B Balasubramanian, Chamber Concert.

B Balasubramanian - V V Ravi - Ramnad V Raghavan

Chamber concert. 19th Jan 2007. 7 pm

viribhONi - bhairavi - aTa - PA (varNam)
palukutacE - phalamanjari - rUpakam - PSI (S)
vINA pustaka - vEgavAhini - misra jhampai - MD
ettanai thAn vittai - Ananda bhairavi - Adi - Anai ayyA (R)
kA vA vA - varALi - Adi - PS (S)
karuNAnanda - nIlAmbari - Adi (2 kaLai)
ellAm sivan seyal - kalyANi - vilOma misra cApu (RS)
bAmarO - kEdAragauLa - misra cApu - K (padam)
kuvalayAkshirO - gauLipantu - misra cApu - K (padam)
engE irundAlum - kAmbhOji - tisra Ekam (padam)
jAnarO - khamAs - tisra Ekam (jAvaLi)
vazhi maraittirukkudE - nATTaikuranji - misra cApu - GKB
sAramaina - bEhAg - rUpakam - ST (short sketch) (jAvaLi)
kandukamadakariyai - sindhubhairavi, chakkaravAkam, pUrvikalyANi, nATTaikuranji, danyAsi, suruTTi
kAdi mOdi - sankarAbaraNam - (tiruppugazh)

While there was a very juicy function of book release elsewhere in the city, I had to come over a huge urge to go there, and made my mind to go to this Chamber concert in the drawing room of a flat, somewhere in the city. Battling the evening traffic of the Madras Metropolis and getting the directions to the place, very correctly incorrect, i reached this place while he was beginning 'palukutacE' and then came a quick round of svarams. A quick look a who the accompanists were, it was super surprise to see Sri Raghavan on the mrudangam.

'vINA pustaka dhArinIm' was rendered in a very moving fashion. The sangatis were good. The last sangati in the pallavi line with a beautiful gamakkam on pustaka was very nice. The Anandabhairavi AlApanai was very nice. The kriti was rendered very well. The rendition of kA vA vA was good. The version being different at certain places. The line 'vaLLi deivayAnai' with a glide from the tAra shadjam to the madhya sthAyi (irakka jAru) was very nice. There was a nice round of svarams at 'pazhani malai uraiyum murugA'.

The nIlAmbari kriti, 'karuNAnanda' was rendered very well. The kalyANi AlApanai was started very unconventionally and was built well. The kriti in vilOma misra cApu was rendered with a nice round of korappu svarams, when one started getting ready to hear a tani in this not-so-popular tALam by the old veteran. However, all hopes were shattered as Sri Raghavan finished the Avarathanam saying "nAn neraiya vAsichachu, neeye pADu".

The kEdAragauLa padam, 'bAmarO' which came next was very nicely rendered. 'kuvalayAkshirO' which came next was still better. The tamil padam in kAmbhOji was wonderfully rendered. Hearing three padams one after another was just too good to digest. All the other pieces came up as requests from the audience and they were all very nicely rendered. The nATTakuranji piece was very nice and so was 'jAnarO'. The rAgamAlikA viruttam was sung in rAgam as they were prompted by people sitting in the audience.

Sri Balasubramanian gave a very nice concert. The gamakkams were very well brought out. His throat wasnt in great shape, but still he was able to commmunicate with the audience and it was a very nice experience to sit in the concert. Each composition chosen was very clearly adding to the flavour of the concert and it was a very very classical affair.

Sri Ravi on the violin was his usual self. His AlApanais and svarams were good.

Sri Raghavan on the mrudangam, was amazing. The way he played for each song, each sangati, each phrase of the song was very nice. His anticipation of what was coming and playing accordingly was very nice. Even during the svarams and the kaNakkus that were sung, his playing matched very well. He used the thoppi and right palm as well, quite regularly to create nAdam which one doesnt usually get to hear. He played according to the mood of the kriti and that definitely added effect to the concert experience. On the whole, a very enjoyable concert.

