My Chennai Diary 2008 - 25thDec - part2

The next concert we attended was of Hyderabad brothers at ParthasArathi Sabha. Some details for those who didn't read my blog last year. This sabha was founded in 1900 and is the oldest music Sabha in Madras. It seems to be caught in a time warp - old auditorium, tall fans, not too great acoustics . Wonderful pictures of Lord Parthasarathy at the venue.

Vocal: Hyderabad Brothers
Violin: S. Varadarajan
Mridangam: Karaikudi Mani
Khanjira: N Amrith

01. kanjadalAyadAkshi - kamalAmanOhari - Dikshithar - Adi -
Crisp rendition.
02. samayamidE nannu brOva (S @ pallavi) - kEdAram - MDR? - rUpakam
03. nI paramA nAma (sketch, S @ pallavi) - Ananda bhairavi - St. Thyagaraja- Adi
04. sogasujUda tharamA - kannada gowLa - St. Thyagaraja- rUpakam
05. pAmarajana pAlini (R, N @ kAmikAntha paladAyini, S) - simmhEndramadhyamam - Dikshithar - rUpakam
06. palukuTEchE palamEni (short sketch) - phalamanjari - St. Thyagaraja- rUpakam
07. vidajAlathurA - janaranjani - Adi
08. srI rAjagOpAla (R, S @ pallavi, T) - sAvEri - Adi
This was well rendered but the punch they had packed into a studio recording of this Kriti was missing.
Karaikudi Mani sir played a wonderful power-packed tani. Amruth played fitting replies to Mani sir. Amruth is from Bangalore and the son on Basavangudi Nataraj, a violin and mridangam vidwan. He plays the khanjira exactly like his guru G. Harishankar sir. Both of them accompanied excellently for all krithis.

09. enthati kulukE - kalyANi - rUpakam
10. entha nEvanenthunE sakhi - shudha sAveri - rUpakam
11. munthadi valEnApai - bhairavi- mishra chApu
12. evathE pAdu nammA - aTANa - khanda chApu
13. rAgam - madhyamAvathi

Good concert - was happy to note that Raghavachary(the elder brother) is back in form and actively participating while singing. His AnandaBhairavi and SAveri Alapanas were nice. They kept referring to their notes while singing. Though it was not one of their best concerts (their manodharma was stifled) , I liked it because of the songs rendered.

The next concert at ParthasArathi Sabha was of another set of jodi singers Ranjani-Gayatri. They were accompanied by KV Prasad on the mridangam and Mysore Srikanth on the violin.
1.) Chintachercha - ? Sourashtram
2.) Durbar - Andal Tirrupavai
3.) Bilahari - Paridanamichite- patnam subramaniam iyer - adi
4.) ShubhapantuvarAli - Shri SatyanArayanam - Dikshithar
Left the venue listening to sweet strains of MadhyamAvathi
Ranjani and Gayatri sing well but have this tendency to be agressive and speed through their renditions.Their voices are good though - melliflous yet powerful.

Sridhar and I met Amruth outside the venue and told him that his Tani was excellent. He attributed to God's grace. We spent about half an hour chatting with him. He told us that he began learning the mridangam when he was 6 years old and had a choice between the ghatam and khanjira as an upapakkavAdyam. He chose the later as one's fingers harden at the base while playing the ghatam and thats not good if one chooses to play both the mridangam and ghatam. He was impressed with Harishankar sir's style of playing and began learning to play like him by listening to his audio recordings. He mentioned about seeing Harishankar sir on TV and mistaking him to be a foreigner on account of his Albinoism.When Amruth finally met Harishankar sir, he told him that he had learnt to play like him and if sir would accept him as his disciple; if sir refused he would continue to learn from tapes as he wanted to play the Khanjira just like Harishankar sir and no one else. After listening to his playing, sir accepted him as a student and he learnt from him for a few years till Harishankar sir's demise. (That year witnessed the passing away of 2 Khanjira vidwans , G.Harishankar and T. Nagarajan.)
Amruth dropped us at Mylapore bus stand in his car. We didn't expect him to do that but it was a nice gesture on his part and shows his humility despite being one of the front ranking Khanjira players in India.

