Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, Valayapatti Nadalaya

Nedunuri Krishnamurthy - Sriram Parasuram - Guruvayur Durai - Srirangam Kannan

Valayapatti Kaashyap Nadalaya. Hemamalini Kalyana Mantapam
31st December 2006. 10 am

vandE ham - hamsadvani - kaNDa cApu - A (RS)
sambhO mahAdEva - pantuvarALi - rUpakam - T
manasA eTulOrtunE - malayamArutam - rUpakam - T (RS)
srI valli dEvasEnApatE - naTabhairavi - Adi - PS
manavi AlakimparA - naLinakAnti - Adi - T (short sketch)
srI vEnkaTagirISam - suruTTi - Adi - MD (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
sAkEtE nagarE - Slokam - shanmukhapriyA, sAmA, bEhAg, sindhubhairavi
eppo varuvArO - jOnpuri - Adi - GKB
patiki hArati rE - suruTTi - Adi - T
sriyatkAntAya & managaLam kOsalEndrAya - madhyamAvati

Sri Nedunuri Krishnamurthy presented an awesome concert this morning. Even beyond his not-so-normal health, he was in full form and presented a very enjoyable concert. Though he was visibly uncomfortable with some problems in his neck, that did not stop him for the 3 hours he kept the audience captive.

The concert started with a short AlApanai of hamsadvani and the kriti was rendered well with nice round of svarams to follow at the pallavi line. His first set of one Avartana svarams with just 'sa ri ga pa ni' were all good. And another sancaram with utilised to the fullest was 'ni sa ri ga \ pa' which gave a strikingly different effect from the usual 'ni sa ri ga \ ni'. The pantuvarALi kriti which followed was rendered well.

The malayamArutam AlApanai which followed was very nice. The kriti was rendered with a nice set of svarams at 'kalilO rAjasa'. After this Sri Nedunuri said that he is singing ragams which he usually doesnt sing at concerts. He said, svarams also should be filled with raga bhavam and not be detached. He said, he was not very comfortable singing svarams at the occasion and will sing rAgams leisurely (vishrantiya raagam paadren). The naTabhairavi kriti which followed was nice. The naLinakAnti piece which followed (on request) was well rendered, and he rendered the pallavi line as 'manavi Alakimpara' instead of the usual, mavyAlakincarA. I am told that only the former makes sense in telugu.

The main suruTTi AlApanai was a treat to hear. The master of suruTTi kept us captive with the AlApanai which was full of long sancarams. He restricted himself to the thArasthAyi rishabam and commented that, to reach this rishabam correctly, it took 50 years for him. As promised, he did sing a leisurely AlApanai. The kriti was rendered beautifully with nice neraval and svarams at 'alamElumangA samEdam anantapadmanAbamatItam'. Some of the svarams were he exploited the 'pa\sa' and 'ma\sa' extensively were really good. The rAgamAlikA slOkam and the jOnpuri kriti were rendered beautifully.

Sri Sriram on the violin followed Sri Krishnamurthy like a shadow. He gave AlApanais which were fitting those of the main artists. The kriti renditions and neraval and svarams were very good as well.

Sri Dorai was his usual self on stage. He played with a great level of anticipation and fitting for all that was presented. Sri Kannan on the morsing ably supported the mrudangist. The tani they played was very nice.

bharath

R Vedavalli, The Indian Fine Arts Society.

R Vedavalli - Usha Rajagopalan - Neyveli Skandasubramanian - H Sivaramakrishnan

Indian Fine Arts Society. German Hall
30th December 2006. 5 pm

gaNanAyakam - rudrapriyA - Adi - MD
ElA nI daya rAdu - aTANA - Adi - T (S)
sari evvarE - srIranjani - Adi - T (RS)
vEnkaTa saila - hamIrkalyANI - Adi - Subbaraya Sastri
rAma rAma pAhi - dEvagAndhAri - tisra Ekam - ST (short sketch)
parama pAvana rAma - pUrvikalyANi - Adi - RSI (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
thozudanan ulaga - pAsuram - kharaharapriyA, sAvEri, shanmukhapriyA, sahAnA, suruTTi
lAliyUgavE - nIlAmbari - tisra Ekam - T
svasti prajApya - madhyamAvati

Smt Vedavalli gave a very classical and fulfilling concert. She started off with the rudrapriyA kriti. The aTANA kriti and the svarams were good. The srIranjani AlApanani was good. The kriti was rendered with a nice round of svarams at 'srI jAnaki'.

The hamIrkalyANi kriti was rendered very soulfully. It was a very moving rendition of the kriti. To me, it was a long time dream that got fulfilled in hearing Smt Vedavalli rendering, 'vEnkaTa saila vihArA'. The dEvagAndhAri kriti which followed was good.

The pUrvikalyANi AlApanai was done quite briskly in keeping up with the mood of the kriti that followed. While one was expecting another main piece after the pUrvikalyANi, as Smt Vedavalli started the kriti in an elaborate fashion, one was prooved otherwise. The kriti was rendered very beautiful with awesome neraval and svarams at 'kanakAmbaradara karuNavitasura'. The korappu svarams were sung in 3 kAlams and a fitting kOrvai. The rAgamAlikA pAsuram had the usual punch with which Smt Vedavalli renders it. The nIlAmbari piece was a fitting tail piece to end the concert.

Smt Vedavalli was ably supported by Smt V Sumitra who sang along with her. Smt Sumitra shared some parts of the AlApanai and also sang neraval and svarams alternating with Smt Vedavalli. Smt Rajagopalan on the violin supported the concert in an apt fashion. Her AlApanai, kriti renditions, neraval and svarams were good and in tune what Smt Vedavalli presented. Sri Skandasubramanian played with good anticapation, and in tune with the sangatis that were sung. He was ably supported by Sri Sivaramakrishnan was good. The tani they shared was nice and they presented a fitting kOrappu and kOrvai in three naDais in tune with the kOrvai Smt Vedavalli sang.

