V V Srivatsa, Lec-dem for Shanmukhapriya

V V Srivatsa - M A Krishnaswami - K R Ganesh

Lec-Dem on rAgam tODi with reference to Trinity Compositions.

Shanmukhapriya. Swami Hall. R A Puram
21 Feb 2007. 6:30 pm

pieces that were rendered in full:

vAriti nIku - T
vEdAraNyEsvarAya namastE - MD
innaDa valE - T
nE pOgaDa kuNTE - T
dAkshAyaNi abhayAmbhikE - MD
E mani mATlADitivO - T
rAmacandrAya namastE - MD
karuNA nidi ilalO - SS
mInalOchani ambA - HMB

pieces that were rendered in part:

kaddanu vAriki - T
koluvamArE gadA - T
eTu dEyO - PD
srI subramaNyO - MD
E maNi miguLa - SS
rUpamu jUchi - varNam
pankajAksha - ST

Sri Srivatsa explained the way the compositions are structured and some very essential things about tODi.

I am unable to write them all and post here for want of time and some short-term-memory-loss

Existance of 30 Tyagaraja, 8 Dikshitar and 4 Shyama Sastri pieces was recorded.

vAriti is a kriti with complete emphasis on pUrvAnga. vEdAraNyEsvara is a kriti with complete emphasis on uttarAnga. The PD kriti and sri subramaNyO were rendered one after another to show similarities in phrases used and the usage of different gamakkas on the gandhAram. The innaDa valE kriti, on dharmAmbikA of thiruvaiyar was rendered to emphasise on the different structuring of the kriti. dAkshAyaNi, nE pogaDa and karUNa nidhi ilalO were rendered to show how the rAgam can be easily fitted to different types of tALam. rAmacandrAya again to show emphasis on how the kriti exploits all tAra sthAyi prayOgams.

Sri Srivatsa also explained the meanings of the kritis and the words and all the nuances in the sAhitya. It was nice lecture.

This is first of a series of Lectures of similar kind, Sri Srivatsa is planning to deliver.

Next programme is on 27th of March on sankarAbaraNam.

SVK mama

When ram sent me the message by sms at around 11 pm on the 15th of February 2007, i was only hoping it was a dream. so much so that, i checked and re-checked and re-re-checked the sms to make sure i was reading the right message the right way and i couldnt sleep at all for about an hour. thought may be he was playing a prank on me as well.

the next morning, i made sure i went and bought a copy of The Hindu myself to check the obituary column. Yes, it was the truth. Sri S V Krishnan, Convenor, Nada Inbam, had passed away on 15th February 2007 in the evening.

It is taking me a long time to come to terms with it. i m still sad for the loss of such a great man, who has been responsible for most of my musical tastes. I had always banked on him for the best music. I wanted to go to Raga Sudha and see the man's family and also SVK mama one last time, i couldnt get enough courage to do that. So much so that, i actually drove all the way to Luz Avenue and went past Raga Sudha Hall, but couldnt get myself to stop, enter and look the man without life and hence drove back. The image of him speaking on the mike 'sabhaiyOrgaLE' would never leave my mind. The last time i heard him speak that was for the violin duet of RK Shriram Kumar & S Varadarajan.

SVK mama, as i wish to refer to him, was a man of strong views. He was quite a stubborn personality in some issues, for which i actually do like him. His musical tastes were of the highest quality. He would never have the concert of a person who he did not feel was worth giving an opportunity, which needs a lot of courage given the kind of pressures and recommendations any well known sabha gets in giving concerts. Also, he was never shy of giving the correct slot for a deserving artist. His subtle smile and ways of talking are all things one can never forget. The big smile with which he cordially but yet firmly turns down requests for concerts, or for adjusting sound levels during concerts or even to some remarks made, are all specialities of this man.

Every day was a music season at Raga Sudha. If there was no reason, he would invent some reason and have concerts as frequently as he could. Not that he needed reasons, in any event. There were many concerts which dint have an occasion but happened. His was the organisation which let students of music, enter without a ticket during ticketed concerts, for he believed that, this way they could learn something. There were many occasions when he would walk upto me and ask, 'yellam seriya' with just hand jesters. On most occasions, he would remind of some really good and interesting music concert that was to come up and tell me not to miss it at all. He would promptly pass-on pamphlets of up coming concerts and let me know which of them, one should not miss at all.

