Concert Reviews

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Winsome threesome

The recital by M.S. Gopalakrishnan (violin) assisted by his daughter Narmada and son Suresh took the rasikas on a pilgrimage to Tiruvaiyaru

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/09/04/s...0451030200.htm

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Soorya Music & Dance Festival - 2009:

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/10/16/s...1650830300.htm

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இஞ்சிக்குடி இ.எம்.சுப்ரமணியனின் நாதஸ்வர கச்சேரியை யாரேனும் கேட்டதுண்டா? ஒரு முறை அந்த உயர்ந்த இசையை அனுபவியுங்கள்.

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Ups and downs

The musical opera Prahlada Bhaktivijaya was conceived interestingly; veteran T.N. Sheshagopalan's recital was captivating in parts

Distinct Lively progressions

Surabhi Gana Kalamandira celebrated Shri Thyagaraja-Purandara Aradhana for two days. On the inaugural day the organisation presented Shri Purandara Navarathna Maalika followed by Thyagaraja's musical opera (geya nataka), “Prahlada Bhaktavijaya”.

Around ten students admirably animated the characters (“Prahlada Bhaktavijaya”) on the stage under the guidance of Sukanya Prabhakar. The general narrative style remaining simple in consonance with the environment in which the theme was originally conceived, it focused on Prahlada's unconditional surrender to Shri Hari.

In the process of sublimating the context, Sukanya has liberally selected from the source — poetic forms like seesapadyas (Prahlada Naa Bhakthi), kandapadyas (Varamaina, Naa Moravini), utpalamalas (Narada Niku, Sareku Veene, Eppudu Purnakaami), in addition to conventional musical forms (kirthana). Scholarly compositions were rendered with meaning. Compositions like “Shri Ganapathini” (Sowrashtra), “Ipudaina Nanu” (Bhairavi), “Eti Janmamidi” (Varali), “Nanu Brovakanu” (Shankarabharana), “Varijanayana” (Kedaragoula), “Nannuvidachi” (Rithigoula) and “Entha Paapinaiti” (Goulipanthu) substantially represented all the five acts (anka-s).

The drama reached its climax in “Challare Ramachandruni” in Ahiri (that stood for renunciation -nirveda) highlighting devotion as the easiest means, an epitome of which Shri Thyagaraja stood.

Dr. Sukanya Prabhakar, Nagalakshmi, Amrita Subramaniam, Sangeetha, Meera Manjunath, Gowri Vishwanath, Sudha Venkatraghavan, Megha Bhat and Radhesh constituted the music ensemble.

* * *T.N. Sheshagopalan sang (Purandara Thyagaraja Sangeetha Aradhana by N.R. Mohalla Sangeetha Sabha), accompanied by C.N.Chandrashekhar, (violin), Tumkur B. Ravishankar (mridanga) and B. Shashishankar (ghata).

The veteran commenced the recital with Thyagaraja's “Mudhumomu” (Suryakantha) embellishing it with kalpanaswaras: a few strains in the madhyamakala (as opposed to those delivered in faster paces) amply complemented pensive meditative moods of Suryakantha.

Whereas “Padavini” (Salagabhairavi-Thyagaraja) impressed the audience with lively progressions carrying with it attractively knit swarakalpana, Nadopasana (Begade-Thyagaraja) acquired distinctness through majestic developments.

Purandaradasa's “Naa Ninna Dhyanadoliralu” (subliminally absorbing), preceded Thyagaraja's “Nee Pogada” (Varali), “Aparadhamula” (Rasaali), “Manavyalakim” (Nalinakanti - appended with delectable and scholarly kalpanaswaras, only an artiste of high acumen and stature could materialise.

In spite of all these plus points there were moments loaded with maze of passages and tangled kalpanaswaras more calculated to create wonderment and awe than to foster any ambience of repose. Observe Shanmukhapriya, the accomplished artiste developed in different stages before he introduced the listeners to the pallavi, “Ramabhaktha Thyagaraja”.

In matters of proportion, the alapana section consumed a major share (relatively, pushing the pallavi into undue brevity). The surging masterly bhirkas of various dimensions and frequencies instantly captivated the hall: nevertheless, such passages of bravura belittled the melodic aspects. Further, he could have advantageously avoided very frequent articulations beyond taara sthayi panchama for a pleasing impact.

