AndyMusicBlog-thodi

The concert festival at Nadasurabhi, Koramangala was almost drawing to its conclusion and Shri Maharajapuram Ramachandran sang on Sunday evening after a felicitation ceremony where Vidwan R.K.Srikanthan was conferred the Sangita Surabhi title by the association. There were speeches by Sri Kamalnath of Gayana Samaja and musicologist Mysore Subramania praising Srikanthan and his music. Dr. Srikanthan gave a short and sweet thanking speech too. Getting to the concert, Ramachandran was accompanied by H.N Chandrashekhar on the violin, Giridhar Udupa on the Ghatam and V. Praveen on the Mridangam. Ramachandran has a voice almost like that of his late father, Santhanam. Maharajapuram Santhanam's was sweeter and had more timbre. 1.) Gananayaka in Sunadavinodini. Wonderfully sung and I was constantly thinking of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi's Hindol, the Hindustani equivalent of Sunadavinodini. 2.) Jaya Jaya - Naattai - Purandara Dasa 3.) Saranganatham - Gowla - Gopala Krishna Bharati Adi Tal...

Read in Hindu that Pandit Vijay Sardeshmukh from Pune would be performing a concert at Bangalore Gayana Samaja. I've heard him many years back at Alladiya Khansaheb festival and didn't want to miss this musical treat. The concert was organized by Hindustani Sangeeta Kalakara Mandali and he was accompanied by Vyasamurti Katti on harmonium and Udayraj Karpor on tabla. The audience were few (hardly 50-75 people). Panditji is a disciple of Pandit Kumar Gandharva and has a sweet yet powerful voice just like his late Guru. In fact his voice bears a resemblance to that of his guru. He commenced his concert with Raga Miyan Ki Todi. He sang a bandish in Vilambit Ektaal. His mastery over Ragas and years of ardous Riyaaz were reflected in his singing. He sang a traditional Bandish by Sadarang in Drut Teen Taal and a Tarana too. His sparkling taans over multiple octaves are worth mentioning about. Panditji then sang Raga Deskar. The next song was a bhajan by Saint Namdev in some type of B...

Listened to TMK at Nadasurabhi, Koramangala accompanied by H.K.Venkatram on the violin, Cheluvaraju on the Mridangam and Smt. Sukanya Ramgopal on the Ghatam. This concert was the drabbest concert at Nadasurabhi this year.After splendid performances by Prof. T.N.Krishnan, Vijaya Siva, Sowmya and Sanjay(he sang the previous day and was brilliant. Will blog about that in a separate post.) Krishna's concert was lack-lusture.Maybe it was one of those days when Krishna was not in fine fettle. 1.) Varnam - Ninnukori in Mohanam 2.) Nayaki - Nee Bhajana Gana - St. Thyagaraja -Rupakam 3.) Devagandhari - Tulasamma -St. Thyagaraja. This was soung in Vilamba kalam or Chauka kalam by Krishna . He was not able to maintain a constant rhythm and this was evident on listening to the mridangam accompaniment. 4.) Taka - Raka SashivadanA- St. Thyagaraja- ok 5.) Huseni - Shri Kalahastisha - Dikshithar. Nice alapana and this was rendered ok- He forgot the lyrics in between. 6.) Latangi - Aparadhamu - Pat...

I reached the venue a little late on account of a traffic jam outside office. Sowmya was accompanied by Nalina Mohan on the violin and Anoor Anathakrishna Sharma on the mridangam. My mom had missed the Varnam but was present for the rest of the concert. 1.) Varnam - ? someone who attended this concert from the beginning can leave a comment 2.) Nadasudha Rasam - St. Thyagaraja - Arabhi 3.) Chittam Irangaden Aiya - Mishra Chapu - Papanasam Sivan. I've always liked the Sahanas sung by Sowmya. Heard from mom that this was no exception. 4.) Brovabarama - St. Thyagaraja - Bahudari. 5.) Devi Brova - Chintamani. This Shyama Shastri masterpiece was sung well 6.) Abhogi -As I entered the venue, I could hear her mellifluous Alapanai in this ragam. Going by the no. of songs already rendered, I thought she was planning an RTP in Abhogi. But she sang NeeKurugi by Papanasam Sivan.The neraval and swara improvisations were at Valli Devayani ManavalA. 7.) Dwijawanti - Akhilandeshwari - Muthuswamy Di...

The Kormangala Sangeeta Sabha concerts have commenced and listened to Prof. TNK 2 days back. Was a wonderful concert and since my friend has reviewed it so well already, adding a link to the same http://monsoonshowers.blogspot.com/2007/11/tnk-nadasurabhi.html Just wanted to add a couple of lines to what has been written. Was amazed by Prof. TNK's virtuosity and more so by his ability to play for almost 2 and half hours despite being an octogenarian. He has been giving public performances for 70 years. The blessings of his father Veena Narayana Iyer and all the stalwarts Prof. TNK has accompanied are with him. I liked the RTP in Begada a lot and his Sindhu Bhairavi. (Was reminded of Smt. N. Rajamji's playing "Mat ja jogi" the Bhajan popularized by her Guru, Sangeet Martanda Pt. Omkarnath Thakur. Having listened to Rajamji on multiple occasions in Bombay and knowing her personally, felt that their humility and total devotion to the cause of music is another reason why ...

I attended a concert by Rudrapatnam Brothers at Devagiri Sangita Sabha over the weekend. It was organized by the Suswaralaya School of Music. They were accompanied by Mridangam Maestro Umayalpuram K Shivaraman , Mysore Nagaraj on the violin and Sundaraman on the Khanjira. They commenced their concert with the Kalyani varnam Vanajakshi in Ata Talam. UKS's mridangam playing added to the beauty of this Varnam. The brothers moved on to Mayamalavagowlai and sang Meru Samana (wonderful neraval and swarams as Kanakabhushana Mula Sobillu). They then sang a rare Dikshithar kirtanam Rudra Kopa Jata in Rudrapriya. (Haven't heard this raga much and could just gauge that it was a Janyam of Karaharapriya. Confirmed the raga after getting home and referring to TKG's book on Dikshithar). The next item was Raga Bilahari. The younger of them, RK.Taranathan rendered a detailed alapanai and Mysore Nagaraj followed suit. They sang St. Thyagaraja's Toli Janmamu. The icing on the cake was ...

Nadasurabhi Cultural Association, Koramangala, Bangalore, as part of its 14th annual music festival, is organizing a week long cultural festival between 13th and 19th November, 07. Artistes include : 13th Nov, 07 Prof. T.N. Krishnan's violin solo, 14th Nov, 07 Vijay Siva, 15th Nov, 07 S. Sowmya, 16th Nov, 07Sanjay Subrahmanyan, 17th Nov, 07T.M. Krishna, 18th Nov, 07 Maharajapuram Ramachandran and a dance solo by Manasi Prasad followed by 'aaraar Aasaipadaar', a documentary on Carnatic music featuring Sanjay Subrahmanyan on the final day. The concerts are free for all music lovers. Venue: Conference Hall, St.John's Hospital Campus, Above Bank of Baroda, Opp. Reddy Janasangha College, 100 Feet Road, 3rd block, Koramangala, Bangalore,34. All programs start at 6.00 p.m. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- M.A.Narasimhachar Music Foundation's 6th Annual Music Festival Venue - Bangalore Gayana Samaj Hall, K....