P Unnikrishnan, Isaitamizh Vizha by Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust & Parthasarathy Swami Sabha

P Unnikrishnan - R K Shriramkumar - K V Prasad - S V Ramani
Isaitamizh Vizha by Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust & Parthasarathy Swami Sabha
Asthika Samajam (Venus Colony), Alwarpet - 26/6/07, 6:45 pm

angayarkanni (varNam) - bEhAg - Adi - Dr. S. Ramanathan(R)
siva lOka nAtanai - mAyAmALavagauLa - rUpakam - GKB(S)
tuNai purindaruL - varamu - Adi - PS (R)
yArukku tAn teriyum - dEvamanOhari - Adi - GKB (S)
innum oru sthalam - simmEndra madhyamam - rUpakam - Muttu Thandavar (R)
tirvaDi caraNam - kAmbhOji - Adi - GKB (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
aravinda lOchananE - nItimati - Adi - Ambujam Krishna
sAnti nilava - tilang - Adi - Sethu Madhava Rao
suttum vizhi - rAgamAlikA - Adi - Subramania Bharathi
mOsam pOgAdhE - kApi - Adi
tillAnA - sindhubhairavi

The concert began with a nice short AlApanai of bEhAg. The varNam was good. The AlApanais of varamu and simmEndra madhyamam were both good. The svarams in mAyAmALavagauLa were a bit over done. The kriti renditions of all the kritis were nice. The simmEndra madhyamam kriti, however, stood out, above the rest. The main kAmbhOji AlApanai was nice. However, one personally felt, the neraval and svarams could have been handled a little more elegantly. Sri Shriram Kumar was good in all parts. Sri Prasad and Sri Ramani, though were a bit loud, handled the percussion department very well.

Vijay Siva, Nadopasana

N Vijay Siva – R K Shriramkumar – N Manoj Siva

Nadopasana, Dakshinamurthy Auditorium at PS High School
23rd June 2007 6:15 pm

ErA nApai [varNam] – tODi – Adi - PSI
sItApatE – khamAs – Adi - T [N at 'prEma jUCi nApai petta manasu jEsi', S]
talli ninnu – kalyANi – vilOma Capu - SS [R S]
saundara rAjam – brindAvana sArangA – rUpaka(2) - MD
slOkam in praise of Mannargudi Rajagopala Swami from mukunda mAlai of kulasEkarAzhvAr.
shri rAjagOpAla – sAvEri – Adi(2) – MD [R, N at 'nArAyaNa tAraka divya nAma parAyaNa krta nAradAdi nuta', S]
arumarundoru – kAmbOdhi – rUpakam
rAgam.tAnam.pallavi – maNirangu – Pallavi line 'mAvIranai vElavanai nI ninai, maNiranganai tozhum' - khaNDa tripuTa [2] i.e. 36 beat cycle– eDuppu 2 aksharam before samam. after singing trikAlam, the pallavi was sung in 1-kaLai for swarams; the pallavi was then sung in tisra jhampa [tisra gati] with swarams and then brought back to khaNDa tripuTa [2 kaLai]
tani Avarththanam
nIru sErvadOr [tEvAram] – nIlAmbari – Adi
smara sundarAnguni – paraju – Adi - DS
kaNdu dhanyanAdE – bEhag – rUpaka - PD [R]
kaNNan varuginDra nEram – chenjuruTTi – tisra laghu
'mahAyOga pIThE taTE' – slOkam in mAND
bArE pANDurangA – mAND – adi - Tukkaram
agaramum Agi [tiruppugazh] – jaganmOhini – vilOma Capu
nI nAma rUpamulaku – saurAshTram - Adi - T

A very nice concert. The AlApanais of kalyANi, sAvEri were both good, the sAvEri especially, was nicely elaborated. The rendition of saundararAjam was moving. The sAvEri kriti was also very beautifully rendered with nice neraval and svarams. The AlApanai of maNirangu was very nice. The tAnam was well structured and the pallavi was rendered very nicely. Sri Shriram Kumar and Sri Manoj Siva were following the main artists like his shadows. A concert to rememeber for sometime.