Swarakalpana passed through Kedaragoula, Shubhapantuvarali, Hindola (passing shades), Athana (faintly recognisable: was clearly discernible with the violinist's refrains), Kuntalavarali, Nilambari and Kaapi.

Violinist lagged behind in technical aspects, and it was hard to conclude whether it was an act of voluntary restraint, or was it a sequel to a deficiency in dexterity in coping with the gushing spontaneity of the singer. The percussionists remained consistent and maintained balance throughout the concert.

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/03/19/s...1950890300.htm

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Cheerful earful

Diverse Carnatic concerts.

S. Sowmya's was the first concert in Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha's recently concluded Thyagaraja Music Festival. Driven by team spirit, the close to three-hour concert was delightful. She opened with Tyagaraja's “Sree Ganapatini” in raga Saurashtra. “Vandanamu Raghunandana”, another Tyagaraja composition, in raga Sahana, featured a brief alap in which Sowmya brought out the essence of the raga. The swaraprastaras were lively.

Yet another Tyagaraja, kriti, “Teliyaleru Rama” in raga Dhenuka was well presented with due attention to the raga's emotive aspects and the lyrics. “Bantu riti” in raga Hamsanadam and “Svararagasudha” in Shankarabharanam were enthralling. The detailed alap of Shankarabharanam brought out its complete features. She also presented neraval of the phrase “Raama naama manu vara khadga mivi” from the former song and “Muladhara nada merugute” from the latter composition. The neraval and swaraprastaras were rich in creativity. In addition to Tyagaraja kritis, Sowmya included a few appealing Tamil compositions. R.K. Sreeramkumar (violin), Neyveli Narayanan (mridangam) and B.S. Purushothamon (kanjira) provided understanding support. In particular, Sreeramkumar's sketch of Shankarabharanam was delightful. The percussionists played a lively tani avartanam in Adi tala. On the whole, Sowmya's concert livened up the festivity.

Sudha Raghunathan, who sang on the last day, too packed her recital predominantly with Tyagaraja compositions. It was a diverse pack chosen intelligently and contained “Darini Telusukonti”, (raga Suddha Saveri), “Emani pogadudura” (Viravasantam), “Mokshamu Galadhaa” (Saramati) and “Svararagasudha” (Shankarabharanam). Sadly, Sudha wasn't at her usual best, and it was a lacklustre performance. The highlight was the unfolding of raga Yamuna Kalyani, through the technique of graha bhedam (or sruti bhedam), while delineating raga Shankarabharanam.

B. Raghavendra Rao (violin), Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam) and R. Raman (morsing) provided impressive support to Sudha.

Nehru Park

Elsewhere, at Nehru Park, U. Srinivas' short mandolin recital during the Music in the Park series, too, disappointed. Srinivas opened with Koteeswara Iyer's “Varana mukhava” in raga Hamsadhwani. He suffixed this with crisp swaraprastaras. His central item was Tyagaraja's “Evvare Ramayya” in raga Gangeyabhushani. Though Srinivas could bring to the fore the emotive aspects of the raga, he stretched it too much during the alap and swaraprastaras. He finished off with three miscellaneous songs. While V.V. Srinivasa Rao provided good violin support, S. Swaminathan (mridangam) and S. Kannan (morsing) were mediocre.

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/03/19/s...1950150200.htm

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A delightful cluster

G. SWAMINATHAN

CONCERT The excellent music of T.V. Gopalakrishnan deserved better sound engineering.

T.V. Gopalakrishnan.

What sets T.V. Gopalakrishnan's music apart is the deep voice which espouses his mastery of the nuances. Starting his vocal recital with ‘Viriboni,' the Ata tala Bhairavi varnam, at the Amarabharati Kalyana Mandapam, for Thiruvanmiyur Asthika Samajam, Gopalakrishnan designed his concert with rare compositions set in exotic ragas, integrating nuggets about the raga, the composition and the composer.

So we had ‘Gana Rajane' in Arabhi by Muthuswami Dikshitar followed by Tyagaraja's ‘Chinna Nadena' in Kalanidhi, a unique raga. He prefaced the kriti with a brief illustrative alapana that carried a strong resemblance to Karaharapriya since it is a derivative of the same. He appended the song with a cluster of swaras too and delighted the audience. Similarly, later TVG introduced raga Shankari – which has the swaras of Hamsadhwani without rishabam -- and the composition ‘Nannu Bro Judani,' enveloping it with a quick alapana and concluding with swarakalpana.

