Varalakshmi Anandkumar, Nada Inbam

Varalakshmi Anandkumar - Padma Shankar - R Ramkumar

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall
12 Nov 09. 6 pm

evvari bOdana - AbhOgi - Adi - PSI
gam gaNapatE - hamsadvani - tisra Adi - HMB (S)
srI ramA pAdamA - amrutavAhini - Adi - T
visAlAkshIm - kAsirAmakriyA - misra cApu - MD (RNS)
pAdamE tuNai - valaji - Adi - PS
srI raghuvara - kAmbhOji - Adi - T (RS)
tani
shAntAkAram bhujagasayanam - rAga mAlikA slOkam
mOsa bOdE - shubapantuvarALi - Adi - PD
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a good concert. All the kritis were rendered very well. The renditions bared the stamp of her lineage, the DKP/DKJ bANi. The AlApanais were very very elaborate, the neraval svarams were also pretty elaborate and long. The violinst was good and gave fitting replies all through. The mridangist was very good and played very appropriately for all the pieces. His accompanying for the neraval and svarams were awesome too. The tani was great.

Amritha Murali, Astika Samajam Thiruvanmiyur

Amritha Murali - B Ananthakrishnan - Mannarkoil J Balaji

Astika Samajam Thiruvanmiyur, Amarabharathi
9 Nov 09. 6:30 pm

sAmi ninnE - srI - Adi - Karur Devudu (short sketch)
rAma nI pai - kEdAram - Adi - T (short sketch, S)
vADErA daivamu manasA - kAmavardhani - Adi - T (RNS)
mInalOcana brOva - danyAsi - cApu - SS (R)
cEta srI bAlakrishNam - dvijAvanti - tisra Ekam - MD
vElayyA dayavillaiyyA - sAvEri - Adi - KI
tsakkani rAjamArgamu - kharaharapriyA - Adi - T (RNST)
kastUri tilakam - slOkam in hindOLam, kApi, sindhu bhairavi, bEhAg
kaNDu danya - bEhAg - rUpakam - Kamalesha Vittala
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a good concert. Kum. Amritha did a very good job with whatever she chose. The rAga AlApanais were all expansive and dint in a chaste manner, fitting the kritis that were presented. The renditions of the kritis were good and weighty. The neraval and svarams were all done well. It is good to hear such music from a few of these youngsters who do a good job at delivering weighty classical music in the traditional style. The violinst was good. The mridangist played well for all the kritis. His sensible accompanying and anticipation for songs as well as for the manOdarmam parts definitely made the concert all the more enjoyable. The tani was very nice to listen to. An evening, well spent.

Madras String Quartet, Bharat Sangeet Utsav

Madras String Quartet
V S Narasimhan - Violin
Hemantraj Muliyil - Violin
B J Chandran - Viola
V R Sekar - Cello

Bharat Sangeet Utsav, Carnatica & Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha
Narada Gana Sabha
7 Nov 09. 5:15 pm

Orchester Quartet - Carl Stamitz in C Major (3 movements)
Quartet - W A Mozart K.156 (3 movements)

evvari bOdana - AbhOgi - Adi - PSI
srI mahAgaNapati - gauLa - misra cApu - MD
srI subramaNyAya - kAmbhOji - rUpakam - MD
IsanE inda Ezhai - chakravAkam - PS
mOhanalahari - bilahari - V S Narasimhan
tillAnA - dEsh - Adi - LGJ
chinnanchiru kiLiyE - rAgamAlikA
krishna nI bEganE - yamunA kalyANi - vyAsarAyA

It was the first time I was hearing Orchestra-ised Carnatic Music or Western Music live. Though I have seen quite a few of the Quartet's youtube videos, it was definitely a different experience to see it live.

They had set apart about 30-45 minutes of programme for the Western Music Pieces that they presented. All of it so good to hear. I have heard some of these pieces over FM Rainbow & Gold, but to listen to them live is totally a different feeling. I was totally impressed with the coordination and harmony they could bring into their presentation.

The orchestra versions of our compositions were all very different on the ear and i must say i enjoyed it a lot. Sri Narasimhan played short AlApanais of kAmbhOji and bilahari, while Sri Chandran did so for ChakravAkam and Sri Sekar elaborated dEsh. It gave a different flavour to our compositions to be heard in such a version. I did enjoy it thoroughly.

Hope to hear them live again.

