Season 2012

I had a rather different season this time. Attended far few concerts this season than many previous years. And for some reason, forgot to write down songlists during some concerts and misplaced some of them sheets when I did write down. Originally one wasnt planning to make a post here and hence wasnt really keen on keeping lists, however, felt very bad for not being part of the group here and therefor, have a few full lists here and points/items from my memory for the others. 

After Seshampatti Sri Sivalingam's concert at BVB, one took a long hiatus.

Heard Smt. Nanditha Ravi's concert at Ragasudha Hall. A well presented concert representing one of the old traditions of classical music. One then attended concerts of Smt. Suguna Varadachari and Smt. Ritha Rajan at Ragasudha Hall on the 17th and 18th of December 2012. Both were great concerts. As usual with the great vidushis, they were concerts of pure  classical music out-and-out. Smt. Suguna's kalyani AlApanai and kAntimatim were both wonderful. The main of the evening, tuLasi bilva with neraval at karuNatO was so moving. Smt. Ritha's renditions of the shankarAbaraNam and bEgaDa padams (mAnamE bhUshaNamu and yAlapadarE) were both stunning and so was the nATTaikuranji jAvaLi (tArumAru). Earlier her suruTTi AlApanai and angArakam in the old-world-version in cauka kAlam were amazing.


Palkulangara Ambika Devi - Trivandrum Sampath - Syamakrishanan - Nerkunam Sankar
21 Dec 2012. Raga Sudha Hall

ninnujUchi - saurAshTram (S)
jaya jaya padmanAbha - manirangu
gAngEya vasana - hamIr kalyANi (R)
bhavathi viswasome - mukhAri - misra cApu - ST (RS)
pAlimparAvadElarA - Arabhi (R)
dEva dEva jagadIswara - pUrvikalyANi (RS)
ninnADa - kannaDa
ninne nammi nAnu - tODi (RNST)

It was a concert of a different kind. A music that touched heart and soul. A stirring hamIrkalyANi, touching mukhAri. An Arabhi that flowed like a pravAham with no frills. indeed a sublime tODi. kAmAkshi kanchadalAyadAkshi neraval left each of the 40-odd people in tears.


R Vedavalli - Dr R Hemalatha - K Arun Prakash - N Guruprasad
23 Dec 2012. Music Academy

srI rAjagOpAla - sAvEri (NS)
nEnendu vedakudurA - karnATaka behAg
brOvasamayamidE - gauri manOhari (R)
rAmAbhi rAmA - darbAr - misra cApu - T
nagumOmu - AbhEri - Adi - T (RNS)
srI abhayAmbhA - srI
nIvADa nEgAna - sArangA
RTP - kAmbhOji - kaNDa tripuTa (rAgamAlikA tAnam in varALi, rItigauLa)
ranganE tiruvaranganE unadu pAdam tuNai
OrilEn kANi illai - ragamAlikA pAsuram in shanmukhapriyA, sahAnA, sindhubhairavi, bhAgEsri
srikAnta engaishTu - bhAgEsri - Adi - PD

Was a classical concert. The grand beginning was so wonderful with srI rAjagOpAla. The gauri manOhari AlApanai was great. The classical AbhEri (that with suddha dhaivatam) was a grand affair with an elaborate AlApanai, neraval and svarams at 'jagamElE paramAtmA'. The kAmbhOji AlApanani was wonderful and the tAnam was very moving. It was a superb pallavi fitting the occasion of 'vaikunTa EkAdasi'



Heard Trichur brothers and Prasanna Venkataraman at Music Academy. Trichur brothers sang dAchukOvalEnA. Prasanna's lalitA was moving. Heard Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath at Kapali Fine Arts. She sang O jagadambA for submain and O rangasAyee for main. It was a well presented concert which ended with Ahiri padam. Sri T N Krishnan's concert at Raga Sudha began with kAmbhOji varnam. The teratIyagarAdhA was great. 'dinamani vamsa' and 'paridAnamicchidE' were played well as well. After listening to Smt. Vedavalli's kAmbhOji, Prasanna's harikAmbhOji and mOhanam and Aishwarya's kEdAragauLa (varNam) and kAmbhOji, TNK's kambhOji, harikAmbhOji and bilahari in quick succession, it was a long string of same and/or related ragams and one just couldnt sit anymore. I m told TNK played mohanam for main.