bharath

Amritha Murali, R A Puram Bhakta Jana Samaj

Amritha Murali - Karaikkal Venkatasubramanian - K V Gopalakrishnan

R A Puram Bhakta Jana Samaj, Sringeri Matam, Mandaveli.
29th December 2006. 6:30 pm

sAmi ninnE kOri - srI rAgam - Adi
dEva dEva - mAyAmALavagauLa - rUpakam - ST (NS)
abhimAnamen - bEgaDa - Adi - PSI
badalikadIrA - rItigauLa - Adi - T (RS)
vAcAma gOcaramE - kaikavasi - Adi - T
mInalOcana brOva - danyAsi - cApu - SS
nannu pAlimpA - mOhanam - Adi - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
paccai mA malai pOl mEni - Thondaradi podi Azhvar pasuram. in rAgamAlika
karpUram nArumO - rAga mAlikA - kaNDa cApu - Nachiyar thirumozhi of Andal.
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T

I was heading in the general mylapore - alwarpet direction, hoping to find some good concert to sit for the evening. Thankfully spotted Amritha and KVG at this venue and after a quick word, decided to enter and sit for this concert. The srI rAgam short sketch with which she began the concert was nice. The varnam was rendered well. The mAyAmALavagauLa piece was rendered beautifully with nice round of neraval and mEl kAla svarams at 'jAtarUpa nibhacEla janmArcitam mamAkhila'. The bEgaDa kriti provided a good tempo for the concert. The rItigauLa AlApanai was done well. The rare kriti was a treat to hear. An elaborate round of svarams was an added icing to the tasty cake. The kaikavasi and danyAsi kriti were rendered well, however one longed to hear neraval and/or svarams in danyAsi. The main mOhanam AlApanai was done well. The kriti was rendered decently with a good neraval and nice set of svarams. Some of the phrases were indeed quite good. The rAga mAlikA pAsurams were good also. On the whole, she did a good job in all departments. Sri Venkatasubramanian was good in most parts. He was a bit struggling to reach the 'iDam' during the mEl kAla svarams of rItigauLa. His mOhanam was good. His accompanying for the kritis and the neraval were also ok. Sri Gopalakrishnan played very sensibly. His playing for viLamba kAla kritis is always very good. His anticipation is much appreciable. His tani was nice.

R K Srikantan, Music Academy

R K Srikantan - Vocal
R S Ramakanth - Vocal Support
V V Ravi - Violin
Srimushnam Raja Rao - Mrudangam

Music Academy, 29th December 2006. 10 am

sarasijanAbhA - nATTai varNam - Adi varNam
panca mAtanga - malahari - rUpakam - MD (S)
manasA srI rAmacandruni - Isa manOhari - Adi - T
shyAma sundarAnga - danyAsi - rUpakam - T (RNS)
narasimhA nannu - bilahari - cApu - T (RS)
tanamIdanE - bhUshAvaLi - Adi - T (RS)
RTP - shanmukhapriyA - kaNDa tripuTA (2 kaLai) 3 akshara eDuppu
'sudA madura bhAshaNa candrAnanA - janakajA manOhara mAm pAhi'
tani Avarththnam
srI ragam short sketch

I had reached late. He was rendering panca mAtanga as i entered. It was very moving rendition with a nice round of svarams.

The danyAsi AlApanai was nice and the kriti was nicely rendered with neraval and svarams at 'dushTa danuja mada vidAra shiSTa jana hrdaya vihAra'. The bilahari AlApanai was done in a scholarly fashion and the kriti was rendered beautifully with an elaborative round of svarams at 'lakshmI narasimhA'. The bhUshAvaLi AlApanai was very good. He showed the essentialities of the ragam. The kriti was rendered with a quick round of svarams which were quite good.

The shanmukhapriyA AlApanai was good showing the rAga svarUpam. The tAnam and the pallavi were rendered nicely. The usual anulOma, pratilOma, tisra etc were all present. A quick round of svarams was there as well.

Sri Srikantan gave a very nice concert. For his age and stature, one even feels quite small to write such stuff and one only thinks that, the correct thing to do is to fall at his feet.

Sri Ramakant could have done better, if only he had little less explored. His part of AlApanai of danyAsi was quite shaky and his AlApanai for the pallavi was somewhat tentative, giving indications of other closely placed ragams in the melakarta table. His svarams had problems in reaching to lakshmi and they stood with narasimha.

Sri Ravi was good in most parts of the concert. He provided sensible support and was good in all his replies to Sri Srikantan. His svarams in bilahari and bhUshAvaLi were really good.

Sri Raja Rao was a bit loud. Also, he was a bit aggressive in places, were he needn't have to be. His tani was good.

Prasanna Venkataraman, Nada Inbam

Prasanna Venkataraman - Shertalai Sivakumar - Kallidaikurichi Sivakumar

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall.
28th December 2006. 4 pm

Era nApai - tODi - Adi
brOcEvArevarE - srIranjani - Adi - T (S)
cittam irangAdadEnayyA - sahAnA - PS (R)
Emani pogadaturA - vIravasantam - Adi - T
sundari nI - kalyANi - Adi - T (RNS)
nIlakanTam - kEdAragauLa - rUpakam - MD
muripEmu galigE - mukhAri - Adi - T (RNS)
rInAmanatanutu - bEhAg - Adi - ST
nittam unai vENDi - viruttam - sAvEri, shanmukhapriyA, sindhubhairavi
karuNai deivamE - sindhubhairavi - Adi

The concert started with a nice rendition of the tODi kriti and the srIranjani svarams were good. The sahAnA AlApanai was done well. The kalyANi AlApanai was good. The kriti was rendered with neraval and svarams at 'kalilO dinarakshaki'. The main mukhAri AlApanai was very moving. The kriti was rendered well with amazing neraval and svarams at 'IkulEni malayamArutamucE'.

Sri Prasanna sang well with a lot of bhavam. His ideas wery extraordinary and made a good impart. Sri Sivakumar on Violin was a trifle below sruti. He gave good replies to the main artist. Sri Sivakumar on mrudangam was good also.

Nandita Ravi, Brahma Gana Sabha

Nandita Ravi - Ambika Prasad - Tanjore Balakrishnan

Brahma Gana Sabha. 28th December 2006. 1:15 pm

Era nApai - tODi - Adi
ananta padmanAbham - Arabhi - HMB (RS)
sambhO mahAdEva - pantuvarALi
mundu vEnukA - darbAr - Adi - T (R)
sarOja daLa nEtri - sankarAbaraNam - Adi - SS (RNS)
nArI maNi - khamAs jAvaLi

Reached the concert late. The darbAr AlApanai was good and the kriti was rendered well. The main sankarAbaraNam AlApanai was good and rendered with a lot of bhavam. The kriti was rendered with nice neraval and svarams at 'sAma gAna vinOdini guNa dama shyAma krishNanutE'

Smt Nandita has a good voice and has inherited her mother's music. Sri Ambika Prasad on violin was a bit scratchy at parts. Sri Balakrishnan was good.