Geetha Ramanathan Bennett, Music Club IIT Madras

Geetha Ramanathan Bennett - Chidambaram S Balashankar - Trichy Murali

Music Club IIT Madras, CLT
6 Nov 09. 7 pm

vAraNamukhavA - hamsadvani - rUpakam - KI (short sketch, S)
kadalEvADu - nArAyaNagauLa - Adi - T (R)
bOgIndra sAyinam - kuntaLAvarALi - kaNDa cApu - ST (S)
murugA murugA - sAvEri - misra cApu - PT (R)
mA jAnaki - kAmbhOji - Adi - T (RtNS)
annai annai (UzhikkUthu) - mOhanam - Adi - Bharathiyar
raghuvara nannu - kAmavardhini - Adi - T (RtNST)
rAgamAlikA tAnam in bEgaDa, kApi, rEvati.
bhAvayAmi gOpAlabAlam - yamunA kalyANi - kaNDa cApu - A
tillAnA - rAgEsrI - Adi - LGJ
niraimadi - hamsAnandi - Adi - AGN
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a good concert. Her choice of ragams and songs was pretty off beat. To have kAmbhOji as yet-another-piece and kAmavardhini for main is not something one gets to listen all that often. The rAgams presented and kritis reminded one of her father, the great Sri S Ramanathan.

The kritis were all well rendered. The rAga elaborations were all very nice and brought out the nuances of the rAgam as well as some of the techniques in handling the instrument. The svarams were all good and matched to the kriti renditions. The accompanists were good in parts.

Gayathri Venkataraghavan, Music Club IIT Madras

Gayathri Venkataraghavan - Mysore Srikanth - Erode K S Nagaraj - Chandrasekhara Sarma

Music Club IIT Madras
Central Lecture Theatre
4 Nov 09. 7 pm

vignarAja krupAsindhO & yAkundEndu dushAra hAra davaLA - slOkams
sarasijanAbhA - kAmbhOji - aTa - Vadivelu
danyuDevvaDo - malayamArutam - Adi - PSI (NS)
karuNajUDavammA - varALi - misra cApu - SS (RNS)
srI rAma nAmam - aTANA - Adi - PS
tyAgarAja mahA dvajArOha - srI - Adi - MD (R)
parAku jEsina - jujAhuLi - Adi - T
srI lalitE kanci nagaranivAsini - bhairavi - Adi - AS (RNS)
tani
P - nATTaikuranji - sukumAranai kumAranai mAranai manamE nI ninai dinamE
pAl ninaindUTTum - viruTTam in danyAsi, hamsAnandi
sankara srI giri - hamsAnandi - Adi - ST
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a nice concert. The choice of pieces was very interesting and refreshing to listen. The list seemed very very carefully chosen and was rendered well.

The kriti renditions were very good. The Alapanais were good. Especially the srI rAgam was elaborated very nicely and pretty emotive. The other rAgA elaborations were nice as well and pretty expressive too. The neraval and svarams were all measured and matched for the kritis presented.

The accompanists were good and did an apt job with accompanying the main artist the right way.

Overall, a good concert

Vijay Siva, Bharat Sangeet Utsav

Vijay Siva - Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi - Manoj Siva

Carnatica & Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha
Bharat Sangeet Utsav, Narada Gana Sabha.
2 Nov 09. 7 pm

sadApAla rUpApi - slOkam in hamsadvani
varalakshmIm bhajarE - saurAshTram - Adi - MD
sadAnanda tANDavam - bahudAri - Adi - Achyuta Dasa (NS)
EmitOva balkunA - sArangA - Adi - T (R)
gOvinda gataya - bhairavi - kANDa cApu - NT (RNS)
nannu brOvu - lalitA - misra cApu - SS (N)
mOhana rAmA - mOhanam - Adi - T (RST)
EkArAdi samasta - slOkam in danyAsi, bEhAg
maNiyE maNiyin oLiyE - kharaharapriyA
enna seidAlum - kharaharapriyA - Adi - PS
mAdar pirai - senjuruTTi - tisra Ekam - tEvAram
harivAsarada upavAsada bhAgyavu - sindhubhairavi - Adi - PD
marukkulAviya - pUrvikalyANi - tisra Jhampai (tisra naDai) - Thiruppugazh
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T
svasti prajApya

It was a good concert. The choice of kritis was pretty off beat and the renditions were very good. The manodarmam parts were done in a very chaste manner, as one would expect from the artists on stage. The accompanists were very good as well. The concert was a very good one.