R Vedavalli - RK Shriram Kumar - K Arun Prakash - N Guru Prasad
25 Dec 2012 Raga sudha Hall

entarA nItanaku (NS)
subramaNyEna - suddha danyAsi
nIkEla nAyaDa - dEvamanOhari
EtAvuna nErchitivO - yadukula kAmbhOji (RS)
nenarunchi nAnu
EkAmbrEsa nAyaki - shanmukhapriyA - Adi - MD (RTNS)
rAgamAlikA tAnam in bEgaDa, varALi, rItigauLa
tani
srI guruguhamUrtE - udayaravicandrikA
OsOsi - mukhAri
mOdi jEsevElarA - khamAs
tillAnA - hamsAnandi

a grand concert. The yadukulakAmbhOji and shanmukhapriyA were both so moving and sublime.


Rama Ravi - RK Shriram Kumar - K Arun Prakash
28 Dec 2012, Raga sudha Hall

intha mODi - sArangA
vinarAdanA manavi
srI sukra bhagavantam
Ananda naTana prakAsam (RS)
brOvasamayamidE - gauri manOhari
kAmAkshi gauri - sAvEri - Adi - PS (RS)
krupajUchuDaku vElarA
dalachina vAru - danyAsi
pAlayamAm pArvatIsA - kannaDa
raksha bettarE - bhairavi (RNST)
tArumAru - nATTaikuranji
bAla vinavE - kAmbhOji
paripOvalarA - bilahari
dalachu koNTE - kuranji
dAsaratE  sri rAma - khamAs - Adi - BR
harismaranE mADO - yamuna kalyANi

A great concert. The kEdAram was wonderful fitting the occasion of 'ArudrA darisanam'. the vAra kriti was well presented. The sAvEri and bhairavi were both wonderful. dalachina vAru was moving. The kAmbhOji padam was superb and the kuranji padam was just out of the world was a really rare treat. A touching concert.


Thamarakkadu Govindan Namboodri's concert at Raga sudha hall was awesome. His mAkElarA was perfect and superb. The danyAsi Alapanai and mAyuranAtam were both so wondeful. The aTANA AlApanai and srI kumAra nagarAlayE were awesome. The main was mari mari ninnE left one spellbound. Indeed a great concert.
Thanks to bad health, that was the last concert for me this season.

Its my bad that i missed noting down concert lists and don't remember what was sung in many of them. Hope to have a better season next time. Hope floats!

Ritha Rajan, Nada Inbam

Ritha Rajan - R Hemalatha - Thanjavur Kumar

Nada Inbam
30 Sep 2012 6:15 pm

cheliya pai - pantuvarALi - aTa - VK (sketch)
vinatA suta vAhana - jayanta sEnA - Adi - T (sketch)
sUryamUrtE namOstutE - saurAshTram - dhruva - MD (RS)
nidhicAla sukhamA - kalyANi - misra cApu - T (RNS)
tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam - Ananda bhairavi - rUpakam - MD (R)
inta kaNTE - kannaDa - rUpakam - PSI
nannu brOchuDaku - tODi - Adi - Subbaraya Sastri (RNST)
tAmarasAksha - yadukula kAmbhOji - tisra tripuTa
vagalADi bOdanalaku - bEhAg
rAkA candra samAna - slOkam in sAvEri, bEgaDa, hamsAnandi, suruTTi
nI nAma rUpamulaku

Ritha Rajan, Nada Inbam

Ritha Rajan - R K Shriram Kumar - Thanjavur Kumar

Nada Inbam
2 Jan 2012, 6:15 pm

sAmi nIpai - Anandabhairavi - ATa - VK [varNam]
palukavEmi - pUrNacandrikA - Adi - T (S)
nIlAyatAkshI - paras - tripuTa - SS
paripUrNakAma - pUrvakalyANi - rUpakam - T (RNS)
cEtah srI bAlakRSNaM - dvijAvanti - MD (R)
dhUrjaTi natincenE - gauri - Adi {2} - Pallavi Dorasamayya
sukhi evvarO - kAnaDa - Adi - T (RS)
buddhi rAdu - sankarAbharaNam - misra cApu - T (RST)
vaDigA gOpaluni (paDakiNTiki) - mOhana - misra cApu - ksEtrayya [padam]
emandune muddu bAlAmaNi - mukhAri - Adi - dharmapuri subbarayar [jAvaLi]
IlAguna - darbAr - misra cApu - paTTabhirAmayya [jAvaLi]
kUrvEl pazhitta vizhiyAlE - madhyamavati - khaNDa gati - tiruppugazh
nI nAmarUpamulaku