T K Govinda Rao, Nada Inbam

T K Govinda Rao - S Varadarajan - Guruvayur Durai

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall
27th December 2006. 6:30 pm

abhimAnamen - bEgaDa - Adi - PSI (short sketch, S)
ikanaina nA - pushpalatikA - Adi - Tirupati Narayanaswami (NS)
sivakAma sundarI - jagan mOhini - rUpakam - GKB (S)
mInAkshI mE mudam - pUrvikalyANi - Adi - MD (RNS)
mundu vEnuga - darbAr - Adi - T (RS)
tani
vEnkaTa saila vihArA - hamIrkalyANI - Adi - Subbaraya Sastri (RS)
bArO krishNayyA - mAND
tillAnA - gambIravANi???

Sri Govinda Rao's concert was a very fulfilling one. He was, as his usual self, flowing with spontaineity and his imporvisational capablities were very very inspiring.

The concert began with a short sketch of bEgaDa and abhimAnamen, which i was hoping, was sung with a beautiful set of svarams. The pushpalatikA piece was nicely rendered with a nice neraval at 'karuNinci nIvu kApATa lEdA' and svarams. The jaganmOhini piece was very good. The svarams were nice also.

As Sri Govinda Rao, started singing pUrvikalyANi, i was a bit reluctant, as this was the second AlApanai of the ragam I got to hear, in as many hours time. But, given Sri Govinda Rao's creativity and ideas, i had to pay attention the rAgam in a short while, as he started off. It was quite different from the earlier one, which Sri Balasubramanian's. Each being good in its own way. BB's was filled with gamakkams and a lot of bhavam. TKG's was very very creative and explorative. His inclusion of some hindustani-style phrases, gave a different flavour to the rAgam. I was praying that it should not be the same kriti. Alas, it was. TKG's mInAkshi mE mudam was strikingly different from the earlier one. His on-the-spot sangatis along with the regular sangatis one gets to hear were all good. What stood out was the stunning neraval at 'madurA puri nilayE maNi valayE' for 20 minutes, which included 10 minutes of 'sama kAla neraval'. It was very logically built and very very inspiring. As he started singing the svarams in pUrvikalyANi, clock was closing towards 8 o clock. One had made up, one's mind to expect a tani after the kriti.

It wasnt the main piece. When Sri Durai finished the Avartanam after the pUrvikalyANi piece, Sri Govinda Rao, started a rAgam which i wasnt sure if it was darbAr or nAyaki. His second phrase however reassured, it was indeed darbAr. Sri TKG confessed it was the first time, he ever attempted to elaborate darbAr, while he has tried singing nAyaki umpteen times. The AlApanai was very good. A darbAr main, was something i have been longing to hear for ages now. It was fulfilled y'day. His 10+ min AlApanai of the rAgam was very nice and his creativity and ideas were very inspiring. The AlApanai was very indicative of the kriti that was going to come. The kriti was rendered beautifully with a nice round of svarams. In between the AlApanai he sang a few of snatches of nAyaki, here and there, and explained some of the the subtle differences between the two.

As the tani ended, it was 8:45, for somebody expecting a couple of tukkaDas, there came a hamIrkalyANi AlApanai. Here again, some of the hindustani-style phrases gave an added effect to the rAgam. The kriti, was rendered with a quick round of svarams at 'kaNTini'. With very heavy heart, i had to leave as he was singing bArO krishNayya, as it was getting quite late. An amazing concert for a man, who is nearing his 80s. All the neraval and svarams were good. All thro' the concert, most svara prastharams were only one avarthanam long. With just one avartana svarams, the amount of creative and the number of phrases he could produce were just too good.

Sri Varadarajan on the violin, was very good. His support at the concert was very sedate and he gave exact replies to the main artist and tried to follow him as much. Sri Dorai was, needless to say, too good. His playing for each kriti and the sangati and each kind of neraval were amazing. The tani very very nice also.

B Balasubramanian, Nada Inbam

B Balasubramanian - M R Gopinath - David Nelson

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall
27th December 2006. 4 pm

sarasuDa ninnE - sAvEri - Adi KVI (short sketch)
amba paradEvatE - rudrapriyA - kaNDa cApu - Krishnaswamy Ayya (S)
ambA nIlAmbarI - nIlAmbarI - Adi - Ponniah Pillai
palukuTacE - phalamanjarI - rUpakam - PSI
bhajana parula - suruTTi - rUpakam - T (RS)
ettanai thAn vittai - Anandabhairavi - Adi - Anai Ayya
mInAkshI mE mudam - pUrvikalyANi - Adi - MD (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
kandugamada kariyai vasamAi - viruttam - sindhubhairavi, chakkaravakkam, nATTakuranji, hindOLam
nirai madhi mugamenum - hindOLam - Adi - Thiruppugazh
kuvalayAkshirO - gauLipantu - misra cApu - Kshetragna
mahArAjukaramannavE - bEhAg - misra cApu - Dharmapuri Subbaraya (short sketch)
jAnarO - khamAs - tisra Ekam (tisra naDai)
mOsa jEsEnE - sindhu bhairavi - catusra Ekam (tisra naDai)

Sri Balasubramanian gave a concert in a very faithful fashion to his school of music. To say it was very enjoyable, isnt enough. There is something more, once cant express.

The concert began with a nice short sketch of sAvEri and the varNam. The rudrapriyA piece was rendered well with a nice set of svarams completely portraying the rAga bhAvam. Then nIlambarI piece was rendered with a lot of bhavam and was a moving rendition. The phalamanjari piece was rendered very well.

The first elaboration of the evening was a beautiful suruTTi. Sri Balasubramanian began with a punch in exposing the rAgam with no ambiguity. And the elaboration was done very well with a rare kriti to follow. The svarams were good and showcased the ragabhavam. The Anandabhairavi kriti was rendered well.

The pUrvikalyANi AlApanai was very differently structured from what one gets to hear in a normal concert. It was very beautiful elaboration with the kriti to follow. The kriti was rendered without the percussive sangatis and aggressive brigas. The neraval and svarams at 'madurA puri nilayE maNivalayE' were good.