My Chennai Diary 2008 - 26th Dec - part1

We had decided to meet up at the Music Academy at 8.30 to pick up daily tickets for Bombay Jayashree's concert. We bought the tickets and realised that even if had arrived 10 mins later than we did,all the tickets would have been sold out.
Bombay sisters were singing at the Academy in the morning. Listened to their Ritigowla and found their voices pleasant ( after a long long time. ) Met my friend KumAran from Charsur Digital Workstation and he talked about Sanjay's concert at Krisha GAna Sabha being excellent.
I bought the new Paddhati CDs of Sangeeta KalAnidhi Palakkad KVNarayanaswamy which contained a Navaratri Mandapam concert of his (all Swathi Tirunal compositions.)

We then went to Bharat KalAchar to listen to veteran vocalist Parassala B PonnamAL. (Excerpt from an earlier blog post of mine : Parassala PonnamALis one of Semmagudi SrinivasIyer's senior disciples and blessed with a rich, deep and sweet voice which belies her age. (She is almost 85) My grandma was an avid fan of her music and we used to listen to her performances on AIR regularly. )

There were hardly 50 people in the audience. But the presence of TV Shankaranarayanan and family and Hyderabad sisters will give an indication of the greatness of PonnamAL. I am of the opinion that all the present day performers ought to have been present to imbibe a few pearls of wisdom from this veteran vocalist.

Smt. Parassala B PonnamAL. - Vocal
Smt Bhama krishnan - vocal support
Mullaivasal chandramouli - violin
J.Vaidhyanathan - mrudangam
Arvind Athreya - kanjira

1. Varnam - kanakangi - todi - ata
2. mulAdhAra kshetra mooshika vAhanA - mayamalava gowlai - rupakam - Tirunelvelli shankaranarayanan (Ragam, neraval & swaras at vimala kamala mrudula charaNA)
3. marivere - ananda bhairavi - misra chapu - shyama sastri (ragam, swaram @ marivere)
The Semmangudi BAni was so evident in her singing. (TMKrishna who claims to represent Semmangudi's style ought to have listened to her today.)
4. karunai puriya nalla KArunam iduve - sri ranjani - adi - ambujam krishnA
5. sri pathe sri narayana papa mochane hare - mukhari - rupakam - Kirikattu Gopala Pillai (ragam, swara @ shanka chakra gada)
6. meenakshi memudam - purvikalyani - adi 2 kalai - muthuswami dikshitar (ragam, neraval & swaram @ madhura puri nilaye . Tani avarthanam by J. Vaidyanathan and Athreya was good.

7. thyagaraja swami pAdambujam dinamum pani maname - atana - adi - ambujam krishnA
8. sada unadu tiruvadi - manohari (sounded a lot like Useni ) - Adi - V.V.Sadagopan
9. kanta nodu - neelambari - rupakam- swathi tirunAl
10. shantamu leka - HariKamboji? - Adi 2 kalai -St. thyagarajA
11. pannaga shayanA padmanAbha - madhyamAvathi -Adi - MuthuswAmi Dikshitar.

Dr. Smt.Y.G.PArthasArathy , the Director of PadmA Sheshadri school gave a short speech and congratulated PonnammAL for her wonderful singing (She lauded PonnammAL, as a fellow woman, for striking a balance between her musical career and family). She was also proud that J.Vaidyanathan, Chandramouli and Athreya were former students of PadmA SheshAdri school.

This was the best concert I heard during the season. PonnammAL's choice of songs, her vintage style of singing, a wonderful set of ragams made this kucheri a memorable one. It was a treat to listen to this grand old lady who is a guardian of all that is precious in Carnatic music.