S Sowmya, Isaitamizh Vizha by Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust & Parthasarathy Swami Sabha

S Sowmya - R K Shriramkumar - Neyveli Narayanan
Isaitamizh Vizha by Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust & Parthasarathy Swami Sabha
Asthika Samajam (Venus Colony), Alwarpet - 23/6/07, 7 pm

nIla mayil (varNam) - rItigaula - Adi - Dr. S. Ramanathan
ADi koNDAr - mAyAmALavagaula - Adi - Muttu Tandavar (NS)
pUtErndU (tEvaram) - Arabhi - Adi - Tirugnanasambandhar (R)
taruNam idammA - gauLipantu - Adi - Shyama Sastri (S)
eppaDi manam - hUseni - misra cApu - Arunachala Kavi (R)
mA mayUra mIthil - bilahari - Mazhavai Chidambara Bharati
kAlai tUkki - yadukulakAmbhOji - Adi - Marimutta Pillai (R)
piravA varam tArum - latAngi - Adi - Papanasam Sivan (R N S)
tani Avarththanam
kunitta puruvam (Tiruviruttam / Tevaram originally set in Kousikam Pann / Bhairavi) - Tirunavukkarasar (Appar) - Kedaragowla, Bhairavi, Senjurutti
cidambaram pogAmal - Senjurutti - Adi - Gopalakrishna Bharati
vIra sutantiram - yamunakalyANi - Mahakavi Bharatiyar
bhUmi mechiDum (Kavadi Chindu) - Annamalai Reddiar
marukkulAviya (Tiruppugazh) - pUrvikalyANi - Arunagirinathar
vAzhiya sentamizh - madhyamavati

It was a real nice concert. I particularly enjoyed the AlApanais of Arabhi, husEni, yadukulakAmbhOji, the neraval in mAyAmALavagauLa and the svarams for the gauLipantu svarams.

Smt Sowmya gave a nice fullfilining concert with no compromise on the musical aspects or the saukyam. all the pieces were indeed carefully chosen, thus spanning compositions of all the periods. I personally felt that the latAngi main did not fall in place, with the other pieces in the list.

Sri Shriram Kumar was good in all his parts and his replies. Sri Narayanan was good as well.

T V Gopalakrishnan, Sravanam

T V Gopalakrishnan - S Varadarajan - T V Vasan - V Suresh

Sravanam, T T D Centre
11th June 07. 6 pm

sahanA vavatu - slOkam in sAvEri
sarasUDa ninnE - sAvEri - Adi - KVI
girirAja sutA - bangALa - Adi - T (RS)
hiraNmayIm lakshmIm - lalitA - rUpakam - MD (R)
jaganmAtA - pUrvikalyANi - misra cApu - Nadopasana Srinivasan (RNS)
chinna nAdEnA - kalAnidhi - Adi - T (AS)
vEnkaTa saila vihArA - hamIrkalyANi - Adi - Subbaraya Sastri (RS)
tani Avarththanam
centanE sadA - kuntaLa varALi - Adi - T
cEta srI - dvijAvanti - rUpakam - MD (R)
pArvai ondrE pOdumE - bhImpLAs - Adi - OVK
agrE pashyAmi - slOkam in nIlAmbari
mAdava mAmava - nIlAmbari - Adi - NT
nI nama rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T
mangaLam kOsalEndrAya - madhyamAvati

Sri Gopalakrishnan gave a real nice concert. It was announced that he was celebrating his 75th birthday today.

The concert began with the slOkam in sAvEri. The varNam followed. The short AlApanai of bangALa was nice. The kriti was rendered with nice sangatis and a quick round of svarams at the pallavi line. The AlApanai of lalitA was having quite a few suddha svarams and gave a different flavour to the ragam. The kriti was rendered well starting at the anupallavi.

The pUrvikalyANi AlApanai was kept short. The kriti, a nice composition with some intelligent usage of the misra cApu tALam, was rendered moving with very quick neraval and a round of svarams. The short AlApanai of kalAnidhi was followed by the kriti and a quick round of svarams.

The main AlApanai of hamIrkalyAni was rendered with some real nice phrases. The kriti was rendered beautifully with a nice round of svarams. The kuntaLavarALi kriti was very nice. The dvijAvanti AlApanai, made one expect a pallavi, however, cEta srI, begining from the anupallavi was nicely rendered. The pieces which followed were good.

Sri Varadarajan was good in all parts and gave fitting replies. Sri Vasan was good and played some interesting patters. Sri Suresh ably supported him thro' the concert. The tani was differently structured and enjoyable.

Ravikiran, Nadabrahmam Anniversary concert.