The rAgamAlikA viruttam was very good and the Thiruppugazh, which one usually gets to hear in hamsanandi was rendered in hindOLam in catusra nADai. The gauLipantu padam was just amazingly rendered. The bEhAg and sindhubhairavi jAvaLis were rendered showcasing all the classicism that are hidden in the rAgams and are not usually hearable in a concert, where these ragams are picked up to sing a popular, light, plain tukkaDa. khamAs jAvaLi was good also.

Sri Gopinath was good in all over the concert. He was very accomodative of the style of the vocalist and proved very good support in all parts. Sri David Nelson on the mrudangam was very anticipatory. His non aggressive style of playing for the gamakka filled music, was very embellishing. The sensible usage of thoppi wherever needed, a speciality of his school, was very nice. Overall the concert did leave an impact in one's mind.

Sanjay, Music Academy

Sanjay Subrahmanian - Nagai R Muralidharan - Guruvayur Durai - Neyveli Venkatesh

Music Academy, 26th December 2006. 7:30 pm

caraNAgata vatsalE - kadanakudukalam - Adi - KS Krishnamurthy
parvatarAjakumAri - srIranjani - Adi - MD
anudinamunu - bEgaDa - rUpakam - PSI (RNS)
ennaDu jUtunu - kalAvati - Adi - T
kapAli - mOhanam - Adi - PS (RS)
tani Avarththanam
ohO kalamE - khamAs - Adi - Vedanayakam Pillai
RTP - brindAvana sAranA - tisra tripuTa (kaNDa naDai) 1 akshara eDuppu 5 akshara aridi
'nAdanai thinam ninai manamE brindavana sAranga ranga'
orumaiyuDan - ramalinga aDigaL tiruvartupA - kAmbhOji, sAvEri, shanmukhapriyA, kApi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T

The concert began with the varNam in kadanakudukalam. Sri Sanjay's throat was rather not-so-co-operative when he began, however, it picked up, as the concert proceeded. The srIranjani kriti was nice.

As he began the bEgaDa AlApanai, his throat started to settle down and then it was just too good to listen to him, phrase after phrase. The kriti was rendered well with nice round of neraval and svarams. The kalAvati kriti was rendered soulfully.

The main mOhanam AlApanai and the kriti were good and reminded of MMI in many occasions. The svarams were good.

The sahAna short sketch and the kriti were good. The brindAvana sArangA AlApanai was awesome. It was very beautiful elaboration and the tAnam was built well. The pallavi, set by Sri Durai, was rendered well with anulOma, pratilOma and also singing in tisra naDai. It was rendered very well with nice set of svarams and a short tani. The rAgamAlikA viruttam and the subsequent rendering of the same in kApi were good. It was yet another concert to proove, why sanjay concerts keep the cash registers ringing.

Sri Muralidharan on the violin was good all over. He played in accordance to the kritis and gave fitting replies to Sanjay all thro' the concert. Sri Durai took proper care of the percussion department. He played well for all the kriti and also according to the sangatis. The tani was very nicely structured. Sri Venkatesh was good in parts.

Malladi Brothers, Music Academy

Malladi Brothers - Sriram Parasuram - Trichy Sankaran - B S Purushottaman

Music Academy. 26th December 2006. 4:45 pm

kAma janaka - gauLa - Adi - ST (S)
shrIpapriya sangItOpAsana - aTANA - Adi - T (S)
bruhadambikAyai - vasantA - cApu - MD (RS)
rAma nI vAdu - kalyANi - Adi (tisra naDai) - T (RNS)
maravakavE - sAma - rUpakam - PSI
naDaci naDaci - kharaharapriyA - Adi - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
RTP - chArukEsi - tisra tripuTa
'manamOhana harE mAdhavA madhusUdhanA pAhi'
iDadu padam - khamAs
some kriti in sindhubhairavi.

The concert started with a beautiful short sketch of gauLa and the rare kriti was rendered well with a nice round of svarams. The aTANA kriti was nice and rendered with a nice set of svarams.

The vasantA AlApanai was the best of the concert. It was a nice AlApanai and the kriti was rendered with a lot of bhavam and the svarams were good. The kalyANi AlApanai was followed by a good rendition of the rare kriti with neraval and svarams. The sAmA kriti was well rendered.

The main kharaharapriyA AlApanai was good in parts. The kriti was rendered well with nice sangatis and neraval and svarams. The 10 minute RTP was superficial. The artist probably should have worked out more time for the pallavi to bring out the rAga bhAvam fully.

Sri Sriram Parasuram on the violin was good. His replies to the main artist were better than that of theirs on many occasions.

Trichy Sri Sankaran just stole the show. He playing for each kriti, with great anticipation and appropriate use of thoppi were all very enjoyable. His patterns for each sangati, and the neraval and svarams were good also. He was ably assisted by Sri Purushottaman who played very well. The tani they both was very good.

Trivandrum Venkataraman, Mylapore Fine Arts Club

Trivandrum Venkataraman - Madirimangalam Swaminathan - H Sivaramakrishnan

MFAC. 14th December 2006. 9 am

sarasUDa ninnE - sAvEri - Adi - KVI (short sketch)
mahA gaNapatim - nATTai - Adi - MD (short sketch, svarams)
aparAdamula - rasALi - Adi - T (S)
sabApatikku - AbhOgi - rUpakam - GKB (RS)
mInAkshI mE mudam - pUrvikalyANi - Adi - MD (RNS)
smaraNE sukhamu - janaranjani - Adi - T
tanayuni brOva - bhairavi - Adi - T (RTNS)
tani Avarththanam
manasI dussam - Ahiri - cApu - ST
taruNi nyAn - dvijAvanti - cApu - ST (short sketch)
tIrAda viLaiyATTu piLLAi - rAgamAlikA - kaNDa cApu - Bharathiyar
sAra maina - bEhAg - rUpakam - ST (short sketch)

The concert began with a unorthodox short sketch of sAvEri and the varNam was rendered well. The nATTai short sketch was nice. The kriti was played in the old style with all the dhaivata laden sangatis intact. The svarams at the pallavi and the korappu were good. The rasALi kriti was rendered with a nice set of svarams.

Sri Venkataraman started AbhOgi in an unambigious fashion, completely ruling out srIranjani or any other allied rAgams. The AlApanai was done very beautifully. The kriti was rendered well with a quick round of svarams. The pUrvikalyANi AlApanai was good. The kriti was rendered neatly with neraval at 'madurA puri nilayE maNivalayE' and a quick set of svarams. The quick janaranjani piece was good also.

