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Thursday, January 02, 2020

S Sowmya, Sri Parthasarathy Swami sabha

S Sowmya - L Ramakrishnan - Neyveli Narayanan - G Chandrasekhara Sarma - Payyanur Govinda Prasad

Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha
Vidya Bharathi
28 Dec 2019 6:30 pm

sarasuDa ninnE - sAvEri - Adi - KSI
mAnasa guruguha - Ananda bhairavi - MD (RS)
paralOka bhaya - mandAri - Adi - T (S)
vandhAlum varaTTum - balahamsa - Adi - GKB (R)
srI nAthAdi guruguhO - mAyamALavagauLa - Adi - MD (S)
RTP - yadukula kAmbhOji - Adi (2 kaLai) 1/2 eDuppu 5 akshara aridi
sindanai sei manamE - periyOrgaL sonna mOzhiyai
tani Avartanam
bhUlOka kumAri - karnATaka dEvagandhAri - Adi - Bharathiyar
puLLi kalAba mayil - kAvaDi cindu
nI nAma rUpamulaku

An awesome concert. A sedate Anandabhaiavi. An educative and elaboroate balahamsa. A grand yadukula kAmbhOji. It was a much enjoyable concert presented so beautifully.

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Handling allied ragams.

Planning a concert is one of the first steps to its success. That makes the play-field set and ready. Sometimes when your set-plan may change, and yet, you may still win the game in a better way. It is hard for listeners to read the mind of the artists and even harder to get to know ring-side stories on how the concert came to what it was. Still, the overall experience of a concert is what that matters.

When Sowmya started a detailed alapanai of ananda bhairavi, rather early in the concert, it was refreshing. The exploration of a classical rakthi ragam done in the most chaste manner. It was a fitting prelude to Dikshitar's magnum opus manasa guruguha, presented in a leisurely pace. Swarams were presented in a matching fashion. L Ramakrishnan on the violin was giving apt accompaniment and responses. A fast paced rendition of paraloka bhayamu (mandari kriti of thyagaraja) was next. A good contrast to the earlier item. There were lightning fast svarams sung for this kriti. Neyveli Narayanan who is usually up-beat on stage, was in his elements now and added to the presentation of this kriti. Chandrasekhara Sarma on the Ghatam and Payyanur Govinda Prasad on the morsing, joined in the celebratory mood.

The next alapanai was that of a ragam which was apparently new to some rasikas. A couple of them walked up to the artist to ask which ragam it was, after the alapanai. If only they knew that tell-tale sancharams like m r m g s were presented right at the start of the alapanai to anchor balahamsa. A pracheena ragam, with atleast a dozen compositions by the trinity, but rarely taken up for elaboration in concerts. A detailed alapanai of this ragam in a classical manner, with all the essential phrases was such a wonderful experience to listen. L Ramakrishnan gave a good reply to this alapanai which was followed up with vandhalum varattum of gopalakrishna bharathi. The kriti was presented neatly with good percussion support.

sri nathadi guruguho was presented a little quicker than the usual sedate treatment it gets. mayamalavagaula making an appearance in the middle of a concert with elaborate svarams was indeed good to listen.

The main alapanai of the evening was a grand yadukula kambhoji. This team had just minutes ago presented a detailed presentation of one of its closest cousins. Should that matter? it did not. An alapanai that was done in an unhurried manner, characteristic of the ragam and befitting the grandeur of a main item. A steady build-up and succession of sancharams one after another, it was much enjoyable to listen. L Ramakrishnan played a sweet version of the ragam for this turn. Then came a beautiful tanam in the ragam. Tanam is generally considered as a manodarma element of medium and fast tempo, while yadukula kambhoji is considered a slow ragam. General thinking and feelings are not for that day. A tanam in yadukula kambhoji was superb that evening. A pallavi in Adi talam 'sindanai sei maname - periyorgal sonna mozhiyai' was presented with detailed neraval and tri kalam and elaborate kalpana swarams.