N. Ravikiran - M.A. Sundareswaran - Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman - B. Srisundarkumar

5th Anniversary of Nadabrahmam Music Journal. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Main Hall
09 June 2007. 7 pm

sAmi ninnE (varnam) - pantuvarALi - Adi - shaTkala narasayyA (short sketch)
tatvamariya taramA - rItigowLa - Adi - PS (S)
sItammA mAyammA - vasantA - rUpakam - T (RNS)
nI dayacE - yadukulakAmbOji - Adi - T (R)
banTurIti - hamsanAdam - Adi - T
pArvai onrE pOdumE - suruTTi - Adi - UVS (RST)
smara sundarAnguni (jAvaLi) - paras - Adi - DS
tharayin mAnuDar (tiruppugazh) - nIlAmbari - Adi - Arunagirinathar
nI nAma rUpa mulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

Real nice concert it was. All the three veterans were free flowing with ideas and what more could u ask, when there was absolute tandem in the team.

The rItigauLa piece and the svarams were good. The vasantA AlApanai was nice. The neraval and svarams at 'paramEsha vasIshTa parAsara nArada saunaka sukha' were enjoyable. The AlApanai of yadukulakAmbhOji was very moving. The kriti was also rendered in a equally moving fashion. The hamsanAdam piece was played well, with the vivAdi dhaivatam being shown. The main suruTTi was nice, with the AlApanai was rendered very well. The kriti and svarams were good.

Sri Sundareswaran was good thro' the concert. His AlApanais and following of kritis were all very moving. His replies for neraval and svarams were all good as well.

Sri Sivaraman was his usual best. His playing was just the way, it should be. He was ably supported by Sri Srisundarkumar

Rama Ravi, Palani Subramania Pillai Guru Pooja

Rama Ravi - Nanditha Ravi - M R Gopinath - Thanjavur Subramanian

Palani Subramania Pillai Guru Pooja Day. Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall
8th June 2007. 10:30 am

graha balam Emi - rEvagupti - Adi(2) - T
manasukarugadEmO - hamsadvani - rUpakam - PSI (S)
paripAhimAm - shubhapantuvarALi - Adi - MV (NS)
kAppaduvE unadu bAram - Ananda bhairavi - rUpakam - Ponnaiah Pillai (R)
paripUrNa kAmA - pUrvikalyANi - rUpakam - T (RNS)
saundararAjam AshrayE - brindAvana sArangA - tisra Ekam(2) - MD
ninnE nammi nAnu - tODi - misra cApu - SS (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
nAri maNi - khamAs - Adi - DS
padari varugudurugudennAvi - kAmbhOji - tisra Ekam(2) - Vaideeswarankoil Subbarama Iyer
vandE mAtaram ambikam bhagavtIm - slOkam in sAvEri, kalyANi, madhyamAvati
uruvAi aruvAi - madhyamAvati - kaNDa cApu - Thiruppugazh
karpagamE - madhyamAvati - Adi - PS
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a bright morning concert, one got to listen today. And the start couldnt get better. Smt Rama began the concert with a stunning rendition of the rEvagupti piece that just made the madras morning brighter. It was indeed rendered in a very moving fashion. The hamsadvani kriti which followed was rendered nicely with a nice round of kalpanai svarams. The shubapantuvarALi piece was rendered in a soulful fashion with elaborate neraval and svarams at 'dharaNi suta manasA' in the anuppallavi.

The first elaborate AlApanai of the concert was Anandabhairavi. The AlApanai, and the kriti with its charecterestic ciTTai svaram were rendered very nicely. As Smt Rama began elaborating pUrvikalyANi, one couldn't help, but, expect pari pUrNa kAmA. The AlApanai was nice. The kriti was rendered with a Brinda School touch, with elaborate neraval and svarams at 'sAkEtadhIpa nI mukha sarasIruhamu jUpi'.

The brindAvana sArangA kriti was rendered very movingly. Each sangati one after another just made everybody sitting spell bound. The main tODi AlApanai was done in a nice fashion. The kriti was rendered with elaborate neraval at 'kannatalli gAdA biDDayanikanikaramintaina lEdA' and kalpanai svarams which ended with korappU a nice kOrvai.

The khamAs jAvaLi was beautiful. The tamil padam in kAmbhOji was moving and was very enjoyable. The rAgamAlikA slOkam, and the double madhyamAvati which followed were all very good also.

Smt Rama gave a really touching concert. It was indeed a truly heartfelt tribute to Palani Sri Pillai, who was being remember on the occasion. She was supported on the vocal by Smt Nanditha Ravi who gelled well with the main aritst. Her essays during neraval and svarams were very good and the kriti rendition were in tandem with what the main artist sang.

Sri Gopinath on the violin was very good. All his rAga essays were good and were fitting replies to what Smt Rama sang. His kriti renditions were following the main artists. His neraval and svarams were all good as well.

Sri Subramanian on the mrudangam was unobtrusive and played according to the compositions. His tani was good as well.