The main course, bhairavi AlApanai was awesome. The 15 minutes of AlApanai and a nice tAnam made a good prelude to the kriti, which was rendered in a leisurely fashion. The neraval and svarams at 'vatsamu veNTa dhEnuvu canunO' were done very well. The korappu svarams and the last kOrvai were beautiful.

The Ahiri padam was rendered beautifully. The short sketch of dvijAvanti and the padam were good as well. 'tIrAda viLaiyATTu piLLai' was rendered in kaNDa cApu, and the slow rendition did give a better effect than the usual catusra Ekam version. The bEhAg jAvaLi was good.

Sri Venkataraman gave a nice concert. All AlApanais were very inspiring and the neraval and svarams were very good also. Sri Swaminathan on the mrudangam, played with a lot of anticipation. He played aptly for the sangatis. One could distinctly hear the use of thoppi and the right palm while he was playing thro' the concert, and especially during the tani. He was ably supported by Sri Sivaramakrishan on the ghatam, who played well. The tani they shared was nice also.

Madurai R Sundar, Nalinakanthi

Madurai R Sundar - R K Sriram Kumar - Palladam R Ravi

Nalinakanthi , MGR Janaki College.
13th December 2006. 6:30 pm

valaci vacci - navarAgamAlikA - Adi (short sketch of kEdAram)
mahA gaNapatE - naTa nArAyaNi - Adi - MD
tuLasi daLamu - mAyAmALavagauLa - rUpakam - T (NS)
budamAshrayAmi - nATTakuranji - misra jhampai - MD (R)
nidhi cAla sukamA - kalyANi - misra cApu - T (NS)
tani Avarththanam
R T P - bhairavi - tisra jhampai (2 kaLai) 2 akshara eDuppu, 3 akshara aridi
'vElanE ninadu padamE thara vENum mayil naDana'
rAga mAlika svarams in vasantA, amrutavarshiNi, rEvagupti, nATTai, rEvati.
nirupamAna sAmi - bEhAg - rUpakam
tillAnA - bilahari - Adi
srI rAmachandranukku - madhyamAvati - Adi - AK

The concert began with a nice short sketch of kEdAram. The varNAm was rendered in three kAlams (including tisram) neatly. The naTa nArAyaNi kriti which followed was good.

The mAyAmALAvagauLa kriti was rendered with nice neraval and svarams at 'sarasIruaha punnAga champaka pAtala kuravaka'. The nATTakuranji AlApanai was nice, showing essential rAga bhAvam. The kriti was an expected number, being a wednesday.

A neat rendition of the kalyANi kriti was followed with neraval predominantly at ' mamata bandhana yuta narastuti sukhamA' and occasionaly including the next line 'surapati tyAgarAja nutuni kIrtana sukhamA'. The svarams that followed were good. A tani in this kriti indicated that a pallavi was coming up.

Bhairavi AlApanai was done well in two parts. It was a beautiful elaboration followed by a nice tAnam. The pallavi was rendered well. He first sang the pallavi in 2 kaLai and the rAga mAlika svarams followed. The rAga transitions were quite quick. Later, he sang it in 1 kaLai (mEl tALAm) and did a nice 4 Avartana kOrvai.

The bEhAg kriti and the bilahari tillAnA were nice as well, and so was the suruTTi mangaLam.

Sri Sundar gave a nice concert. His kalpitam and manOdarmam parts were all nice. He was ably accompanied by Sri Sriram Kumar who played well giving fitting replies. Sri Ravi played well with good anticipation. His tani was good.

சகிக்காத சஹானாவும் சுமாரான த்விஜாவந்தியும்

இன்று மாலை 4:30 மணிக்கு ஒரு கச்சேரிக்கு செல்ல வேண்டுமென்று நினைத்தேன். ஆனால் கிளம்ப முடியவில்லை. என்னுடன் அனேக கச்சேரிகளுக்கு வரும் நன்பரை தொடர்பு கொண்டு, கச்சேரிக்கு செல்லலாமென்று முடிவு செய்து செய்தித்தாளை புரட்டி, மூன்று கச்சேரிகளை தேர்ந்தெடுத்தோம். மணி 5:45 pm. மற்றுமொரு நன்பரும் எங்களுடன் சேர்ந்து கொண்டார். இவற்றில் ஏதேனும் ஒன்றுக்கு செல்வதென்று தீர்மானம்.

அதன்படி, முதலாவதாக வசுந்தரா ராஜகோபால் அவர்களின் கச்சேரி. ராகசுதா அரங்கில், ஆறாம்திணை இணையதளத்தின் சார்பில் நடைபெற்ற இக்கச்சேரிக்கு செல்ல காரணம், செல்லும் வழியில் உள்ள முதல் அரங்கம், மேலும், தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட மூன்றில், முதலில் ஆரம்பிக்கும் கச்சேரி இது தான். அடையார், ஆழ்வார்பேட்டை, கோட்டூர்புரம், என்று வாகன நெரிசலை கடந்து, நாங்கள் அரங்கத்துள் நுழைய அம்மணி ஏதோ ஒரு ராகத்தில் மேல் கால ஸ்வரங்களை பாடிக்கொண்டிருந்தார். இது சாவேரியா அல்லது சாருகேசியா அல்லது நாட்டையா? எது அபஸ்வரம்? என்று நினைக்கையில் 'ஜய ஜய பத்மநாபா' என்று பல்லவி வரி வந்தது. தொடர்ந்து ரயிலை பிடிக்கும் வேகத்தில் சிவனின் 'சித்தம் இறங்காததேனய்யா' கீர்த்தனம். செந்தில் வேலன் கேட்டிருந்தால், தான் முதலில் ரயில் ஏற, எழும்பூர் சென்று இருப்பார். அதற்க்கேற்றார் போல் மிருதங்கம் வாசித்தவரும், உடுக்கை வித்வான் போல் வாசித்தார். கடம் வித்வான், நானும் இருக்கிறேன் என்று அவ்வப்போது காட்டிக்கொண்டார். கீர்த்தனத்தில் என்ன பொருள் வருகிறதென்று அறிந்து அதற்க்கேற்றார் போல் ஒரு உணர்ச்சியும், சரியான நடையில் பாட வேண்டுமென்று இன்றைய சில வித்வான்களுக்கு தெரிவதில்லை. கேட்பவர்கள் செய்த பாவம் தான்.