When the time for tani came, all the three percussion artists on stage did their job very well. They played an elaborate tani for the pallavi. The concert was brought to a close with subramanya bharathi's bhooloka kumari in karnataka devagandhari and a kavadi chindu.

This concert was special one. An experience of its kind. The artist chose to present two closely allied ragams in an elaborate manner. This was done in a clean way to show the differences correctly. A memorable evening.

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Monday, December 17, 2018

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.

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Friday, April 22, 2011

Sowmya, IIT Madras

Sowmya - MS Ananthakrishnan - Poongulam Subramanian - Anirudh Athreya

concert on the occasion of receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award
CLT IIT Madras

panchamAtanga - malahari - rUpakam - MD
gurulEkha - gauri manOhari - kANDa cApu - T (S)
Anandamaya manavE - jyOtisvarUpiNi - Adi - WVB (R)
annapUrNE visAlAkshi - sAmA - Adi - MD
ODi bArayyA - bhairavi - misra cApu - PD (RNST)
tiruvai paNindu - mAND - Adi - PS
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

A good concert. The submain jyOtisvarUpiNi with a very rare kriti was very nice. The main bhairavi was enjoyable as well.

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Sowmya, Sastri Hall

Sowmya - B U Ganesh Prasad - Manoj Siva

Sastri Hall
24 Oct 09. 6:30 pm

chalamEla - shankarAbaraNam - aTa - ST
nArada gAna - aTANA - rUpakam - T (S)
sandEhamu - rAmapriyA - Adi - T (RNS)
kumaran tAL - yadukula kAmbhOji - Adi - PS
srI gurunA - pADi - rUpakam - MD (S)
koluvaiyunnADE - bhairavi - Adi - T (RNS)
tani
vagalADi - bEhAg - rUpakam (short sketch)
yAr pOi solluvAr - tODi - misra cApu
bhUlOkla kumAri - karnATaka dEvagAndhAri - Adi - Bharatiyar
tillAnA - pUrNacandrikA - Adi - RSI
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a good concert. Smt. Sowmya chose pieces very carefully to make it a string of popular but yet not very often heard in concert circuits. The rAga improvisations were quite innovative and involved very many phrases which gave new perspectives to both the ragams that were elaborated. They were both very elaborate. The neraval was done in a chaste fashion as well. The swarams were all good. Those in aTANA and pADi were just amazing, while rAmapriyA and bhairavi were very good as well. The accompanists were very good and gave sensible support to the main artist.

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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Sowmya, Music Club IIT Madras

S Sowmya - Embar S Kannan - N Manoj Siva

Clasfest 2009. Music Club IIT Madras
Central Lecture Theatre
11 August 2009. 6:45 pm

neranammiti - kAnaDA - aTa tALam - RSI
sivalOka nAtanai - mAyAmALavagauLa - rUpakam - GKB (NS)
vinatA suta rA rA - husEni - rUpakam - T (RS)
intA prabhuva kANinO - mOhanam - Adi - Vijaya Dasa
nI daya rAdA - vasanta bhairavi - rUpakam - T (R)
srI rAmam - nArayaNa gauLa - Adi - MD (S)
O rangasAyI - kAmbOdhi - Adi - T (RNS)
tani
sEdi solla vandhOm - dvijAvanti - Adi - GKB
smara sundarAnguni - paras - Adi - DS
ninnayE rati - sindubhairavi - Eka tALam - Bharatiyar
rAma nAmam bhajarE - madhyamAvati - Adi - T
nI nAma rUpamulaku - saurAshTram - Adi - T

It was a great concert. The elaborations of husEni and vasanta bhairavi were very creative and filled with rAga bhAvam. The choice of kritis and ragams was very nice and made it a very good concert. The kriti renditions were quite impressive and the manodarmam parts were all very good. The main kambhOji was pretty exhaustive and made it a very pleasent experience to listen to. The popular number was rendered with appropriate neraval and svarams. All the songs were well rendered. The accompanists did a very good job in playing for the songs and their solo versions.