R K Shriram Kumar & S Varadarajan - Violin Duet, Nada Inbam

R K Shriram Kumar & S Varadarajan - Violin Duet
K Arun Prakash - Mrudangam

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall.
17th January 2007. 6 pm

In memory of Marungapuri Gopalakrishna Iyer.

vanajAksha - rItigauLa - aTa
kanchadaLAyadAkshi - manOhari - Adi - MD (NS)
sujana jIvanA - khamAs - rUpakam - T (R)
himAdri sutE - kalyANi - tisra Adi - SS (RNS)
inta saukya - kApi - Adi - T (R)
viDajAladurA - janaranjani - Adi - T
pakkala nIlabaDi - kharaharapriyA - misra cApu - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
ini yenna pEcirukkudu - sahAnA - rUpakam - Subbarama Iyer (jAvaLi)
kaNDu danyAnAnE - bEhAg - rUpakam
anRu ivvulagam - sindhu bhairavi - Adi - Andal Thiruppavai
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It is quite understandable for siblings or two people from the same school or bani to perform in tandem together. Two people from totally different backgrounds performing together and in such good tandem complimenting each other well, is something one had to appreciate. From the start of the varnam to the end, the balance was good and it was very well presented. A concert to remember for quite sometime.

The varNam was well played. I was very happy to hear this varNam in a concert after a long time. Such a grand varNam presented with so much of bhavam gave a good start to the concert. The short sketch of manOhari by Sri Shriram Kumar was good. The kriti was rendered with nice neraval and svarams at 'rAkA shashivadanE...' The next was a very nice AlApanai of khamAs by Sri Shriram Kumar. The kriti was rendered very movingly.

Sri Varadarajan's kalyANi AlApanai was very nicely woven and the rare and so beautiful kriti was rendered beautifully with neraval and svarams at 'shyAmakRSNa sOdari gauri paramEshvari girijA'. I have been longing to hear this kriti for a long time and it was very fulfilling to hear it. The kApi AlApanai by Sri Shriram Kumar was very nice. The kriti was rendered very well with a quick viDajAladurA to follow.

The main AlApanai of kharaharapriyA by Sri Varadarajan was very nice and the kriti was rendered with nice round of neraval and svarams at 'manasuna dalaci mE maraciyunnArA'. Short sketches of sahAnA and sindhubhairavi by Sri Shriram Kumar and that of bEhag by Sri Varadarajan were all very good. The pieces were also rendered very well.

Sri Arun Prakash played according to each kriti with very good anticipation. His playing was very good and his tani was nice also.

B Balasubramanian, Musiri Chambers

B Balasubramanian - R K Shriram Kumar - Srimushnam Raja Rao

Musiri Chambers. 14th Jan 2007. 4 pm

sArasa ninu ipuDu(varnam) - karnATaka kApi - tisra Eka - Vadivelu (short sketch)
hastivadanAya - navarOj - misra chApu - MD (short sketch)
avatAram enduku - harikAmbOji - kanDa chApu - T (RS)
saraswati manOhari - saraswati manOhari - Adi - MD
saTrE vilagi - pUrvikalyANi - rUpakam - GKB (RNS)
vINA pustaka - vEgavAhini - misra jampa - MD
ninnADa nEla - kannaDa - Adi - T
vidhi illArkku - kharaharapriyA - tisra Eka - Anai ayyA
gajavadanA - tODi - Adi - kumAra eTTEndrA (RS)
tani Avarththanam
venkaTashaila - hamIrkalyANi - Adi - subbarAya sAstri
valapudAca nEranE (padam) - varALi - misra chApu - kshEtragna
OsOsi (padam) - mukhAri - misra chApu - muddu naTEsA
jAnarO I mOgamu (jAvaLi) - khamAs - tisra Eka - RSI
maharAjukarammanE (jAvaLi) - behAg - misra chApu - DS
kandugamada kariyai (viruttam) - rAgamAlikA (sindhubhairavi, chakravAham, hansAnandi, nATTakurinji, suruTTi & hindOLam)
dIm tAna nana nAdru (tillAnA) - hindOLam - kanDa Eka - MV
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was indeed an awesome concert to listen to. I was fortunate enough to be sitting there.

The rendition of the karnATaka kApi varNam with a short sketch was very nice. The hastivadanAya was good and very moving. The pUrvikalyANi AlApanai was crisp and very nicely structured. 'vINApUstakadhAriNim' was also rendered in a very moving fashion.

The kharaharapriyA piece was very movingly rendered. The tODi AlApanai was very good. The kriti was rendered beautifully. The ciTTai svaram with 14 different gAndhAram was rendered in a very nice fashion.

