Walk-in Concerts at The Hindu November Fest

Ranjani Hebbar & K Gayathri - Vocal
Bavani Prasad - Veenai
L Ramakrishnan - Fiddle
R Sankaranarayanan - Mrudangam

The Hindu Friday Review November Fest
Music Academy TT Krishnamachari Auditorium
19 Nov 08 5:15 pm

High Tide. Programme on Ghana Ragams

nATTai (Ragam - RH, LR and Tanam - BP)
gauLai (Ragam - KG, LR and Tanam - BP)
Arabhi (Ragam - LR and Tanam - RH, BP)
varALi (Ragam - LR and Tanam - KG, BP)
srI rAgam (short sketch - LR)

pallavi: 'endarO mahAnubhAvulu antariki vandanamulu' - Adi (2 kaLai) 1/2 eDuppu, 5 akshara aridi.

The pallavi was rendered with varying speeds. Svarams were first sung in srI rAgam and then in all the 5 rAgams eventually finishing in a kOrvai set in Arabhi, varALi and srI rAgam.

tani

iraNDAm gana rAgangaL - rItigauLa, nArAyaNagauLa, kEdAram, bauLi, nATTaikuranji - Adi - Suguna Purushottaman

The concert was good. The vocalists were both good in their own way. Ranjani's renditions were weightly and had some very beautiful phrases. Gayathri was banking more on the melody and voice modulations. Bhavani Prasad was very good and the veenai was handled very beautifully to give some divine music. Ramakrishnan was good and played well. Shankaranarayanan was very accomodative and played with good anticipation.

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V Sumithra & Nandita Ravi - Vocal
Akkarai Swarnalatha - Fiddle
B Ganapathiraman - Mrudangam

The Hindu Friday Review November Fest
Music Academy TT Krishnamachari Auditorium
19 Nov 08 6:30 pm

Deep See. Programme on Naya Ragams

nIsAti deivamendu - srIranjani - Adi (daru)
bhajarE rE citta - kalyANi - misra cApu - MD (RNS) [Sumithra]
taNigai vaLar - tODi - kaNDa cApu - PS (RNS) [Nandita]
peRRa tAi tanai maga marandAlum (viruttam) - sAvEri, sahAnA, shanmukhapriyA, suruTTi
tillAnA - suruTTi - Adi -MV

Both the vocalists were true to their styles and did full justice to their tradition and yet it gelled amazingly well. It was a treat to hear them both sing the first and last pieces together and the co-ordination during the viruttam was quite good also. In the individual parts, they were, needless-to-say, very good and quite weighty in rendering the kriti and with equally fitting AlApanai preceding and neraval, svarams to follow, it was indeed quite an evening. One only felt they could have sung a little longer. The accompanists were good and did well to play along for the songs.

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Sandeep Narayan - Vocal
B Vijaya Gopal - Flute
S J Arjun Ganesh - Mrudangam
Nerkunam S Sankar - Kanjira

The Hindu Friday Review November Fest
Music Academy TT Krishnamachari Auditorium
19 Nov 08 7:45 pm

Cascade. Programme on Desiya Ragams

rINamatanuta - bEhAg - Adi - ST
saundararAjam - brindAvana sArangA - rUpakam - MD
apadUru - khamAs jAvaLi - Pattabhiramayya

The bEhAg piece was rendered well. brindAvana sArangA was elaborated in hindustani style with both of them going phrase by phrase. I couldnt stay till the end.

Sandeep Narayan, Nada Inbam

Sandeep Narayan - Satish Kumar - Nirmal Narayan

Nada Inbam
18th september 07. 6:30 pm

ninnu kOri - mALavi varNam - Adi - Calcutta Krishnamurthy
nIkE teliyakapOtE - Anandabhairavi - Adi - T (S)
parama kripA sAgarI - yadukula kAmbhOji - rUpakam - GNB (R)
marivEre - latAngi - kaNDa cApu - PSI (RNS)
krupa jUchutaku - chAya tarangiNi - Adi - T
kArtikEya kAngEya - tOdi - Adi - PS (RNS)
tani

The AlApanais of tODi and latAngi were nicely done. He had displayed nice ideas in both. yadukulakAmbhOji AlApanai could have been a little slower. The svarams were all good also. The kOrvai he sang in latAngi was good. The violinst was good in parts. The mridangist gave good support

Sandeep Narayanan, Music Club IIT Madras

Sandeep Narayanan - Shertalai Sivakumar - R Sankaranarayanan

YOUTHFEST.
MUSIC CLUB IITM. DoMS Hall
10th Jan 07. 6:45 pm

vanajAkshi - kalyANi - kaNDa aTa - Rangaswami
samayamidE - kEdAram - rUpakam - PSI (S)
rAma nI samanA - kharaharapriyA - rUpakam - T (RNS)
kalayAmi raghurAmam - bEgaDa - misra cApu - ST (RNS)
srI rAmam - nArAyaNagauLa - Adi - MD
krupajUcuTaku - chAyAtaraNgiNi - Adi - T
gana naya dEsikA - rishabhapriyA - Adi - KI (RS)
tani Avarththanam
tuma bin - kApi - Adi - Meera Bhajan
bArO krishnayyA - rAgamAlikA - Adi - Dasar Padam
Gayati vanamAli - Hamsadvani - Adi - SB
tillAnA - darbAri kAnaDa - misra cApu - S Kalyanaraman
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTRam - Adi - T

The concert began with a neat rendition of the kalyANi varNam. The kEdAram kriti was rendered well with a quick set of svarams. The kharaharapriyA AlApanai was good. The kriti was rendered with a good dose of neraval and svarams at 'paluku paluku'. The bEgaDa AlApanai was mixed, the rAga seeming unable to withstand the modern adventurous flourishes. The emphasis on phrase-based singing, which is essential for carnatic music, wasn't apparent with the rendition. The kriti was rendered with neraval and svarams.

Mercifully, most contemporary musicians do not have a grip over the once-popular nArAyaNagauLa. Without improvisations and flourishes, the kriti was rendered well. The rishabapriyA AlApanai was good. The kriti was rendered nicely with a good round of svarams.

The post tani pieces were all rendered nicely.

The vocalist is talented and promising but needs to slow down a bit, provide gaps between phrases during his AlApanAs and create an ambience of sowkyam. Sivakumar, though not his best, provided competent support. SankaranArAyaNan, who is generally capable of adroit support, was again a shade below his usual standard.