Ritha Rajan, Nada Inbam

Ritha Rajan - R K Shriram Kumar - K Arun Prakash

Nada Inbam
30 Aug 2010. 6 pm

sAmi nI pai - Anandabhairavi - aTa - VK (short sketch) [varNam]
rAmA nI pai - kEdAram - Adi - T (short sketch S)
kAntimati - kalyANi - rUpakam - Subbarama Dikshitar (R)
idhE bhAgyamu - kannaDa - misra cApu - T (RS)
sArasAlanu ipuDu - kApi - rUpakam - TQ (short sketch) [svarajati]
nI pAdamulE gatiyani - bhairavi - Adi - PSI (RNS)
tani
koNTE gADu - suruTTi - tisra tripuTa - K
marubAri - senjuruTTi - rUpakam - DS
rAkA chandra samAna kAnti vadanAm - slOkam from mUka panchasati - aTANA, nAyaki, sahAnA, yadukula kAmbhOji
kAraNamadAga vandu - sindhu bhairavi - kaNDa tripuTa - A [tiruppugazh]
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a wonderful concert. From the beginning it was very enjoyable and each piece was rendered with a lot of passion and feeling. There was a prevailing sense of leisure through the concert. The vishrAnti and saukyam that went hand-in-hand with each phrase made it a very memorable concert.

The opening with a grand varNam set stage for the evening. The kEdAram piece was rendered in a gripping fashion with a fantastic round of karpanai svarams.

The first elaboration of the evening kalyANi, on request from this writer, came as a very enjoyable and educative number. The ideas and phrases presented very classical and heavy and the kriti that followed was also rendered with a bhavam and one liked it a lot.

The submain of the evening was an elaborate kannaDa, with a rare number. The AlApanai was fantastic exposing otherwise unknown facets of the rAgam and gave a very detailed and classical painting of the rAgam. The kriti was rendered with a lot of bhavam and the svarams that followed were much enjoyable.

The (karnATaka)kApi svarajati that came next, was rendered in a very captivating fashion in a slow tempo and it was a very moving rendition.

With such a buildup came the majestic grand main course of bhairavi. The AlApanai was absorbing and elaborate with all the classical phrases. The kriti was rendered wonderfully with very fitting neraval and svarams that were extraordinarily gripping the rasikas.

However, the grand finale came with the suruTTi padam. Gosh, what a rendition it was. Just too good and brought tears tooo. The jAvaLi that followed was very good. The slOkam was also very grippping and classically rendered in heavy rAgams with a lot of bhavam and vigour.

Smt. Ritha provided a very deeply classical and gripping recital.

The accompanists were both excellent. The violinst was perfect in playing along for each of the songs. All the replies during manOdarma parts were perfectly matching. The mrudangist played with utmost anticipation and in tandem with the music. The way both the accompanists could see what was coming next and playing just the right thing was pretty astounding and it all gelled perfectly together.


A very classical and wonderful concert to remember for a long time.

Ritha Rajan, Nada Inbam

Ritha Rajan - VVS Murari - Vellore Ramabadran

Nada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall
17 Dec 09. 6:15 pm

chalamEla - darbAr - Adi (short sketch)
sallaga nAtO - vEgavAhini - Adi - T (S)
nIvADa nE gAna - sArangA - kaNDa cApu - T (RNS)
cEta srI bAlakrishNam - dvijAvanti - tisra Ekam - MD (short sketch)
Odi bArayyA - bhairavi - Adi - PD
srI kAmakshi kaTAkshi - vasantA - Adi - Thiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai (R)
evari cichira - madyamAvati - Adi - T (R)
shankarAchAryam - shankarAbaraNam - Adi - Subbarama Dikshitar (RNS)
tani
oTTu beTTada - Anandabhairavi - tisra Ekam - Sarangapani [padam]
apuDu manasu - khamAs - rUpakam - PSI
rA rammani pilacidEmi - bEhAg - Adi - Samalkot Bayankarayya [prativAdi bayankaram]
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a wonderful concert. I was very happy and felt totally totally elated after the amazing concert. All the pieces were rendered with enough weight and the manodarma parts were all too good too. The accompanists were exceptionally good in following the main artist.