Infact, around 7:30 on that day of the www.rasikas.org meet at TV Ramprasadh concert, a few others and i who were sitting next to each other were talking about Sri SVK and also about koniyADina nApai kriti, while the main kAmbhOji AlApanai was being sung. I was told SVK was talking about this kriti to some leading performing artist, before his last moments...

Who else is going to feature people like T K Govinda Rao, R K Srikantan, Kalpakam Swaminathan, Alamelu Mani, T G Badri Narayanan, G Seethalakshmi? The long list of veterans who were performing almost exclusively only at raga sudha is endless. Who else calls them?

Its not just them, the long and ever increasing list of young and talented-but-yet-not-at-all-influential-with-no-big-names-to-tag musicians who all could conveniently go to SVK mama and earn a slot will have to loose all there hopes.

I can go on and on and keep writing. All of which can no way get the feelings nulled. What we have lost is something which cannot be replaced. A permanent void.

I am now standing in the middle of no where. where do i go to get good music???

T V Ramprasad, www.rasikas.org meet

T V Ramprasad - V V Srinivasa Rao - R Ramesh

www.rasikas.org meet
Chamber concert at somebody's place in T Nagar
15th Februay 2007. 6:30 pm

sarasijanAbha - kAmbhOji - aTa - Vadivelu
teliyEleru rAma - dhEnukA - Adi - T (S)
apparAma bhakthi - pantuvarAli - rUpakam - T (RNS)
sItA nAyaka shrtajana pOshaka - rItigauLa - rUpakam - T (RS)
rAvE himagiri kUmAri - tOdi - Adi - SS
tiruvaDi caraNam - kAmbhOji - Adi - GKB (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
tambUri mItidava - sindhu bhairavi - Adi PD
mangalam kOsalendra followed by jaya mangalam - madhyamavati - Adi

The evening began with a short speech by Sri Kulkarni and some introductions.

The concert began with an ultra short sketch of kAmbhOji and the varNam rendered well. The dhEnukA kriti was rendered well with a nice round of svarams. The pantuvarALi kriti was rendered well with nice neraval and svarams at 'lakSmI dEvI valacunA lakSmanuNDu golucunA' and the new caraNam along with the usual 'kapi vAriti'.

The rItigauLa AlApanai was good and the kriti couldnt get rarer. It was rendered well with a nice round of svarams. The rendition of tODi svarajati was rendered well. The main kAmbhOji AlApanai was good. However, one felt that Sri Ramprasad's voice was growing tired as he went on to the tAra sthAyi. The kriti was rendered well with neraval and svarams at 'aDuttu vanda ennai taLLalAgAdu haraharA enRu sonnAlum pOdAdu'.

The sindu bhairavi piece and madhyamavati concluding pieces were good. Sri Ramprasad was good all thro' the concert. He was ably supported by the accompanists.

T K Govinda Rao, Asthika Samajam, Thiruvanmiyur

T K Govinda Rao - V L Sudarshan - Trichur Narendran - B S Purushottaman

Amara Bharathi, Asthika Samajam, Thiruvanmiyur
Thyagaraja Aradhanai Festival
13th Feb 2007 6:30pm

ninnE bhajana - nATTai - Adi (NS)
telisi rAmA - pUrNacandrikA - Adi (S)
kadalEvADu - nArAyaNagauLa - Adi (S)
nI vADa nE gAna - sArangA - kaNDa cApu (RS)
mOkshamu galadA - sAramati - Adi (S)
mOhana ramA - mOhanam - Adi (RS)
nArAyaNa hari - yamuna kalyANi - Adi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi

I reached late while he was doing the neraval for the nATTai kriti. The svarams were good. The pUrNacandrikA kriti was rendered with all the 3 caraNams and a nice round of svarams. The nArAyaNagauLa kriti was nicely rendered with a nice round of svarams. The sArangA AlApanai, though a bit short was beautiful and the kriti was rendered beautifully with a quick round of svarams. The sArAmati piece began with the anupallavi and was rendered with nice sangatis and a round of svarams.

