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.