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Monday, November 12, 2007

Sowmya, Dikshitar Day NGS

S Sowmya - R K Shriram Kumar - H S Sudhindra -S Karthick

Dikshitar Day. Narada Gana Sabha, Mini Hall.
10 Nov 2007. 6:30 pm

divAkaratanujam - yadukulakAmbOdhi - catusra Ekam (S)
srI gurunA - pADi - rUpakam (S)
narasimhA Agaccha - mOhanam - misra cApu (RS)
saundararAjam - brindAvana sArangA - rUpakam (short sketch)
sivakAmi patim - nATTaikuranji - Adi
narmada kAveri dIra nilayE - nAmadEsi - misra cApu (S)
vINA pUsthaka - Vegavahini - misra jhampai
tyAgarAjAya namastE - bEgaDa - rUpakam (RS)
kalAvati kamAlasanayuvati - kalAvati
bhajarE cita - kalyANi (main)
nAgagAndhAri rAganutE - nAgagAndhari
srI vEnkaTa girIsam - suruTTi
srI kamalAmbikE sivE - srI rAgam

The AlApanais of mOhanam and bEgaDa were done very beautifully. some of her gamakkams and glides very perfect, precise and very moving.. and both the AlApanais were done in a rather non-orthodox fashion...

Singing svarams in regular rAgams like mOhanam and bEgaDa and rare rAgams like pADi and nAmadEsi, were both handled with equal ease. She did bring out a lot of emotions with all the kritis and made the evening quite a soulful one, till the kalAvati piece.


However, as she began kalyANi... well, for me, listening to the 7th kalyani main in 9 concerts was too much to handle. I hence left the audi.

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Monday, June 25, 2007

S Sowmya, Isaitamizh Vizha by Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust & Parthasarathy Swami Sabha

S Sowmya - R K Shriramkumar - Neyveli Narayanan
Isaitamizh Vizha by Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust & Parthasarathy Swami Sabha
Asthika Samajam (Venus Colony), Alwarpet - 23/6/07, 7 pm

nIla mayil (varNam) - rItigaula - Adi - Dr. S. Ramanathan
ADi koNDAr - mAyAmALavagaula - Adi - Muttu Tandavar (NS)
pUtErndU (tEvaram) - Arabhi - Adi - Tirugnanasambandhar (R)
taruNam idammA - gauLipantu - Adi - Shyama Sastri (S)
eppaDi manam - hUseni - misra cApu - Arunachala Kavi (R)
mA mayUra mIthil - bilahari - Mazhavai Chidambara Bharati
kAlai tUkki - yadukulakAmbhOji - Adi - Marimutta Pillai (R)
piravA varam tArum - latAngi - Adi - Papanasam Sivan (R N S)
tani Avarththanam
kunitta puruvam (Tiruviruttam / Tevaram originally set in Kousikam Pann / Bhairavi) - Tirunavukkarasar (Appar) - Kedaragowla, Bhairavi, Senjurutti
cidambaram pogAmal - Senjurutti - Adi - Gopalakrishna Bharati
vIra sutantiram - yamunakalyANi - Mahakavi Bharatiyar
bhUmi mechiDum (Kavadi Chindu) - Annamalai Reddiar
marukkulAviya (Tiruppugazh) - pUrvikalyANi - Arunagirinathar
vAzhiya sentamizh - madhyamavati

It was a real nice concert. I particularly enjoyed the AlApanais of Arabhi, husEni, yadukulakAmbhOji, the neraval in mAyAmALavagauLa and the svarams for the gauLipantu svarams.

Smt Sowmya gave a nice fullfilining concert with no compromise on the musical aspects or the saukyam. all the pieces were indeed carefully chosen, thus spanning compositions of all the periods. I personally felt that the latAngi main did not fall in place, with the other pieces in the list.