The varALi and mukhAri padams and the jAvaLis in bEhAg and khamAs were all very nice. However, one felt that if rasikas dont request, it might be possible to hear some new padams and javalis instead of the same ones we hear at most concerts.

bharath

related reading: a friends write-up

Amritha Murali, Music Club IIT Madras

Amritha Murali - L. Ramakrishnan - R.Sankaranarayanan

Music Club IIT Madras, DoMS Hall
12th January 2007. 7 pm

erA nApai (varnam) - tOdi - Adi - PSI
sanAtana paramapAvana - phalamanjari - Adi - T (short sketch, S)
nArada gAnalOla - atAnA - Adi - T (R S)
shrI kamalAmbikayAh - sahAnA - tisra tripuTa - MD (R)
bhajana sEyu margamunu - naaraayaNi - Adi - T
janani mAmava - bhairavi - misra cApu - ST (R N S)
tani Avarththanam
sarasa sAmadhAna - kApinArAyaNi - Adi - T
RTP - pUrvikalyANi - Adi (2 kaLai) 'apUrva palada kalyANi parama pAvani bhavAni' 3/4 eDuppu. 4 akshara aridhi. rAga mAlikA in kalyANi and malayamArutam
chandra chUDa - darbAri kAnaDa - Adi - PurandaradAsar
viruttam "vizhikku thunai" - kApi, behAg, sindhubhairavi, bhAgeshri
nAdi thEDi thozhuvAro - bhageshri - thiruppugazh
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a very nice concert. Kum Amritha sang a concert in strict adherence to classism and it was treat to those who attended.

The aTANA was very nice. The AlApanai and the svarams were good. The sahAnA AlApanai was very moving and was very indicative of a grand kriti to follow. The navAvarNam was just the piece that could fit there. It was rendered with a lot of bhavam.

The main bhairavi AlApanai was very good. It was rather surprising to me to hear 'jananI mAmava'. the neraval and svarams at 'anupamIta kamalA vAsE dEvi' were done well. The pallavi, though set to a popular tALAm, was rendered very nicely.

Hindol Deb, Music Club IIT Madras

Hindol Deb - Hindustani Sitar
Jain Painadathe - Tabla

11 Jan 2007. Youth Fest
Music Club IIT Madras

bihAg
hamsadvani
khamAj
bhairavi

The concert was very nice to hear. the bihAg had a long AlAp, the chalans a vilambit and dhrut piece. the others had a Alapanai and a piece only...

without much knowledge on this genre of music. i could only enjoy the music. cannot critically understand.

Sandeep Narayanan, Music Club IIT Madras

Sandeep Narayanan - Shertalai Sivakumar - R Sankaranarayanan

YOUTHFEST.
MUSIC CLUB IITM. DoMS Hall
10th Jan 07. 6:45 pm

vanajAkshi - kalyANi - kaNDa aTa - Rangaswami
samayamidE - kEdAram - rUpakam - PSI (S)
rAma nI samanA - kharaharapriyA - rUpakam - T (RNS)
kalayAmi raghurAmam - bEgaDa - misra cApu - ST (RNS)
srI rAmam - nArAyaNagauLa - Adi - MD
krupajUcuTaku - chAyAtaraNgiNi - Adi - T
gana naya dEsikA - rishabhapriyA - Adi - KI (RS)
tani Avarththanam
tuma bin - kApi - Adi - Meera Bhajan
bArO krishnayyA - rAgamAlikA - Adi - Dasar Padam
Gayati vanamAli - Hamsadvani - Adi - SB
tillAnA - darbAri kAnaDa - misra cApu - S Kalyanaraman
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T

The concert began with a neat rendition of the kalyANi varNam. The kEdAram kriti was rendered well with a quick set of svarams. The kharaharapriyA AlApanai was good. The kriti was rendered with a good dose of neraval and svarams at 'paluku paluku'. The bEgaDa AlApanai was mixed, the rAga seeming unable to withstand the modern adventurous flourishes. The emphasis on phrase-based singing, which is essential for carnatic music, wasn't apparent with the rendition. The kriti was rendered with neraval and svarams.

Mercifully, most contemporary musicians do not have a grip over the once-popular nArAyaNagauLa. Without improvisations and flourishes, the kriti was rendered well. The rishabapriyA AlApanai was good. The kriti was rendered nicely with a good round of svarams.

The post tani pieces were all rendered nicely.

The vocalist is talented and promising but needs to slow down a bit, provide gaps between phrases during his AlApanAs and create an ambience of sowkyam. Sivakumar, though not his best, provided competent support. SankaranArAyaNan, who is generally capable of adroit support, was again a shade below his usual standard.