அடுத்து, ஒரு ஆலாபனை. முதல் சஞ்சாரம் வாசஸ்பதி போல இருப்பினும், தொடர்ந்து அனைத்தும் ஹேமவதி, ஸிம்மேந்திர மத்தியமம், கல்யாணி, ராமப்ரியா என பல பெயர் தெரிந்த, தெரியாத ப்ரதி மத்தியம ராகங்களில் இருந்து கடன் வாங்கி இணைக்கப் பெற்ற ஒரு ராகமாலிகா. பிடில் வாசித்த உஷா ராஜகோபலனும் சற்றும், சோடை போகாமல், அதே ராகமாலிகையை வாசிக்க, பட்ணம் சுப்ரமணிய ஐயர் தான் நம்மை காப்பாற்ற வந்தார். அவரது 'என்னடு நீ க்ருபா' என்ற வாசஸ்பதி ராக க்ருதி, ஆரம்பிக்க, நாங்களும், அங்கிருந்து எங்கள் பயணத்தை தொடர்ந்தோம். இரண்டு நாட்களுக்கு முன்னர் வானொலியில், மணக்கால் ரங்கராஜன் இதே கீர்த்தனத்தை எவ்வளவு நேர்த்தியாக பாடினார் ஏன்று நினைவுக்கு வந்தது.

லஸ் கார்னரை கடந்து, பஜார் ரோடு வழியாக, சமாஜத்தை அடைய, 'Today's Concert Cancelled' என்று பலகை. நாங்கள் வருகிறோம் என்று முன்னரே அறிந்து கொண்டு தான் பாட இருந்த அம்மணி நிகழ்ச்சியை ரத்து செய்துவிட்டாரோ?

அட்டவணையில் இருந்த மூன்றாவது கச்சேரி, ஒரு இளம் விதுஷியில் பிடில் கச்சேரி. மைலாப்பூரின் சந்துகளை கடந்து, ராமக்ருஷ்ணா மடத்திற்க்கு எதிரே உள்ள P S பள்ளியை அடைந்தோம். Music Connoisseur's Club ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்த கச்சேரி. ஆதிரா க்ருஷ்ணன் என்ற பெயர், ஆதிரை என்ற செந்தமிழ் பெயரையும், அந்நாளில், பள்ளியில் படித்த, மணிமேகலையையும், காயசண்டிகையையும், நினைவு படுத்தியது. முதலில், 'விரிபோணி' வர்ணம் மூன்று காலங்களில். தொடர்ந்து, த்விஜாவந்தி ஆலாபனை. ஆங்காங்கே ராகம் தெரிந்தாலும், ஒன்றோடு ஒன்று ஒட்டாத சஞ்சாரங்கள். ஏதோ போனால் போகட்டும் என்று விட்டுவிடுவோம். தீக்ஷிதரின் 'அகிலாண்டேஸ்வரீம்' கீர்த்தனத்தை சுமாராக வாசித்தார். தொடர்ந்து, பஹுதாரி ஆலாபனை. ஆங்காங்கே 'ப த நி ப ம க ம' மற்றும் 'ஸ க ம க ஸ' வந்தன. மற்றபடி மேலும் கீழும் ஏறி இறங்கினார். த்யாகராஜரின் 'ப்ரோவபாரமா' கீர்த்தனம்.

மிருதங்கம் வாசித்த J வைத்தியநாதனும், கடம் வாசித்த குருப்ரசாதும், மாறி மாறி தாளம் போட்டும், முன் வரிசையில் அமர்ந்து பிடில் வாசித்தவரின் தந்தை தாளம் போட்டும், வாசித்தவருக்கு தாளம் தப்ப தான் செய்தது. ஒன்றரை இடங்கள் தள்ளி எடுக்கும் இந்த கீர்த்தனத்தை எனோ இவர் மட்டும் ஒரு முறை கூட சரியாக எடுக்கவில்லை. ஸ்வரங்களும் சுமார் தான்.

அதற்க்கு மேல் பொருக்க முடியாமல், செவிக்கு உணவு கிடைக்காத நிலையில், வள்ளுவர் சொற்படி, வழியில் போண்டா சாப்பிட்டு விட்டு திரும்பினோம்.

Two Concerts

One would have been better off, staying indoors instead of going to the concerts that are going to be reviewed here.

As one entered Raga sudha, Smt Vasundara Rajagopal, was singing dhurita kAla svarams. Was it sAvEri? Was it chArukEsi? Was it nATTAi? which was the apasvaram? 'jaya jaya padmanabha' was the pallavi line. Quickly followed was a fast rendition of 'ciththam irangaadhadEnaiyyA'. This sahAnA kriti in such a pace doesnt give any effect. any kriti, not sung in appropriate pace will give counter effects. and that is what this kriti did precisely.

The next AlApanai begun as a vAchaspati, in the first line. later it was made into a rAgamAlika of hEmavati, simmEndra madhyamam, rAmapriya, kalyANi and other known and unknown prathi madyama rAgams. Violinst also gave similar reply. Patnam Subramaniya Iyer's 'ennaDu nI krupa' came to rescue telling us that it was indeed vAcaspati that was elaborated. Couldn't sit beyond this point and hence left.

Went to P S High School, for Athira Krishnan's violin concert under the auspices of Music Connoisseur's Club. She started with 'viribhONi' in three speeds. dvijAvanti which followed was good in parts. dIkshitar's 'akhilAnDEsvarIm' followed. bahudAri AlApanai which followed was good in parts again. The essential 'p d n p m g m' and 's g m g s' were there but all else was just going up and down the octaves. 'brOvabAramA' was rendered with svarams. They were not so appealing and the vidwan was not keeping to tALam all the way. I left the auditorium at this point.

K G Vijayakrishnan, Veena CD release and Concert.

K G Vijayaraghavan - Thanjavur Kumar

Music Academy Mini Hall.
7th December 2006. 6 pm

intha chalamU - bEgaDa - Adi
srI nIlOtpala nAyikE - rItigauLa - rUpakam - MD (R)
paralOka sAdanamE - pUrvikalyANi - Adi - T (RS)
shankarAcAryam - sankarAbaraNam - Adi - Subbarama Dikshitar (RTS)
tani Avarththanam
sArEku - bEhAg - Adi jAvaLi
teruvil vArAnO - khamAs - tisra Adi - Muthu Thandavar
ippaDi en manam alaindhiDa - suruTTi - cApu padam
srI rAma jaya mangaLam - suruTTi - Adi

The concert began with a nice rendition of the bEgaDa varNam. The rItigauLa AlApanai was good and the kriti was nice to hear. The pUrvikalyANi kriti, a rare number at concerts these days, was well rendered with a fitting AlApanai and a short round of svarams.

