N Vijay Siva, Bharathiya Sangeetha Vaibhavam

N. Vijay Siva - Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli - Palghat R. Raghu - Abhishek Raghuram

Bharathiya Sangeetha Vaibhavam
Ragasudha, 15th October 2006. 6 pm

vanajAkshi rO - kalyANi varNam - Adi - RSI
rAma nannu brOvarA - harikAmbOji - rUpakam - T(NS)
visAlAkshIm - kAsirAmakriyA - misra chApu - MD(RN)
srI dum durgE - srIranjani - kanDa Ekam - MD(RS)
gandarvAmara - slOkam in bEgaDA
kAmAkshi - bEgaDA - Adi - SS
chinnanADena - kalAnidi - Adi - thyAgarAja
srI subramaNyO - tODi - Adi - MD(RNS)
tani Avarththanam
pArkum tisai tOrum - viruttam in hamIr kalyANi, Ahiri, mOhanam, srI
srI abhayAmbA - srI - Adi - MD
mAdar pirai - chenchuruTTi - rUpakam - thirunAvukkarasar tEvARam
mahAyOga - viruttam in dEsh
viTTalA talakO swAmi - dEsh - Adi - PD (R)
nirAmaya purAdana - danyAsi - Adi - aruNagirinAthar tiruppugazh
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T
svasti prajApya - saurAshTRam

I entered while Sri Vijay Siva was wrapping up the kAsirAmakriyA elaboration. The kriti was rendered with neraval at 'kAsIrAgnIm. kapAlinIm'. The elaboration of srIranjani was good. The kriti, a personal favourite, was rendered well and the svarams which followed were real nice. The bEgaDa slOkam was good again and the kriti, yet another personal favourite, was rendered very well and the kalanidhi piece followed.

The main courese, tODi was well elaborated. However, one felt that all else he sang before and after the tODi piece were better. The kriti was rendered nicely with neraval and svarams at 'bhAsamAna vallI devasenO'. I should tell about the tani separtely.

The rAgamAlikA viruttam was just too good. The way he moved from hamIrkalyANi to Ahiri and the subsequent transitions were really good. The srI rAgam kriti was rendered well. The chenchuruTTi tEvAram which followed was also really nice.

To me, The highlight of the concert was the AlApanai of dEsh. It was just too good. The kriti was also very well and gave a good effect. The short snatches he sang between the lines of the kriti were awesome also. The tiruppugazh in danyAsi was good also.

Sri Vijay Siva gave a really nice concert. With a lot of personal favourites sang, I personally enjoyed it a lot. Sri Chandramouli however was not in his best form yesterday. His bowing was shrieky at parts and the replies, were otherwise good.

Sri Raghu, the old veteran, was amazing thro' the concert. His playing for each kriti and each sangati was just tooo good. One could hear him play the songs on the mrudangam. His tani was just tooo good. Advancing age and ill health seems to have very little effect on his playing. The magic he spelt from his mrudangam is still lingering in my mind. The patterns he played during the tani was just tooo good. Sri Abishek on the kanjIra ably supported his grandfather and was good throughtout.

நல்ல ஸங்கீதம் இங்கே. ரசிகர்கள் எங்கே?

இரண்டு நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு ஒரு கச்சேரிக்குச் சென்றேன். சென்னையில் ஸங்கீதத்தின் மையமாக இருக்கும் மயிலாப்பூரில் மாதவ பெருமாளின் திருவடிவாரத்தில் உள்ள 'ஸ்ரீ த்யாகராஜ ஸங்கீத வித்வத் ஸமாஜம்' என்ற ஒரு அமைப்பின் சார்பில் சாத்தூர் சகோதரிகள் ஸ்ரீமதி லலிதா சந்தானமும் ஸ்ரீமதி புவனா ராஜகோபாலனும் பாடினார்கள். பிடில் வாசித்தவர் ஸ்ரீமதி ஸ்ரீலக்ஷ்மி வெங்கட்ரமணி. மிருதங்கம் வாசித்தவர் மதுரை சுந்தர்.

நான் ஸமாஜத்துள் நுழைந்த போது தான் பிடில் அம்மணி ஏதோ முணுமுணுத்துக் கொண்டே உள்ளே விரைந்தார். மொத்தம் 10 பேர் தான். சத்குரு த்யாகப்ரம்மத்தின் ஸந்நதியில் தீப ஆராதனை செய்யப்பட்டு கச்சேரி தொடங்கும் சமயம் மொத்தம் ரசிகர்கள் எண்ணிக்கை 10 தான் இருக்கும். சிறிது நேரத்தில் இன்னும் சிலர் வந்தார்கள். ஆனால் எந்த ஒரு காலகட்டத்திலும் மொத்தம் 25 பேர்க்கு மேல் இல்லை. (மேடையின் மேல் இருந்தவர்கள், ஸமாஜத்தின் காரியதரிசி, ஸந்நதியின் அர்ச்சகர், மைக் செட் வைப்பவர், வாட்ச்மேன் உட்பட கணக்கில் எடுக்கப் பெற்ற பின் தான் இந்த எண்ணிக்கை.)

