Master Balamuralikrishna, Asthika Samajam Thiruvanmiyur

Master Balamuralikrishna - Kandadevi Vijayaraghavan - Thanjavur Ramadas

Asthika Samajam, Amarabharathi, Thiruvanmiyur
29th May 2008. 6:30pm

viribhONi - bhairavi - aTa tALam - PA (short sketch)
mahAgaNapatim - nATTai - Adi - MD (short sketch, S)
lEkanA ninnu - asAvEri - Adi - T
paridAnamiccidE - bilahari - kaNDa cApu - PSI (RS)
sAmOdam cintayAmi - suddha danyAsi - misra cApu - ST (NS)
vinarAdanA - dEvagAndhAri - Adi -T (short sketch)
mInAkshi mE mudam dEhi - gamakakriyA - Adi - MD (RST)
vagalADi bOdanalaku - bEhAg - rUpakam - Tirupati Narayanaswamy
tillAnA - khamAs - Adi - PSI
nI nAma rUpamulaku -saurAshTram - Adi - T
mangaLam kOsalEndrAya - madhyamAvati

It was a good concert. The kritis were presented well. The manOdarmam was good also. Usage of the dhaivatam in the nATTai piece and preferential usage of 'm d s' in the main piece were notable features of the manOdarmam. The violinst was good. The mrudangist played with great anticipation. His tani was nice.

Parassala Ponnammal, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha

Parassala B Ponnammal - Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi - Trivandrum Vaidhyanathan - Pudukkottai Ramachandran

Sri Krishna Gana Sabha.
Veteran's Day. Concert with emphasis on Swathi Tirunal Kritis
24th May 2008. 6:30 pm

sarasija nAbhA - nATTai - Adi - Parameswara Bhagavathar (S)
srI maha gaNapati - gauLa - misra cApu - MD (short sketch, S)
narasimha mAmava - Arabhi - kaNDa cApu - ST (RS)
rAvE himagiri kumAri - tODi - Adi - SS (R)
jnAna mosagarAdA - pUrvikalyANi - rUpakam - T (RNS, neraval at "paramAtmuDu...")
AnjanEyA raghurAma dUtA - sAvEri - Adi - ST (RNST, neraval at "janakasutAti vimOcana lOla jambU mAlidara nicicara jAla")
kaLakaNTi kAdam - nIlAmabari - misra cApu - ST
bhAvayAmi raghurAmam - rAgamAlikA - rUpakam - ST
enna solli azhaittAl - kAnaDA - Adi - Ambujam Krishna
iLa taLir sayanE - punnAgavarALi - misra cApu - ST
tillAnA - danAsrI - Adi - ST
adata dhAnIm vismitOyam - sindhubhairavi - rUpakam - ST (short sketch)
bhujaga sAyinO - yadukula kAmbhOji - rUpakam - ST

What a concert that was!
I am short of words to describe each piece. Each piece was better than the other. The AlApanais were all awesome. The svarams were just too much to take. The clever neraval for the main, for a rather wordy line was incredible.

The pick of the evening was the svarajati.


i m short of words...

Sanjay, Veda Pata Nidhi

Sanjay Subrahmanyan - S Varadarajan - Thanjavur Ramadas

Veda Pata Nidhi. Kanchi Periyava Jayanthi Celebrations
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Main Hall.
20th May 2008. 6:30 pm

bhavanuta - mOhanam - Adi - T
nI daya rAdhA - vasanta bhairavi - rUpakam - T
vinatA suta vAhanuDai - harikAmbhOji - Adi - T (RNS)
nI mati challaga - Anandabhairavi - Adi - Kavi Matrubhoothaiyya
bhajarE rE citta - kalyANi - misra cApu - MD (R)
sivakAma sundari - mukhAri - Adi - PS
aru marundoru tani marundu - kAmbhOji - rUpakam - MT
durusuga krupajUchi - sAvEri - Adi - SS (RS)
tani Avarththanam
hE gOvinda - madhuvanti - rUpakam - Sur Das (R)
rAmanai bhajittAl - mAND - Adi
tillAnA - tODi - Adi - RSI
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a nice concert. The AlApanais of kalyANi and sAvEri were both done beautifully. All the kritis were rendered very well. The svarams were all off beat and employed a lot of dhATTu prayOgams particularly. The madhuvanti AlApanai was very much making one expect a Pallavi. The accompanists were good.