After some shopping at Chennai silks and another lunch at Woodlands , we went to Music Academy to listen to TNS Krishna. He was singing an RTP in LatAngi. (MAtangi Madura Meenakshi LalitAngi Latangi). Ragamalika swarams in Abhogi, ChakravAkam, and Latangi. He concluded with a Ragamalika shlokam in SAveri, sahAnA, todi and Hameer kalyani and a tillAna in Hameer kalyani. Good performance reminding one of a young TNS. (He makes too many funny faces while singing and its comical to watch him.)

My Chennai Diary 2008 - 25thDec - part1

I was in Chennai last weekend for attending Carnatic music concerts during the December season, 2008. We left from Bangalore on 24th December and reached Madras (aka Chennai) on 25th morning. I'd taken along printouts of the concert schedules from 25th to 28th. As in 2007, I had a tough time deciding on which concerts to attend as various Sabhas host concerts of front ranking artistes simultaneously. I was slightly sad that I couldn't attend any concerts of Vijay Shiva and Vedavalli mami as they had no concerts scheduled during this time-frame.

The first concert I attended was at The Madras Music Academy.The Music Academy auditorium named after TTKrishnamachari has excellent acoustics with Bose Speaker systems and paintings of Purandaradasa , the Trinity and Swathi Tirunal by S.RAjam adorn its walls. Prof. T.N.Krishnan was scheduled to play at 9.15 AM and arrived at the venue a little late. He was accompanied on the violin by his daughter Viji Krishnan and son Sriram Krishnan, on the Mridangam by Thiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam and on the Ghatam by Vaikom Gopalakrishnan. Vaikom has accompanied prof. TNK in almost every concert of his that I have listened to.

1.) Viriboni- Bhairavi - ata tAla Varnam

2.) Giripai - Sahana - St. Thyagaraja, Adi tALam
Missed the first two songs. Also read in the paper on the next day that Prof. TNK cut a cake to celebrate his 81st Birthday and that his children played "happy b'day to you" on the violin.

3.) Siva Siva - Pantuvarali (R,N,S) St. Thyagaraja,
TNK started playing the first phrases of raghuvara, when his son interrupted him with "appa, we need to watch out for time" and then they choose to play a shorter composition. At the end of the piece, Sriram apologised to the "raghuvara fans" in the audience. Sriram played in all 3 octaves effortlessly and with complete control over the instrument proving himself to be a worthy heir of his illustrous father.

4.) Me Valla - Kapi (R) St. Thyagaraja , Adi tALam

5.) RTP - Natakurinji - Adi talam (ThaKiTa eduppu)
Pallavi - Un Darishanam Kidaikimo natarAjan dayA nidhe.
Ragamalika swaras in mohanam, ranjani, dvijavanthi, sindubhairavi
Excellent tani - Prof. TNK enjoys evry Tani to the fullest and this was no exception. His face was glowing with happiness while he kept the beat and was listening to his accompanists.
6.) Marubari - kamas JAvaLi
7.) Ragamalika in Chenchuriti, nAdanAmakriyA, YamunAKalyANi and Sri Ragam
8.) Sindhu Bhairavi
9.) Suruti - Vanga kadal - Andal TiruppAvai
10.) Mangalam

I then walked to SaptaswAra musicals in Luz Street, Mylapore with my friend Sridhar who wanted to pick up a few flutes from there.
We came back to the Music Academy after having a South Indian meal at Woodlands.

Listened to Carnatica brothers with Dr. Jyotsna Shrikanth on the violin and Delhi S. Sairam on the Mridangam.
1.) KedAragowlai - SaragunA PAlimpa - St. Thyagaraja - Adi tALam
2.) Dhayajoodu - GAnavArini - St. Thyagaraja - Adi tALam
3.) NataBhairavi - Ragam, tanam and pallavi. Excellent AlApanA by Jyotsna on the violin. Adi tALam .
pallavi - Bhairavi BhArgavi Shankari Vara Ravi Shashi nataBhairavi.
RagamAlika Swarams in Vasantabhairavi, SAlagabhairavi and Sindhubhairavi.
4.) Shree Ashtalakshmi namostute - RaganmAlika in Shree, Nattai, Khamaj, Gaula, SAramati, Arabhi, malayamArutham, varAli and kedaraGaula.

