Alamelu Mani, Nada Inbam

Alamelu Mani - vocal
Sarayu Srinivasan - vocal support
R Hemalatha - fiddle
B Ganapathiraman - mrudangam
H Sivaramakrishnan - ghatam

26 Dec 2018, 6:15 pm
Nada Inbam, Ragasudha hall

EranApai - tODi - Adi
ninnujUchi - saurAshtram - PSI
kanikaramu - Anandabhairavi - rUpakam - VK (S)
priyangukaLikASyAmam - slOkam in nAtakuranji
budam Ashrayami - nAtakuranji - jhampa - MD
manavi cEkonavayyA - sarasAngi - rUpakam - PSI (RS)
evvarE rAmayya - gAngEya bhUshaNi - Adi - T
ninnE nammitinayyA - simmendra madhyamam - misra cApu - MV (RNS)

dhUrjaTi natincenE - gauri - Adi (2) - Pallavi Dorasamayya

satatam tAvaka - kharaharapriyA - Adi - ST (RNST)
yAla padarE - bEgaDa - tisra tripuTa
ittanai tulambaramAi - danyAsi - Adi
samayamidhE - bEhAg

A truly wonderful concert. The pieces were all handled with enormous gait. Each piece had a distinct flavour in the rendition. If one looks at the list, it would seem that many closely related rAgAs were taken and only mELakartAs were elaborated. That said, the way it was presented, there was not a place during the concert, where one felt anything wrong or different. It was all pure music and presented very well.

Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunath, Music academy

Aishwarya Vidhya Raghunath - HM Smitha - Rajesh Srinivasan - Nerkunam S Manikandan

23 Dec 2018. 1:30 pm
Music academy. TTK Hall

pavanAtmaja - nATTai (S)
smaraNE sukhamu - janaranjani (sketch)
nannu brOvu lalitA (RN)
vINAbhEri vENu vAdhyAdi - AbhEri - MD
evari mATa - kAmbhOji (RNST)
RTP - srIranjani - khaNDa tripuTa kaNDa naDai. eDuppu 1 aksharas before samam. 9 akshara aridi
ranjani nikhila janani pAhimAm vANi srI
rAgamAlikA svarams in kIravANi,
pUrvi kalyANi, suddha sAvEri
pattakurA - Anandabhairavi
nirguNa nirAmaya - yamunA kalyANi

A well planned and presented concert. The sketch of janaranjani was sharp and clean. AlApanai of lalitA was well done with a quick round of neraval. kAmbhOji was elaborate. The pallavi was good and sung in multiple speeds. The padam was awesome.

Adithya Narayanan, Narada Gana Sabha

Adithya Narayanan - Sai Rakshit - Akshay Ram

23 Dec 2018. 12:15 pm
Narada Gana Sabha, Mini hall

sItApatE nA mansunA - khamAs (sketch, NS)
akhilANDEsvari - dvijAvanti (RS)
mIna lOchana brOva - danyAsi (RNST)

A spirited concert by this young man. He started off with a brisk sketch of khamAs. Sang the kriti well with an elaborate round of neraval svarams. Interesting patterns were used. The AlApanai of dvijAvanti was a good presentation. The svarams were good too. The AlApanai of danyAsi was intricate. Brought in all the essential sangatis and showed promise. Kriti renditon was nice too.

The vocalist showed shades of his guru all throughout. It was evident from the singing and the mannerisms. This syndrome should be grown out. Kriti choices were good and the renditions were with a punch. All sangatis were rendered in a nice manner. The violinst was good and provided apt responses. He was a shade better in some places. The mrudangist was very good too.

Seetha Rajan, Nada Inbam

Seetha Rajan - Embar S Kannan - J Vaidhyanathan - BS Purushottaman

21 Dec 2018. 6:15 pm
Nada Inbam, Ragasudha hall

neranammiti - kAnaDA - aTa
nI sari sATi - kalyANi - Ponniah pillai (S)
rAga ratna - rItigauLa - rUpakam - T (RNS)
krushNa krushNa harE -mALavi - NT (S)
nI vaNTi deivamu - varALi - Spencer Venugopal (sketch)
srI subramaNyAya namastE - kAmbhOji (RNST)

A wonderful concert. Swarams in kalyANi were beautifully woven. A really wonderful and elaborate rItigauLa with an awesome round of neraval and svarams. Smt. Seetha announced that she had tuned the tarangam to mALavi, since this tarangam is mentioned to be in that ragam in some older books. The varALi was slow and sedate. The kAmbhOji was fantastic and moved all across the raga contours. Gave an ultimate fulfilment. Accompanists were in total unison. A much enjoyable concert.

Thamarakkadu Govindan Namboodri, Nada Inbam

Thamarakkadu Govindan Namboodri - S Varadarajan - Trichur C Narendran - Udupi Sridhar

18 Dec 2018. 6:15 pm
Nada Inbam. Ragasudha hall.

Anandabhairavi aTa tALa varNam - VK
srI mahagaNapati - gauLa - cApu - MD (S)
gurumUrtE - shankarAbaraNam - rUpakam - MD (rAga sketch, S)
AdiparAshakti - AbhOgi - Adi (R)
srI kamalAmbA jayati - Ahiri - tisra Ekam - MD (RS)
sAmOdam paripAlayamam
EmAninnE - mUkhAri - Adi (RNST)
srI rAma jayarAma - yadukula kAmbhOji - T
angArakam - suruTTi - rUpakam - MD

A truly wonderful concert. Each item was just too good. A fantastic concert. Awesomeness.