Sri Shriram Kumar was good in all his parts and his replies. Sri Narayanan was good as well.

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Friday, October 13, 2006

S Sowmya, AIR Madras Deepavali Concert

S Sowmya - M R Gopinath - Trivandrum Vaidhyanathan - Pudukkottai Ramachandran

AIR Multi Track Recording Studio Auditorium, Madras.
12th October 2006. 6:30 pm

gajAnanayutam - vEgavAhini - Adi - MD
mahAgaNapatE - naTanArAyaNi - Adi - MD
rAga ratna - rItigauLa - rUpakam - T (RNS)
taruNam eedammA - gauLipantu - Adi - SS
mInAkshi mE mudam - gamakakriyA - Adi - MD (RS)
tani Avarththanam
thiruvai paNindu - mAND - catusra Ekam - Bharathiyar
bhajarE yadunAtam - pIlU - catusra Ekam - Sadasiva Bramendirar
bhUmi meCCiDum - kAvaDi cindu - Annamalai Reddiar
kaNNA kAththaruL - madhyamAvati - Adi - PS

The vEgavAhini piece was sang before the curtains could raise, possibly for sound checking and getting the settings right. It was delivered well.

The concert then started with the naTanArAyaNi kriti which was rendered well. The AlApanai of rItigauLa was very nice. The kriti was rendered with nice neraval at 'bhAgavatOttamulu gUDi pADE kIrtanamulaTa' and beautiful svarams. The gauLipantu kriti was rendered soulfully.

The main course AlApanai of gamakakriyA was good, carefully not overusing p d p s phrases. The kriti was rendered with nice svarams at 'madurA purI nilayE'

The post tani pieces were all good also. Being Deepavali concert, Smt Sowmya seemed to have chosen pieces which have some deepavali connection. The accompanists were good in doing their job well. Overall a nice concert.

The concert will be telecasted on Deepavali day, 21st October 2006 at 8:45 AM on Madras A, Short wave and DTH as well.

bharath

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Monday, November 28, 2005

Sowmya at Narada Gayana Sabha & Bangalore Gayana Samaj

S Sowmya - Pakala Ramdas - Neyveli Narayanan

Narada Gana Samaj and Bangalore Gayana Samaj

27th Nov 2005 at Sadguru Gnanananda Hall

karuNimpa idi - sahAnA - Adi
srI nAtAdi gurguhO - mAyAmALavagauLa - Adi - MD (S)
nimma bhAgya dhODDadhO - bEgaDa - rUpakam - PD (R)
kANavENDAmO - srIranjani - rUpAkam
ninnu vinA - pUrvikalyANi - cApu - SS (RNS)
taniyAvartanam
thiruvai paNindu niththam - mAND - Adi
chidambaram pOgAmal - senchuruTTi - Adi
rAma nAma bhajarE - madhyamAvati - Adi - T
nI nAma rUpamulaku

The concert started quite late, thanks to the extended felicitation function to DKP and LGJ

The varNam was well rendered. srI nAthAdi was nicely sung with svarams at 'jayathi jayathi'.

The bEgaDa AlApanai was well rendered and a fitting prelude to the dAsa kriti.

The main AlApanai of pUrvikalyANi was elaborated with leisure and made a good impact. The kriti with neraval and svarams at 'paramalObhulanu pOgaDi pOgaDi ati' was nice.

The post tani part also was good and enjoyable.

Sri Ramdas on the violin was good in accompanying and his individual parts, though he seemed to be a bit lost during the svarams of 'srI nAtAdi' in getting to the correct point in the tALam where the sAhityam starts

Sri Narayanan did a good job in accompanying and during his tani, which sounded a bit repetitive though.

Overall, concert was nice and gave good impact though it lasted for just over an hour. May be classifiable as a radio concert with a couple of tukkaDas thrown in.

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