The main course of the evening, an elaborate shankarAbaraNam, which was rendered well. The tAnam was nice and the rAgamAlika part included Anandabhairavi, dharmavati and hindOLam. The kriti was rendered with a round of nice kalpanai svarams. The bEhAg and khamAs jAvaLis were good. The suruTTi padam was nice and soulful also.

Sri Vijayakrishnan played the vINai in a style distinct to what people call as Dhanammal Bani. Obviously, I personally haven't heard Smt Dhanammal herself. However, I could differentiate his style of playing from the way the others play. If one keenly noticed his hand while playing, one could see the way he splits his fingers of his left hand while playing. This is what i presume is popular split fingering. The effect this created was quite different and quite good it was.

Sri Kumar on the mrudangam, was good. He played with good anticipation and played aptly for all the sangatis. The tani was nice.

Earlier in the evening, a Veena CD 'karpagamE' by Dr K G Vijayakrishnan was released by 'Madhiyoli' Saraswathi Swamigal. Sri N Murali, President of MA, received the first copy. Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan and Sri Sanjay Subramanian were honoured at the occasion. Swamigal spoke on the importance of Music and life. Sri Sanjay spoke on the importance of documentation of the Music we all know. He urged Dr Vijayakrishnan to play and record all the compositions listed in the 'Sri Kriti Mani Malai' series as an effect to document all of it. Smt Swaminathan spoke on the importance of Veena Music. The importance of the instrument and urged the youngsters to learn to play the Veena.

Rama Ravi, Carnatica

Rama Ravi - R K Shriram Kumar - Mannarkoil J Balaji

Carnatica's Samarpanam. in association with sruthi mag.
Tattvaaloka Auditorium. 6th December 2006. 6:15 pm

Courtesy:www.carnatica.net

ninnE kOri - kAnaDA - Adi - TT varNam
tuLasi daLamu - mAyAmALavagauLa - rUpakam - T (NS)
sItA vara sangIta - dEvagAndhAri - Adi - T
dalacina vAru - danyAsi - Adi - Subbaraya Sastri (RS)
tyAgarAjAya namastE - bEgaDa - rUpakam - MD
mAmava mInAkshI - varALi - cApu - MD (RNS)
mansAvruta garvamEtikE - AbhOgi - Adi - PSI
shankarAcAryam - shankarAbaraNam - Adi - Subbarama Dikshitar (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
vidhi illArkku - kharaharapriyA - trisra Ekam - Anai Ayya
nI mAtalE mAyanurA - pUrvikalyANi - catusra Ekam - Pattabhiramayya jAvaLi
payyAda - nAdanAmakriyA - tisra tripuTa - kshEtragna padam
vazhi maraikkudE - nATTaikuranji - cApu - GKB
ElarAdayanE kAmini - bhairavi - Adi - Chinnaiah jAvaLi
tillai ambalathAnai - suruTTi - cApu - GKB
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T

Smt Rama Ravi started the concert with a neat rendition of the kAnaDA varNAm. The next mAyAmALavagauLa piece was rendered very well with nicely structured neraval and svarams at 'sarasIruaha punnAga champaka pAtala kurupaka'. The one Avartana svarams were good. Every time she sang the pallavi line, she ended it as 'tuLasi daLamu'. The dEvagAndhAri kriti was rendered well.

The first major elaboration of the evening, danyAsi was nicely rendered. The kriti was rendered very well with nicely half avartana svarams and a nice kOrvai. The bEgaDa kriti was rendered very soulfully with a nice ciTTai svaram. The varALi AlApanai was very good. The kriti was rendered nicely with neraval and svarams at 'shyAmE sankarI digvijaya pratApini'. The AbhOgi kriti which followed was good.

The main shankarAbaraNam AlApanai was rendered with quite a few nice sancarams. The kriti was rendered with a lot of bhavam and neraval and svarams at 'parama gnAna latA AlavAlam'. The neraval was done in a very scholarly fashion. The svarams were good also.

The kharaharapriyA piece was very moving. The pUrvikalyANi jAvaLi was good. The nAdanAmakriyA padam was just too good. The rendition was very soulful. The nATTakuranji and bhairavi pieces were very well rendered. The suruTTi kriti led to the mangaLam.

Smt Rama Ravi gave an amazing concert with all pieces rendered very well. All the AlApanais were done in a scholarly fashion, and so were the neraval parts. The svarams, especially the single Avartanam svarams, were rendered very well. Smt Nandita Ravi who accompanied her, was good. Her neraval and svarams parts in mAyAmALavagauLa and varALi were good.

Sri Shriram Kumar was awesome all thro' the concert. He followed the main artist like a shadow and played all the pieces well. His replies in all the manOdaramam parts were good. His shankarAbaraNam reply was probably better than that of the main artist.

Sri Balaji was good in following the pieces. He played well for all the sangatis. His timely thoughtful playing according to the piece and the pace presented and the sangatis needs a special mention. His playing for the tani was too good.

Carnatic Music - Is it only religious?

http://www.graycells.in/abhivyakti/nov2006.pdf

Find above a link to a magazine in Kannada. A two page article on page 18 of this pdf file is one of (if not The) reason for this post. A friend of mine happened to send it to me and asking me to reflect on it.

http://carnaticeuphony.blogspot.com/2006/07/carnatic-music-art-music-sacred-music_18.html

This is another link, given by the same friend. This piece seems to give some replies to the first article under consideration.

This is what i wish to say on this subject:

Carnatic Music, does have a religious make-up. It does have a very strong presence of hindu religion all over it. There is no deniance of that. Having said that, it is not all that Carnatic Music has to offer.

As mentioned in the second link cited above, the lyrical content alone has the religious make-up, while the improvisational parts are all completely musical and there is nothing religious about them.

There have been few compositions of the past, in carnatic music, which dont have a religious theme. Vaggeyakkaras like Vedanayagam Pillai, Abraham Panditar amongst others have all composed on non-hindu deities and also on abstract subjects like nature, time, flower and all that. There have been kritis praising Jesus Christ and also, in decent days, praising Allah as well. Thats not all, there are umpteen compositions on human beings. Compositions like 'sATi lEni guruguha mUrthivai' or 'bhUlOka nArada muni' or 'shyAmA sAstri namOstutE' are not unknown. These are kritis which have been composed about people. There are umpteen examples of such compositions which cannot exactly be called religious. Just because, the kriti praises a man who followed a particular religion, you cannot call it a religious composition.

