TN Sheshagoplan @ Fort High School , Ramanavami, 2008

I saw this mail on the sangeetha priya forum :

"Dear rasikas,
I have uploaded the concert of Sri TNS held yesterday at Sree Ramaseva Mandali, Bangalore.
Date: May 7th 2008
Vocal - T N Seshagopalan
Violin - H K Venkataram
Mridangam - Guruvayur Dorai
Ghatam - M A Krishnamurthy

01 ata tala varnam - kalyAni
02 bhuvinidAsuDanE - srIranjani
03 muddumOmu - sUryakAntam -
04 endukku dayarAdurA - thODi
05 slOkam - rAgamAlikA and shObhane - pantuvarALi
06 nagumOmu galavAni - madhyamAvathi
07 virutham and rAma manthrava - jOnpuri
08 vadana sukhaja - mAnd
09 mangaLam
Location: http://sangeethamshare.org/krishna/TNS-Ramaseva-Mandali/"

Adding my reply to this mail:
Download this concert at your own risk or if if you want to have a hearty laugh.TNS was in worst form and we were forced to walk out of the venue in less than an hour (as did many others in the audience.) I might sound sarcastic but I guess he was trying to set a Guiness Record for maximum times somebody goes off key in a live performance :D .
He sang a virrutam before singing sUryakAntam which had the words "aiyo aiyo" - we joked he was lamenting as he could not tolerate his own music :)
Another close friend of mine on listening to "The Emperor of thodi" 's Alapana remarked Thodi BanTuOdi. (Thodi has come - Run)

Concluding, we did precisely that (My friend Vinu and I literally fled from the venue). I admire the patience of the gentleman who recorded this concert for enduring sheer torture for almost 3 hrs. I'd never have been able to do that.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Looks like your envy for the great singer has found vent in the comments above. I saw one more comment from you about TNS wherein you projected how some 'Mama' at the concert venue 'also' talked about his negative views on TNS (http://andymusicblog-thodi.blogspot.com/2007/12/chennai-dairy-day-1-part-1.html). It is a different matter that you would not have said a word if you had met a fan of TNS. Moreover, we are connected to the maestro only through music and thus, any comment apart from music is irrelevant and strips out your own personal weaknesses. So, BEWARE!!!! Many big musicians are boozers today. If we can help them get out of it, let's do it. If you can't do good, at least don't try to adversely affect them. Think twice before raising a negative comment about ANYONE because it reveals your own weakness. Of course, Sun is not harmed if you spit at it.

Before taunting at the 'Emperor of Thodi', think - how consistently have you performed in the areas of your own expertise? Don't tell me that your performance yields 100% result always. But here is a maestro, who still remains unmatched !!

Do we ever know what a person, who is performing in front of us, might be going through. Probably, he is not well or is running through tough times in the family matters or some other factor is eating him up from within. How could you forget that all the human factors which grip us from all around, affect them too. Despite of all these factors, TNS has been giving us wonderful music majority of times, that is highly appreciable.

Though I missed the concert personally, I would thank you for uploading the same. One is required to be well above an average musician to even gauge the talent of someone like TNS.

I found one more set of comments on the same program at the following. This gentleman projected that the program was not as good as it regularly is, but he has put down his comments in a healthy way. Hope you will learn how to write comments.

http://kpjayan.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/sri-t-n-seshagopalan-at-fort-school-ramanavami-festival-07-may-2008/
May 28, 2008 at 11:51 PM
Anonymous said…
TNS concert is not that bad at all. You are highly biased. You can't even spell him properly, how can you comment on him? Please keep your mind open so that you can enjoy the music. For you comment "Thodi banthu odi" I'd say "Thodi banthu odisi" - drive the guys who cannot appreciate thodi out of the concert. They don't deserve to listen Seshagopalan.

I am not sure how much of the sangathi's/swara-transitions you understood from TNS singing. It is very easy to give loose comments.
May 29, 2008 at 1:04 AM
Anonymous said…
Please think twice before comment on any artiste, TNS we affectionately call is undoubtedly a great artist, a complete artist, who is afterall a human being, Voice, health might have affected that day. If I be there, even the concert be not that much up to the expected level, will do thousands of namaskarams to his dedication to the art, and contribution to the world of music and atleast make myself sure to keep silence on the days' cncert. Pls note that you hurt many music lovers.... I feel sorry for your foolishness
July 10, 2008 at 5:59 AM
palakkadsreeram said…
HI, PALAKKAD SREERAM HERE.PLEASE LEARN CARNATIC MUSIC BEFORE SAYING NON SENSE ABOUT THE GREAT MUSICIAN.
July 19, 2008 at 10:27 AM
Anonymous said…
Hello,
Looks like you probably can't spell carnatic music.. i'd advise you to do that before. TNS is undoubtedly the king of thodi; whether or not you accede to that is a different matter. I have recordings of the maestro in which there is a non-stop 2 minute applause (yes- a whole two minutes of unrelenting applause) upon the maestro's exposition of Thodi for an RTP (I hope you know what an RTP is- if not here it is- Ragam Tanam Pallavi; I can't break it down further- please consult someone who knows music to find out the meaning of the above 3 words).
As someone who has known TNS for the past 30 years as a musician, I can vouch safe any day that he is unparalleled. I don't think there has been anyone who has come even close to challenging the maestro's "vidwath". His mathematically intricate swara rendering capability, I admit, will not be appealing to duds like the "mama" that you talked about, and so there really is no point educating muffs of this sort.
I couldn't agree with Koumudi any more when he said the sun is unscathed by tantrums thrown by such lesser mortals-get a life please!
February 15, 2009 at 2:28 PM
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