The main mOhanam AlApanai was off beat from a regular AlApanai one gets to hear in a concert. It was good. The kriti was rendered beautifully with an elaborate round of svarams at the pallavi line. The concluding piece in yamunakalyANi and the mangaLam, both of which were rendered in madhyama sruthi, were nice also.

Sri Govinda Rao gave a nice concert with quite a few nice things to carry back. He was ably supported by his accompanists all thro' the concert who were all good in their individual parts and also on the whole.

Suguna Varadachari, Asthika Samajam, Thiruvanmiyur

Suguna Varadachari - Dr. Hemalatha - Chidambaram Balashankar - Rajarajan

Amarabharati, Asthika Samajam, Thiruvanmiyur
Thyagaraja Aradhanai Festival
10th February 2007, 6:30 pm

teratIyaga rAdA - gauLipantu - Adi - T
bhuvinidAsuDanE - srIranjani - Adi - T (NS)
E pApamu - aTANA - misra cApu - T (R)
E varamaDuguturA - kalyANi - rUpakam - T (RNS)
koluvaiyunnADE - dEvagAndhAri - Adi - T
venkaTEsA ninnu - madhyamAvati - Adi - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
EmaNi vEgintulE - husEni - Adi - T
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T

Smt Varadachari gave a very classical concert with quite a few not-so-often heard pieces. All her AlApanais were very extensive and she showed her capablities in delivering to the fullest in both kalpitam and manOdarmam sections. The concert began with a beautiful rendition of the gauLipantu kriti. The srIranjani piece which followed was rendered well with a quick round of neraval and svarams at 'pAdamulE gati rAmA nI'

The first AlApanai of the evening was a grand aTANA. The AlApanai was very well done. Considering the grandeur of the AlApanai, i was expecting 'E pApamu' and it was so. The kriti was rendered with all the intricate sangatis in a very moving fashion. The kalyANi AlApanai was very beautiful. The kriti, a rare one, which i havent heard (off) before, was rendered nicely with neraval and svarams at 'pAvanamaku nI pAda bhajanamu sEyuDakai'. The dEvagAndhAri piece was rendered with its usual vigour.

The main madhyamAvati AlApanai was done very nicely. The rAgam was elaborated showing all the essentialities of the rAgam. The kriti was rendered beautifully with elaborate neraval and svarams at 'bhAgavada priya tyAgarAjanuta'. The husEni piece was nicely rendered with multiple caraNams.

Dr Hemalatha on the violin played in tandem with the main artist. Her replies were good she provided good support. Sri Balashankar played with good anticipation and was good thro' the concert. He was ably assised by Sri Rajarajan. The tani, the two of them shared, was good with a elaborate round of tisram.

Chingleput Ranganathan, Asthika Samajam, Thiruvanmiyur

Chingleput Ranganathan - Mullaivasal Chandramouli - Madirimangalam Swaminathan

Amarabharathi. Ashtika Samajam, Thiruvanmiyur.
Thyagaraja Utsavam
8th February 2007. 6:30 pm

srI gaNapatini - saurAshtRam - Adi - T
rAmA nI pai - kEdAram - Adi - T (S)
raghuvara nannu - pantuvarALi - Adi - T (RNS)
kanulu tAkani - kalyANa vasantam - rUpakam - T (RN)
nI vADanE gAna - sArangA - kaNDa cApu - T (R)
mundu vEnukA - darbAr - Adi - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
kalinarulaku - kuntaLa varALi - dEsAdi - T
mangaLam slOkam on tyAgarAja - suruTTi

The concert began with a short phrase of saurAshtRam. The kriti was rendered well. The kEdAram kriti, a forte of his school, was rendered very well with a nice and long set of one Avarthana svarams.

Sri Ranganathan's pantuvarALi AlApanai was very nice. The kriti was rendered well with a beautiful neraval at 'manasuna nIki marulu konnAnu'. The svarams sung were nice and had a lot of intricate kaNakku in them. Sri Ranganathan later explained that it was a misra kOrvai in kaNDa naDai he sang to finish the pantuvarALi svarams.