One might still argue that nindha stuthi-compositions and sringara rasa compositions, vis-a-vis padams and jAvaLis, are all forms of bhakthi and hence they do form part of religious music. However, they do form a different kind of bhakthi and hence the flavour one gets from such compositions is different. They cannot classified along with the so called main stream compositions which are worship-based. If noticed in detail, there are many popular varNams which have such themes and hence one should not classify them as religious.

Arguably, the Ragam - Tanam - Pallavi is considered the most important part of a carnatic music recital. This is a completely improvisational presentation. And hence, artist can choose to form their own lyrics and fit it to a beat and tune them and sing them, either practiced and rehersed or improptu, which some experts do. The Pallavi part, which has the lyrical content, can be based on any theme. Usage of religion here is not needed at all. Some of the famous pallavis which have non-religious ideas are:

'mAlai pozhudu pochudhe, yen Asai kaNNALanE'
'varaTTum, manamE varaTTum, iru manamE varaTTum, padarAdiru manamE varaTTum'
'ninaippOm maNi mozhi vazhi naDappOm mahAtmA gAndhiyai'
'nATTai kuranji enbAr, siranda yengaLadu'
'Anandam anandAnandam jagadAnandam sangItam'
'sa ri ga ma pa da ni sa, pAduvOm, sAma gAnAmruta sAramAi'
'sa ri ga ma pa da ni sa, rajamulu, bhajimpavE manasA'
'ennavarai kaNDayO? en sakhiyE nI'
'sondhamaDi, nI keLaDi, pAraDi. yenakkavar '

The list can go on and on.

Having said all of that, One is bound also make a mention of Performers who did not practice Hinduism but still have made a mark for themselves in the world of carnatic music. I can immediately recollect, John Higgins, Sheik Chinna Moulana and K J Yesudas, off the cuff. Their proficiency in the field is not. something i wish to discuss here. They did make a name for themselves in the field. I should also mention, Chidambaram Jayaraman, who was an atheist, and hence would sing compositions which are not-religious in his performance. He was an accomplished cinema singer, but his live performances did include carnatic pieces which did not have a religious flavour.

Now that i have listed all that I know on the issue, it is quite evident that calling carnatic music as religious or hindu music is not acceptable. It has a wider perspective and cannot be bound by such sweeping statements.

Manakkal Rangarajan, Carnatica

Manakkal Rangarajan - M Chandrasekaran - Vellore Ramabadran

Carnatica's Samarpanam. Tattvaloka Auditorium
1st December 2006 6:30 pm


Courtesy: www.carnatica.net

karuNai seivAi - hamsadvani - Adi - PS (RS)
paripAlayamAm - rItigauLa - rUpakam - ST (R)
sivam vrushabAruDam - mOhanakalyANi - kaNDa cApu - HMB (RNS)
kshIra sAgara - dEvagAndhAri - Adi - T (R)
raghuvamsa sudA - kadana kudUkalam - PSI
sara sara samarE - kuntaLa varALi - Adi - T (short sketch)
srI subramaNyAya - kAmbhOji - tisra Ekam - MD (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
kArthigai bAlanE - mAND - Adi - Manakkal Varadarajan (short sketch)
kandavEl avanai - kApi - Adi - Manakkal Varadarajan (short sketch)
srI rAmachandranukku jaya mangaLam - madhyamAvati - Adi

Sri Rangarajan began his concert with a short sketch of hamsadvani. The kriti was well rendered with nice kalpanai svarams at the pallavi line. rItigauLa AlApanai began well and neatly structured. The kriti was nicely rendered also.

The first major AlApanai of the evening was mOhana kalyANi. It was a nice elaboration and was quite fitting to the kriti which was rendered. The kriti was rendered well with nice neraval and svarams at ' sAma vEda priyam sangIta sAram'. The neraval was done in a mature fashion. The svarams were well structured and had an amazing poruttam to the sAhityam.

The dEvagAndhAri AlApanai was done well. The kriti was rendered in an amazing fashion. It was a very moving rendition. All the sangatis were very well rendered. The complete grandeur of the kriti was fully felt in the way the kriti was rendered.

The kadanakudUkalam kriti, an instrumentalist favourite, was rendered with the same rigour as expected and all the sangatis and the cittai svarams were sparkling and just fell in place. There were appropriate changes of nadai to create the necessary effect. The kuntaLavarALi short sketch was nice. The kriti was rendered very well. The cittai svaram was rendered in trisra nadai to make the jantai prayOgams more enjoyable.

The main piece, kAmbhOji, was elaborated rather differently. It was very well structured and a lot of rare pidis were heard. And the AlApanai was fitting for the piece that was rendered. The kriti was rendered very well. All the sangatis of the pallavi were nice. The anupallavi was rendered with a lot of nice new sangatis. The neraval and svarams at 'vAsavAdi sakala dEva vanditAya vArENyAya' were good. The neraval was very beautifully structured and the svarams were nice. The one Avartana svarams were good. The korappu was very good also. The mAND and kApi kritis were good and so was the madhyamAvati mangaLam.

Sri Rangarajan gave an awesome concert. All his AlApanai were very well structured. They were fitting the kritis those were presented. All the sancarams were quite vintage and very enjoyable. The music was flowing. The kritis were rendered with a lot of bhavam. All the sangatis were rendered with perfection. There were quite a few sangatis one doesnt hear regularly and they were all enjoyable. The brigas and gamakkams were precise. The neraval was very well structured and built well. The svarams were very good also. All the korappus and kOrvais were very quite intricate. A concert to remember for a long time.

Sri Chandrasekaran was his usual self all through the concert. His replies to the main artist were good.

Sri Ramabadran was just exact in accompanying all the kritis. He followed all the sangatis. He played well for the neraval and svarams also. The tani was good and had quite a few nice phrases. The korappu was good.


Courtesy: www.carnatica.net

During the concert, a CD containing vintage recordings of Manakkal Sri Rangarajan. During the release, Manakkal Sri Sriram sang a self-composed piece in Anandabhairavi thanking Carnatica for releasing the CD and also arranging the concert. He sang it well.