Swara sessions

Raga Pantuvarali was placed as a second main of the concert and TVG chose to present the Prahlada Bhakta Vijayam kriti of Tyagaraja, ‘Narada Muni Vedalina.' There was an expert niraval at ‘Rajilluni Tyagaraja' with a long procession of swaras centring on panchamam. Khambodi was set as the central attraction with sumptuous detailing of the raga for Veena Kuppiar's master piece ‘Koniyadina Napai.' The raga exposition was amply justified with the traditional pidis though built mostly on staccato phrases. The pallavi is popular for its multi-layers of sangatis with subtle to major variations.

TVG's baritone effortlessly assumed full power in the lower, middle and upper regions and in the enticing chittaswaram. S. Varadarajan on the violin gave a graceful version of Kambhodi and very attractive sketches of Kalanidhi and Shankari. Tiruvarur Bakthavatsalam, besides his almost blustery mridangam support, specially complemented TVG in his well aligned forays in the upper regions of Kambhodi. Anirudh Athreya's beats on the kanjira were commendable in texture.

It is both heartening and depressing to see these veterans perform with all humility in venues with the least infrastructure and still demonstrate music of very high quality. This particular venue with acoustics that was found much wanting almost reduced many segments of the concert to sheer noise that drowned the lyrics; the interesting titbits given by TVG as interludes sounded as if they were passing through a scrambler. It is time organisers and artists seriously addressed such audio inadequacies in several venues.

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/03/26/s...2651070200.htm

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Fine-tuning process

M.V. RAMAKRISHNAN

Amrutha Venkatesh seems to be in the process of refining her skills and fine-tuning her presentation in concerts.

Amrutha Venkatesh

“S tunning .... clearly articulated lyrics....weighty sway of chittaswaram... gripping rounds of niraval.... solidity of patanthara-reinforced compositions....” Those were some of the lavish expressions used by the discerning music critic Lalithaa Krishnan to describe the performance of young vocalist Amrutha Venkatesh in February 2009. And even a couple of years earlier, when Amrutha was still only a teen-ager, Ms. Krishnan had declared: "Music that spells class.... weighty classicism...." (www.thehindu, Friday Review, Chennai, Feb. 6, 2009 and Jan. 12, 2007).

After hearing Amrutha perform in the city on a couple of recent occasions, one couldn't help recalling those extraordinary words of praise. And after quoting them, one can hardly think of anything more significant to say, except that Amrutha now seems to be in the process of refining her skills and fine-tuning her presentation. What that involves is mainly a little moderation of certain heavy elements of her original style, which she had acquired as an earnest disciple of T.L. Selvanarayanan and Charumati Ramachandran. And in this endeavour she's guided by Prince Rama Varma, whose ongoing concern is that of a mentor rather than a guru.

Profound performance

The main numbers in her recent concerts at Hamsadhwani, and in the All-Trinity series organised by the Saraswati Vaggeyakara Trust at Narada Gana Sabha's mini-hall, were Dikshitar's ‘Sri Subramanyaaya Namaste' in Khambodi and Syama Sastri's ‘Mayamma Nannu Brova' in Nattakurinji respectively. These were rendered in a profound and leisurely manner.

Taken in a much lighter vein were Tyagarajs's galloping ‘Vara Narada Narayana' (Hamsadhwani) and his lilting song ‘Varaleela Gaana Lola' (NGS). But in terms of sheer beauty, most likely to linger for a long time in one's memory are the songs ‘Sreedhara Kesava Narayana' in Kalyana Vasantam, composed by Nadopasana Srinivasan, and Dikshitar's kriti ‘Anandamritakarshni' in Amritavarshini .

What an exciting and adventurous future young Amrutha Venkatesh can look forward to, building such an impressive structure on such a solid foundation!

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/03/26/s...2651170400.htm

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Not quite a jugalbandhi!

In their joint recitals, Anooradha and Sriram share a lovely common musical vision.

Awesome twosome:Sriram Parasuram and Anooradha Sriram.