Abhishek Raghuraman, Music Club IIT Madras

Abhishek Raghuraman - Mysore Srikanth - A Anand

YOUTHFEST.
MUSIC CLUB IITM. DoMS Hall
9th Jan 07. 6:45 pm

mErusamAna - mAyAmALavagauLa - Adi - T (NS)
karpagAmbikE - bilahari - rUpakam - PS (NS)
ADamODi - chArukEsi - Adi - T (RS)
kAmAkshI - svarajati - cApu - SS (R)
tani
mandirku - sindhubhairavi - Adi - TSI
bhaja gOvindam - mAND - Adi - Adi Sankara
viruttam - kEdAragauLa, Ahiri, Desh
rAmanai - dEsh - Adi - TSI

Unbridled talent without an adequate aesthetic sense can send a musician on a wild goose chase. So it seemed, as one sat to listen to Abhishek Raghuraman. mEru samAna can be rendered with punch, no doubt, but could have emerged more effective with a dose of moderation. Given the competence of Abhishek, there was no problem with his forays into neraval and svarams. The bilahari kriti was crisply rendered witha bit of neraval and svarams.

The chArukEsi AlApanai was in tune with modern times where it acquires a lighter shade with the use of flat nishAdam. He did show his creativity and imagination in the AlApanA. The swara embellishment was good.

bhairavi AlApanai was an unmitigated disaster; the poor maDisAr mAmi rAgA was unable to wear the jeans and T shirt that Abhishek wanted to drape her with! His struggle with his throat infection and uncooperative voice on that day also robbed the swara jati of syAmA sAstri of its inherent beauty. Spared without embellishments later, this was followed by the tani Avartanam in which, again, all of Anand's arithmetical experiments did not quite land safely!

In the post tani part, he was comfortable with sindhubhairavi and mAND. The rAgamAlikA viruttam had an interesting choice of rAgAs but the voice did not cooperate enough to let him do justice to these.

In summary, here was a talented musician who seemed to suffer partly due to the condition of his throat and partly due to misplaced priorities. He can come good as effectively as Sourav Ganguly did; let us wish him the best! The violinst was a bit scratchy while the mrudangist needs the accoustics of the regular CLT to sound good!

K L Kaushik, Music Club IIT Madras

K L Kaushik - R Raghul - B Srivatsan

YOUTHFEST.
MUSIC CLUB IITM. DoMS Hall
8th Jan 07. 6:45 pm

Thyagaraja Kritis Concert. Bahula Panchami Day

brOcEvArevarE - sriranjani - Adi (S)
kanakanarUcirA - varALi - Adi (R)
kadalEvADu - nArAyaNagauLa - Adi
aDugArAdani - manOranjani - Adi
giripai nelakOna - sahAnA - Adi (R)
amma rAvamma - kalyANi - kaNDa cApu (NS)
rAnidhi - maNirangu - Adi
rAma bANa - sAvEri - Adi (RNS)
tani
adikAdu bhajana - yadukula kAmbhOji - Adi
Emani vEgintulE - husEni - Adi
tavadAsOham - punnAgavarALi - Adi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi

The concert started with a brisk rendition of the sriranjani kriti with embellished by a string of short-Avartana swarams. The varALi AlApanai was marked by weighty classicism which is Kaushik forte. The pancaratnam, despite some memory hiccups, was rendered well. It was refreshing to hear the nArAyaNagauLa kriti which has become rarer than Dikshitar's "Sri rAmam". Equally contrasting and appealing was the manOranjani kriti.

The sahAnA AlApanai was sensitive and soothing. The kriti was rendered without any further embellishments and that suited the mood of the concert. Probably aware of the overdose of Kalyani in concerts, particularly the recent 'season' he embarked on the kriti directly. The choice also seemed to satisfy the 'minority quota' for tALas. A spell of niraval and svaras were included. He then chose what could be an appropriate reply for a marketing call from a multi-national bank! "rAnidhirAdu............pOnidhi pOdu" ! It was a neat rendition.

The sAvEri AlApanai was not in the same class as the two earlier ones. However, there was a welcome choice of kriti which received elaborate treatment with neraval and svarams at 'sauryamEmani pOgaDuturA'. This was followed by a sprightly tani by school-boy mridangist Srivatsan.

The post tani session also kept up the classical mood with the inclusion of songs in rAgAs such as huseni and punnAga varALi

In summary, Kaushik is a talented lad with plenty of promise but the flautist in him is distinctly more effective than the vocalist

Raghul on the violin was adequate while Srivatsan lent lively support to the proceedings.