Good concert and they weren't too loud unlike last year at PArthasArathi sabha.

Sanjay @ KoramangalA Sangeetha SabhA - part1

Vocal : Sanjay Subrahmanyan
Violin : H K Venkatram
Mridangam : Tumkur Ravishankar
KhanjirA : Guruprasanna

01.) jalajAkshi ninne ( varNam) - chakravAkam - Patnam Subramanya Iyer - Adi Talam

02.) tyAgarAja gurum AshrayE - kEdAram - M D Ramanathan - Rupakam
Heard this Kriti in a live concert for the first time. (Last heard this kriti in a vintage MDR rendition). Being highly innovative, Sanjay always chooses to do something novel in his Kucheris.

03.) MandAri - Brilliant Alapanai by Sanjay- paralOka bhayamu -St. Thyagaraja - Adi tALam.Neraval & swarAms @ ‘dEva lOkamani tannukollulO tyAgarAjanuta’

04.) kAntimati annai nI gati - kAnaDa -Adi Talam - PApanAsam Sivan. Another kriti which people have rarely rendered in concerts. mahArAjapuram Santhanam used to sing this kriti with great fervor and Sanjay's rendition reminded me Santhanam's kAntimati.

Malladi Brothers @ KoramangalA Sangeetha SabhA , 2008

MallAdi brothers (SrirAm PrasAd and Ravi KumAr)
Dr. Mysore M ManjunAth - Violin
Arjun Kumar - mridangam
N. Amruth - KhanjirA

I try and attend as many concerts of Malladi brothers in Bangalore as possible ( Their gurus VidwAn Voleti Venkateshwarulu and VidwAn Nedunuri Krishnamurthy have been all time favorites at home.)
MallAdi brothers commenced their concert with an Adi TAlam varnam in AnandaBhairavi.
2.) GajAnayu sadA Pada -Thodi - (not sure whose composition it is ?) - Adi
3.) NAgaswarAvali (GarudaDhwani) - Sripate - St. Thyagaraja - Adi
Racked my brains over the identifying the ragam but was able to . Brilliant swarams by both of them.
4.) MukhAri - ksheenamai - St. ThyAgarajA - Adi
5.) Simhendramadhyamam - KAmAkshi KAmakoti Peetha Vasini - Dikshithar - Rupakam .
Neraval and swarams at Nadabindu KalAswarupini katyayani.
6.) Vara RAga laya - Chenchu Kambojhi - St. ThyAgarajA - Rupakam .
7.) SAveri - Excellent alapanais by Ravi KumAr and Manjunath . DurusugA Kripa - Shyama Shastri - Adi Talam . Neraval and swarams at parama pAvani Kripavani .

I left after the tani as I had some official work to complete. Missed their tukkdas.
Summing up, another excellent concert by Malladi brothers.

Unni @ Koramangala Sangeetha Sabha, 2008

Am back to blogging after a hiatus. There weren't too many concerts in Bangalore since last few months (and I was busy with work too.) Unnikrishnan was accompanied by Charulatha Ramanujam on the violin, senior Vidwan A.V.Anand on the Mridangam and Srisylan on the Ghatam.
List of songs rendered :
1.) SAmiNeeTodi - PantuvarAli Varnam - Adi TAlam
2.) Sugunamule - Chakravakam - St. Thyagaraja - Rupakam
3.) Varali - karunayelA kanden - St. Thyagaraja - Adi
I have always liked Unni's renditions of Varali. This was no exception. The only other recording of this kriti which I have listened to is by Semmangudi SrinivAsaier.
4.) Dhanyasi - bAlakrishnaPAdamalar - PApanasham Shivan - Adi
5.) BahudAri - BrovabAramA - St. Thyagaraja - Adi
Exquisite alapanai by Charulatha .
6.) KirvANi - kaligi yunte - St. Thyagaraja - Adi
This was boring (only a maestro like MSS or KVN can do justice to Kirvani ) and we left after listening to it for a while.While listening to Unni's concerts I have noted that he rarely sings any kritis of ShyAmA shAstri (His guru Dr. S.RAmanAthan was an renowned expert of ShyAmA shAstri compositions.) Rating it as a good concert on account of VarAli and Dhanyasi renditions.

