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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Ritha Rajan, Nada Inbam

Ritha Rajan - R K Shriram Kumar - Manoj Siva

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall.
31st July 2008. 6 pm

palukavEmi nA deivamA - pUrNa candrikA - Adi - T (short sketch, S)
nIlAyadAkshi - paras - tisra tripuTa - SS
paripUrNa kAmA - pUrvikalyANi - rUpakam - T (RNS)
sItAvara sangIta - dEvagAndhAri - Adi - T (R)
aparAdamula - rasALi - Adi - T
kaddana vAriki - tODi - Adi - T (RNST)
hastivadanAya - navarOj - misra cApu - MD
yAla padarE - bEgaDa - tisra tripuTa - K
vagalADi - bEhAg - rUpakam - TN
sAmi rADAyaganE - folk tunes - DS
mrudu hrudayE - slOkam from dayA satakam - sAvEri, varALi, sahAnA, suruTTi
kumara gurupara - kharaharapriyA - misra jhampai - Thiruppugazh
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

What a concert that was!
Smt Ritha Rajan, a senior vocalist from the Brinda-Mukta school stole the show at her recent concert at Raga Sudha. One wonders why she does not sing frequently. The concert began with a bang! palukavEmi nA deivamA, a Ramnad Krishnan benchmark, was rendered effortless with an elaborate round of kalpanai svarams and korappu.

The paras kriti which followed was amazing. The pUrvikalyANi AlApanai was done in a very elegant fashion. The kriti had to be paripUrNa kAmA, with elaborate neraval and svarams. The dEvagAndhAri AlApanai was perfectly fitting to the grandeur of the kriti that came up. Each phrase was just flowing and kept the audience captive. With a quick rasALi to follow, the main tODi AlApanai was very elaborate and there were many traditional phrases that were interwoven. While one thought it might be a little early for the main, the elaborate rendition of the alapanai, kriti and neraval and svarams made one realise it was not. The kriti was rendered with some awesome sangatis. The neraval and svarams also had quite some rare phrases sprinkled all over. For an example, This was probably the first time i heard somebody use the phrase 'r g s, s r n, n s' outside of the svarajati.

The post tani part of the concert had a moving rendition of hastivadanAya. The bEgaDa padam, a personal favourite, was rendered with amazing bhavam and control. The jAvaLis which followed were beautiful as well. The rAgamAlika slOkam from dayA satakam was rendered with absolute rAga bhAvam.

Smt. Ritha Rajan gave a very enjoyable concert. Each phrase was moving made one sit up and listen with more attention.

Sri Shriram Kumar followed the main artist like a shadow. All his replies were measured and nothing less than the best he could give. The kritis were also beautifully given by him. For a man of such a repertoire, following any kriti was not tough. He managed to pull a perfect show.

Sri Manoj Siva was not left out. He played with maximum anticipation and in tandem for each sangati that was sung. His playing for the neraval and svarams was also very enjoyable. The tani was nice as well.

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Friday, July 25, 2008

Seerkazhi Jayaraman, Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha

Seerkazhi Jayaraman - V V Ravi - Umayalpuram Mali - Srirangam Kannan

Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha. Vani Mahal
25th July 2008. 6:30 pm

vallabha nAyakasya - bEgaDa
svAminAta paripAlyAsumAm - nATTai - Adi - MD (NS)
mayilAgi kayilAya nAtanai - AbhOgi - Adi
srI rAma pAdamA - amruta vAhini - Adi - T
dorakunA iTuvaNTi - bilahari - Adi - T (R)
murugA murugA - sAvEri - misra cApu - PT
marivEre - latAngi - kaNDa cApu - PSI (R)
srI visvanAtam bhajE - bhairavi - Adi - PS (RST)
kaNNaNai kANbadeppO - rAgamAlikA - Adi
srI rAghavam - slOkam in dEsh
rAma nAmamE - dEsh - Adi
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a very enjoyable concert from the veteran. His AlApanais of both bilahari and bhairavi were both top class. All kritis were rendered in a sparkling fashion. The neraval at 'kAmitArta vitaraNa...' was very well handled. The svarams in nATTai and bhairavi were both very beautifuly rendered. The latAngi AlApanai was rendered by Sri Jayaraman's disciple who provided vocal support. Sri Ravi on the violin played in tandem and gave good replies. Sri Mali and Sri Kannan played with amazing anticipation and to the pieces rendered. Their tani was nice as well.

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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Ranjani Gayathri, Semmangudi Centenary Concert Series

Ranjani, Gayathri - B U Ganesh Prasad - K Arun Prakash - K V Gopalakrishnan

Semmangudi Centenary Concert Series
Music Academy, TTK Auditorium
24th July 2008. 6:30 pm

varNam - darbAr
rAmacandra pAhi - pUrNacandrikA - Adi (S)
teliyalEru rAmA - dhEnukA - Adi - T
mAru balka - sri ranjani - Adi - T (RNS)
srI mAtrubhUtam - kannaDa - misra cApu - MD (R)
birAna brOva idi - kalyANi - tisra Adi (NS)
O rangasAyI - kAmbhOji - Adi - T (RNST)

The Kritis were rendered perfectly with all the sangatis executed in perfection. The manodarmam parts were all good also. The accompanists played their properly perfectly in playing according to what is being sung.

