My Chennai-diary - Day-1, Part-2

There were many stalls outside the auditorium. Bought a few vintage CDs of Dr. Pinakapani and Dr. R.K Srikantan besides a few issues of Sruti Magazine. We went to the canteen attached to The Academy to grab a bite. Each sabha has its own varied fare of south indian delicacies and snacks. Picked a few more CDs by Bombay Jayashree and Sowmya (Dikshithar Advaitaparva kritis and Neelotpalamba Vibhakti Kritis)

Attended Savita NArasimhan's afternoon slot concert for a while. Listened to her SahAna.Sweet voice but lacks depth and hence unsuitable for Carnatic music in my opinion.

The next venue was Krishna Gana Sabha at T.Nagar. We went to pick up my aunt at whose house we were residing in Chennai. She likes Bombay Jayashree's music a lot and had expressed her desire to accompany us for this concert. Krishna Gana Sabha is
another famed venue at Madras. Continued my music shopping outside the sabha and picked up a book on Semmangudi Srinivasier. I came to know that Vainaka Vidwan Rudrapatnam K Suryanarayanan is no more when I spotted a CD titled "late" RK Suryanarayan.
He used to play the Andhra Veena which is smaller than the traditional Saraswati Veena. I used to like his bani (style) a lot and have a few good recordings of his - Mohanam, Gambhira NAtai etc. He was also an excellent composer and has composed many Varnams and Tillanas.
We grabbed a kApi each at the canteen - excellent filter coffee and having it piping hot added to its charm. We had purchased stage tickets and could sit a couple of feet from the performing artistes. The auditorim has a beautiful brass idol of Lord Krishna playing the flute and portraits of maestros, past and present adorn its walls. The chairs are old fashioned and made of cane. This auditorium is smaller than Music Academy and its sound system is not as good either.
Bombay (Mumbai) Jayashree was accompanied by H.N.Bhaskar on the violin, K. Arun Prakash on the Mridangam and K. V. Gopalakrishnan on the Ghatam. The first time I listened to Jayashree was at The Fine Arts Society, Chembur, Bombay with my grandma almost 15 years ago and vividly remember her Bhairavi rendition. (though I can't recollect whether she sang KoluvaiYunnade or BAlaGopAla)

1.) Tatvamariya Tarama - Ritigowla, Papanasam Sivan, Adi
2.) Dharmasamvardhani - Madhamavati - Dikshithar - Adi - short and sweet
3.) Ehi Jagadisha - SAranga - ? ?
4.) I was just recollecting her Bhairavi when she began Koluvai. Was amazed at the coincidence 5.) KedAraGowlai - Nice AlApanai both by BJ and Bhaskar.Some of the best KedaraGowlais I have listened to are those by MS. Saraguna PAlimpa, VenuGAna , VittuVividuDa Seethaiyai etc. Saw MS's daughter Vijaya Rajendran seated in the front row amongst
the audience listening to BJ. Another coincidence today. She sang TulAsi Bilva by Saint Thyagaraja. Neraval and swarams at Bhujamuna Archinchu Karuna To. It was an unhurried rendition and we didn't get bored despite listening to this Raga for an
hour.
6.) KarunAnidhi Thaye - Bowli - Lalgudi - Adi
7.) KalyanaVasantam - RTP -Adi Talam. (I have never listened to her RTPs in any traditional Carnatic ragas like Thodi, Kamboji,Kalyani, Karaharapriya,etc.)
8.) Bihag - Virutam and Kannan thottu thottu pesha varAn
9.) Shivaranjani - Tillana - Adi
10.) Mangalam

I liked her KedaraGowlai best. Kalyanavasantam, Bihag and Shivaranjani were well rendered. On the whole a brilliant concert by Jayashree. (I was mistaken to be a journalist or music critic by a mAmA in the audience and I told him that I am an IT professional. I guess that the notebook I carried, my scribbling away thoughts / comments and identifying each Raga correctly led him to assume the same.)