When a musician lives his music and sings for music's sake, the output is much different and better than when it is presented for someone else. This concert was one of its kind. The choice of pieces and the presentation was not done for the audience or for a concert to be a hit. It appeared that the artist wanted to sing for the music and that brought out a very beautiful approach and a refreshing outlook to how a concert is viewed. The choice of pieces deserve the first mention. A typically-considered-a-tukkada, never-sung-in-concerts, so-called-pappa-pattu, nottu-swara-esque number was taken up as one of first elaborate items. gurumUrtE was rendered in a serene pace with a quick AkshipthikA and an intricate round of svarams. Something that is unheard off. AbhOgi was beautiful and clear from the start. Neatly presented. An elaborately elaborate AlApanai of Ahiri. It was in a relaxed and intricate affair. Popular phrases to identify the rAgam were few and sparsely dispersed. The gait of the rAgam and the grandeur that needs to be associated were present in full, showcasing unknown vast greener pastures that needed to be explored. With such an AlApanai, it had to an epitome of a kriti. The navAvarNam was rendered in a measured viLamba gati. There was no hurry. It was given its due. All of 45 minutes, including the svarams in a matching pace only. This writer was left wondering, "what more to sing!" after finishing this Ahiri. The mUkhAri AlApanai was too good too. It was difficult to concentrate, but Sri Namboodri, wouldn't let you off so easily. He made sure this was even more special. In content, quality, style and presentation. Coming back to the choices, a vAra kriti to end the concert. That was un-heard-off too. 

Sri Varadarajan matched up in all departments. His AlApanais of AbhOgi, Ahiri and mUkhAri demand special mentions. It must have been difficult to give those responses impromptu. He was so well in doing it. Sri Narendran was handling the percussion department aptly. His playing much suited to the style of music presented and the patterns were intricately woven in the music as the numbers were rolling out. He was ably assisted by Sri Sridhar. As the lakshana and lakshya are inculcated together with immense sadhakam, the music that comes out has to be of the highest order. This was evident from the entire team and it was indeed a blessing to have been through this musical experience. One of its kind.

S Sowmya, Meenakshi Sundarajan Fine Arts Academy

S Sowmya - Ranjani Ramakrishnan Arun - Neyveli Narayanan - Udupi Sridhar

16 Dec 2018. 6 pm
Meenakshi Sundarajan Fine Arts Academy.
KRS Auditorium, Meenakshi College for Women.

mahA gaNapatim - nATa - MD (S)
guruguhAya bhaktanugrahAya - sAmA - MD (RS)
bhavapriyE bhavAni - bhavAni - Dr. S. Ramanathan
parAsakti maruparAdA - sAvEri - Adi - T (RNS)
tandai tAi
manasu svAdInamaina - shankarAbaraNam (RNST)

The concert was very good. The AlApanai of sAmA was very elaborate and showcased the raga svaroopam in multiple ways. It was a very moving. The kriti and svarams were good too. The AlApanai of sAvEri was superb. It was very elaborate affair and the kriti was presented with a fittingly elaborate neraval and svarams at the anupallavi. The shankarAbaraNam AlApanai had a not-so-orthodox start. However, it was developed well and in line with the piece that was to be rendered. The accompanists were good. The concert was very much enjoyable. A brilliant choice of ragams and songs by the artists of the day. It was a great concert.

Suguna Varadachari, Nada Inbam

Suguna Varadachari - RK Shriram Kumar - K Arun Prakash - Anirudh Athreya

8 Dec 2018. 6:15 pm
Nada Inbam. Raga Sudha Hall

sudati ninnE kOri - kalyANi - aTa - Ponnaiah Pillai
yukatmu gAdu - srI (S)
a few verses from lalitA sahasranama in lalitA
nannu brOvu lalitA - lalitA (NS)
daNDAyudapANim - Ananda bhairavi (R)
kaDaikkaN pArvai - khamAs
Emi nEramu - shankarAbaraNam (RNST)

It was a very vibrant concert from the start. A concert from a veteran musician was always going to be special. Some people are so good in what they do that even what they consider as normal would produce phenomenal results and give wonderful products. Artists like Smt. Suguna was are so well versed with what they do and whatever they sing ought to be brilliant. They would probably not need any special efforts to embellish their music, since it is all present already. That said here is not to comment about the preparation or capability of the artist, but, it is only to mention this writer's view of the music and to only try and portray the concert in some words. How much ever written would be rather insufficient though.

That said, this concert started off with an I-have-not-heard-off-varNam in kalyANi, set to aTa tALam. This was a grand varNam rendered with a lot of gait and it was wonderful to have such pieces presented during a concert. While familiar numbers are always enjoyed, new pieces are always welcome. Restricting to known items is a way to build a cocoon. This is never going to let one see the world. The one-avartana svarams in srI ragam, were very well planned and the sancaras where built well. The singing of a few slOkas from lalitA sahasranama in the same rAga was novel and was done in a emotive manner. The song was great. The neraval at the anupallavi line was rather special. It was very elaborate and showed all the ways of handling neraval and the ragam. The swarams were superb too. The Anandabhairavi AlApanai was awesomeness. Showcasing the rAgam in all this nuances. The main AlApanai of shankarAbaraNam was majestic. An awesomely racy exploration of the rAgam was presented. This was tooo good. An apt crown for the steps traversed with the previously presented items.

The accompanists of the day were wonderful. Their playing was apt. The team's presentation was enchanting. The lalitA neraval was a take-home-lesson. One wanted to not listen to any music for a few days just to soak-in all that had to be absorded. Though this is written after 8 days, the memory of the concert and each of the phrases is so fresh. Such was the music. May one be blessed to listen to such music as much possible.