AndyMusicBlog-thodi

Was listening to an MS concert today from the earlier 60s. The accompanists are unknown and Smt. Radha is not singing with her mom. Trying a different style of writing; am listing the concert songs and interspersing them with my comments. 01.) Era nApai - Varnam – tODI – Patnam Subramaniam Iyer Wonderful as always – listened to another rendering of Era nApai by MS in a compilation of Varnams released by HMV recently 02.) vAtApi gaNapatim – hamsadhwani – Mutthuswamy Dikshithar Racy rendition – nice swara combinations (This song sung elaborately by KJ Yesudas will still remain my favorite Hamsadhwani.) 03.) rAmA nannu brOvarA – harikAmbOdhi - Liked the neraval and detailed elaboration as compared to the one of hers at UN which is a quicker version. 04.) hari nArAyaNa – kEdAram- Purandaradasa Never heard this song before. Trust MS amma to do absolute justice to even an unheard of Kriti. 05.) vAcAma gOcaramE – kaikavAsi- Thyagaraja Another rarely heard song...

I seem to suffering from OCALD (My sister who is a doctor and practicing psychiatrist while discussing her cases talks about OCD wherein people continue to do the same thing again and again.) In my case I have been hooked on to listening to Ragam Asaveri since last week. Developed a liking for this Ragam after listening maestro Veena Balchander's Dikshithar Kirtanam "Chandram Bhaja Manasa". Balchander, supported by a couple of his disciples, has rendered this song both vocally and on the veena. I have a vintage recording of M.S. Subbalakshmi singing this song self accompanied on the Veena (at Kalki Gardnes). I also seached Sangitapriya and found renditions of this song by Brindamma , DK Pattammal and Sowmya. Some more on the details on Asaveri. It is a janyam of HanumatThodi .In its Arohanam, Ga and Ni are omitted. In Avarohanam, all the seven swaras are included. Hence, its Jati is Audava-Sampoorna. It is an early morning raga which is very pleasant to hear. It is an ...

While searching for a particular CD from my collection, I spotted another rare gem of a CD. An archive of Surshree Kesarbai Kerkar. She was one of the best female singers of her time and a disciple of Khansaheb Alladiya Khan, the founder of Jairpur-Atrauli school of music. She had a rich and powerful voice but yet sounds mellifluous. I like her uncanny ability to portray the entire beauty of a Raga within a minute of beginning the same and her wonderful taans - the result of rigorous practice for years on end. The list of accompanists is unknown. This CD contained some ragas which are treasures of the Jaipur Gharana. Khambavati Kafi Kanada (Jod or Anvat Ragas were a speciality of this school of music and this raga is an amalgam of Kafi and Nayaki Kanada both pleasing ragas by themselves ) and Gauri. (more on Kesarbai's Lalita Gauri some other time) The CD also includes a few light classical thumris in Des , Kafi and Bhairavi. The recording contains a lot of disturbance and the vol...

I had purchased this CD almost an year back and had listened to it once then. I lent it to a couple of select friends to listen to and got it back recently (I am very possessive about my collection and don't normally lend my cassettes or CDs, exceptions being an exclusive category of music crazy people like myself.) I listened to it today morning and was captivated by Chowdiah's music prowess. The tonal quality of the SaptaTandi - seven stringed violin invented by this musical genius from Mysore - is unique. Some info from the sleeve notes attached "Chowdiah's innovation created a revolution and stalwarts of the day like Mysore Vasudevachar, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Maharajapuram VishwanathaIyer, Musiri and GNB longed to have hin for violin accompaniment as he would inspire them to give forth their best." Chowdiah was equally comfortable playing solo as accompanying great masters of his time. The song list in this collection ...