The kalyANa vasantam AlApanai was very elaborate and the kriti was rendered beautifully with awesome neraval at 'mana mOhanAnanda mada cakOra'. One was expecting svarams and was disappointed.

The flashy sArangA AlApanai was very indicative of a main piece, but was quickly rounded off with a quick number. The main darbAr AlApanai began with a punch of darbAr and was elaborated very well. The 13+ minutes of the AlApanai were just too good. The kriti was rendered very movingly with nice neraval and quick round of svarams at 'O gajarakshakA O rAjakumArA'. The kuntaLavarALi kriti was nicely rendered. The mangaLam slOkam, a composer of a certain Rao from kumbakonam of the 1920s was rendered nicely.

Sri Ranganathan gave a very enjoyable concert. All his AlApanais were very nice. They were very logically built and made enjoyable. His neraval and svarams were nice also.

Sri Chandramouli was very good in giving replies to the main artist. He sorta was tentative while beginning the last svaram of pantuvarALi, for he was quite surprised that Sri Ranganathan actually asked him to play the svarams after all the intricate math he displayed. However, Sri Chandramouli played a simpler yet enjoyable kOrvai in his turn. He was good in kalpitam and manOdarmam parts.

Sri Swaminathan on the mrudangam was very accomodative of the main artists style and played with amazing anticipation. He was very good in all parts and his tani was nice also.

Rama Ravi, Nadopasana

Rama Ravi - Vocal
Nandita Ravi - Vocal Support
Usha Rajagopalan - Violin
Thanjavur Subramanian - Mrudangam
K V Gopalakrishnan - Kanjira

Nadopasana, P S High School
7th February 2007, 6:30 pm

evvari bOdana - AbhOgi - Adi - PSI
nijamarmamulanu - umAbaraNam - Adi - T
nItu pAdamE gati - pantuvarALi - rUpakam - Ponnaiah Pillai (NS)
kAdambarI priyAyai - mOhanam - tisra tripuTa - MD (RS)
kamala pada malar - harikAmbhOji - Adi - PS
ranganAyakam - nAyaki - Adi - MD
padmanabha pAhi - hindOLam - Adi - ST
rAmA nI vAdu konduvO - kalyANi - tisra Adi - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
ErAtakunaTarA - kEdAragauLa - Adi - DS
vANi pOndu - kAnaDA - rUpakam - DS
nI nama rUpamulaku - saurAshtRam - Adi - T

Smt Rama began her concert with a brisk rendition of the AbhOgi varNam and the umAbaraNam kriti which followed was nice. The pantuvarALi kriti was rendered well with elaborate neraval and svarams at 'vAdulella srI guruguha dAsuDanucu nannu brOvu'.

The mOhanam AlApanai was done in a elaborate and enjoyable fashion. Smt Nandita sang the thAra sthAyi parts of both mOhanam and kalyANi AlApanais. I was hoping for kAdambari priyAyai or rAjagOpAlam bhajE, when Smt Rama was elaborating the rAgam. It was indeed one of them. The kriti, a rarity in concert circuits these days, was rendered very beautifully, with a nice round of svarams which made it more enjoyable. The last kOrvai in mOhanam, which had a long kArvai on ga, ri and sa successively was especially very nice.

The harikAmhOji kriti was rendered very nicely with some nice sangatis. The rendition of ranganAyakam was very soothing and touching manner, filled with a lot of bhavam followed by the quick hindOLam piece.

The main kalyANi AlApanai was done very well. The kriti was rendered very nicely with a round of neraval and svarams at 'nI japamE dikkugAni nIraja lOcanA'. The two jAvaLis were rendered nicely.

Smt Rama gave a nice concert with quite a few rare pieces and unique choice of ragams as well. It was very nice to hear her sing the pieces to perfection. She was very ably supported by her daughter Smt Nanditha, who was like a shadow to her mother.