T M Krishna, T N Krishnan Foundation for Performing Arts

T M Krishna - R K Shriram Kumar - K V Prasad

T N Krishnan Foundation for Performing Arts.
Raga Sudha Hall. 6th Jan 07. 6:15 pm

dEva dEva - mAyAmAlavagauLa - rUpakam - ST (NS)
krupa jUchuDaku - chAyAtaraNgiNi - Adi - T
sumasAyaka - karnATakA kApi - rUpakam - ST Varnam (R)
rAmacandrENa - mAnji - rUpakam - MD (RS)
gItArtamu - suruTTi - Adi - T (R)
entuku pEttalavalE - sankarAbaraNam - Adi - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
sakhi prANa - senjuruTTi - Adi - Dharmapuri Subbarayar
Slokam involving Ramayana and navarasas - bilahari, sahAnA, varALi, jOnpuri
sapasya kausalyA - jOnpuri - Adi
tillAnA - pUrNacandrikA - Adi
nI nama rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T

T M Krishna gave a truely classical concert filled with weighty compositions rendered with a good vigour for the TNK foundation. He had carefully chosen some of the pieces popularly sung by SSI and one guesses they were all TNK favourites.

The concert started with a brisk rendition of the mAyAmALavagauLa kriti with a quick round of neraval at 'jAtarUpa...' and a nice set of svarams. The chAyAtaraNgiNi kriti was rendered to build up to the tempo.

The next was a short AlApanai of karnATaka kApi, which was presented well and for those who wondered why there wasnt a varNam in the concert, here came one. The piece was rendered with a lot of bhAvam. As Sri Krishna was beginning the first line of the mAnji piece, somebody in the first row (Sri T N Krishnan presumably) in the first row asked him for an AlApanai of the Ragam. The AlApanai was rendered in a very nice fashion showing differences between its close cousins. The kriti was rendered beautifully with a nice set of svarams.

The suruTTi AlApanai was done very nicely and the kriti was rendered very well. Some of the phrases were very enjoyable. The main shankarAbaraNam AlApanai was done in a very classical fashion. The phrases were weaved one after another in beautiful patterns. The kriti was rendered nicely with beautiful neraval and svarams at 'vEda sAstra tatvArtamulu thelisi'. The senjuruTTi jAvaLi and the rAgamAlika slOkam were good.

Sri Krishna's voice has the capabilities of exactly singing most subtle gamakkams and the depth it has in mandara sthAyi and thAra sthAyi as well. He fully uses these and sings his concerts, thus making them very enjoyable.

In TNK's words "Shriram Kumar followed Krishna faithfully". I cant say anything more. His AlApanai were very neat and all his replies to the main artist were very good and stood up to the expectations created by the main artists.

Sri Prasad on the mrudangam played with a lot of anticipation. His accompanying for the kritis, for each sangati, for the svarams were all very good. His tani had quite differently structured and was enjoyable.

R K Srikantan, Nada Inbam

R K Srikantan - R K Shriramkumar - Umayalpuram Mali

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall
2nd Jan 2007. 6:30 pm

sAmI ninnE - srI - Adi - KDI (short sketch)
vandE nishamaham - hamsadwani - Adi - MV (RS)
sArasa daLa nayanE - sAramati - Adi - HMB (short sketch)
samayamidE - kEdAram - rUpakam - PSI (RS)
sari evvarE - srIranjani - Adi - T (RS)
narasimha mAmava - Arabhi - kanDa chApu - ST (short sketch)
ElAvatAram ettukoNTivi - mukhAri - Adi - T (RS)
sri nArada nAda - kAnaDA - Adi - T (R)
rAmA ninnu - shankarAbharaNam - misra chApu - Mysore sadAsiva rAo (RNST)
Ishwari rAjEswari - AbhEri - Adi - HMB
nanda tanaya - yamunAkalyANi - Adi - PD (short sketch)
mangaLam kOsalEndrAya - madyamAvati
nI nama rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

i was unfortunate to have left as Sri Srikantan began the neraval for the sankarAbaraNam kriti. It was an awesome concert. I can never forget the 'ElAvatAra'...

His AlApanais of kEdAram, srI ranjani and sankarAbaraNam were good. The mukhAri AlApanai was awesome. It was very good. Sri Sriramkumar was in full form. some of the subtle gamakkams he played for the mukhAri were just tooo good.

PS: a more detailed review is available on a frnd's blog, and hence m posting only a few lines...