Yesterday , we attended a concert by Neyelli Santanagopalan at Ragigudda temple under the aegis of Kanikapuri Vaidika Sabha . He was accompanied by H Chandrasekhar on the violin, Arjun Kumar on the mridangam and Amrut on the Kanjira. Missed the first couple of songs due to traffic along the way :( (Navaragamalika Varnam and Mayamalavagowla) While entering the temple premises, heard the Alapanai of Dhanyasi Ragam. He sang the rare Dikshithar kirtanam Paradevatam (have heard only MLV render this song). The neraval and swarams captured the essence of Dhanyasi ragam. The percussionists though good were too loud at times. He then sang Annapurne Vishalakshi in Sama (had listened to the same by KVN a couple of days back and had discussed with a friend that no one can sing this song like KVN. Still stand by that :-) . The main piece for the concert was Kalyani. The alapanai was brilliantly rendered. Neyvelli seemed to have a bad throat day but that didn't hamper his singing a bit. He effo...

Listened to 2 full fledged kucheris(concerts) by my all time favourite singer Sangita Kalanidhi Pallakad K.V. Narayanaswamy. Both of them were recorded live at Jamshedpur and were almost 10 years apart. Jamshedpur - KVN 1972 01.) Vanajakshi - Kalyani 02.) Sidhi Vinayakam - Chamaram - Dikshithar 03.) Endaro Mananu - Sri - Thyagaraja 04.) Entara - Harikamboji - Thyagaraja 05.) Raghuvara Nannu - Pantuvarali - Thyagaraja 06.) Karaharapriya - Pakkala Nilabadi - Thyagaraja 07.) Orajupaju - KannadaGowla - Thyagaraja 08.) Shankarabharanam - Eduta Nilichite - Thyagaraja 09.) Sumasayaka - Kapi - Swathi Tirunal 10.) Karunanidhiye Taye - Bowli - 11.) NatamAdi - Kamboji - 12.) Neekelanayana - Nagaswaravali ? 13.) RTP - Dhanyasi 14.) Ragamalika - Virutham - Khamas + AnandaBhairavi + Nattakurinji + Sindhu Bhairavi + Jonpuri 15.) Aliveni - Kurunji - 16.) Chittam Eppadiyo - Nadanamakriya 17.) Yamuna Kalyani -krishna nee 18.) Jagaddodharana - Kaapi 19.) Sindhu Bhairavi bhajan 20.) Mangalam The choice of...

I procured a video recording of one of my all time favorite singers Sangita Kalanidhi Pallakad KV Narayanaswamy recently. Firstly, sincere thanks to the gentleman who took the pains to record and upload the same. KVN is accompanied by UK Shivaraman on the Mridangam and T. Veeraraghavan on the violin and vocally supported by Smt. Padma Narayanaswamy. I never had an opportunity to listen to KVN in a live concert and this recording partly fulfilled that dream of mine. The recording commences with St. Thyagaraja's masterpiece Sogusuga Mridanga talamu in Ragam Sriranjani. I've listened to this kriti rendered by different maestros multiple times, but rate KVN's rating as the best one so far. The slow pace at which he has sung the kriti adds to the beauty of the raga. This is followed by Ranjani, the kriti being Dattatreya. (A friend of mine , another die hard fan of KVN, remarked that only a true maestro KVN could switch context from Sriranjani to Ranjani in a jiffy and I fully...

It has been a while since I posted anything on my blog. Got busy with work and didn't get time to attend any live concerts.While going through the Hindu on Saturday 6th Oct. 07, I spotted that a concert of S. Sowmya was being held at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat as part of a festival to celebrate Vidwan RK Venkatramana Shastry's birth centenary. One of my aunts who is part of my musical network to keep track of good concerts happening in B'lore called me up to confirm the same. Sowmya was accompanied by Charulata Ramanujam on violin, Krishna on the mridangam and MA Krishnamurthy on the ghatam. We reached the venue a little late and missed the varnam.(Learnt later that it was Eranapai in Thodi) Since the auditorium was full, we occupied seats on the podium. Sowmya sang Raga Mayamalavagowlai - Tulasidala Mulache by St. Thyagaraja. This was followed my another masterpeice of Saint Thyagaraj - Evasudha in Ragam Sahana. The alapanai both sung and played on the violin was tastef...