Ritha Rajan, Nada Inbam

Ritha Rajan - M R Gopinath - Thanjavur Kumar

Nada Inbam
26 July 09. 6 pm

nijamarmamulanu - umAbaraNam - Adi - T (RS)
sUryamUrtE namOstutE - saurAshTram - catusra dhuruva - MD
vAcAmagOcaruNDani - aTANA - Adi - MSR (R)
entanErcinA - sAvEri - Adi - PSI (RNS)
janani ninnuvinA - rItigauLa - misra cApu - Subbaraya Sastri (R)
vallagAtanaka sItA - harikAmbhOji - Adi - T
tanayuni brOva - bhairavi - Adi - T (RNS)
tani
mAnamE bhUshaNamu - shankarAbaraNam - misra cApu - Karvetnagar Govindaswamy Ayya
nImATalE mAyanurA - pUrvikalyANi - Adi - Pattabhiramayya
rAkA candra - slOkam from mUkapanchasati - bahudAri, latAngi, kApi, suruTTi
kAraNamadAga - sindhubhairavi - Adi - Thiruppugazh
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a totally classical concert by the veteran artist. Each piece was rendered with a traditional flavour and the necessary gait. The starting short AlApanai was umAbaraNam in itself was a standing testament of the artist's vidwat. Each piece that followed and the manOdarma packages that were added were all amazing and made it a concert to cherish for a long time. The AlApanais of aTANA, sAvEri, rItigauLa and the main bhairavi were all done in a very classical fashion with no unwanted frills. They were carefully woven with classical phrases to form a beautiful picture of the rAgam. The choice of pieces and rAgams was quite nice and made it a very nice concert. The accompanists did a great job in accompanying the main artists in a very anticipatory fashion, thus adding to the overall enjoyment of the concert.

Overall the team made it a great concert

Ritha Rajan, Dilip Memory Concert, Music Club IIT Madras

Ritha Rajan - Kumbakonam M R Gopinath - Thanjavur R Kumar

Dilip Veeraraghavan Memorial Concert
Music Club IIT Madras, CLT
6 March 09

sAmi nIpai - Anandabhairavi - aTa tALam (short sketch)
nI muddu mOmu - kamalA manOhari - Adi - T (S)
himAdri sutE - kalyANi - tisra Ekam - SS (RNS)
pAhimAm ratnAcala - mukhAri - Adi - MD (R)
idhE bhAgyamu - kannaDa - misra cApu - T (RS)
shrIpapriya sangItOpAsana - aTANA - Adi - T
naDaci naDaci - kharaharapriyA - Adi - T (RNS)
tani
tAmarasAksha - yadukulakAmbhOji - tisra tripuTa - MuvvAnalloor Sabhapathayya
brOVavammA - mAnji - misra cApu - SS
samayamidE rA rA - bEhAg - rUpakam - PSI
slOkam from vairAgya pancakam of vEdAnta dEsikA - saurAshTram
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a concert of its own kind. Truly traditional and perfectly fitting for the occasion.

Each kriti rendition was weighty. The choice of pieces was refreshingly different from the usual. Each AlApanai was absolutely fantastic. Each phrase falling in place and totally moving. The neraval and svarams were all superb as well.

The accompanists made a perfect team and played in a very matching fashion of the concert.

Ritha Rajan, Nada Inbam

Ritha Rajan - Amritha Murali - B Ganapathiraman

Nada Inbam
18 Dec 08. 6:15 pm

jAnakI ramaNA - suddha sImantini - Adi - T (S)
iti samayamurA - dEvamanOhari - Adi - T
nIvErA kuladanamu - bEgaDa - misra cApu - T (R)
palukuTacE - phalamanjari - misra cApu - PSI (RS)
vEnkaTa saila vihArA - hamIr kalyANi - Adi - Subbaraya Sastri (R)
brOva samayamidE - gauri manOhari - Adi - GPV
srI subramaNyAya namastE - kAmbhOji - tisra Ekam(2) - MD (RNS)
tani
mOsamAyE - Ahiri - misra cApu - K (padam)
ilAguna guNAvaccuna - darbAr - misra cApu - Pattabhiramaiah (jAvaLi)
pErAyiram paravi vAnOr Etthum pemmAnE - viruttam in Ananada bhairavi, varALi, dEvagAndhAri, bhairavi
kAdalAgi kasindu kaNNIr malgi - bhairavi - tisra tripuTa - Gnana sammandar (tEvAram)
kUrvEl pazitta vizhiyAlE - madyamAvati - tisra Adi - Thiruppugazh
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was another concert of pristine music. There were no unwanted frills or additions to the music. It was pure classicism from the beginning and each piece was rendered with a lot of gait. The AlApanais were very vintage and had a lot of enjoyable phrases. Each gamakkam with precision and each song with the grandeur, the concert was totally very fulfilling. The rendition of the kAmbhOji kriti stood out and the unhurried rendition without shifting to mEl kAlam for the caraNam was indeed very soothing to hear. The complete grandeur of the kriti was totally showcased. The accompanists were very good and added a lot to the concert.

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.