It was a decent concert. The AlApanai of kannaDa by Smt Gayathri was my pick of the concert. Quite a good elaboration it was.

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Friday, July 18, 2008

C S Sajeev, Shanmukhapriya

C S Sajeev - Usha Rajagopalan - A M Hari Narayanan - Nerkunam Shankar

Shanmukhapriya, Swamy's Hall
18th July 2008. 6:30 pm

inta calamu - bEgaDa - Adi - TT (short sketch S)
srI mahA gaNapatim - aTANA - Adi - JCW (RS)
sarasija nAbha sOdari - nAga gAndhAri - Adi - MD
srI varalakshmi - srI rAgam - rUpakam - MD (R)
srI rama pAdamA - amrutavAhini - Adi - T
mAmava mInAkshI - varALi - misra cApu - MD (RNS)
manavyAlakimcarA - naLinakAnti - Adi - T
O ranga sAyI - kAmbhOji - Adi - T (RNST)
unnai tavira vERillai - suruTTi - Adi - Neelakanta Sivan (R)
manasE dussam - Ahiri - misra cApu - ST
tillAnA - pUrNacandrikA - Adi - RSI
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T
svasti prajApya - madhyamAvati

It was a good concert. The artist had a good sense of planning and presented things to the right measure. The alapanais were all very good. They were a good mix of the usual trademark phrases and some unorthodox sancharams interwoven well. The violinst replies were on par with the main artist if not a shade better. The neraval svaram sequences were all beautifully executed as well. The mridangist played to the kriti on all occasions and kept the momentum going. The kanjira vidwan ably supported him. The tani they shared was quite good also.

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Monday, July 14, 2008

Suguna Purushottaman & Suguna Varadachari, Mani Krishnaswamy Day

Suguna Purushottaman & Suguna Varadachari - T K Padmanabhan - Thanjavur Kumar

Mani Krishnaswamy Day.
Dakshinamurthy Hall, PS High School
12th July 2008.

teratIyaga rAdA - gauLipanti - Adi - T
ikanaina nA - pushpalatikA - Adi - TN
endu dAginADO - tODi - misra cApu - T
srI kumAra nagarAlayE - aTANA - Adi - ST
gaTTi gAnu - bEgaDa - tisra Adi - T
pAhi rAmachandra rAghavA - yadukulakAmbhOji - T
sriyatkAntAya - mangaLa slOkam in suruTTi

The evening started with a panel discussion on Smt. Mani Krishnaswamy. Participating in the discussion were Sri SR Janakiraman, Sri T R Subramanian, Sri B M Sundaram, Chingleput Sri Ranganathan, Sri N V Subramanian, Ms. Sundari, Smt Suguna Purushottaman and Smt Suguna Varadachari. They all spoke about the various facets of Smt Mani Krishnaswamy. As Dr VV Srivatsa was ill, Sri B M Sundaram also moderated the discussions. Sri Srinivasan of NadopAsana also spoke on the occasion and Sri M K Sudarashan proposed the vote of thanks. Smt Suguna Purushottaman and Smt Suguna Varadachari also presented a composition on Smt Mani Krishnaswamy set to mOhana kalyANi and Adi tALam composed by Smt Suguna Purushottaman.

The concert which followed had only kritis being sung with no manOdarmam at all. Smt Suguna Purushottaman announced that this will not be a regular concert and they would present pieces that were Smt. Mani Krishnaswamy's favourites and those they learnt together. The kritis were rendered in such a grand fashion that one did not feel the absence of any manOdarmam. The accompanists were good.

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Friday, July 11, 2008

Jayalakshmi Sekhar, Nada Inbam

Jayalakshmi Sekhar - Mannarkoil J Balaji - K V Gopalakrishnan

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall.
11th July 2008. 6 pm

inta calamu - bEgaDa - Adi (short sketch)
charaNu siddhi vinAyakA - saurAshTram - misra cApu - PD (short sketch, S)
Isa pAhimAm - kalyANi - rUpakam - T (RS)
nIrajAkshi kAmAkshi - hindOLam - rUpakam - MD (R)
yOcanA kamala lOcanA - darbAr - Adi - T (short sketch)
cittam irangAdEnayyA - sahAnA - misra cApu - PS (RS)
vADE vEnkaTadri vAsa - vasantA - Adi - A
evari mATa - kAmbhOji - Adi - T (RTNST)
mAyammA - Ahiri - Adi - SS
tillAnA - senjuruTTi - tisra Adi - LGJ
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

The concert was well presented. The AlApanais were all good and evoked the rAga bhAvam effectively. The kritis were presently neatly. The short sketches of saurAshTram and bEgaDa were especially good. AlApanais of hindOLam and sahAnA were moving. The main piece was very good as well. Both the accompanists played very sensibly and with good anticipation. Their tani was elaborate and the finishing kOrvai was differently structured.

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