ஆனால் அபாரமான ஸங்கீதம். பாடிய இருவரும் ஒருவருக்கு ஒருவர் ஊக்கப் படுத்தும் வகையில் பாடினர். ராக ஆலாபனைகள், கீர்த்தனைகளை பாடுதல், நிரவல், ஸ்வரம் பாடுதல் என அனைத்திலும் நன்றாகத் தான் செய்தார்கள். ஆலாபனைகளில் தேவையற்ற ப்ருகாக்கள் இல்லை. அளவான கமக்கங்கள். அநாவசிய பிடிகள் எவையும் இல்லை. அது மட்டுமா, ஸ்ருதி சுத்தம், ஸாஹித்ய சுத்தம் இரண்டும் இருந்தது. நிரவல் செய்ய தெர்ந்தெடுத்த இடங்களும், பூரண பொருள் படும்படி எடுத்து, அவற்றை லாவகமாக பதம் பிரித்து பாடிய விதம் மிகவும் நேர்த்தி. கீர்த்தனங்களும் மிகவும் நன்றாகத்தான் பாடினர்.

சாதாரணாமாக நான் கேட்க விரும்பாத பந்துவராளியும் கரஹரப்ரியாவும் தான் கச்சேரியில் ப்ராதான்யமாக பாடப் பட்ட இரு ராகங்கள். ஆனால் இவர்கள் பாடிய விதம் என்னையே பேஷ் பலே என்று சொல்ல வைத்தது என்றால் பார்த்துக் கொள்ளுங்கள். "பாடும் ராகத்தை பிடிக்கவில்லை என்று குறை சொல்லாதே. பாடிய விதம் பிடிக்கவில்லை என்று சொல்." என்று நண்பர் ப்ரசன்னா கூறிக்கொண்டே இருப்பதன் விபரத்தை அன்று உணர்ந்தேன். உருப்படிகள் பல அவ்வளவாக கேட்கக் கிடைக்காதவை. (முழு பட்டியல் விபரம் தனியே ஆங்கில் விமர்சனத்தில் உள்ளது.)

பக்கவாத்தியங்களும் நன்றாகத்தான் அமைந்தன. ஆனாலும், இது போன்ற நல்ல ஸங்கீதத்திற்கு ரசிகர்கள் ஏன் வருவதில்லை? இதற்கு யார் விடை கூறுவது?

Sathur Sisters, Samajam

Sathur Sisters: Lalitha Santhanam and Bhuvana Rajagopal - Srilakshmi Venkataramani - Madurai B Sundar.

Thyagaraja Sangeetha Vidwat Samajam
14th October 2006 6:30 pm

surEshvaram - gambIra nATTai - Adi (Short Sketch)
danyuDevvaDo - malayamArutam - Adi - PSI (S)
mahA sAmrAjyasAlini - suddha dhanyAsi - Adi (Short Sketch)
vADErA daivamu - kAmavardini - Adi - T (RNS)
ennEramum - dEvagAndhAri - Adi - GKB
nI pAdamE gati - naLinakAnti - rUpakam
pakkala nilabaDi - kharaharapriyA - cApu - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
tiruppati vEnkaTaramaNA - hamsAnandi - Adi - PD
rAmachandra prabhU - sindhubhairavi - Adi - ST
mangaLa slOkam
'rAmabrahma suputrAya rAmanAma sukhAtmanE
rAmachandra svarUpAya tyAgarAja mangaLAm' - madhyamAvati
'kAvEri dhIravAsAya kAruNyAmruta varshiNE
avanIsura rAjAya tyAgarAjAya mangaLam' - suruTTi

The short sketch of gambIra nATTai by Smt Rajagopal which began the concert was good and the kriti was well rendered. The malayamArutam kriti, a benchmark piece of their father, was rendered beautifully with nice one Avartana svarams at 'vara mattaLa'. Smt Santanam's suddha dhanyAsi short sketch was good and the kriti was good as well.

kAmavardini AlApanai by Smt Santanam was good and strictly traditional mainly focusing on the madhyasthAyi prayOgams. The kriti was rendered beautifully with neraval at 'sItApati ani pEru galigina vADEra deivamu manasA' including the last line of caraNam and the pallavi to give a complete sentence. The svarams were good also.