Chamber concert of Sangeeta Kalanidhi Vidushi Dr. R. Vedavalli @ Essae Music Foundation

Yesterday I had the rare privilege to attend a chamber concert by veteran vocalist Sangita KalAnidhi Smt. R. Vedavalli. She was accompanied by Smt. Charulatha Ramanujam on the violin and Shri Anoor A. Sarma on the Mridangam. I have always been a die-hard fan of her music (do check out older blogs of mine for more details ) and didn't want to miss this opportunity.

I am attaching details of the artistes by pasting the original invite from Essae Music foundation.

Vocal support was provided by her senior disciples Smt Sumitra Vasudev and Smt. Sumathi.

1.) SarasiJAkshi - Varnam in Sri RAgam

2.) Sariyevvare - Shriranjani - St. Thyagaraja - Adi

3.) Entara - Haraikambhoji - St. Thyagaraja - Adi (Neraval and swarams at SheshuduShivuniki)

4.) praNatArTiharAya namastE vara - sAmantAm Muthuswamy Dikshithar - Adi - This was the first time I heard this kriti and had to refer to my book on Dikshithar kritis on getting home to identify the rAgam.

5.) brOvavammA tAmasamElEbirAnabrOvavammA - Manji - mishra Chapu - Shyama Shasrti

6.) EkAmranAthaM bhajEhaM - gamakakriya - Muthuswamy Dikshithar - Adi

7.) cETah shrI bAlakRSNaM bhajarE rE - DwijAvanti (Jaijaivanti in the Hindustani tradition) - Exquisite AlApana by both the singer and violinist. Muthuswamy Dikshithar - tishra EkaM

8.) Mundu Vena - DurbAr - St. Thyagaraja - Adi
9.) When Vedavalli mAmi sang an elaborate and exquisite Raga Alapana in Shanmukhapriya (special mention of Charulatha's violin AlApana) followed by Tanam in Shanmukhapriya , RitigowlA, BegadA and Nayaki ?( not sure of the last rAgam), we expected her to sing a Pallavi next as Smt. Vedavalli is a renowned expert of RTPs. She however sang
EkAmrEshanAyakIM IshvarIM bhajarE rE mAnasa - chAmaraM - Muthuswamy Dikshithar -Adi (Notice the change of the ragam Name - that has been done on purpose as the Dikshithar school refers to Shanmukhapriya as chAmaraM.)

Ragamalika swarams in SAma, Mohanam, Behag and Suruti.

10.) ValapudAsa - padam in SahAna

11.) Andru Ulagam - Sindhu Bhairavi - Andal Tirrupavai

12.) Tillana - Vasantha

13.) Mangalam - PavamAna - Sourashtram - St. Thyagaraja followed by "Swasti PrajAya" shlokam in Madhyamavati.

The artistes were felicitated by veteran vocalist from Bangalore, Vidwan S. Shankar. (There were many other performing artistes amongst the audience. )

I spoke to Vedavalli mAmi after the concert and sought her blessings.When I told her that I had met her after her Music Academy Concert, she said she remembered me and I was elated.

I take this opportunity to thank our hosts Smt. Srividya and Shri Prakash of Essae Music Foundation for organizing such a wonderful Kucheri at their home. I also pray to The Lord to shower his blessings on them so that they may continue to serve the cause of propogating the tradition of Carnatic music.

Concluding this post, it was one of the best Chamber concerts I have heard in a long time - the musical ambience, the list of songs rendered, the joy of listening to a veteran like Vedavalli mAmi who has been perfomrming since over 6 decades - every thing was simply too good.