaikkalam adaikkalam - madhyamAvati - Adi
tillAnA - hamsAnandi - Adi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi

The concert started late by about 10 min and yet without the violinst, who joined only for the srIranjani AlApanai. The concert was filled with classism and it was a regular affair as expected from Smt Vedavalli. All AlApanais were well structured with meaningful sancarams woven into one another. The neraval in three kAlams was also good.

The concert started with a nice rendition of harikAmbhOji kriti rendered in desAdi and the saurAshTRam kriti in oru kaLai rather than the usual renDu kaLai

The sriranjani AlApanai was well sung and had all the essential elements to make it 'ranjagam'. The kriti was rendered with well structured svarams. The toDi AlApanai was very nice as well, with Smt Sumitra sharing some parts of the AlApanai. The kriti with neraval in three kAlams and svarams at 'AragimpavE pAlAragimpavE' was very good. The Anandabhairavi AlApanai showed essential upAnga charecterestics of the rAgam and kriti was rendered with a lot of kaNakku svarams and the kannaDa kriti followed.

The main pUrvikalyANi AlApanai was done very elaborately. The kriti was rendered with a lot of bhavam with neraval and svarams at 'kanakAmbaradhara karuNAnvitavara'. Both the neraval and the AlApanai were had some parts by Smt Sumithra. The post tani part, began with rAgamAlikA pAsuram which in true Smt Vedavalli style was and nice to note the gliding points from one rAgam to another. The madhyamAvati kriti and the hamsAnandi tillAna led to curtains.

Smt Sumithra who provided Vocal support was very supportive and did a good job in the short streches she sang alone.

Sri V L Kumar who joined late, because of some kind of accident, which he told after the tani, was good in parts. His AlApanais were good. He was a bit clueless during many a kaNakku svaram espeacially in Anandabhairavi.

Sri R Kumar on the mridangam provided very good support and played with very great anticipation. He played every sangati and every svaram properly, without a hitch. His tani was good also.

Sri Sivaramarakrishnan provided able support as well.