The renditions of the dEvagAndhAri kriti and naLinakAnti kriti were good. Smt Rajagopal's kharaharapriyA elaboration was another example of a classical AlApanai with strict adherence to the traditional style. It was elaborated neatly and the kriti was well rendered with nice neraval and svarams at 'manasuna dalaci mE maraciyunnArA'. The clear splitting of words during the neraval as 'manasuna dalaci' and 'mE maraciyunnArA' were very evident and is to be appreciated.

The hamsAnandi kriti and sindhubhairavi piece were good also. As a finishing touch the mangaLam slOkam by Smt Rajagopal in madhyamAvati and the suruTTi one by Smt Santanam were just too good.

The sisters gave an amazing concert with complete adherence to tradition. Each piece was measured and it was a well patterened concert. It is sad that concerts of such high quality music have less number of patrons. The total number of people at Samajam that evening, including the artists on stage, the archakar at sannadi, the mic man and watch man was 25.

Smt Venkataramani on violin was very shaky in starting her AlApanais. However she later built them up in a nice way.

Sri Sundar on the mrudangam was good and played for the sangatis. His tani was good also.

S Sowmya, AIR Madras Deepavali Concert

S Sowmya - M R Gopinath - Trivandrum Vaidhyanathan - Pudukkottai Ramachandran

AIR Multi Track Recording Studio Auditorium, Madras.
12th October 2006. 6:30 pm

gajAnanayutam - vEgavAhini - Adi - MD
mahAgaNapatE - naTanArAyaNi - Adi - MD
rAga ratna - rItigauLa - rUpakam - T (RNS)
taruNam eedammA - gauLipantu - Adi - SS
mInAkshi mE mudam - gamakakriyA - Adi - MD (RS)
tani Avarththanam
thiruvai paNindu - mAND - catusra Ekam - Bharathiyar
bhajarE yadunAtam - pIlU - catusra Ekam - Sadasiva Bramendirar
bhUmi meCCiDum - kAvaDi cindu - Annamalai Reddiar
kaNNA kAththaruL - madhyamAvati - Adi - PS

The vEgavAhini piece was sang before the curtains could raise, possibly for sound checking and getting the settings right. It was delivered well.

The concert then started with the naTanArAyaNi kriti which was rendered well. The AlApanai of rItigauLa was very nice. The kriti was rendered with nice neraval at 'bhAgavatOttamulu gUDi pADE kIrtanamulaTa' and beautiful svarams. The gauLipantu kriti was rendered soulfully.

The main course AlApanai of gamakakriyA was good, carefully not overusing p d p s phrases. The kriti was rendered with nice svarams at 'madurA purI nilayE'

The post tani pieces were all good also. Being Deepavali concert, Smt Sowmya seemed to have chosen pieces which have some deepavali connection. The accompanists were good in doing their job well. Overall a nice concert.

The concert will be telecasted on Deepavali day, 21st October 2006 at 8:45 AM on Madras A, Short wave and DTH as well.

bharath

Delhi Muthukumar, Music Club IIT Madras

Delhi V Muthukumar - Nagai Sriram - Trivandrum Balaji - K V Gopalakrishnan

Music Club IIT Madras. 10th October 2006.

evari bOdana - AbhOgi varNam - Adi (RS)
vAraNa mukhavA - hamsadvani - rUpakam - KI (RNS)
O jagadambA - Anandabhairavi - Adi - SS (R)
santAna manjari - santAna manjari - Adi - MD (R)
dharaNi garbha (slOkam) in suruTTi
angArakam - suruTTi - rUpakam - MD
sATilEni guruguha - pUrvikalyANi - cApu - PP (S)
srI subramaNyAya - kAmbhOji - tisra Ekam(2) - MD (RS)
tani Avarththanam
srI bhuvanEsvari - sivaranjani - Adi
viruttam - sEndanai kandanai - valaji, shaNmukhapriyA, khamAs, hamsAnandi
ulaga pasu - hamsAnandi tiruppugazh
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T

It was nice concert from the starting. The AbhOgi short sketch was good and so were the svarams. It was real nice to hear neraval at 'munnavanE nI mun ninRRAl muDiyAdadonRillai' and the svarams were good also.

The first elaborate AlApanai was Anandabhairavi. It was done very well and the kriti was well rendered also. The AlApanai of santAna manjari (67th asampUrNa mELam) was the highlight of the concert. The 10 min AlApanai was very moving and just too good. The kriti was well rendered also.

The slOkam and suruTTi and the vAra kriti were good. The svarams in pUrvikalyANi in line with the poruththam in the cittai svaram of the kriti were nice also.

The kAmbhOji AlApanai was intellectual. The kriti was well rendered and the swarams were nice also. The rAgamAlikA viruttam and tiruppugazh were good.

The Violinst was good in parts. His AlApanais needed a bit more vigour. He was good in accompanying the artists and also in the svarams.

The percussion department was very well handled by the mrudangist and kanjirA vidwan. They played for the kriti and svarams all thro'. The tani was nice also.