The musicians themselves call it a ‘jugalbandhi,' obviously for want of a better expression. And the media even refers to it as ‘fusion' between Carnatic and Hindustani music. But neither of those terms really seems to provide a satisfactory definition or description of the joint vocal concerts of Sriram Parasuram and Anooradha Sriram -- in which the highly versatile and talented couple just sing assorted pieces of music belonging to both systems, sometimes (and not always) bringing out certain basic elements of contrast and similarity.

Different styles

The Hindi expression ‘jugalbandhi' broadly refers to encounters between two or more musicians belonging to different gharanas in Hindustani music, representing different styles of performance -- or playing different kinds of instruments which are not usually played side-by-side -- or even belonging to different musical cultures, especially the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

Since both Sriram and Anooradha are equally proficient in both kinds of music, what materialises on such occasions is actually a partnership of like-minded musicians -- and not an encounter between two musicians representing two different styles or systems.

In fact, technically speaking, both of them are quite capable of projecting the same picture without involving the other; but in artistic terms, their combined performance adds infinite value to their music, because there's such a wonderful harmony between their voices. Of course, each of them has independent aspirations and accomplishments -- Anooradha as a shining playback singer in Indian cinema, and Sriram as a Hindustani violinist aiming to attain great heights of excellence and status. But when they sing together they share a lovely common musical vision which propels them in the same direction and ensures the integrity of their performance.

No wonder a large audience sat through their performance in the sweltering summer heat in the semi-outdoor venue at Hamsadhwani, with intense concentration.

After explaining and exploring the nuances of the ragas Abhogi (common to Hindustani and Carnatic music) and Kedar-Hamirkalyani, and rendering a Syama Sastri kriti in Anandabhairavi without any frills, the vocalists took up the well-known and extremely popular traditional thumri ‘Kaa Karoon Sajanee.'

One has heard many moving versions of this beautiful song, but perhaps never seen it melting the listeners' hearts as well as this one seemed to do!

After this tour de force, one would have expected anything else to be an anti-climax.

But the climax seemed to be an extended one, with a spirited version of a Purandaradasa song in Bhimplas, Tyagaraja's ‘Marugelara' in Jayantasri, and an eloquent vrittam in Tamil.

Effective instrumental support was provided by Srinivasa Rao (violin), Shertalai Ananthakrishnan (mridangam), Umakant Puranik (harmonium) and Gurumurthi Vaidya (tabla).

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/04/16/s...1651140200.htm

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A tranquil ambience

Mala Ramadorai's presentation was adorned with embellishments of delicate akaras and swaras.

Not quite a jugalbandhi!

In their joint recitals, Anooradha and Sriram share a lovely common musical vision.

Cultural fiesta

Variety Young aspirants proved their mettle at the programme organised by Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nadaga Mandram, Pollachi.

Refined and pleasing

Performing in both the styles of classical Indian music has been an heirloom of the Parur School of violinists. M. Narmadha, a very versatile artist, is able to offer Hindustani music of a high quality without traces of the Carnatic system, ...

Tad slow for a concert

Depth was singularly lacking in the recital of P.V. Parameswaran.

Sincere attempt

Mahalakshmi can go places if she hones her skills.

Lively interpretations

Chaitra Sairam's singing style was free from any pretence of profundity.

Confluence of East and West

Anupama Bhagwat and Anoushka combined in a refreshing duet.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/f...6/chenindx.htm

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1. Spotlight on Syama Sastri
Kanaka Durga and Shertalai Renganatha Sharma paid particular attention to raga bhava.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/04/23/s...2351040200.htm

2. Poised in every aspect
Good choice of kritis and confidence made Swarna Rethas' concert an aural pleasure.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/04/23/s...2351070200.htm

3. Reverberating with bhakti
The nine-day fest organised by the Sringeri Sankara Mutt, Srirangam, featured captivating recitals by eminent musicians.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/04/23/s...2350720300.htm

4. In a devotional mood
Kallidaikurichi Sankaranarayanan chose some less heard numbers to showcase his imaginative skills.
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/04/23/s...2351100300.htm

5. Decidedly classical
Neat korvais and smooth flowing kalpanaswaras marked Rajini Hariharan's concert. Bhooma Kasturi presented a rich fare with vim and vigour.

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/04/23/s...2351090300.htm