Artists like Smt Rama Ravi, probably, never perform to anything less than what one could call 'awesome'. She is amongst the category of musicians, to whose concerts, one can go expecting something novel each time. Personally, I was very touched with many of pieces, which one doesnt get to listen in concerts otherwise. All the kriti renditions were very precise with each sangati and gamakkam being delivered with a lot of care on the detail.

Earlier, before this concert, there were individual renditions of kritis by leading, upcoming and veteran artists as a tribute to Palani. Sri R K Shriram Kumar sang 'lalitE srI pravridda srImati' in bhairavi. Sri V Bharath Kumar sang a GKB composition in yadukula kAmbhOji. Sri K L Kaushik sang 'E pApamu jEsE' in aTANA. I am told, Smt Jayalakshmi Santanam presented 'paradEvatA bruhatkuchAmbA' in danyAsi. I guess there were others also, whom i have missed.

Seetha Narayanan, Sri Thyagaraja Seva Samiti

Seetha Narayanan - Melakkaveri Thyagarajan - Thanjavur Subramanian

Sri Thyagaraja Seva Samiti.
Obul Reddy Hall, Vani Mahal.
5th June 2007. 6:30 pm

bhajana sEya - aTANA - rUpakam
nammi vaccina - kalyANi - rUpakam (RN)
kAru bAru - mukhAri - Adi (R)
shyAma sundarAnga - danyAsi - tisra Ekam
evarUrA ninnu vInA- mOhanam - misra cApu (R)
evvarE rAmayyA - gAngEya bhUshaNi - Adi
mA jAnaki - kAmbhOji - Adi (RNS)
tani Avarththanam
tava dAsOham - punnAga varALi - Adi
lAli yUgavE - nIlAmbari - rUpakam
nI nama rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi

I reached late and entered as Smt Seetha was elaborating kalyANi. I was told she sang the aTANA piece only before. However, a sheet containing the list of compositions that was being distributed, also had 'endarO mahAnubAvulu' in it. and also, the pieces were jumbled in the sheet.

The kalyANi AlApanai was followed by a neat rendition of the kriti with neraval at 'nAdarUpa shrI saundarya nAyakIpatE' which was done well. The mukhAri AlApanai was kept short but included all the essential phrases and the kriti was rendered amazingly. The danyAsi kriti which followed was rendered well also.

The mOhanam AlApanai was nice and very classical. The kriti was rendered well. The gAngEya bhUshaNi kriti was good. The main kAmbhOji AlApanai was handled well. It was elaborated very methodically and the kriti was rendered well with nice neraval at 'rAja rAjavara rAjIvAkSa vinu'. The svarams which followed were all nicely structured and a korappu to thAra shadjam, and simple kOrvai were sung. The punnAga varALi and nIlambari kritis were both well rendered.

Smt Seetha has a loud and powerful voice. Her ideas in all parts of manOdarmam were all refreshing and really enjoyable. All songs were not so often heard pieces and were presented well. Sri Thyagarajan was good in parts. His replies to Smt Seetha were good all over. However, the kAmbhOji went scratchy in parts. Sri Subramanian was good thro' the concert and played with anticipation. His tani was nice also.

Neyveli Santhanagopalan, Asthika Samajam, Tiruvanmiyur

Neyveli Santhanagopalan - M A Sundareswaran - Thiruvarur Bakthavatsalam - V Suresh

Asthika Samajam, Tiruvanmiyur.
Amarabharathi.
01 June 2007, 6:30 pm


rAmA nI pai - kEdAram - Adi - T (S)
teliyalEru - dhEnukA - Adi - T (RS)
guruvaru mahimala - Anandabhairavi - Adi - WVB (R)
bhajana sEyavE - kalyANi - rUpakam - T (RNS)
vinatA suta - jayantasEnA - Adi - T (AS)
nIvADa nEgAna - sAranga - kanda chApu - T (NS)
rAmA kathA - madyamAvati - Adi - T (RNST)
haridAsulu - yamunAkalyANi - Adi - T
apakAra nindai (tiruppugazh) - chakravAham - kanDa jampai - Arunagiri nathar
nI nAma rUpa mulaku (mangaLam) - saurAshTram - Adi - T
kAvEri tIra vAsAya (slOkam) - madyamAvati

Sri Santanagopalan gave a nice concert. All kritis were rendered well. The svarams all nicely patterned. A nice concert. Sri Sundareswaran gave very nice replies and was all the more supportive. The percussion dept was well handled also.

I had to leave during the madhyamAvati main.