Kalpakam Swaminathan, Kamalamba Navavarnams recital.

Smt Kalpakam Swaminathan gave a veena recital of kamalambA navAvarNams on 8th May 2008 at 4 pm, preceding the release of a book on Devi Mahatmiyam, authored by Sri. N. Hariharan and release by The Kanchi Seer at Sankaralayam in chetpet.

She was accompanied by Smt Prema Hariharan on veenai and Thanjavur Sri Kumar on the mrudangam. The kritis were rendered without any manOdarmam, saving a couple of short sketchs.

The acoustically challenged hall, with a non co-operative amplification system and an unruly audience made it tough to enjoy the music. One had to concentrate hard, to be able to appreciate all the music thoroughly. When one could achieve that kind of concentration, it was a pleasure to hear. However, those who wanted to listen carefully were very frequently disturbed with all kinds of distractions from all sides of the hall. It was more like a wedding concert than that of navAvarNams.

It was disheartening to see mami play at this place, with all these disturbances. The majority of the audience were only waiting for the Seer and were probably feeling that they were being deprived of it, by this old lady performing something on her veenai.

Suguna Purushottaman, Shyama Sastri Day - Saraswati Vaggeyakkara Trust & NGS

Suguna Purushottaman - Usha Rajagopalan - Ganapathiraman

Shyama Sastri Day
Saraswathi Vaggeyakkara Trust & Narada Gana Sabha
NGS Mini Hall.

dayAnidhE - bEgaDa - Adi (varNam)
dEvi brOva samayamidE - cintAmaNi - Adi
nannu brOvu lalitA - lalitA - vilOma cApu (RS)
sari yevvarammA - bhairavi - kaNDa jhampa (2 kaLai)
rAvE parvata rAjakumAri - kalyANi - misra jhampai (RNS)
taruNam IdammA - gauLipantu - Adi
O jagadambA - Ananda bhairavi - Adi (R)
sarOja daLa nEtri - shankarAbaraNam - Adi
durusugA - sAvEri - Adi (RNST)
brOvavammA - mAnji - misra cApu
pAlincu kAmAkshi - madhyamAvati - Adi

It was a truly amazing concert to listen. The cintAmaNi, bhairavi and shankarAbaraNam pieces were rendered with all their caraNams. It was fun to listen to usually main-ed kritis as fillers and as a mangaLam. One couldnt also find a concert with so many sets of allied ragams handled in the same programme.

The bEgaDa varNam was rendered in a brilliant kAla pramANam making an awesome start to the concert.. The cintAmaNi was excellent. AlApanai of lalita and svaras to the sAhityam 'lalitA' for the kriti were all superb. The bhairavi piece stood out and made a lasting impact and listening to all the caraNams fully was a treat compared to the jumble that is usually rendered. The kalyANi piece, a rare number, was rendered well with neraval and svarams at 'mInalOcani karuNajUDavammA'. The Anandabhairavi AlApanai was quite elaborate and indicative of a main piece. However, it turned out to be otherwise. The main sAvEri was rendered very well with neraval and svarams at 'nArAyaNi shyAmakrishNanuta...' For all the pieces, svarams were rendered to various points of sAhityam (and hence eDuppu) in the line in which svarams were sung. It was all perfect and one dint feel like hearing allied ragams till one got to writing down the list and a writeup.

The violinist was her good old usual self following the main artist. The mridangist played with good anticipation, his tani culminating to 'shyAmakrishNanutE', (which was where the kOrvai of the final vocalist ended) was crisp and good.