Smt Usha on the violin was good and gave good replies to the main artist. The percussion department was quite efficiently handled by Sri Subramanian and Sri Gopalakrishnan. The volume for the mrudangist could have been little more louder. The tani they shared, though short, was nice.

Prasanna Venkataraman, Nadopasana

Prasanna Venkataraman - Ambika Prasad - Mannargudi Subramanian

Nadopasana, PS High School
7th Febrauary 2007. 5 pm.

chalamEla - darbAr - Adi
abhimAnam ennaDu - bEgaDa - Adi - PSI (S)
ini oru kaNam unai - srIranjani - rUpakam (RS)
bAlakrishNam bhAvayAmi - gOpikA vasantam - Adi - MD
mOhanakara muthukumarA - nItimati - rUpakam - KI
rAma bANa - sAvEri - Adi - T (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
jAnakI ramaNA - kApi - Adi - Jeeyar
tillAnA - kAnaDA - rUpakam

The concert started off with a nice rendition of the bEgaDa kriti with a quick set of svarams. The srIranjani AlApanai was done well. The kriti was rendered beautifully with a nice round of svarams.

The rare dIkshitar kriti was rendered soulfully to be followed by the nItimati piece. The main sAvEri AlApanai was done in a very elaborate fashion showing the rAgam very well. The kriti was rendered well, in a rather hurried fashion, probably for want of time, with an ultra short neraval at 'bAma kAsa vadu...' and a quick set of svarams and a short tani.

Sri Prasanna sang the post tani pieces as he was asked to sing them by the organisers. His music is far more matured and elegant. He is one musician who is going to make a name for himself in a big way in this field and that too in the near future.

Sri Ambika Prasad and Sri Subramanian were good in their jobs.

Mysore Balakrishna, Music Club IIT Madras

Mysore D Balakrishna - vINai
V S Rajagopal - mrudangam
H Sivaramakrishnan - ghaTam

Music Club IIT Madras
6th February 2007. 6:45 pm

praNamAmyaham - gauLa - Adi - MV (S)
manasulOni - hindOLam - Adi - T (RS)
mAmava mInAkshi - varALi - cApu - MD (R)
shankari nIvE - bEgaDa - rUpakam - Subbaraya Sastri (RS)
bhOgIndra sAyinam - kuntaLavarALi - kaNDa cApu - ST
vEnkaTa saila vihArA - hamIrkalyANi - Adi - Subbaraya Sastri (RS)
srI valli dEvasEnApatE - naTabhairavi - Adi - PS
R T P - nATTakuranji - Adi (2 kaLai) 1/2 iDam eDuppu, 4 aksharam aridi
'nATTai kuranji enbAr sirandha engaLadu'
tani Avarththanam
alai pAyudE - kAnaDA - Adi - UVS
bhAvayAmi gOpAlabAlam - yamunakalyANi - kaNDa cApu - A
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshtRam - Adi - T
madhyamAvati short sketch

The concert began with a nice short sketch of gauLa and the kriti was rendered well with a nice round of svarams. The hindOLam AlApanai was followed by the kriti with a nice round of svarams.

The varALi AlApanai was good and the kriti was rendered well. The bEgaDa AlApanai had a lot of new phrases which were sort of detached from the main stream AlApanai at some points. The kriti was rendered with a lot of bhavam and a round of svarams. The kuntaLAvarALi kriti was good.

The hamIrkalyANi AlApanai was very well rendered and was having a lot of hindustani-type phrases. The kriti was rendered very beautifully with a nice set of svarams. It was quite surprising to have two Subbaraya Sastri pieces in the same concert, something which doesnt happen all that often. The naTabhairavi kriti which followed was good also.

The nATTakuranji AlApanai was very nice. The tAnam was rendered well. The well known pallavi was rendered beautifully with the anulOma and pratilOma. The svarams were good also. The kAnaDA and yamunakalyANi pieces were good also.

Sri Balakrishna gave a nice concert with some not so often heard pieces. His choice of kritis were good. His renditions were good both in kalpitam and manOdarmam part.

Sri Rajagopal on the mrudangam was very good and played with good anticipation. He was ably supported by Sri Sivaramakrishnan. The tani they shared was good also.

bharath